Cannot Run Setup If Installation Source Is Unavailable

ID: Q137103

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Office 97 for Windows
Microsoft Office for Windows 95, version 7.0
Microsoft Access versions 7.0, 97
Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows
Microsoft Excel for Windows 95, version 7.0
Microsoft PowerPoint 97 For Windows
Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows 95, version 7.0
Microsoft Project for Windows 95, version 4.1
Microsoft Publisher for Windows 95, version 3.0
Microsoft Word 97 for Windows
Microsoft Word for Windows 95, version 7.0

SYMPTOMS

If you install any of the programs listed above, and if you then attempt to run Setup for that program in maintenance mode in order to add or remove components or to uninstall or reinstall the program, you may receive any of the following error messages:

Setup cannot find the files on 'E:\' from which you originally installed the product.

Setup tried to create an invalid path using 'D:\OFFICE95\' and 'Setup.exe'.

Setup could not remove the file: '\\SERVER\SHARE\OFFICE95\Cdonline\RESULTS.HLP'.

Setup could not open the file: '\\SERVER\SHARE\OFFICE95\Setup.exe'.

Note that the paths in these error messages will vary depending on the program you are using.

CAUSE

This problem may occur if the location from which the programs were originally installed is no longer available.

The original installation location may be unavailable for the following reasons:

You installed the program(s) from a CD-ROM drive and the letter of the CD-ROM drive has changed as a result of installing a new hard disk or a removable disk drive, such as an Iomega ZIP drive.

-or-

You installed the program(s) from a network share (\\SERVER\SHARE, for example) that has either been renamed or is no longer available.

-or-

You installed the program(s) from a flat directory, created by copying all of the files from the CD-ROM or disks onto your hard drive. Since installation was originally completed, the flat directory has been deleted from your hard disk or has been moved to another location.

-or-

You used FDISK or another disk partition management program to add new partitions to your hard drive. As a result, some of your drive letters have changed.

WORKAROUND

Method 1: Start the setup program from the new location

Instead of launching the Setup program from either the shortcut for the Setup program on your hard drive or from Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel, double-click the Setup.exe file in the new source location.

Method 2: Modify the Setup.stf file

In many cases, it is possible to work around this problem by making some changes to the Setup.stf file used by the Setup program.


   Application                        Setup Table File
   --------------------------------   ----------------
   Microsoft Office 95 Standard       Off95std.Stf
   Microsoft Access 7.0               Acc95.Stf
   Microsoft Office 95 Professional   Off95pro.Stf
   Microsoft Excel 7.0                Xl95.Stf
   Microsoft Word 7.0                 Wrd95.Stf
   Microsoft PowerPoint 7.0           Ppt95.Stf

   Microsoft Office 97 Standard       Off97std.Stf
   Microsoft Office 97 Professional   Off97pro.Stf
   Microsoft Access 97                Acc97.Stf
   Microsoft Excel 97                 Excel97.Stf
   Microsoft Word 97                  Word97.Stf
   Microsoft PowerPoint 97            Ppt97.Stf

WARNING: This modification may not be supported by Microsoft Product Support Services (PSS). PSS will support some modifications to a BACKUP copy of the Setup.stf file. Note also that while PSS may help customers modify specific lines of an STF, we will not rewrite the entire file in order to achieve a desired configuration. As a general rule, support is limited to options that can normally be changed by a user during a standard installation of the program.

MORE INFORMATION

When you install Microsoft Office or any of the Microsoft programs listed above, the location from which the program is being installed is recorded by the Setup program. When you re-run a program's Setup program, either to add or remove components or to uninstall or reinstall the program, the Setup program expects the files it requires to be available in the same location from which the installation was originally performed.

If the original installation source is no longer available, the Setup program may not be able to locate the files that it needs, and you may receive any of the error messages shown above.

In some cases, the error messages will be displayed repeatedly: clicking the Ignore button may allow the Setup program to complete successfully. In other cases, the Setup program will fail to complete.

You can use the Find All Files dialog box to locate the Setup.stf file used by the Setup program that you are trying to run. Once you have located the Setup.stf file, make a backup copy of the file (name the copy "BACKUP.STF") and then follow these steps to open the Setup.stf file:

In Microsoft Excel, click the Open on the File menu, and open the Setup.stf file that you want to modify.

In the Text Import Wizard dialog box, click the Next button until "Step 3 of 3" appears.

In the Text Import Wizard - Step 3 Of 3 dialog box, scroll the Data Preview box until the word "ObjId" appears in the first column.

Hold down the SHIFT key on your keyboard.

Use the scroll bar to scroll the Data Preview window as far to the right as is possible. You should see the words "Install Directory" in the far right column.

Click once on the last column.

All of the columns should be highlighted.

Under Column Data Format, click the Text option. Click Finish.

Once the file is open, look for the following entries:


   Entry (column A)        Sample values (column B)
   ------------------------------------------------

   Source Directory        \\Server\Share\Office95
                           D:\Office95

   MSAPPS Network Server   \\Server\Share
   MSAPPS Network Drive    J:
   MSAPPS Network Path     \Office95\Msapps

Each entry in column B helps to specify the path to the original source location of the application. You can change the values in column B to reflect the current location of the application's files.

For example, if you installed Microsoft Office from a CD-ROM, and if the CD-ROM drive used to be drive D, you would see "D:\Office95" in column B. If the CD-ROM drive is now drive E:, you could change the value in column B next to "Source Directory" to "E:\Office95" (without the quotation marks).

Similarly, if you installed Microsoft Office from a network share, and if the network share has been renamed, the values in column B next to "Source Directory," "MSAPPS Network Server," "MSAPPS Network Drive," and "MSAPPS Network Path," would need to be changed to reflect the current path to the installation files. Each line should have a value similar to the following:


   Entry (Column A)        Sample Value(s) (Column B)
   ----------------------------------------------------------------
   Source Directory        \\<server>\<share>\<path to Setup.exe>
   MSAPPS Network Server   \\<server>\<share>
   MSAPPS Network Drive    <a drive letter that points to the share>
   MSAPPS Network Path     \<path to Setup.exe>\Msapps

Once you have made the necessary changes, you need to save and close the Setup.stf file:

Select the entire worksheet by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+SPACEBAR.

On the Format menu, click Column, and then click Column AutoFit Selection.

On the File menu, click Save As.

In the Save As dialog box, make sure that the Save As Type box contains the Text (Tab Delimited) item. The name of the file should be "Setup.stf".

To save the file, click Save or OK.

On the File menu, click Close to close the STF file. If you are prompted to save the file, click the No button.

After you save and close the file, you should be able to run the Setup program and add or remove components, or uninstall or reinstall the application.

If you installed a program from a flat directory that is no longer available because it has been deleted, you may need to re-create the flat directory, and then run the Setup program (that is, modification of the Setup.stf file may not work in this case).

Additional query words: 3.0 8.00 97 problems pub pub95 publisher


Keywords          : offwinsetup 
Version           : WINDOWS:3.0,4.1,7.0,97
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        :

Last Reviewed: April 26, 1999