Excel Err Msg: "Can Only Run One Copy of Setup at a Time"

SUMMARY

If the Setup program in Microsoft Excel for Windows is interrupted unexpectedly by any means other than choosing Exit while in Setup, attempting to run Setup again may result in the error, "Can only run one copy of Setup at a time." This error will display even though only one copy of Setup is running.

MORE INFORMATION

When Setup initializes, it creates a directory called "MS-SETUP.T" (without quotation marks) in the root directory of the drive on which you are installing Excel. If Setup is unexpectedly interrupted after this directory has been created, it will be left on your drive and you will receive the Setup initialization error listed above when trying to run Setup again. An unexpected interruption is a system stop or hang while Setup is running or if Setup is otherwise aborted by rebooting rather than by exiting.

In order to run Setup without receiving the error, locate the directory MS-SETUP.T and delete it. If a system stop or hang caused the initial setup to fail, normal troubleshooting steps should be taken to determine the source of the conflict. A good place to start is by rebooting the machine with clean AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files. Also ensure that all items are removed from the Windows 3.1 Startup group and that the Load= and Run= lines in the WIN.INI file are blank (both Windows 3.1 and 3.0).

REFERENCES

"Microsoft Excel User's Guide 1," version 4.0, pages 3-4