Multiple copies of the Windows Installer update package (.msp) file are created when you run an Office 2000 update

When you install any Office 2000 update, you see multiple copies of the Windows Installer patch package file (.msp file) in the \Windows\Installer folder. One example of an Office 2000 update is the Microsoft Office 2000 Service Release 1a (SR-1a) Update.

You installed multiple Office 2000 products and ran the update after you installed each Office 2000 product.

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.


To work around this problem, you can manually remove each orphaned .msp file, after you search for each file in the system registry and do not find the file. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Using Windows Explorer, open the \Windows\Installer folder.
   
   NOTE: You may need to customize your folder options, so that you can view all files. Please refer to your Windows documentation for more information.
2. Make a note of all files in the folder with an .msp file extension.
3. Click Start, and then click Run.
4. In the Open box, type Regedit and then click OK.
5. In the left pane of the Registry Editor, click My Computer to select it.
6. Click Find on the Edit menu.
7. Type the first .msp file name in the Find What box, and then click Find Next.
8. If you receive the message "Finished searching through the registry", the .msp file is orphaned and can be deleted. Make a note so that it can be deleted.
   
   If the Registry Editor finds a LocalPackage name with the .msp file extension in the Data column, the .msp file is referenced and should not be deleted.
9. Repeat steps 5 through 8 for each .msp file that you noted from step 2.
10. For each .msp file that you noted for deletion, right-click the .msp file in Windows Explorer, and then click Delete on the shortcut menu. Click Yes to confirm the deletion.

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

When you update your installation of Office 2000 with the SR-1/1a Update or any other Office 2000 patch, the update files (.msp) are copied to your hard disk drive. The .msp files in the \Windows\Installer folder are always used for any Windows Installer actions on your installation of Office 2000.

Each Office 2000 family product maintains its own information about its patches, including the cached .msp files. Microsoft Office only intends to keep one cached copy of a patch, no matter how many products use the patch, but Microsoft Office fails to use the existing cached .msp file when the patch is applied to a second product. At this point, the original cached .msp file is orphaned.

For additional information about the .msp file, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: