OFF2000: Office Programs Immediately Quit on Windows NT 4.0

ID: Q236592

The information in this article applies to:
IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

SYMPTOMS

When you start one of the Microsoft Office 2000 programs, the program may quit a few seconds after starting.


CAUSE

This problem can occur on Windows NT 4.0 if you have permissions set in the Windows registry that prevent the necessary information from being written. The registry key in question is:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office


RESOLUTION

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys and Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).
To resolve the problem, please do the following:

  1. On the Start menu, click Run.


  2. In the Open box, type Regedt32.exe and click OK.


  3. Select the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE on Local Machine window.


  4. Locate and select the following key:
    \Software\Microsoft\Office


  5. On the Security menu, click Permissions.


    6. If the permissions on this key, or its subkeys, are such that the Windows Installer cannot update it, you may experience the problem described in the "Symptoms" section of this article.

    The following are the default registry permissions on this key: 
    
Name                            Permissions
----------------------------------------------
Creator Owner                   Full Control
Everyone                        Special Access
<machine name>\Administrators   Full Control
System                          Full Control
    NOTE: The following items are all turned on for the Special Access permissions for the Everyone group:
    Query Value
    Set Value
    Create Subkey
    Enumerate Subkeys
    Notify
    Delete
    Read Control
    The permissions you set for this key and its subkeys will vary according to your own situation. If you want to confirm whether this is a permissions issue, change your permissions on the Office key to match those above.

    NOTE: Make sure you select the Replace Permission on Existing Subkeys check box.

  6. Click OK in the Registry Permissions dialog box.


  7. On the Registry menu, click Exit.


  8. Start one of the Office programs.



MORE INFORMATION

For more information about Office programs that quit immediately after starting, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q224432 OFF2000: Program Quits Immediately After Starting

Additional query words: OFF2000 pid pidkey cdkey 


Keywords          : kbdta 
Version           : WINDOWS:2000
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbprb

Last Reviewed: July 15, 1999