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When you try to start a Microsoft Office 2003 program for the first time, you receive the "Installation Error: File not Found" error message

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Article ID:896866
Last Review:October 13, 2007
Revision:4.1
Notice
The steps in this article require that you have your original installation media. Examples of installation media include the following:
•The installation CDs that were included with the software package.
•The repair CD that was included with your computer.

Note This applies only to OEM installations. Computers that are preinstalled with software have repair CDs.
•If you are on a network and you installed the software over the network, the location from which you installed the software is your original installation media. If you are unsure where that location is or how to access it, you must contact a network administrator or your help desk for help.
Important The steps in this article pertain only to issues that occur while you are starting Microsoft Office. If you have trouble installing or updating Microsoft Office, this article will not help you. However, the following articles might help:
896301 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896301/) You receive an "Installation Error: File not Found" error message when you try to convert the Office 2003 trial program to the full product version of Office 2003
875556 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/875556/) You receive an "Installation Error: File not Found" or "Error 0x51F" error message when you try to update Office 2003 programs from the Office Update Web site or the Office Download Center
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SYMPTOMS

When you try to start a Microsoft Office 2003 program such as Microsoft Office Word 2003, Microsoft Office Excel 2003, or Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 for the first time, you receive the following error message:

Installation Error: File not Found
A required installation file file_name.CAB could not be found.

Original Installation Source Required:

If you installed the program name from a CD, insert your CD. If you installed the program name over your computer network, locate the installation source on the network. After you have located your installation source, click OK.

Note The file name generally resembles SKUxxx.cab, where xxx corresponds to the second, third, and fourth characters of the product code.

See the "More information" section for a listing of the different SKUxxx.cab file names.

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WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, you have to provide the original installation source files location that you used to install the program. For example, use one of the following procedures when you receive the error message:
•Insert the original Office 2003 program CD that you used to install Office 2003, and then click OK.
•Click Browse, locate the Office 2003 program installation folder on the network, and then click OK.

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Repair the Office 2003 Installation

This method is intended for advanced computer users. If you are not comfortable with advanced troubleshooting, you might want to ask someone for help or contact support. For information about how to do this, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/ (http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/)
Although you can use the previous procedure to update an Office 2003 program temporarily, the problem may reoccur when you start your Office program after you update an Office 2003 program from the Office Update Web site. To permanently resolve this problem, use the Local Installation Source tool to repair the Local Installation Source.

The Local Installation Source is a Setup feature. When you install Microsoft Office 2003 from a CD or from a compressed CD image on a network, Setup copies any required installation files to a hidden folder on the local computer. Microsoft Windows Installer uses this local installation source to install Office. The local source also remains available for repairing, reinstalling, or updating Office later. You can install features on demand or run Setup in maintenance mode to add new features without the original media. You can download the Local Installation Source tool from the following Microsoft Office 2003 Resource Kit Web site:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=10FA7AA3-695B-42C3-9045-B812BA0FED3E&displaylang=en (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=10FA7AA3-695B-42C3-9045-B812BA0FED3E&displaylang=en)
Note If either of these methods do not work, the files in the \MSOCache\All Users\download code folder may not match the files on the CD that you provided. Make sure that the CD that you inserted matches the product that is being requested. For example, the product that is already installed on the computer may be Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003. However, the CD may contain files for Microsoft Office Professional Enterprise Edition 2003. If this is the case, remove the Microsoft Office product, and then install the product again from the available CD.

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MORE INFORMATION

For more information about the Local Install Source (Msocache), click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
825933 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/825933/) Local Install Source (Msocache)
For more information about product code numbering in Office 2003, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
832672 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/832672/) Description of numbering scheme for product code GUIDs in Office 2003
The following table lists the versions of the SKUxxx.cab file names that are associated with Office 2003 products.
ProductFile
Access 2003SKU015.CAB
Office Basic 2003SKU113.CAB
FrontPage 2003 (Retail)SKU017.CAB
FrontPage 2003 (Trial)SKU117.CAB
OneNote 2003 (Retail)SKU0A1.CAB
OneNote 2003 (Trial)SKU1A1.CAB
Outlook 2003SKU01A.CAB
Outlook 2003 StandardSKU0E0.CAB
OWC10SKU026.CAB
OWC11SKU0A4.CAB
PowerPoint 2003SKU018.CAB
Office Professional Enterprise Edition 2003SKU011.CAB
Office Professional 2003 (Retail)SKU111.CAB
Office Professional 2003 w/ InfoPath (Retail)SKU1E3.CAB
Publisher 2003 (Retail)SKU019.CAB
Publisher 2003 (Trial)SKU119.CAB
Office Standard Enterprise Edition 2003SKU012.CAB
Office Standard 2003 (Retail)SKU112.CAB
Office Small Business Enterprise Edition 2003SKU0CA.CAB
Office Small Business Edition 2003 (Retail)SKU1CA.CAB
Word 2003SKU01B.CAB
InfoPath 2003 (Retail)SKU044.CAB
InfoPath 2003 (Trial)SKU144.CAB
Excel 2003SKU016.CAB

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APPLIES TO
•Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003
•Microsoft Office Excel 2003
•Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003
•Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
•Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003
•Microsoft Office Publisher 2003
•Microsoft Office Word 2003
•Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003
•Microsoft Office Student and Teacher Edition 2003
•Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2003
•Microsoft Office Basic Edition 2003
•Microsoft Office Access 2003

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Keywords: 
kbresolve kbsetup kberrmsg kbtshoot kbprb KB896866

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