OFF97: "US\English" Error When Installing SR-1 Patch

ID: Q179461

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 run the Microsoft Office 97 Service Release 1 (SR-1) Patch, you may receive the following error messages:

Microsoft Office 97 SR-1
Please note: This version of the patch will function only for the US\English versions of Microsoft Office 97.
-and-
Microsoft Office 97 SR-1
The patch has determined that your installation of Office cannot be updated at this time. Shut down all running applications and re-run the patch, if the problem persists consult the Microsoft Knowledge Base at http://www.microsoft.com/kb.
The URL in the error message is erroneous. To search the Microsoft Knowledge Base, visit the Microsoft Support site at:
http://support.microsoft.com/support/
If you open the log file created by the patch, the log file may contain two instances of the following line of text:
Office files considered vital were not found (mso7enu.dll).


CAUSE

This problem may occur if the following key in the registry refers to the incorrect folder location used by Microsoft Office: 


   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\8.0\BinDirPath

For example, the BinDirPath subkey may refer to the following incorrect folder location 

   C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office

when it should actually refer to the following location: 

   C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office

The SR-1 Patch uses the folder location specified by the BinDirPath subkey to determine where certain critical files exist on the computer so that they can be patched. If this subkey location is incorrect, the patch cannot find the required files and the patch fails.


RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, correct the BinDirPath subkey in the registry.

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.

To correct the subkey, follow these steps:

  1. On the Start menu, click Run. In the Open box, type regedit. Click OK.


  2. In the registry tree, click the plus signs (+) to the left of the following items, in order 
    
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
      SOFTWARE
      Microsoft
      Office

    to open the following subkey: 
    
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office


  3. Select the folder labeled "8.0."


  4. In the right pane, click BinDirPath. Then, click Modify on the Edit menu.


  5. In the Value Date box, enter the correct path for Microsoft Office. Usually, the correct path is the following: 
    
      C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office

    Then, click OK.


  6. On the Registry menu, click Exit.


After you have corrected the registry subkey, run the SR-1 Patch.


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: OFF97 sr1 small business edition sbe us english 


Keywords          : kberrmsg kbsetup offwinsetup offupgrade 
Version           : WINDOWS:97
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbbug

Last Reviewed: May 25, 1999