# Trouble opening Excel



## eg1119 (Nov 16, 2009)

I am using Office 2007 on a Vista Business machine with SP 2. 

I have been using Excel and other Office programs on this machine for several months without problems.

If I type Excel into the START SEARCH box, or click on the link in the START MENU, I first get a WINDOWS INSTALLER message followed by a message that reads, "Problem with Shortcut. This update package could not be opened. Verify that the update package exists and that you can access it, or contact the application vendor to verify that this is a valid Windows Installer update package."

If I go to add/remove programs and click on the 2007 Microsoft Office system entry and click CHANGE, a window appears with text that reads, "Please wait while setup prepares the necessary files" appears briefly and then disappears. 

If I put my Office 2007 CD in my CD-Rom drive, it tries to auto-run. Then I get a message that reads, "Please wait while setup prepares the necessary files" then a message that reads, "Setup has stopped working. A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available."

I am able to use Office programs other than Excel without a problem.

Thanks for your help.


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## David Lundin (Nov 16, 2009)

I would check the list of installed Updates in Windows Update for any recent updates for Office. Then go to Programs and Options and Uninstall all of the recent ones.

Better yet maybe use System Restore and revert to before the latest updates.

I'm guessing some Update wasn't installed properly and is messing with your Office System.


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## eg1119 (Nov 16, 2009)

Thanks for your help. 

My Windows Update history shows that I installed SECURITY UPDATE FOR MICROSOFT EXCEL 2007 (KB973593) around the time the problems started to occur. I cannot uninstall that update. From PROGRAMS AND FEATURES if I highlight it and select UNINSTALL, I get an error message that reads, "The patch package could not be opened. Verify the patch exists and that you can access it, or contact the application vendor to verify that this is a valid Windows Installer patch package." 

I don't believe I have a restore point for prior to installing that update.


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## David Lundin (Nov 16, 2009)

Unless you have disabled System Restore manually, Windows Update always creates a restore point before starting updates. You may have to check some box called "Show more restore points" or similar to see all your available points.


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## eg1119 (Nov 16, 2009)

After the problem developed, I went to the Windows Update site and did an update. That was yesterday on 11/16. I believe the Excel update with the problem was downloaded on 11/13. If I go to the SEARCH box and type rstrui, I am taken to RESTORE SYSTEM FILES AND SETTINGS. It shows the most recent point for 11/16 before that update. If I fill the radio button for CHOOSE A DIFFERENT RESTORE POINT, the only restore point that is shown on the list is the one for 11/16. Does that mean it is the only one that is available?

Thanks.


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## David Lundin (Nov 16, 2009)

That unfortunately implies you only have one, yes.

Try downloading the update manually: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...ca-aff6-4ca0-acf1-440cae0f9693&displaylang=en

Then open a command prompt, go to the folder where you downloaded (you may want to choose a simple path like C:\temp to save you some hassle at the prompt).

The run the file with the following option " /extract:KB" without the " obviously. So it should look something like "excel2007-kb973593-fullfile-x86-glb.exe /extract:KB".

After that you can close the command prompt, then go to the new folder named KB and try running the file there. This should hopefully reinstall the update without bothering that it's already installed (which it will say if you run the downloaded file directly).

If that doesn't work I'm afraid there'll be registry hacking involved...


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## eg1119 (Nov 16, 2009)

I followed the instructions and wound up with an excel.msp file and a text file in a directory called KB. In that directory I double-clicked on excel.msp and got an error message that reads, "This patch package could not be opened. Verify the patch exists and that you can access it, or contact the application vendor to verify that this is a valid Windows Installer patch package."


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## David Lundin (Nov 16, 2009)

That is annoying. I did the exact same procedure and it seemed to reinstall the patch without complaints.

Try running it from the command prompt with this line instead: "msiexec /famus excel.msp"

That should repair the installation, overwrite all files and registry settings.


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## eg1119 (Nov 16, 2009)

Annoying indeed. On the plus side it does seem like they have made Excel really secure.

When I run that command I get an error message that reads "Windows Installer. This action is only valid for products that are currently installed."


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## David Lundin (Nov 16, 2009)

Hmm, so it's not even acknowledging you have Excel installed if I read that correctly...

Can't believe I didn't think of this before, but have you tried the "Office diagnostic" option that you can find on the help menu in your office apps? You can run it from eg. Outlook, and it should look over the Office installation and try to repair errors.


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## eg1119 (Nov 16, 2009)

I ran the Office Diagnostics. It ran six diagnostics and identified no problems and took no corrective actions.


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## David Lundin (Nov 16, 2009)

Ok, you're now officially at the stage where I'd personally just rip Office from the folders and registry and reinstall. A "hard" uninstall so to speak. I cannot really guide you for this though, and I don't recommend it unless you really know your way around the registry.

That said I did find this article just now which actually describes the process in fair detail: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928218

Still, the usual disclaimers apply here


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## eg1119 (Nov 16, 2009)

Thanks. Seems like it worked. Followed the steps and then was able to reinstall from the CD.


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## David Lundin (Nov 16, 2009)

Well, that was easy 

Glad you finally got it working!


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