OFF2000: Office Stops During Setup: Troubleshooting Steps on Windows 98

ID: Q238012

The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Office 2000

SUMMARY

This article contains information about troubleshooting steps to use when you are installing Microsoft Office programs under Microsoft Windows 98 and the Setup seems to stop responding (hang) without apparent errors.


MORE INFORMATION

Make Sure That Setup Has Actually Stopped Responding

Setup may appear to stop but in fact it is continuing slowly. Wait longer (about 20 minutes) before ending Setup. Before concluding that Setup is stopped, check the CD-ROM drive light and hard disk light for activity. Also press CTRL+ALT+DEL and check to see whether the Office Setup task shows as "Not Responding" in the Close Programs dialog box.

Create a Verbose Log File

If Setup stops and you do not receive any error messages, a verbose log file can be used to determine what action Setup was performing when it stopped. You can create a verbose log file by using the following steps:
  1. With the Office 2000 in the CD-ROM drive, click Start and then Run.


  2. In the Open edit box, type <CD-ROM drive letter>:\setup.exe /L*v! c:\verbose.log

    This creates a very detailed log file called Verbose.log at the root of the C drive. This file may be requested if you contact Microsoft Technical Support for further troubleshooting.


For additional information about creating and reading Office Setup logs, please click the article number(s) below to view the article(s) in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q237957 OFF2000: How to Use a Log File to Troubleshoot Setup Problems

Q230861 OFF2000: How To Customize Office Setup Logging Options

Quit All Unnecessary Programs

Quit all unnecessary programs that are running before you run Office 2000 Setup. To do so, use the following steps:
  1. On the Windows taskbar, click Start, and then click Run.


  2. Type msconfig in the Open box and then click OK.


  3. Click Selective startup on the General tab of the System Configuration Utility dialog box. Clear the following check boxes under Selective Startup:

    • Process Config.sys file
    • Process Autoexec.bat file
    • Process Winstart.bat file
    • Process System.ini file
    • Process Win.ini file
    • Load startup group items


    NOTE: One or more of these check boxes may not be available, depending on the files present on your computer.


  4. Click OK.


  5. Click Yes when you are prompted to restart your computer.




NOTE: If a beta version of Office 2000 has been installed, it must be uninstalled before you install the final version. Although Setup should prompt you to remove such a pre-release version, the alert may not appear.
For detailed information about this problem and removing the beta installed version, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q224434 OFF2000: Beta 2 Not Detected During Setup

Clean Boot Windows 98

For information about clean booting Windows 98 using the System Configuration Utility, please see the "Using System Configuration Utility" and "Narrowing the Focus" sections in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:
Q192926 How to Perform Clean-Boot Troubleshooting for Windows 98

Setup from Flat File

If there is enough space available on the hard disk, make a flat file of the contents of Office 2000 CD-ROM disk 1 by following these steps:
  1. Create a new folder at the root of a hard disk volume and name it "Flatfile".


  2. Copy the entire contents of the CD-ROM disk 1 into the the "Flatfile" folder. In Windows Explorer, click on the CD-ROM icon, and click Select All on the Edit menu. Drag the items thus selected on the right side of the Explorer window to the Flatfile folder on the left.

    If there are errors during the copy, it may indicate problems with the CD-ROM disk, lens, or drive.


You can use this flat file to install from a clean start or in Windows Safe Mode (see next section). Having a flat file makes it unnecessary to turn on real mode CD-ROM drivers in Safe Mode. If Setup from a flat file fails in Safe Mode or with a clean boot, there is still the possibility of a problem with the CD-ROM, because a damaged flat file may be created without generating an error.

Start Windows in Safe Mode

Windows has a built-in troubleshooting mode called Safe Mode. It bypasses startup files and uses only basic system drivers, including basic networking. When you start Windows in Safe Mode, Windows uses only the mouse, keyboard, and standard video graphics adapter (VGA) device drivers. This makes Safe Mode useful for isolating and resolving error conditions that are caused by both real-mode and Windows-based drivers. Windows also has troubleshooting features that may help you identify the problem. To start Windows in Safe Mode and make the additional troubleshooting features available, follow these steps:
  1. Click Shut Down on the Start menu. Click Restart and then click OK.


  2. Press and hold down the CTRL key until the Microsoft Windows 98 Startup Menu appears.


  3. On the menu, select Safe mode, and then press ENTER. Windows starts in Safe mode.


When you use Safe Mode or when you turn off 32-bit protected-mode drivers, Windows does not process protected-mode drivers (the Autoexec.bat and Config.sys files). Therefore, the CD-ROM drive is not available. To use Safe Mode with CD-ROM drive support, determine whether Windows uses protected-mode drivers for the CD-ROM drive. If Windows is using protected-mode drivers, install the real-mode (MS-DOS) drivers for the CD-ROM drive. The real-mode drivers are usually located on a disk that is shipped with the CD-ROM drive or with the computer. The drivers are installed in the Autoexec.bat and Config.sys files.

For additional information about determining whether Windows is using protected-mode drivers, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q151634 Protected-Mode CD-ROM Drive Support in Windows
For additional information about installing real-mode drivers for the CD-ROM, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q167069 Installing Real Mode CD-ROM Drivers for Office Installation

Check for a Valid Temporary Folder and Delete Temporary Files

There should be at least 50 megabytes (MB) of free space on the hard disk that contains the temporary folder. To check for a temporary folder and delete excess files from that folder, follow these steps:
  1. Restart your computer. Press and hold down the CTRL key until the Microsoft Windows 98 Startup Menu appears.


  2. On the menu, select Command Prompt Only, and press ENTER.


  3. At the MS-DOS prompt, type cd %temp% and press ENTER. If you get an error, continue with step 4. If the directory path changes with the final item in the path showing temp, go to step 6.


  4. At the MS-DOS prompt, type set and press ENTER. Note the location of the TEMP variable.


  5. Change to the folder you noted in step 4. For example, if TEMP is set to C:\Windows\Temp, type the following line and then press ENTER:
    cd\windows\temp
    If the folder you noted in step 2 does not exist, create the folder. To create a temporary folder, type the following command and then press ENTER:


    6. md c:\windows\temp
  6. Delete any temporary files in this folder. Temporary files have a .tmp file name extension. To delete these files, type the following line, and then press ENTER:


    7. del *.tmp
NOTE: Do not delete these files when you are running Windows because Windows or a Windows-based program may be using one of these files.

In Windows 98, you can delete many unused or temporary files by using the Disk Cleanup utility. For more information about using this utility, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q186099 Description of the Disk Cleanup Tool in Windows 98

Check the Hard Disk for Disk Errors and Fragmentation

Use the Scandisk program to check the hard disk for lost clusters and other file allocation table (FAT) errors and test the hard disk integrity. You can also use the Scandisk program to repair any of these problems. To run Scandisk, follow these steps:
  1. On the Start menu, point to Programs.


  2. Point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Scandisk.


  3. Click the drive that you want to check for errors, and then click Start.


Hard disks that are very fragmented can affect the performance and reliability of Office programs and other tasks in Windows. To resolve this problem, run Disk Defragmenter to defragment the hard disk drive. To run Disk Defragmenter, follow these steps:
  1. On the Start menu, point to Programs.


  2. Point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Defragmenter.


  3. Click the drive that you want to defragment in the Which drive do you want to defragment list, and then click OK.


Turn Off the CD-ROM Drive Cache and DMA

If the problem occurs while you are reading from a CD-ROM drive, try turning off the CD-ROM drive cache. This may make the drive more reliable but reduce performance. To turn off the CD-ROM drive cache, follow these steps:
  1. Click Start, point to Settings and click Control Panel.


  2. In Control Panel, double-click System.


  3. Click the Performance tab and click File System.


  4. Click the CD-ROM tab. In the Optimize access pattern for list, click to select No Read-Ahead.


  5. Drag the Supplemental cache size slider to the left position (the Small setting), and then click OK.


If you are using real-mode CD-ROM drivers, the drive may be cached by the Smartdrv.exe program. If this is the case, the Smartdrv.exe program must be made unavailable in the Autoexec.bat file. To do this, follow these steps:
  1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Information.


  2. On the Tools menu, click System Configuration Utility.


  3. Click the Autoexec.bat tab.


  4. Click to clear the Smartdrv check box, and click OK.


  5. To restart the computer for the change to take effect, click Yes.


Also turn off DMA or Direct Memory Access as detailed in the "Workaround" section of the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:
Q190630 OFF97: Kernel32.dll Error Installing Products with DMA

Verify That the Compact Disc Is Clean and Unscratched

If the problem occurs while you are installing from a compact disc, verify that the compact disc you are using is clean. You can wipe the compact disc with a soft, lint-free cloth. Also ensure that there are no large scratches on the compact disc. If the compact disc is damaged and unreadable, error messages may appear during installation.

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q174713 Troubleshooting Installation from Compact Disc Media

Check for a Corrupted Swap File

Setup problems may also appear if your Windows swap file is corrupted. To create a new swap file, restart the computer in MS-DOS mode, delete the Win386.swp file in the Windows folder, and then restart the computer. To create a new swap file, follow these steps:

  1. Click Shut Down on the Start menu. Click Restart and then click OK.


  2. Press and hold down the CTRL key until the Microsoft Windows 98 Startup Menu appears.


  3. On the menu, select Command prompt only, and then press ENTER.


  4. At the MS-DOS prompt, change to the Windows folder by typing the following command
    cd <drive>:\Windows
    where <drive> is the drive letter that contains the Windows folder. Typically, this is drive C.

    NOTE: The swap file exists in the Windows folder if Windows manages virtual memory settings on your computer. If you chose to manage virtual memory settings on the computer, the swap file exists at the root level of the hard disk. To determine whether Windows manages virtual memory settings, right-click My Computer, click Properties, click Performance, and then click Virtual Memory.


  5. To delete the swap file, type the following:


    6. del Win386.swp
  6. After you delete the swap file, restart the computer.


Check for Software Updates

Outdated and incompatible software may also cause setup problems. Check with the manufacturer of the computer for various software updates, such as BIOS updates, OEM Windows updates, and hardware driver updates such as CD-ROM, video, and printer drivers. If you are using third-party partitioning software--for example, EZDrive, or Ontrack Disk Manager--verify that you have the most recent versions of these products.

Scan the Computer for Viruses

If a virus is present on your computer and has damaged some files, problems may appear when you run Setup. Scan the hard disk and floppy disks with a virus detector. If the virus detector finds a virus on your computer, remove the virus before you run the Office Setup again.

NOTE: Do not run a virus detector terminate-and-stay-resident (TSR) program while you run the Setup program. Run a virus detector before you run Setup and then turn it off.

Check for Registry Corruption

When you start Windows in Safe Mode, Windows does not read the entire registry. Therefore, damage to the registry may not be evident when you run Windows in this mode. It may be necessary to replace the existing registry (System.dat) with a backup to determine whether the problem is caused by a damaged registry.

Windows includes a tool called Registry Checker that can scan your registry for corruption, and if necessary, restore a backup of the registry. Follow these steps to use Registry Checker to scan your registry:
  1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Information.


  2. On the Tools menu, click Registry Checker. You may receive the following error message:
    Windows encountered an error accessing the system registry. Windows will restart the computer and repair the system registry for you.
    If you receive this error message, proceed to step 3. If you do not receive the error message, your registry is okay.


  3. To restart your computer, click OK.


  4. Press ENTER when the Microsoft Windows 98 Startup Menu appears.


  5. At the command prompt, type Scanreg and then press ENTER.


  6. In the Check Your Registry dialog box, press ENTER. You should receive the following prompt:


    7. Windows found an error in your system files and restored a recent backup of the files to fix the problem.
  7. Press ENTER to restart your computer.


Windows stores five backups of your registry. If the registry has been damaged for a long period of time, you may need to use "Method 2: Restore the System.1st File" to determine whether your registry is damaged.

For additional information about Registry Checker, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q183887 Description of the Windows Registry Checker Tool (Scanreg.exe)

Q183603 How to Customize Registry Checker Tool Settings

Q184075 Description of Microsoft System Information (Msinfo32.exe) Tool
If replacing the System.dat file with the System.1st file resolves the issue, the problem may be related to registry damage. Note that you may have to reinstall programs and device drivers that you installed after you installed Windows to update the new registry.

If the issue is not resolved, restore the original registry. To do this, follow these steps:
  1. Restart your computer. Press and hold down the CTRL key until the Windows 98 Startup Menu appears.


  2. On the menu, select Command prompt only, and then press ENTER.


  3. Type the following commands:
    c:\windows\command\attrib -s -h -r c:\windows\system.dat
    copy c:\windows\system.dax c:\windows\system.dat
    Press Y and then press ENTER when you are asked to overwrite the existing System.dat file.


  4. Restart the computer.


Check Hardware

If you exhaust all other troubleshooting steps and you are still receiving error messages, it is possible that one or more pieces of your hardware are incompatible with Windows or are damaged. To identify a problem with your computer hardware, contact your computer vendor.

Badly seated memory or bad memory has been reported to cause Kernel32.dll error messages. Switching memory around in the motherboard memory banks has been known to correct some of these issues.

It has also been reported that running the Atron 380 Bus Mastering Ethernet Card can cause Kernel32.dll errors. Removing this card from the computer may resolve these error messages.

The third-party products discussed in this article are manufactured by vendors independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products' performance or reliability.

The third-party contact information included in this article is provided to help you find the technical support you need. This contact information is subject to change without notice. Microsoft in no way guarantees the accuracy of this third-party contact information.

For information about how to contact the companies mentioned in this article, click the appropriate article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q65416 Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, A-K

Q60781 Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, L-P

Q60782 Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, Q-Z

Reinstall Windows in a New Folder

Use this method only after you try all of the troubleshooting steps in this article. If you reinstall Windows in a new folder you must reinstall all Windows-based programs under the new Windows installation.

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q200378 OFF2000: How to Install Windows 98 to a New Folder

Turn Off Enhanced BIOS Features

Most computers have several enhanced settings that allow the computer to fully use the computer hardware. These high-speed settings can cause the system to become unstable; turning off these features may make the computer more stable. Contact your computer manufacturer for information about entering the basic input/output system (BIOS) and changing the BIOS settings. You can enter the BIOS on most systems immediately after turning on the power. Usually a keystroke, such as DEL, is required to enter the BIOS. Below are the common features that can interfere with Office programs:
  • Memory Shadow RAM
  • Video Shadow RAM
  • Internal Cache
  • External Cache
  • Built-in Virus Protection
Newer chipsets may have more advanced features, such as memory wait states, that may cause errors. Most BIOS installation programs have an option to load the BIOS default settings. This option usually turns off all advanced features.

WARNING: Incorrectly altering hardware BIOS settings can cause serious problems that may cause your computer to fail to start or function properly. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems that result from the incorrect setting of hardware BIOS options can be solved. Alter the hardware BIOS settings at your own risk.

Additional query words: OFF2000

Keywords : kbdta kbdtatshoot DTIR
Version : WINDOWS:2000
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbhowto


Last Reviewed: November 17, 1999
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