"Could Not Open the File Named C:\MSOFFICE\SETUP\SETUP.INF"

ID: Q117474

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Office for Windows, versions 4.2, 4.3

SUMMARY

When you run the Microsoft Office Setup program in maintenance mode, and you choose the Remove All button, and you then choose the Cancel button to interrupt the Setup program, the next time you run the Setup program, you receive the following error message

Could Not open the file named:
C:\MSOFFICE\SETUP\SETUP.INF

where C:\MSOFFICE is the directory to which you installed the Microsoft Office files.

This also occurs when you select Add/Remove and an application such as Microsoft Excel is removed. When you return to the Maintenance Mode of Installation, you receive the error message:

Could Not open the file named:
C:\MSOFFICE\SETUP\SETUP.INF

CAUSE

This error message appears because the SETUP.INF file is one of the first files that is removed when you choose to uninstall Microsoft Office. If you cancel the Setup program while the Microsoft Office files are being removed, the SETUP.INF file may have already been removed. You cannot run the Microsoft Office Setup program if this file does not exist on your computer.

The SETUP.INF file is the Setup Information file, and contains information that the Setup program needs to run.

WORKAROUND

To correct this problem and run the Microsoft Office Setup program again, do either of the following:

Restore the SETUP.INF file from the Microsoft Office Disk 1 using the following steps:
1. Insert the Microsoft Office Disk 1 into your floppy disk drive.
2. At the MS-DOS command prompt, change to the drive that contains the disk.
3. Type the following and press ENTER
  decomp setup.in_ c:\msoffice\setup\setup.inf
  where c:\msoffice is the directory to which you installed Microsoft Office.
4. Run the Microsoft Office Setup program again.
5. To repeat the last installation and restore any files and settings that were accidentally removed, choose the Reinstall button.
-or-

Rename the SETUP.STF file using the following steps:
1. Using File Manager, rename the SETUP.STF file in the SETUP subdirectory of your Microsoft Office directory.
2. Run the Microsoft Office Setup program again.
3. Choose the installation option that you chose when you installed Microsoft Office.

The Setup program should run quickly when you use this procedure, because the files already exist on your hard drive, so the Setup program does not have to copy them again.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

Additional query words: err msg uninstall


Keywords          : 
Version           : 4.20 4.30
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        :

Last Reviewed: June 9, 1999