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You receive a "This application requires the Windows installer to run" error message when you start an Office program from a network location

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Article ID:290139
Last Review:December 4, 2007
Revision:1.4
This article was previously published under Q290139

SYMPTOMS

When you double-click a file such as Excel.exe from a network administrative installation source for Office XP, you receive the following error message:
This application requires the Windows installer to run. Would you like to install this service now?
If you click Cancel, nothing happens. If you click OK, you receive the following error message:
This application must be installed to run. Please run Setup from the location where you originally installed the application.
The Windows Installer service is installed after you receive the first error message, so if you double-click a file such as Excel.exe again, you only receive the second error message.

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CAUSE

This error message occurs because the Office program was not installed by running Setup. For example, if you receive the error message in the "Symptoms" section of this article when you double-click a shortcut, it may be that the shortcut was installed by an edition of Office that is no longer installed on your computer. To test this possibility, double-click the program file (for example, Excel.exe), and determine whether you continue to receive the error message.

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WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, double-click the Setup.exe file in the root of the installation source to install Office.

NOTE: The Office program files for Office XP are now contained inside a cabinet file on the CD-ROM.

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APPLIES TO
•Microsoft Office XP Professional Edition
•Microsoft Office XP Small Business Edition
•Microsoft Office XP Standard Edition
•Microsoft Office XP Standard Edition for Students and Teachers
•Microsoft Office XP Developer Edition
•Microsoft Access 2002 Standard Edition
•Microsoft Excel 2002 Standard Edition
•Microsoft FrontPage 2002 Standard Edition
•Microsoft Outlook 2002 Standard Edition
•Microsoft PowerPoint 2002 Standard Edition
•Microsoft Word 2002 Standard Edition

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Keywords: 
kbstartprogram kbsetup kbtshoot kberrmsg kbnofix kbprb KB290139

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