You cannot install an Office 2003 service pack (884298)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003
  • Microsoft Office Basic Edition 2003
  • Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2003
  • Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003
  • Microsoft Office Student and Teachers Edition 2003
  • Microsoft Office Access 2003
  • Microsoft Office Excel 2003
  • Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003
  • Microsoft Office OneNote 2003
  • Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
  • Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003
  • Microsoft Office Publisher 2003
  • Microsoft Office Word 2003
Important This article contains information about how to modify the registry. Make sure to back up the registry before you modify it. Make sure that you know how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up, restore, and modify the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows registry

SYMPTOMS

When you try to install a Microsoft Office 2003 service pack from the Microsoft Office Update Web site or the Microsoft Download Center, you receive an error message. Additionally, you cannot install the Office 2003 service pack.

When you try to install an Office 2003 service pack from the Microsoft Office Update Web site, you receive the following error message:
Installation Unsuccessful
When you try to install an Office 2003 service pack from the Microsoft Download Center, you receive the following error message:
The update cannot be applied.

CAUSE

This issue may occur because the Microsoft Windows Registry is corrupted and a registry key that provides the path of the original installation source for the Microsoft Office 2003 program is missing. Or, some third-party programs that modify the Microsoft Windows Registry removed the registry keys that are required by the Office 2003 Setup program.

RESOLUTION

Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.

To resolve this issue, you must identify the product code globally unique identifiers (GUID) for your Office 2003 products. Then, you must re-create the path of the original installation source in the registry.

Step 1: Identify the product code GUID for your Office 2003 product

To determine the product code GUID for your Office 2003 product, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

832672 Description of numbering scheme for product code GUIDs in Office 2003



Make a note of all the product code GUIDs for your Office 2003 products that you have installed on your computer. One missing entry may prevent all your Office 2003 products from being updated.

Step 2: Re-create the path of the original installation source in the registry

To do this, follow these steps:
  1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
  2. Locate and then click to select the following key:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Delivery\SourceEngine\Downloads\ download_code

    The download_code subkey is a series of numbers and letters in a format that may look similar to the following:

    90000409-6000-11D3-8CFE-0150048383C9

    Note There may be multiple download code subkeys that have a similar format of numbers and letters separated by dashes.
  3. With the download code subkey selected, click to select the Sources subkey.

    In the Sources subkey, you will find the product code GUID values for your Office 2003 product that you previously identified.

    Note There may be multiple product code GUID values.
  4. With the product code GUID value for your Office 2003 product selected, point to New on the Edit menu, and then click String Value.
  5. Type Path, and then press ENTER.
  6. With Path selected, click Modify on the Edit menu.
  7. In the Value data text box, type the full path of the original installation source for your Office 2003 program, and then click OK.

    For example, type D:\ if the CDROM drive used for installation is the D: drive.
  8. Repeat steps 4 through 8 for each product code GUID value that corresponds to an Office 2003 product that is installed on your computer.
  9. Repeat steps 3 through 9 for each download code subkey if you determined in step 3 that you have multiple download code subkeys.
  10. When you have completed all steps, click Exit on the File menu.

MORE INFORMATION

The error messages that are mentioned in the "Symptoms" section do not determine why you cannot update your Office 2003 program. However, the installation log that is created when an Office 2003 service pack is installed from the Microsoft Download Center gives you information that is more detailed.

For information about how to locate and read the installation log files, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

884290 How to troubleshoot an update installation by using log files in Office 2003

In the OHotfix(0000x)_Msi.log file (where x represents a number), the following text will be in the log file:

... StartCache: Error 0x80070002: failed to get download:

REFERENCES

For more information on the Local Install Source feature of Office 2003 Setup, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

830168 Frequently asked questions about the Local Install Source feature in Office 2003

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:2/21/2006
Keywords:kbupdateissue kbtshoot kbprb KB884298 kbAudEndUser
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