OFF97: Cannot Find MSO97.DLL Starting Program

On Microsoft Windows NT or Microsoft Windows 2000, when you attempt to run one of the Microsoft Office programs listed at the beginning of this article, the following error message appears, and the program does not run: NOTE: The paths to the individual programs differ depending on where you installed them.

This problem occurs if both of the following conditions are true:

• You ran the Microsoft Office 97 Setup program and selected Custom installation with the following options:
  Microsoft Access
  Data Access
  Office Tools
  
  -and-
  
  
• You ran the Microsoft Office 97 Setup program again, selected another Microsoft Office program (such as Microsoft Excel), and installed it to a location different from the other Microsoft Office programs.

For example, you receive the error message if you install Microsoft Access in the "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office" folder and then run Setup again and install Microsoft Excel in the "C:\Excel" folder.

To work around this problem, add the path of the Mso97.dll file to the operating system's environment search path. The Mso97.dll file should be located in the Office folder in the folder in which you installed the Microsoft Office 97 programs; for example, "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office." To locate Mso97.dll, search your hard disk by using Windows Explorer, or click the Start button on the taskbar, point to Find, and then click Files Or Folders.

To add the Mso97.dll path to your Microsoft Windows system environment path, use the appropriate procedure for your version of Windows.

Microsoft Windows NT 4.0

1. On the Start menu, point to Settings, and click Control Panel. Double-click the System icon and then click the Environment tab.
2. Under System Variables, click Path.
3. In the Value box, append the path to Mso97.dll to the existing path. For example, if Mso97.dll is located in the default folder, for example "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office," after you add this path, the Value box would appear as
   %SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office;
   NOTE: Be sure to add a trailing semicolon after the path. Failing to do so will cause problems when other programs append to this path.
4. Click Set, click Apply, and then click OK.

Microsoft Windows NT 3.51

1. In Program Manager, open the Main group. Double-click Control Panel and then double-click the System icon.
2. Under System Environment Variables, click Path.
3. In the Value box, append the path to Mso97.dll to the existing path. For example, if Mso97.dll is located in the default folder, for example "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office," after you add this path, the Value box would appear as
   %SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office;
   NOTE: Be sure to add a trailing semicolon after the path. Failing to do so will cause problems when other programs append to this path.
4. Click Set, and then click OK.

Microsoft Windows 2000

1. On the Start menu, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. Double-click the System icon, click the Advanced tab, and then click Environment Variables.
2. Under System Variables, click Path, and then click Edit.
3. In the Variable Value box, append the path to Mso97.dll to the existing path. For example, if Mso97.dll is located in the default folder -- for example, "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office" -- after you add this path, the Value box appears as
   %SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office;
   NOTE: Be sure to add a trailing semicolon after the path. Failing to do so causes problems when other programs append to this path.
4. Click OK. Click OK again.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.