"Error applying transforms. Verify that the specified transform paths are valid" error message when you run the Office 2000 Setup program

When you run the Microsoft Office Setup program, you may receive an error message that is similar to the following:

This issue may occur when all the following conditions are true:

• You are using a computer manufactured by Dell Computer Corporation.
• Microsoft Office was preinstalled on your computer by the manufacturer.
• You upgrade your operating system from Microsoft Windows 98 to Microsoft Windows 2000.
• You run the Microsoft Office Setup program to add, reinstall, or repair an Office component.

Office was preinstalled on your computer by your manufacturer with a transform, and this transform is not available on your original equipment manufacturer (OEM) Office CD.

To resolve this issue, use either of the following methods.

Method 1

Remove Office, run the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility to remove the Windows Installer registry settings, and then reinstall Office. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Use the Add/Remove Programs tool in Control Panel to remove Office from your computer.
2. Download, install, and then run the Windows Installer CleanUp utility to remove the Windows Installer registry settings associated with your products installation.
   
   For additional information about how to download, install, and use the Windows Installer CleanUp utility, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
   290301  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301/ ) Description of the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility
3. To use the Windows CleanUp utility, follow these steps:
   1. Click Start, point to Programs, and then click Windows Installer Clean Up.
   2. Select the program that you want to remove, and then click Remove.
   3. Click OK, and then click Exit.
4. Reinstall Office by using your OEM Office 2000 CD.

Note Because the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility removes Windows Installer-related registry settings and not the Office program files, make sure that you install Office in the same folder where it was originally installed. This prevents duplication of files on your hard disk.

Method 2

Create a verbose log file during the set up of the Office Setup program to determine the transform that was used to install Office on your computer. Rename the transform file, search and remove entries associated with the transform from the Windows registry, and then reinstall Office. To do this, follow these steps.

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

1. Click Start, click Run, and then type path\setup.exe /l*v C:\Officelog.txt in the Open box.
   
   In this example, path is the path of the location of your Office source. The command creates the verbose log file, Officelog.txt, on the root of drive C. You can specify any path and file name for this log file.
2. Click OK.
3. Start WordPad, and then open the log file that you created.
4. Review your log file to find the name of the transform that was used to install Office on your computer. The transform file has an .mst extension.
5. Click Start, point to Search, and then click For Files or Folders.
6. In the Search for files or folders box, type the name of the transform, and then click Search Now.
7. In the Search Results pane, right-click the transform file, and then click Rename.
8. Rename the file that with the .old file name extension.
9. Click Start, click Run, typeregedit, and then click OK.
10. On the Edit menu, click Find.
11. In the Find what box, type the name of the transform, and then click Find Next.
12. Delete the registry key that is associated with the transform, and then press F3 to repeat the search.
13. Repeat step 13 to locate and to delete all registry entries that are associated with the transform.
    
    The following registry location may contain entries for the transform:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Classes\Installer
14. Quit Registry Editor.
15. Reinstall Office by using your OEM Office CD.

For additional information about how to create a verbose log file during Office Setup, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: