Microsoft KB Archive/821549

= How to check the version of Office 2003 products =

Article ID: 821549

Article Last Modified on 9/18/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Office Access 2003
 * Microsoft Office Excel 2003
 * Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003
 * Microsoft Office OneNote 2003
 * Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
 * Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003
 * Microsoft Office Project Professional 2003
 * Microsoft Office Project Standard 2003
 * Microsoft Office Project Server 2003
 * Microsoft Office Publisher 2003
 * Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003
 * Microsoft Office Visio Professional 2003
 * Microsoft Office Visio Standard 2003
 * Microsoft Office Word 2003
 * Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003
 * Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003
 * Microsoft Office Student and Teacher Edition 2003
 * Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2003
 * Microsoft Office Basic Edition 2003

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For a Microsoft Office XP version of this article, see 291331.



SUMMARY
This article describes how to determine the exact version of your Microsoft Office 2003 product. It also provides version numbers for the original release and subsequent service packs.



How to find the version number
The following methods help you determine your installed version of the Microsoft Office programs.

Note When a software update does not include an updated version of the program’s executable file, see the documentation that is provided with your update to determine the files that are updated, and then check the versions of the updated files.

Method 1: Use the Add or Remove Programs dialog box
You can examine the version information of the installed Office program or of the individual Office products by clicking the Click here for support information link in the Add or Remove Programs dialog box. This version information is the most accurate documentation of the product version that is available on your computer. To do this, follow these steps:
 * 1) Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
 * 2) In Control Panel, click Add or Remove Programs.
 * 3) In Add or Remove Programs, locate and then click the appropriate Office edition or individual product.
 * 4) Click the resulting Click here for support information link. A message box displays the correct version information for the product as it is recorded by the Microsoft Windows Installer.

When you use this method, Office 2003 has the following version numbers for the original release and for the service pack releases:

Method 2: Verify the version property for the executable file
Use the following method to locate the executable file and to verify the version of your Office program:  Locate the Office program's executable file.

The following is the default location for these files in Office 2003:

\Microsoft Office\Office11

Note The default location for the Visio executable is as follows:

\Microsoft Office\Visio11

The executable file names are as follows:

To obtain the version number for Microsoft Outlook, check the version of the OutLLib.dll file instead of checking the version number of the Outlook.exe file that is located in the same directory as the listed executable files.

To obtain the version number for Microsoft Visio, check the version of the Vislib.dll file instead of checking the version number of the Visio. file exe that is located in the same directory as the Visio executable file.

To search for the appropriate file, search your hard disk drive. To do this, follow these steps.

Note Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.
 * 1) Click Start, and then click Search.
 * 2) In the Search Results pane, click All files and folders under Search Companion.
 * 3) In the All or part of the file name box, type the appropriate file name as listed earlier, and then click Search.
 * 4) In the resulting list of files, right-click the file, and then click Properties.
 * 5) On the Version tab, determine the version of the file that is installed on your computer.

When you use this method, Office 2003 has the following version numbers for the original release and for the service pack releases.

Note The default location of MSO.dll is Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE11.

Method 3: Use the About Microsoft dialog box
In the About Microsoft  dialog box, a number appears after the product name. For example, in Microsoft Office Excel 2003, you may see the following number:

(11.5207.5207)

To locate the About Microsoft  dialog box, click About Microsoft   on the Help menu in any Office program.

When you use this method, Office 2003 has the following version numbers for the original release and for the service pack releases:

How to understand the version number
Microsoft Office products use the following syntax for the version number:

aa.bbbb.cccc

This number represents the following three items:
 * aa: The version of Office.
 * bbbb: The version of the program executable file. For example, the Excel.exe file.
 * cccc: The version of the Mso.dll file.

Important  When you install a service pack, the version that is displayed in the About Microsoft  dialog box adds the letters &quot;SP&quot; and the number of the service pack level. How these letters appear depends on the version of the Mso.dll file. You may apply a hotfix or a public update that contains fixes that are provided in the latest service pack and that updates the Mso.dll file. In this case, the version of the Mso.dll file that is displayed in the About Microsoft  dialog box adds the letters &quot;SP&quot; and the number of the service pack level. This occurs even if that service pack is not installed.

For more information about this issue, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

328294 The About Microsoft  dialog box reports a service pack version that is different from what is expected in Office XP and in Office 2003

 Not all updates change the version number that is listed in the About Microsoft  dialog box. Therefore, you must verify the properties for the program's executable file.</ul>

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