OFFXP: Error Message When You Install from Web URL: Error 1101. Error Reading from File ... (280670)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Office XP Professional
  • Microsoft Office XP Small Business
  • Microsoft Office XP Standard
  • Microsoft Office XP Students and Teachers
  • Microsoft Office XP Developer
  • Microsoft Access 2002
  • Microsoft Excel 2002
  • Microsoft FrontPage 2002
  • Microsoft Outlook 2002
  • Microsoft PowerPoint 2002
  • Microsoft Word 2002
This article was previously published under Q280670

SYMPTOMS

When you are installing Office, you may receive an error message similar to the following:
Error 1101. Error reading from file:
http://server/webfolder/custom.mst. Verify that the file exists and that you can access it.
NOTE: The URL and name of the transform (.mst) in this error message vary, according to your server configuration.

If you view the contents of the Windows Installer log file for the Office installation, you find text similar to the following: 
MSI (c) (6F:F7): Note: 1: 1101 2: http://webserver/officexp/httptest.mst 3: 3 
Error 1101. Error reading from file: http://webserver/officexp/httptest.mst.  System error 3.  Verify that the
 file exists and that you can access it.
MSI (c) (6F:F7): Product: Microsoft Office XP Professional with FrontPage
 -- Error 1101. Error reading from file: http://webserver/officexp/httptest.mst.  System error 3.  Verify that the
 file exists and that you can access it.

Action ended 18:12:05: PublishProduct. Return value 3.

CAUSE

This problem can occur if you use a transform with the Office installation, and the transform is located on the Web server. For example, you modify the Setup.ini file to include the following line in the [MST] section:

MST1=http://server/webfolder/custom.mst

The Windows Installer does not support using transforms from Web URL locations.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, move the transform to a location that is on a local network share. Then modify the Setup.ini file on the Web server, so that it references this local network location. For example, include a line similar to the following in the [MST] section of the Setup.ini file:

MST1=\\networkserver\share\custom.mst

You can also specify the transform on a command line; however, the path to the transform cannot be a Web URL. For example, you can use a command line similar to the following

local path\Setup.exe /Webinstall "http://server/webfolder" Transforms=\\networkserver\share\custom.mst;:Webtrans.mst

where local path is the path to a downloaded copy of Setup.exe.

NOTE: Microsoft does not recommend that you perform an HTTP installation of Office XP from a Web server under certain scenarios. For additional information about this recommendation, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

328748 OFFXP: Microsoft Does Not Recommend Installing Office XP from a Web Server

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:2/16/2006
Keywords:kbbug kberrmsg kbpending KB280670
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