You receive a "This installation package could not be opened" error message when you try to run Office XP Setup

When you try to run Microsoft Office XP Setup, you may receive one of the following error messages: -or-

One of these error messages can occur if the locally cached Windows Installer package (*.msi) file is damaged or corrupted.

To resolve this problem, follow the appropriate steps.

If You Already Installed Office XP

IMPORTANT: If Office XP is not yet installed on your computer, do not use these steps to resolve this problem. Instead, go to the "If You Are Trying to Install Office XP" section later in this article.

1. On the Start menu, click Run.
2. In the Open box, type the following command line, and then click OK:
   path\Setup.exe /fv version.msi
   Path in this command line is the path to your Office Setup files, and version is the version title of the MSI file that corresponds to the version of Office that you are installing.

If You Are Trying to Install Office XP

If Office XP is not yet installed on your computer, do not use the preceding steps to resolve this problem. Instead, follow these steps:

1. Open the \Windows\Installer folder on your computer's hard disk.
2. Right-click any file with an .msi extension.
3. Click Properties on the shortcut menu.
   
   The Subject box on the Summary tab contains the name of the product that installed the .msi file.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each .msi file in the \Installer folder, and delete the .msi file for the version of Office that you are trying to install.

For additional information about this issue, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: