Office 2000 stops responding during setup on Windows Me

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

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 you end Setup. Before concluding that Setup is stopped, check the CD-ROM drive light and hard disk light for activity. Also, press CTRL+ALT+DELETE and check to see whether the Office Setup task appears 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. To create a verbose log file, follow these steps:

1. With the Office 2000 CD in the CD-ROM drive, click Start and then click Run.
2. In the Open 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, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Quit All Unnecessary Programs

Quit all unnecessary programs that are running before you run Office 2000 Setup. To do so, follow these steps:

1. 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:
   
   
   • Load static VxDs
   • Load environment variables
   • 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 the Startup folder tab so that it is in front, and then click to select *StateMgr.
5. Click OK.
6. 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 additional information about this problem and removing the beta installed version, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Clean Start Windows Me

For information about clean starting Windows Me by using the System Configuration Utility, please see the the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

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 Flatfile folder. In Windows Explorer, click the CD-ROM icon, and then click Select All on the Edit menu. Drag the selected items on the right side of the Explorer window to the Flatfile folder on the left side.
   
   If any error messages appear during the copy, this may indicate problems with the CD-ROM disk, lens, or drive.

You can use this flat file to install from a clean start. If Setup from a flat file fails with a clean start, it is still possible there is a problem with the CD-ROM, because a damaged flat file can be created without generating an error message.

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. 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 Environment tab, and then look for the TEMP variable.
4. If the TEMP variable is missing, click New. Type TEMP for Variable Name, and C:\Windows\Temp for Variable Value, and then click OK.
   
   If the TEMP variable is present but the path is invalid, click Edit and type a valid path for the Variable Value. Then click OK.
5. If the TEMP variable is turned off (disabled), click to select the check box for the TEMP variable.
6. Repeat steps 1 through 5 for the TMP variable.
7. Click OK, and then click No if you are prompted to restart your computer.
8. Insert your Windows Me startup disk in your disk drive.
9. Click Start, and then click Shut Down. Make sure Restart is selected in the list. Click OK.
10. After you restart Windows to a command prompt, type the following, and press ENTER after each line:
    c:
    cd\windows\temp
    If the cd\windows\temp folder does not exist, you must create the folder. You can create the temporary folder on your hard disk by typing the following line at the command prompt:
    md c:\windows\temp
11. Delete any temporary files in this folder. Temporary files typically have a .tmp extension. To delete these files, type the following line and then press ENTER:
    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 Me, you can delete many unused or temporary files by using the Disk Cleanup utility. For additional information about using this utility, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

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 to 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. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Scandisk.
2. 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. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Defragmenter.
2. 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 and Direct Memory Access (DMA). This may make the drive more reliable but reduce performance. To turn off the CD-ROM drive cache, follow these steps:

1. Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. Select the Performance tab, and then click File System.
3. Select the CD-ROM tab, and then move the Supplemental cache size slider all the way to the left. In the Optimize access pattern for list, select No read-ahead.
4. Select the Troubleshooting tab. Select all of the check boxes except the Disable all 32-bit protected mode disk drivers check box and the Disable System Restore check box.
5. Click OK.
6. Select the Device Manager tab.
7. Click the plus sign (+) to the left of CDROM. Then select the CD-ROM drive that is listed (if more than one CD-ROM drive is listed, select the CD-ROM drive that you are using to run Setup). Click Properties.
8. Select the Settings tab. If it is already selected, clear the DMA check box.
9. Click OK and then click Close. Click Yes to restart your computer.

Verify That the CD-ROM Is Clean and Unscratched

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

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

Check for a Damaged Swap File

Setup problems may also appear if your Windows swap file is damaged (corrupted). To create a new swap file, restart the computer with the Windows Me startup disk, delete the Win386.swp file in the Windows folder, and then restart the computer. To create a new swap file, follow these steps:

1. Insert the Windows Me startup disk in the floppy disk drive.
2. Click Shut Down on the Start menu. Click Restart and then click OK.
3. On the menu, select Minimal Boot, and then press ENTER.
4. At the MS-DOS prompt, change to the Windows folder by typing the following commands and pressing ENTER after each command:
   drive:
   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:
   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 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 Damage

Windows includes a tool called Registry Checker that can scan your registry for damage (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, you can choose to compact and repair damage to the internal data structure of the system registry by following these steps:
   1. 
      
   2. Close all programs that are running.
   3. Click Start and point to Run.
   4. In the Open box, type the following, and then click OK:
      scanreg /fix
   5. Click Yes to restart the computer.
3. To restart your computer, click OK.

For additional information about Registry Checker, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Check Hardware

If you exhaust the preceding 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.

The third-party products that are discussed in this article are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.

Microsoft provides third-party contact information to help you find technical support. This contact information may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this third-party contact information.

For information about how to contact the companies mentioned in this article, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

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 how to enter the basic input/output system (BIOS) and change the BIOS settings. You can enter the BIOS on most systems immediately after turning on the power. Usually a keystroke, such as DELETE, is required to enter the BIOS. The following are 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.