OFF95: "Setup Error 907 Object..." with Workstation Setup

ID: Q147127

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Office for Windows 95, Professional edition
Microsoft Excel for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a
Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows 95, version 7.0
Microsoft Word for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a

SYMPTOMS

When you perform a workstation setup of Office 7.0, 7.0a, or 7.0b, you may receive the following error message

Setup Error 907 Object <XXXX>. Your Setup files may be damaged. Try restarting the Setup program.

where <XXXX> is an Object ID number in the Setup.stf file.

CAUSE

This behavior occurs because the administrative .stf file (Setup.stf, located on the server) calls a custom action, (ShortPath), which then makes an application programming interface (API) call to the operating system. If the operating system does not support the API call, or if the custom action returns an unexpected value, the Setup program fails.

This problem occurs when the following conditions are met:

You are using IBM Lan Server 4.0 network server software.

-or-

You are using IBM OS/2 3.0 network server software.

-and-

Your network administrator performs an administrative setup (setup /a) of Office 7.0, 7.0a, or 7.0b to a folder on the server.

-and-

You then perform a workstation setup from a workstation.

NOTE: This problem is likely to occur if, when asked for the default location for the MSOffice folder during the administrative setup, your network administrator types a universal naming convention (UNC) path with a trailing backslash.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, use one of the following methods:

Method 1

Your network administrator must replace the Off95_bb.dll file that setup installs on the administrative installation point on the server. To replace the file, the administrator must obtain the updated Off95_bb.dll file from Microsoft. The updated .dll file, can be obtained by downloading Off95_bb.exe and extracting its contents.

The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center. Click the file name below to download the file:

Off95_bb.exe

For more information about how to download files from the Microsoft Download Center, please visit the Download Center at the following Web address

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/search.asp

and then click How to use the Microsoft Download Center.

The network administrator must then copy the file to the destination Office folder that was created during the administrative setup (setup /a) on the server.

After the network administrator updates the Off95_bb.dll file, you can successfully perform workstation installations.

NOTE: Microsoft recommends that you also obtain the most recent version of Office, version 7.0b.

Method 2

Modify the Setup.stf using the Network Installation Wizard (NIW) version 1.1. This version of the NIW has a "Modify setup for LanServer compatibility" option under Office Options that will also resolve this problem.

Method 3

Modify the Setup.stf using Microsoft Excel for Windows.

NOTE: Use this method only if you are unable to use the first two methods.

WARNING: This modification may not be supported by Microsoft. Microsoft support professionals will support some modifications to a BACKUP copy of the SETUP.STF file. Note also that while support professionals may help customers modify specific lines of an STF, we will not rewrite the entire file in order to achieve a desired configuration. As a general rule, support is limited to options that can normally be changed by a user during a standard installation of the application.

NOTE: You must have the correct permissions on the server in order to modify the Setup.stf file. Please contact your network administrator before you attempt to modify any Setup file on the server.

To work around this problem using Method 3, modify the DestDir column references that point to all the ShortPath custom actions in the Setup.stf file on the server.

To modify the Setup.stf, use the following steps:

IMPORTANT: Before you begin this procedure, make a backup copy of the Setup.stf file located on the server. (That is, copy the Setup.stf file and rename it.)

In Microsoft Excel 5.0 or later, open the Setup.stf file.

In the Text Import Wizard dialog box, click Next until Step 3 Of 3 appears.

In the Text Import Wizard--Step 3 Of 3 dialog box, under Data Preview, drag the vertical scroll bar down until the "Object ID" item appears in the Data Preview window. Click the first column to select it. Hold down the SHIFT key, drag the horizontal scroll bar to the right until the last column appears in the Data Preview window, and click the last column. All of the columns should be selected.

Under Column Data Format, click the Text option, and then click Finish.

IMPORTANT: If you do not click the Text option at this step, Microsoft Excel will incorrectly read some of the entries in your edited .stf file. When this occurs, you will receive "setup parse errors" during setup.

Select columns A-K. Then, on the Format menu, click Column, and click AutoFit Selection.

On the Edit menu, click Find, and search for "ShortPath" (without the quotation marks).

For each occurrence of the text string, "ShortPath," write down the Object ID number that is in the same row in column A. Continue searching for "ShortPath" until you identify all the corresponding Object ID numbers.

In column K only, search for all instances of the Object ID numbers that you wrote down in step g, and replace the numbers with the letter "d" (without the quotation marks). For example, if you determine that Object ID 2480 corresponds to an instance of the text string "ShortPath," search for 2480 in column K and replace the number with "d." Note that the Object ID is preceded by a percent sign (%) in column K. When you replace the Object ID number with "d," do not remove the percent sign. For example, if you are replacing 2480, change the Object ID from %2480 to %d.

When you are finished replacing the references in column K, save the changes to the Setup.stf.

To save the Setup.stf file, use the following steps:

On the File menu, click Save.

In the Save File As Type box, click Text (Tab delimited), and then click OK.

Run the Setup program to perform a workstation installation.

NOTE: Do not use an MS-DOS Editor to modify the Setup.stf file. An MS-DOS Editor replaces tabs with spaces and causes a setup error.

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q111248 XL: Saving .STF File in Excel May Cause Setup Error Messages

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was corrected in the updated Off95_bb.dll file. This problem was not corrected in Microsoft Office versions 7.0a and 7.0b, so you must obtain the file to correct the problem.

The Network Installation Wizard 1.1 has an option under Office Options for "Modify setup for LanServer compatibilty" that will also resolve this problem.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q119357 OFF: "How to Create a Custom Installation Script" (WC1046)

Q232967 OFF: How to Obtain the Network Installation Wizard

Additional query words: ObjID localized international

Keywords : kbnetwork kbsetup kbtool offwin
Version : WINDOWS:7.0,7.0a
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type :