How to troubleshoot an Office 2000 update installation by using log files (810295)



The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Office 2000
  • Microsoft Office 2000 Premium
  • Microsoft Office 2000 Professional
  • Microsoft Office 2000 Small Business
  • Microsoft Office 2000 Standard

For a Microsoft Office XP version of this article, see 308490.

SUMMARY

This step-by-step article describes how to use the log files that are created when you try to update Office 2000 to determine the cause of an failed Office update.

If a problem occurs with the installation of an update for Office 2000, you may or may not receive a descriptive error message. In either case, the use of a log file can help you determine the exact error and the best method to troubleshoot the issue.

This article discusses methods for interpreting the information in the Office 2000 update files. The methods are listed in the recommended order of use. This article does not cover every situation that you may experience, but it discusses several examples in which the update issue is resolved by interpreting a log file.


Locate the Update Log Files

All client updates for Office 2000 create log files in the Temp\OHotfix folder. The log files have names similar to the following:
  • OHotfix(#####).log
  • OHotfix(#####)_Msi.log
Note: These numbers start at 00001 and are incremented for each additional update. Therefore, if you run the same update again or you run a new update, the next pair of log files will be numbered 00002.

For each update installed, two log files are created. The first log file is created by the Ohotfix.exe bootstrap Setup file, and the second log file is created by the Windows Installer (Msiexec.exe). The pair of Setup and Windows Installer log files have the same number (#####) in their respective log file's name. Therefore, you can easily match them as part of the same installation.


Determine the Correct Update Log File

If you installed more than one update, it is not obvious which log files belong to the most recent installation. Because the update log file names are similar, the best way to identify the most recent update log files is by the number (#####) in the log file names. The highest numbered pair belongs to the latest update installation.

To definitively identify the Office 2000 log files, open the Ohotfix.exe log file, OHotfix(#####).log, and then view the ninth line in the log file. By default, the log file contains a MessageTitle line similar to one of the following near the top of the log: MessageTitle="Microsoft Office Hotfix Installer"MessageTitle="Outlook 2000 Update: June 21 2001"The MessageTitle line contains the product, version, and date for the installed update.

Note: You do not see the name of the update on the MessageTitle line in the Ohotfix.exe log file if you installed the update from the Product Updates page on the Office Update Web site. You see the name of the update on the MessageTitle line in the Ohotfix.exe log file only if you installed the update from the Download Center on the Office Update Web site. If you installed the update from the Product Updates page, there is no easy way to determine which update belongs to which log file.


Setup Switches

If you are installing an update from the Office Update Download Center, the switches for the update file are the standard IExpress package switches. For more information about the available IExpress command-line switches, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

197147 Command-line switches for IExpress software update packages


How to Troubleshoot with Log Files

The best method for troubleshooting a failed Office update is to review a verbose log file. Verbose logging is automatically enabled for the OHotfix(#####)_Msi.log file.


How to Read the Ohotfix.exe Log File

Start your troubleshooting with the Ohotfix.exe log file, OHotfix(#####). This file can indicate the build and version of Office that is being updated. The build is listed on the line similar to the following:Product {00010409-78E1-11D2-B60F-006097C998E7} Microsoft Office 2000 SR-1 Professional Version 9.00.3821: Needs patch.In this example, the build of Office that is being updated is 3821, the Service Release 1 version of Office 2000. If you see a build number that is lower than 3821, you may be running the original release version (build 2627). For more information about how to determine your version of Office 2000, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

255275 How to determine the version of your Office 2000 program

The Ohotfix.exe log file can also indicate the Windows Installer update packages (.msp) contained in the update that must be applied. When you apply an Office 2000 update, Ohotfix.exe inspects your installed products and decides which of the update packages must be installed (when the update contains multiple update packages). The following text from an Ohotfix.exe log file reveals that the single update package must be installed for the Microsoft Word 2000 update:
		Getting the patches...
		Getting the products to patch...
		
		Seeing if patch C:\Program Files\OfficeUpdate\MSPs\winword.msp is needed...
		        Product {90280409-6000-11D3-8CFE-0050048383C9} Microsoft Office 2000
                Professional with FrontPage Version 9.0.2720.01: Needs patch.
Note: This log file text indicates that the update was installed through a download from the Office Update Download Center. If the update was installed from the Office Update Product Updates page, the log file text would instead include the following line:Seeing if patch C:\Program Files\OfficeUpdate\MSPs\510581.WINWORD.msp is needed...The only difference in the log file text is the path to the local .msp file that is being used for the update.

The following text from a Ohotfix.exe log file reveals that all update packages must be installed for the Outlook 2000 update:
		Getting the patches...
		Getting the products to patch...
		
		Seeing if patch C:\Program Files\OfficeUpdate\MSPs\OUTLOOK.msp is needed...
		        Product {90280409-6000-11D3-8CFE-0050048383C9} Microsoft Office 2000
Professional with FrontPage Version 4.0.2.2720: Needs patch.
		
		Seeing if patch C:\Program Files\OfficeUpdate\MSPs\OUTLMIME.msp is needed...
		        Product {90280409-6000-11D3-8CFE-0050048383C9} Microsoft Office 2000
Professional with FrontPage Version 4.0.2.2720: Needs patch.
		
		Seeing if patch C:\Program Files\OfficeUpdate\MSPs\OUTLCTL.msp is needed...
		        Product {90280409-6000-11D3-8CFE-0050048383C9} Microsoft Office 2000
Professional with FrontPage Version 4.0.2.2720: Needs patch.

Logging Success in the Ohotfix.exe Log File

The following line is one of the most important parts of the Ohotfixe.exe log file:The patch was applied successfully.This line is followed by:The update was applied successfully.

Logging Failures in the Ohotfix.exe Log File

It is important to know how a failed installation appears, in terms of the log file. If the update fails at any stage, you should receive the following error message:
The update failed.
This is followed by a line containing an error number; for example:
Encountered error 1603 while updating.
In this example, the 1603 error number is equivalent to the following:
ERROR_INSTALL_FAILURE 1603 Fatal error during installation.
The error number listed on this line is typically 1603 when the update process fails. Because the 1603 error is a generic failure error, you must open the corresponding Windows Installer log file, OHotfix(#####)_Msi.log, to get the exact error and then troubleshoot based on that error number. See the "Windows Installer Logging" section of this article for more information about how to read Windows Installer log files.

The line in the Ohotfix.exe log file can show error numbers other than 1603. Make sure that you check the Windows Installer log file for any relevant information. For more information about Windows Installer error codes, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

290158 List of error codes and errorList of error codes and error messages for Windows Installer processes in Office 2003 products and Office XP products messages for Windows Installer processes


Windows Installer Logging

If you receive an error message during the update process, view the Windows Installer log file -- for example, OHotfix(0001)_Msi.log. You can diagnose and resolve many problems by locating the action or failure that caused the error. For more information about techniques for viewing a Windows Installer log file, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

296603 How to use an Office XP setup log file to troubleshoot setup problems in Office XP

These techniques include searching for the following:
  • The error number -- for example Error 1328.
  • "Return value 3" or "Return value 2."
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The Error Number

If you receive a Windows Installer error message during the update process, the error message probably includes an error number. For example, if you receive an error 1328, you may see the following text in a verbose log file. (The following text is taken from a verbose log file that was created when installing a Microsoft Outlook 2000 Update.)
	MSI (s) (B3:D6): Patch for file 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft
	 Office\Office10\OUTLLIB.DLL' is redirected to patch 'C:\Config.Msi\PT16A.tmp' instead.
	PatchFiles: File: OUTLLIB.DLL,  Directory: C:\Program Files\Microsoft
	 Office\Office10\,  Size: 6297928
	MSI (s) (B3:D6): Note: 1: 1328 2: C:\Config.Msi\PT16A.tmp 3: -1072807676
	 
	Error 1328. Error applying patch to file C:\Config.Msi\PT16A.tmp.  It has 
	probably been updated by other means, and can no longer be modified by this
	 patch.  For more information contact your patch vendor.  System Error:
	 -1072807676
	MSI (s) (B3:D6): Product: Microsoft Office XP Professional with FrontPage
	 -- Error 1328. Error applying patch to file C:\Config.Msi\PT16A.tmp.  It
	 has probably been updated by other means, and can no longer be modified by
	 this patch.  For more information, contact your patch vendor.  System Error: -1072807676
	
	Are you sure you want to cancel?
	Action ended 10:50:22: InstallExecute. Return value 3
The default Windows Installer log file generates useful information for troubleshooting this issue. The log file reveals that the update cannot update the Outllib.dll file. The Windows Installer may experience this problem if any of the following conditions are true:
  • The file is damaged (corrupted).
  • The file was updated with a more recent update.
  • There are incorrect permissions on the file. The file is in use by another program.

The Return Value

You can also use the return value to determine the source of the problem. If you ever locate "return value 3" in a log file, you are very close to the text that indicates when the problem occurred. In all cases, a line that contains "return value 3" indicates a failed action. See the sample log file listed in the "How to Read the Ohotfix.exe Log File" section of this article to see how this appears in a log file.

You can also search for "return value 2." This indicates that the user canceled the update. The following text was taken from a verbose log file where the Windows Installer was gathering information:
	MSI (s) (B3:FE): Transforming table CustomAction.
	MSI (s) (B3:FE): Note: 1: 2262 2: CustomAction 3: -2147287038
	MSI (s) (B3:FE): Creating MSIHANDLE (3970) of type 790542 for thread 254
	Action ended 13:45:04: CAUserExit. Return value 1.
	Action ended 13:45:04: INSTALL. Return value 2.
In this situation, the client clicked Cancel to stop the update process.


How to Create a Log File When You Update an Administrative Installation of Office 2000

Unlike the client updates, a log file is not created by default for updating administrative installations of Office 2000. To create a log file, run the update with a command line similar to the following after you download and run the IExpress package to extract the admin files

msiexec /a admin path\MSI File /p local path\MSP File SHORTFILENAMES=1 /L*V C:\verbose.txt

where
  • admin path is the path to your administrative install point for Office 2000.
  • MSI File is the MSI database package for the Office 2000 product (for example, Proplus.msi).
  • local path is the path to the extracted path files (for example, C:\adminUpdate).
  • MSP File is the name of the admin update's patch file (for example, Winword_admin.msp).
For more information about updating an administrative installation of Office 2000, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

304165 How to download and install an update to an administrative installation of Office 2000

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Troubleshooting

If you cannot understand the problem from the Ohotfix.exe file or the Windows Installer log files, and you are still having problems updating your installation, try to repair the Office installation. To do this, follow these steps:
  1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
  2. Double-click Add/Remove Programs.
  3. Double-click the icon for the Office 2000 program that you want to update.
  4. In the Microsoft Office 2000 Maintenance Mode dialog box, click Repair Office, and then click Next.
  5. In the Reinstall/Repair Microsoft Office 2000 dialog box, click Reinstall Office, and then click Finish.
  6. When the repair process is completed, run the public update again.
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REFERENCES

For additional information about troubleshooting an Office 2000 installation, visit the following Microsoft Web site to search the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:11/17/2005
Keywords:kbtshoot kbUpdate kbprb kberrmsg KB810295