OFF2000: How to Use a Log File to Troubleshoot SR-1 Update Problems

If a problem occurs with the installation of the Microsoft Office 2000 Service Release 1 (SR-1) Update, an error message may or may not appear. In either case, using log file can help you troubleshoot the issue.

This article discusses a few techniques for interpreting the information in the SR-1 update log files. The topics are listed in the order in which you want to use each technique. This article does not cover every situation you may encounter, but it discusses several examples in which the update issue is resolved by interpreting a log file.

Default Log Files

By default, Office Setup creates two log files during the installation, one for Setup.exe and one for the Windows Installer (Msiexec.exe). The log files are created in your \Temp\SR1Patch folder and have names similar to the following: The #### characters in the log file names are numbers that begin with 0001. They increment by 1 if you have to run the update multiple times. So the log file with the highest number is the log file for the last time that you ran the update.

If you want to customize the way that the SR-1 update creates log files, use one or more of the command-line switches that are available for Setup.exe of the update.

Command-Line Switches

You can run the SR-1 update from the command line if you want to control such features as detection mode or log file generation. The following table lists the relevant logging command-line options that are supported by the SR-1 update Setup program.

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

Switches in Detail

As stated in the earlier section about command-line switches, several logging switches can be used with Setup.exe:

/L1: This creates a log file for Setup.exe only (by default in the \Temp\SR1Patch folder). For example, the following command line: creates a Setup log file called "setuplog.txt" in the c:\logfiles folder. Because the /L1 switch was used, the log file for the Windows Installer is not created.

/L2: This creates log files for both Setup.exe and the Windows Installer (by default in the \Temp\SR1Patch folder). If you use the following command line: you get both default log files in your \Temp\SR1Patch folder.

/V: This turns on (enables) verbose logging and can be used with either /L1 or /L2. You cannot use /V by itself. If you use the following command line: you get both log files in your \Temp\SR1Patch folder. But the Windows Installer log file is a verbose log file.

"log file name": You can specify your own log file name to be used with either /L1 or /L2. You need to enclose the path\filename of your log file with quotation marks if you have any spaces in the path or log file name.

If you use the following command line: you get the following two log files in the c:\Logfiles folder: The first log, Sr1log.txt, is the log for Setup.exe, and the second log, Sr1log_MsiExec.txt is the log for the Windows Installer.

NOTE: If you use the /V switch along with a custom log file name, you must put the /V switch after the file name. For example, the following command line is the correct syntax:

How to Create the Log Files

If you want to apply the customized logging options for the SR-1 update, do one of the following:

If You Unsuccessfully Applied the SR-1 Update

If you ran the SR-1 update on your computer and it failed, you should have many of the downloaded files in your \Temp\SR1Patch folder. In this case, follow these steps to implement customized logging options:

1. On the Start menu, click Run.
2. In the Open box, type your customized command line. For example, if you just want to turn on verbose logging for the SR-1 update, type the following:
   C:\Windows\Temp\SR1patch\Setup.exe /L2 /V

This example creates the Setup log file and a verbose Windows Installer log file in the \Temp\SR1Patch folder. The names of these two log files are not changed from the default names listed earlier in this article.

If You Did Not Run the SR-1 Update

If you did not run the SR-1 update, or if you ran it previously but Setup.exe is not in the \Temp\SR1Patch folder, follow these steps:

1. Download the O2ksr1a.exe file from the OfficeUpdate site to your hard disk. You can download this version of the SR-1 update from the following Microsoft Web site:
   
   http://download.microsoft.com/download/office2000pro/SP/SR-1a/WIN98/EN-US/o2ksr1a.exe (http://download.microsoft.com/download/office2000pro/sp/sr-1a/win98/en-us/o2ksr1a.exe)
2. Run a command line similar to the following to manually extract the files from this IExpress package:
   C:\O2ksr1a.exe /c /t:c:\SR1files
   This extracts the Setup.exe, Source.ini, and O9sr1.hlp files to the c:\SR1files folder.
3. Run a command line similar to the following:
   C:\SR1files\setup.exe /L2 /V
   This example creates the Setup log file and a verbose Windows Installer log file in the \Temp\SR1Patch folder.

How to Troubleshoot with Log Files

As with the installation of Office 2000, a verbose log file is always the best log file to use for troubleshooting. However, you can resolve many issues with a non-verbose log file.

How to Read the Log for Setup.exe

The Setup log file [that is, Office 2000 SR-1 Setup(0001).txt] is a great place to begin your troubleshooting. It can tell you the following:

• The build of Office that is being updated
  
  The build is listed on the line similar to:
  Microsoft Office 2000 Premium (9.0.2720), {00000409-78E1-11D2-B60F- 006097C998E7}
  In this example, the build of Office that is being updated is 2720, which is the original version, which was shipped in 1999. If you see a build number that is lower than 2720, you probably have a Beta version of Office 2000 installed.
• The version of Office that is currently installed
  
  The following text from a Setup log file reveals that Office Premium and CD2 were installed:

  Detected the following products for patching:
     Microsoft Office 2000 Premium (9.0.2720), {00000409-78E1-11D2-B60F-
  006097C998E7}
        Product is patchable.
     {00010409-78E1-11D2-B60F-006097C998E7}
        Product is not installed.
     {00020409-78E1-11D2-B60F-006097C998E7}
        Product is not installed.
     {00160409-78E1-11D2-B60F-006097C998E7}
        Product is not installed.
     {00170409-78E1-11D2-B60F-006097C998E7}
        Product is not installed.
     {00180409-78E1-11D2-B60F-006097C998E7}
        Product is not installed.
     Microsoft Office 2000 Disc 2 (9.0.2720), {00040409-78E1-11D2-B60F-
  006097C998E7}
        Product is patchable.
  						

  NOTE: The log file text above is a truncated version of the real log file. Some lines were removed to fit this article.
• The version of Internet Explorer that is installed
  
  Because the SR-1 update can install Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.01, it is important to know what version of Internet Explorer is already on your computer. If an earlier version of Internet Explorer is installed, you may see text similar to the following:
  The version of IE installed on the computer is 4.72.3110.0 IE needs to be upgraded to the version 5.0.2919.6307
  If you already have Internet Explorer 5.01 installed, you may see text similar to the following:
  The version of IE installed on the computer is 5.0.2920.0 IE has already been updated to the level of Office 2000 SR-1 or above
  You certainly see this version of Internet Explorer 5 on a computer that is running Windows 2000.
• The download location of the .msp files
  
  Because there are currently two ways to install the SR-1 update, you may need to know whether you installed from the OfficeUpdate site or you downloaded the O2ksr1dl.exe file from the Office Resource Kit (ORK) site and ran it from your hard disk. If you installed from the OfficeUpdate site, your Setup log file should contain the following:
  Beginning download of http://download.microsoft.com/download/office2000prem/Update/3821/WIN98/EN-US/data1.msp. Finished downloading
  If you do not see this in the Setup log file, you may have encountered problems during the download. In this case, you can try it again from the OfficeUpdate site, or you can try the O2ksr1dl.exe download from the Office Resource Kit.
  
  NOTE: You can download the O2ksr1dl.exe file by browsing to the following Microsoft Web site:
  
  http://www.microsoft.com/office/ork/2000/appndx/toolbox.htm#o2sr1au (http://www.microsoft.com/office/ork/2000/appndx/toolbox.htm#o2sr1au)
  
  

Successful Logging

One of the most important parts of reading Setup log files is the line that begins with the text "Patch applied". If the entire update process is successful, this line in the Setup log file will be: This line is followed by: Your Setup log file can also contain the following: This line is followed by about 20 more log lines. Eventually you should see the following: The 1604 value on this line should be considered the same error message that is listed in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:
In this case, the 1604 error also indicates a successful update and can be ignored because it means that the process was suspended, usually for a restart. To confirm that this error message was generated by a restart request, search the Windows Installer log file for "forcereboot". You should come across lines like the following: The return value of 4 indicates that the Windows Installer has queued itself up to continue after your computer is restarted.

Logging Failures in the Setup Log File

It is important to know what a failed install looks like, in terms of the log file. If the update fails at any stage, you see a different error number on the "Patch applied" line. For example: In this example, the 1603 error number equates to: The error number listed on this line typically is 1603 anytime that the update process fails. Because the 1603 error is a generic failure error, you must open the corresponding Windows Installer log file to get the exact error and then troubleshoot based on that error number. See the next section, "Windows Installer Logging," for more information about how to read Windows Installer log files.

The "Patch applied" line in the Setup log file can show error numbers other than 1603. If you get a different error number (such as 1619), please see the following Knowledge Base article for information about the Windows Installer error message.: You should also check the Windows Installer log file for any relevant information.

Windows Installer Logging

If you receive an error message during the SR-1 update process, you should look at the Windows Installer log file; for example, Office 2000 SR-1 Setup(0001)_MsiExec.txt. Even if it is not a verbose log file, you can still diagnose and solve many problems. If practical, a verbose log file is always the best source of information for troubleshooting Windows Installer issues.

When looking at a Windows Installer log file, you must use the same techniques described in the following Knowledge Base article: This includes searching for the following:

• The error number
• Return value 3 or Return value 2

The Error Number

If you receive a Windows Installer error message during the update process, the error message will probably include an error number. For example, if you receive an error 2371, you may see the following text in a non-verbose log file: In this example, little information is provided before or after the 2371 error. The following text is taken from a verbose log file that was created on the same computer that generated the preceding non-verbose logging information: Clearly, the verbose log file generates much more useful information for troubleshooting this issue. The log file reveals that the update is having a problem updating the Excel.exe file. Some reasons why the Windows Installer is having this problem may include the following:

• The file is corrupted.
• The file was updated with a QFE prior to the SR-1 update.
• There are incorrect permissions on the file.

Return Value 3 or Return Value 2

You can also use the "return value" to help narrow down the source of the problem. If you ever locate return value 3 in a log file, you are very close to the text that indicates when the problem occurred. In all cases, a line that contains return value 3 indicates a failed action. See the two log file examples listed earlier to see how this appears in a log file.

You can also search for "return value 2". This indicates that you canceled out of the update prematurely. The following text was taken from a verbose log file where the Windows Installer displayed a prompt for the SR-1 CD: Because the SR-1 CD does not currently exist, this text is a good indicator of a problem. In this case, querying the Microsoft Knowledge Base on SR-1 and prompt and off2000 and "please insert the disk" yields the following article:

How to Create Log File When You Update an Admin Installation of Office 2000 to SR-1/SR-1a

You can create a log file while you update an administrative installation of Office 2000 to SR-1/SR-1a. Use a command line similar to the following to create a verbose log while updating an administrative of Office 2000 to Office 2000 SR-1/SR-1a: where Admin Path is the path to your administrative installation point for Office 2000, and Source Path is the path to Data1.msp. The path to Data1.msp varies, according to the following table. NOTE: <CD-ROM drive> in the preceding table is the drive letter of your CD-ROM drive.

For additional information about updating an administrative install to Office 2000 SR-1/SR-1a, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Additional Troubleshooting Information

If you cannot decipher the problem from the Setup or the Windows Installer log files, and you are still having problems running the SR-1 update, please try the following:

Reinstall Office

1. On the Start menu, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click Add/Remove Programs.
3. Double-click the icon for the Office 2000 program that you want to update.
4. In the Microsoft Office 2000 Maintenance Mode dialog box, click Repair Office.
5. In the Reinstall/Repair Microsoft Office 2000 dialog box, click Reinstall Office, and then click Finish.
6. When the repair process is finished, run the SR-1 update again.

Update the Windows Installer to Version 1.1

Follow these steps only if you are using Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 98, or Microsoft Windows NT 4.0. Windows Installer version 1.1 is already installed on Microsoft Windows 2000.

1. In Windows Explorer, browse to the C:\Windows\Temp\SR1Patch folder.
2. Double-click the Msiinstx.exe file in this folder.
3. Click Yes to the prompt that advises you that the Windows Installer needs to restart your system.
4. After your computer restarts and the Windows Installer is updated, run the Office 2000 SR-1 Update again.

NOTE: If you do not see Msiinstx.exe in your C:\Windows\Temp\SR1Patch folder, do the following to update the Windows Installer:

1. If you are using Windows 95 or Windows 98, click the following link:
   http://download.microsoft.com/download/platformsdk/wininst/1.1/W9X/EN-US/InstMsi.exe (http://download.microsoft.com/download/platformsdk/wininst/1.1/w9x/en-us/instmsi.exe)
   If you are using Windows NT 4.0, click the following link:
   http://download.microsoft.com/download/platformsdk/wininst/1.1/NT4/EN-US/InstMsi.exe (http://download.microsoft.com/download/platformsdk/wininst/1.1/nt4/en-us/instmsi.exe)
2. In the File Download dialog box, click Save this program to disk, and then click OK.
3. Save the file to your Desktop.
4. When the download is complete, double-click the downloaded file.
5. If you are prompted to restart your computer, click Yes.
6. After the Windows Installer is updated, run the Office 2000 SR-1 Update again.