Knowledge Base

Frequently asked questions about a problem that may cause Office 2000 prompts you to register after April 15, 2003

Article ID: 822244

Article Last Modified on 11/23/2006

APPLIES TO

Microsoft Office 2000 Standard Edition
Microsoft Office 2000 Premium Edition
Microsoft Office 2000 Professional Edition
Microsoft Office 2000 Small Business Edition
Microsoft Office 2000 Standard Edition
Microsoft Office 2000 with MultiLanguage Pack

SUMMARY

When you start an Office program after April 15, 2003, you may be prompted to register Office. This article contains a list of frequently asked questions (FAQ) about this problem. The FAQ also discusses how to deploy the hotfix.

For additional information about how to resolve the problem when you start a Microsoft Office 2000 program after April 15, 2003, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

818798 OFF2000: Office 2000 Prompts You to Register After April 15, 2003

MORE INFORMATION

Frequently Asked Questions

==== Can you provide some background history about this issue? Why does this problem occur? ====
When you install Microsoft Office 2000, a registry key is written. The registry key contains a machine configuration signature. Under typical circumstances, if non-exempt media are detected, you are prompted to register the product again. This behavior occurs if the configuration has changed substantially.

Note It is a typical practice to install software to multiple computers through the use of a common image. This type of installation is fast and easy to distribute. When you do this type of installation, the configuration signature stored is that of the original computer, not the computer that you are imaging.

Typically, a configuration change does not have any effect on exempt media such as Select, MSDN, and Open License.

Code is written in the Office 2000 product so that users are not prompted to register after April 15, 2003. However, the code has an unexpected result. Products from media that are typically exempt from registration are subjected to a "last chance" machine configuration examination. If a change is detected, and the user has permission to update the registry key, the user is prompted to register the product.

For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

255275 How to determine the version of your Office 2000 program
==== Our organization is not seeing many reports of the problem. What are the implications of not installing the hotfix? ====
If the hardware changes after April 15, 2003, users may be prompted again to register. Users are typically prompted only one time for each hardware change. To avoid all possible occurrences, apply the hotfix.
==== We have shared computers. Can a user with non-administrative rights make Office unusable for users with administrative rights? ====
Perhaps, but is unlikely. A user can do this only if the registration request is mandatory. (The mandatory registration request does not have a No option. Instead, the mandatory registration has a Register later option). Most of the time, users receive the voluntary registration request. The voluntary registration request cannot make the programs unusable.
==== When we extract the contents of the downloaded executable file, it contains an .msp file. We want to use Active Directory Software Distribution (ADSD) capabilities to distribute the hotfix. Does Microsoft provide an .msi file for the hotfix? ====
No. It is inappropriate to use an .msi file to distribute a fix for a program that is managed by Windows Installer.

It is too easy to introduce clutter into the Windows Installer configuration management information. The clutter may adversely affect to future upgrades or updates of the program. In an ADSD environment, Microsoft recommends that you fix the administrative installation point, and then republish the program. However, if you want to use ADSD to distribute a client hotfix, you can create a Group Policy object that runs the hotfix installation command line from a StartUp script.
==== When the client hotfix is run, an End User License Agreement (EULA) is displayed. How do I suppress this? ====
The EULA is displayed as part of the self-extraction. If you do not want to see the EULA, the administrator can extract the contents of the client hotfix, and then do one of the following:
- Run the OHotfix.exe file.
  
  -or-
- Use the MSIEXEC command line to apply the hotfix.
==== When I try to apply the hotfix, I am prompted for source files. Why? There is no access to source files. ====
For Office 2000, you cannot apply a client hotfix without access to source files. When the Office 2000 .msi file was created, there was a limitation in Windows Installer limitation. The limitation has to do with Windows Installer file replacement rules for non-versioned files. Briefly, Windows Installer almost always tries to replace non-versioned files, and therefore you are prompted for the source files.

When the Windows Installer checks to see whether a specific file should be installed, it examines any existing files for corruption. The .exe and .dll files are easy to examine, because many of them contain an embedded checksum. Windows Installer just recalculates the checksum, and then compares it to the embedded checksum. If the checksums do not match, Windows Installer replaces the file. Non-versioned files are more difficult to examine, because they contain no checksum. There is no easy way to detect corruption. In Windows Installer 1.x, Windows Installer first checks the Create and Last Modified times. If the Create and Last Modified times differ by more that several seconds, Windows Installer assumes that the user modified the file. Therefore, Windows Installer does not replace the file.

If the Create and Last Modified times are the same, the file should be the same as what is on the source media. Because Windows Installer cannot compare the files, those files are replaced in case they are corrupted. This issue is addressed in Windows Installer 2.0 by adding support for a special table in the .msi file that stores a hashing value. When the .msi file is built, the original hashing value is calculated and stored for later use as a comparison in determining corruption. However, because Office 2000 was built two years before the file hashing algorithm was implemented, Office 2000 does not contain that special table; therefore Windows Installer uses the "replace just in case" algorithm. That is why Office 2000 has to have source files.
==== After I apply the hotfix, the About Microsoft Word dialog box shows Service Pack 3 (SP-3). Why? Does this mean that Office 2000 is now SP-3? This is a problem for us, because we are not authorized to use SP-3 yet. ====
The Office 2000 product as a whole is not SP-3. Only the Mso9.dll file is version SP-3. This file affects the displayed version of Office in the About dialog box of some Office programs.

Because all fixes are cumulative, the hotfix is based on the latest post-Service Pack 3 (SP-3) version of the Mso9.dll file. As a result, the Office 2000 product, as a whole, is not SP-3 just because you apply this hotfix; only the Mso9.dll is SP-3. This affects the displayed version of Office in the About dialog box of some of the programs. The version that is displayed is based on the version of Mso9.dll.
For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

255275 How to determine the version of your Office 2000 program

To view the version of the installed Office program, click Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel, and then click the Click here for support information link.
==== How can I programmatically detect the version of Office? ====
There are many different approaches, depending what you intend to do with the detected information. If you are using the information for patching or upgrade purposes, Microsoft recommends that you use the same type of version-checking that Windows Installer uses. To do this, use the Windows Installer Automation layer. The following is a macro example that demonstrates this approach.

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language that is being demonstrated and the tools that are used to create and debug procedures. Microsoft support professionals can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific requirements. If you have limited programming experience, you may want to contact a Microsoft Certified Partner or the Microsoft fee-based consulting line at (800) 936-5200. For more information about Microsoft Certified Partners, see the following Microsoft Web site:

https://partner.microsoft.com/global/30000104

For additional information about the support options available from Microsoft, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;CNTACTMS
```
' Detecting version (RTM (9.00.2720), SR1 (9.00.3821), SP3 (9.00.9327).
Option Explicit
Const pcOffice = "{00000409-78E1-11D2-B60F-006097C998E7}" ' Office Premium
Dim msi

On Error Resume Next
Set msi = CreateObject("WindowsInstaller.Installer")

If Err.Number = 1004 Then
   WScript.Echo "Unable to create Installer object"
Else
   Select Case msi.ProductInfo(pcOffice, "VersionString")
      Case "9.00.2720"     'RTM version
      'Cannot do the 818798 patch
      Case "9.00.3821"     'SR1/SP2 version
      'Do 818798 SR1 patch
      Case "9.00.9327"     'SP3 version
      'Do 818798 SP3 patch
   End Select
Set msi = Nothing

End If
```
==== I thought this issue affected only Office. Why is Microsoft Project 2000 also prompting me to register? ====
Microsoft Project 2000 also uses the affected routines from the Mso9.dll file. Therefore, Microsoft Project 2000 may have the same behavior. This is also true for Microsoft Visio 2000. Microsoft is researching this issue in Microsoft Project 2000 and Visio 2000. The Office hotfix does not resolve this issue for Microsoft Project 2000 and Visio 2000. To work around this issue, clickRegister Later, or copy the updated Mso9.dll.
==== We have multiple Office 2000 programs installed on our client computers or in our administrative installation point. Can I fix just one program, or do I have to fix them all? ====
Microsoft recommends that you fix all the Office programs. Although you only have to fix one program to obtain the updated .dll file, you should fix all the affected Office programs for best Windows Installer resiliency (or self-heal). By default, the client fix automatically tries to fix every program that it can fix. If you have multiple programs that use the same administrative installation point (sometimes named an admin point or AIP), fix each program so that all the .msi files are correctly updated.
==== I do not want to update my clients right now. Can I apply the hotfix to the administrative installation point, and then update the clients on an as-needed basis? ====
No, that is not a good idea. When you apply a hotfix to the administrative installation point, the .msi file is updated with a new PackageCode. Because the .msi file has a new PackageCode, the .msi file knows that the client knows that a change has been made to the administrative installation point. Now the .msi file and the client are no longer synchronized. Self-healing is broken until the .msi file and the client are resynchronized by recaching the client.
==== What are resynchronizing and recaching? ====
When the Windows Installer installs an application, Windows Installer locally caches a copy of the .msi file for use during maintenance activities. Windows Installer also registers the PackageCode identifier so that Windows Installer knows how to recognize a valid source when Windows Installer has to have one. If the cached or registered .msi file does not match the source .msi file, they are no longer synchronized. To resynchronize them, the client must be forced to recache the .msi file. To do this, you perform a "recaching reinstall" with MSIEXEC by using the appropriate REINSTALL and REINSTALLMODE values.

The REINSTALL property specifies the features that have to be updated. (Typically, a change in PackageCode means that at least one feature has changed and has to be reflected at the client.)

The REINSTALLMODE is a set of switches that indicate which types of resources are to be refreshed by the reinstall. The v switch is to recache the .msi file. The m switch is for machine-data (including the registration of the new PackageCode). The u switch is for user-data. The o switch is for files that are older or missing. The s switch is for shortcuts. A typical recaching reinstall command line is similar to the following:

Msiexec.exe /i \\Server\Share\Myapp.msi REINSTALL=ALL REINSTALLMODE=vomus
==== If I use REINSTALL=ALL for Office, that is hundreds of megabytes (MB) of traffic. What command line do I use to have the minimum traffic? ====
The feature that updates the Mso9.dll file is ProductFiles (feature names are case-sensitive). Use the following command line (it reduces the traffic of a recaching reinstall to approximately 7.5 MB):

REINSTALL=ProductFiles
==== I receive error messages when I try to apply the updates. What do I do now? ====
The best diagnostic report is a verbose Windows Installer log. A support professional can typically determine the problem from a good verbose log.

To gather a verbose log, you can use the command line logging switches. However, Microsoft recommends that you set the Windows Installer logging policy (the command line switches will override if both are active). When you do this, even non-interactive Windows Installer activity, such as self-healing, is tracked. When the policy controls the logging, it generates a log file with a name format of Msinnnnnn.log, where nnnnnn is a hexadecimal number. The log is in the %Temp% folder of the user account that initiates the Windows Installer activity.

Gather the MSI log files, zip them, and then send them to Microsoft Product Support Services. Product Support Services may be able to help you figure out what went wrong, and then correct it or choose an alternative.

For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

223300 How to Enable Windows Installer Logging
==== Should I apply the hotfix to all workstations? ====
That answer depends on your environment. Weigh the costs involved, and then decide. In some environments, the potential Help Desk calls outweigh the cost of deploying the update. In other environments, the opposite is true. For this issue, unless you experience the mandatory registration request, or the programs keep prompting you to register, it may be more effective to just educate the user. As long as your installation source is at baseline, you can apply the client hotfix on an as-needed basis if users are prompted multiple times or they receive a mandatory registration request.

Definition Baseline means that no hotfixes or public updates have been applied to a source that is either SR-1(a) or SP-3. Office 2000 SP-2 is not baseline.

For new restorations of images, you can either update the image with the hotfix or apply the hotfix after you restore the image. Do what is best for your organization.

Note Updating the administrative installation point will temporarily break resiliency. A client cannot self-heal until the client is resynchronized with the administrative installation point.
==== Does the fix work for French language version of Office? ====
Yes.

The only language versions of Office 2000 that do not use the patched .dll file are the Thai and Indic language versions. The Thai and Indic language versions are based on a separate, shared code base that also supports Vietnamese. The Indic languages supported include Devanagari-based languages (Hindi, Konkani, Marathi, Nepali, and Sanskrit) and Tamil. These versions are not registration-aware and should not have the problem.
==== What occurs after 50 uses? ====
This depends on which of the two types of registration models is invoked.

The voluntary registration mode gives the user a choice of Yes or No. If the user clicks Yes, the Registration Wizard starts. If the user clicks No, the Registration Wizard is bypassed and the programs start.

Typically, the user is prompted with the choice of Yes or No only one time. However, the user may be prompted each time that they start the program. Regardless of how many times the user is prompted, voluntary registration does not disable the programs after 50 attempts. When the user is prompted the first time, they are prompted with the question, "Would you like to register your copy of program name with Microsoft?" There are two buttons, Yes and No.

The mandatory registration mode does not give the user a yes or no choice. Instead, the Registration Wizard starts. On the first page of the Registration Wizard, the user can click Next or Register Later. If the user clicks Register Later 50 times, the programs will not start until the product has been activated.

There has been much confusion about this page of the Registration Wizard, including an article with erroneous and misleading information printed by an Internet news site. If you believe that your users are experiencing the mandatory mode with Select or Open License media, please contact Microsoft Product Support Services. You may be asked to export the following registry key, and then send the file to your support professional for additional analysis:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Common\LV
==== If Office stops starting after 50 attempts, how can I start it again? ====
A Microsoft support professional should be able to use a utility to reregister the product with a new bypass key. Also, please contact Product Support Services if you need help downloading and installing the hotfix.
==== What if I do not have Windows Installer 2.0 on the computer? ====
For Office 2000 SP-3, Windows Installer 2.0 is required for client-side patches. If you have SP-3 installed, you have to refresh from an administrative installation point or update to Windows Installer 2.0. For Office 2000 SR-1/SP-2, Installer 2.0 is not required. However, Windows Installer 2.0 offers bug fixes and enhancements, so Microsoft recommends upgrading if possible.

For more information about Windows Installer 2.0, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4b6140f9-2d36-4977-8fa1-6f8a0f5dca8f&DisplayLang=en
==== Does the update require original source to be available? ====
Because the Office 2000 .msi file does not contain the information necessary to avoid having to reinstall non-versioned files, Office has to have a source.
==== How do we switch to using an administrative installation point as source if the image was done from CD? ====
To add a reference to an administrative installation point, you can use VBScript or JScript code running under administrative credentials.
==== What do I have to do to allow a locked-down user to apply the hotfix? ====
If you are refreshing from an administrative installation point that is already registered in the Windows Installer's Source List, you do not have to do anything. However, to allow a locked-down user to use as a source an administrative installation point not already in the list, the AllowLockdownPatch policy must be enabled.

To allow a locked-down user to use a CD or other removable media as a source, the AllowLockdownPatch policy must be enabled.

To allow a locked down user to apply a client hotfix, the AllowLockdownPatch policy must be enabled.

Note All these policies introduce relaxed security. Use thes policies with caution.
==== Can I just copy the .dll file and register it? ====
Microsoft does not recommend this. The Windows Installer configuration information keeps track of file versions. If you introduce a file of a later version manually, and then afterwards that file is accidentally removed, Windows Installer resiliency would not restore the new file and the problem may be reintroduced.

You may want to use that means of distribution, only if there is no reasonable way to provide source media. The out-of-date configuration information is mitigated by the absence of any file resilience capability by the Windows Installer without access to a source. Under those circumstances, copying the updated Mso9.dll is the only alternative. However, you do not have to register the new version.
==== Can I just copy the updated HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Common\LV registry keys from a "fixed' computer? ====
Microsoft does not recommend this.

User Education

Because exempt media only display a voluntary registration prompt, there is no risk that the product will stop functioning. (Office 2000 does not have a mode of reduced functionality; this was introduced with Office XP.)

For non-exempt media that implemented mandatory registration after 50 dismissals of the request to register cause the program to no longer start, exempt media does not implement mandatory registration. Users who are prompted with yes or no can click No. They should not be prompted again.

Although Microsoft testing has shown that users without permission to update the registry entries are not prompted, there are reports of users who receive continue to be prompted. The registry entries in question are the following key and its sub-keys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Common\LV

If a user clicks Yes, they can finish the Registration Wizard with out any adverse effect. If a user is not presented with a yes or no option, this is the mandatory registration request. It means that the installation source media was not exempt media. User dismissal of the prompt is not an option. You should distribute the hotfix.

Hotfix

A hotfix is available in four forms. The hotfix can be applied to either the client computer or to an administrative installation point. Both of these updates are available in two versions: Service Release 1 (SR-1) and Service Pack 3 (SP-3).

Note There is no hotfix for the initial release of Microsoft Office 2000; the Office 2000 SR-1 update also applies to SR-1a and SP-2.

Which update to use depends upon your environment and your chosen method of update management.

Note All four forms require source media to apply the update.

==== SR-1 Client patch ====
The SR-1 client patch is a small binary patch. A binary patch modifies the existing DLL into the new version instead of replacing the whole file. Although this means a smaller file will be distributed, it also means that the existing file must be at SR-1 level (9.0.0.3821). If the existing file is not exactly at SR-1 level, Windows Installer will retrieve the file from the available media source, and then try to patch it. If Windows Installer cannot patch the retrieved file, a 1328 error will occur and the client patch does not work.

If the source media is beyond the SR-1 version (such as when SP-2 or other updates or hotfixes have been applied to the admin point), use the admin hotfix. If client patches are applied, an update to the admin point may not be reflected by a recache.

For additional information, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

245025 OFF2000: How to Obtain and Install the Microsoft Office 2000 SR-1/SR-1a Update

258323 OFF2000: How to Obtain and Install the Fully Downloadable SR-1 Update
==== SR-1 Admin patch ====
The SR-1 admin patch is a full file replacement to be applied to an admin point. After the admin point has been updated, the client computers must be resynchronized with the admin point by doing a recaching reinstall. Until the recache is performed, application self-healing will not succeed. The recache can be performed with a network traffic of about 7.5 MB.

For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

257983 OFF2000: How to Obtain and Apply the SR-1/SR-1a Update to Administrative Installations
==== SP-3 Optimized Client patch ====
The SP-3 client patch is also a binary patch. It is named an optimized patch because it was built using Windows Installer 2.0 resulting in an even smaller patch file. Although this means that a smaller file is distributed, it also means that Windows Installer 2.0 must be on the client computer and that the existing file be at SP-3 level (9.0.0.6926). If the existing file is not at SP-3 level, Windows Installer will retrieve the file from the available media source, and then try to patch it. If the retrieved file cannot be patched, a 1328 error will occur and the client patch does not work. If the source media is beyond the SP-3 version, the admin patch should be used.
==== SP-3 Full File patch ====
The SP-3 full file patch is a complete file replacement patch that can be applied either to an admin point or to a client (applying the full file patch to a client requires Windows Installer 2.0 and should not be mixed with admin point updates). When the admin point has been updated, the client computers must be resynchronized with the admin point by doing a recaching reinstall. Until the recache is performed, application self-healing will not succeed. The recache can be performed with a network traffic of about 7.5 MB.

For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

326585 OFF2000: Overview of Office 2000 Service Pack 3

Alternatives

If it is determined that user education is not sufficient and that a hotfix does not work in your environment, consider just distributing the updated Mso9.dll file to the target computers. This is not recommended, because it interferes with the Windows Installer configuration management information. However, there is no way to apply the hotfix without source files. The Mso9.dll file does not have to be registered.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

252885 OFF2000: Programs May Display Different Version Numbers in "About" Box

Keywords: kbinfo kbtshoot kbqfe kbprb kbstartprogram KB822244

Microsoft KB Archive/822244

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