OFF: Hotfixes Require the Latest Office Service Pack (320519)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Office XP (Setup)
  • Microsoft Office 97 for Windows
  • Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003
  • Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2003
  • Microsoft Office Access 2003
  • Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003
  • Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003
  • Microsoft Office Word 2003
  • Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003
  • Microsoft Office Student and Teachers Edition 2003
  • Microsoft Office Basic Edition 2003
  • Microsoft Office Excel 2003
  • Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
  • Microsoft Office Publisher 2003
  • Microsoft Office 2000 Premium
  • Microsoft Office 2000 Professoinal
  • Microsoft Office 2000 Standard
  • Microsoft Office 2000 Small Business
  • Microsoft Office 2000 Developer
  • Microsoft Access 2000
  • Microsoft Excel 2000
  • Microsoft FrontPage 2000
  • Microsoft Outlook 2000
  • Microsoft PowerPoint 2000
  • Microsoft Word 2000
This article was previously published under Q320519

SUMMARY

Microsoft occasionally releases hotfixes to resolve one or more critical problems with Microsoft Office programs. Each of these hotfixes is cumulative. This means that all hotfixes contain all the hotfixes in earlier versions of the affected files. You can obtain hotfixes through Microsoft Product Support Services. Each hotfix is described in a Microsoft Knowledge Base article.

As a rule, each hotfix will come in two forms, a binary update that modifies an existing file into the new version of the file and a full-file update that replaces the existing file. If an administrative installation point was used, the full-file update is also used to update the administrative installation point. Exceptions to this rule will be noted in the article that describes the hotfix.

Starting with Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), hotfixes were made available that would update the current version of Office and one service pack release prior. Microsoft Office 2003 also follows that rule. However, Microsoft Office 2000 hotfixes will only apply to the latest service pack. To update a service pack before to the current version, the full-file update must be used. The binary update will only apply to the current service pack level. For more details about the support policies for service packs, see the Service Pack Policy Details. To view the Service Pack Policy Details, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;[ln];lifecycle

Any full-file hotfix that is produced for an Office program (for example, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Excel, or Microsoft Word) requires as a minimum that you apply the Office service pack before to the latest service pack before you install the hotfix on your computer. For example, if Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 3 is the current service pack level, all fixes that are written after the release of Service Pack 3 require that you have at least Service Pack 2 installed before you install the full-file update of the fix.

Any binary hotfix that is produced for an Office program (for example, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Excel, or Microsoft Word) requires that you apply the latest Office service pack before you install the hotfix on your computer. For example, if Office 2003 Service Pack 1(SP1) is the current service pack level, all fixes that are written after the release of Service Pack 1 require that you to install the service pack before you install the binary update of the fix.

MORE INFORMATION

To see whether you already have the programming changes in any publicized hotfix, follow these steps:
  1. Read the Microsoft Knowledge Base article that describes the problem. Note the names of the files in the fix and their version numbers.
  2. Find the corresponding files on your computer. If you do not know how to find the files, use the Windows Search functionality, as described in Windows Help.
  3. Right-click the file name, click Properties, and then click the Version tab.
  4. Compare the version number of the file with the version in the Knowledge Base article. If the version number that is assigned to the file on your computer is the same as or is later than the version that is listed in the Knowledge Base article for the hotfix, your file contains the fix.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:4/11/2006
Keywords:kbinfo KB320519
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