Microsoft KB Archive/123580

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Office 4.3c: "Bad System Value in INF File" Error During Setup

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Q123580

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Office for Windows, version 4.3c

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SYMPTOMS
When you run the Microsoft Office Setup program, you may receive one of the following error messages:

Bad system value in INF file

"-or-"

Bad first character on inf line

"-or-"

Bad System Value in INF File Description Line

The only option is to choose OK, and your are forced to exit the Microsoft Office Setup program before Setup is complete.

CAUSE
This problem occurs if you choose to install Microsoft Excel to a directory that contains Microsoft Excel version 4.0, and you choose to update the existing version.

The error also occurs if you have had an unsuccessful installation of Microsoft Excel 5.0c and any files remain in the directory location. Removing the directory prior to attempting a new install prevents this error message.

The error message is caused by an incorrect line in the [XL4 Q+E Files] section of the SETUP.INF file. This line is used only when you install Microsoft Excel 5.0c (using Microsoft Office version 4.3c Setup) to a directory that contains Microsoft Excel 4.0 files, so that the previous Microsoft Excel files are removed during installation.

WORKAROUND
To work around this problem, use either of the following methods.

Method 1: Run the Microsoft Office Setup again, and install Microsoft Excel to a new directory that does not contain any files. You should delete the old target directory (for example, MSOFFICE), the ~MSSTFQF.T directory and any of its subdirectories.

Method 2: Modify the SETUP.INF file, contained on Disk 1, by doing the following:

 Make a backup copy of SETUP.INF. Open the SETUP.INF file in a text editor such as Microsoft Write and when you are prompted, choose "No Conversion". This file is located on Disk 1 of the Microsoft Office 4.3c Setup disks. Note: the file is too large to be opened in Notepad. Search for the string "system ," (without the quotation marks). Note the space between the word "system" and the comma. This string "system ," is found in the [XL4 Q+E Files] section. Delete the space between the word "system" and the comma. Save the SETUP.INF file as text, and run the Microsoft Office setup program again.

Note: in some cases, when you attempt to save the SETUP.INF file in Write after modifying it, you will receive the error message "Not enough disk space." To workaround this issue temporarily, move the WDREADME.HLP file to your hard drive, then resave the SETUP.INF file to disk 1. When that is complete, move the WDREADME.HLP file back to disk 1 and the setup will proceed without error.

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: 4.30c

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