OFF97: SR-2 Patch May Fail to Update Admin Installation

When you use the Microsoft Office 97 SR-2 Patch to update an administrative installation of Microsoft Office 97 SR-1, you may receive the following error message: where <Path> is the path to your administrative installation, and <#> is a number (0, 1, 2 ).

If you open the SR-2 Patch log file, you see the following lines of text:

This problem may occur when the following conditions are true:

• One or more users have performed a Run From Network Server installation of Microsoft Office 97 from the administrative installation that you are attempting to update.
  
  -and-
  
  
• One or more of these users is running at least one Microsoft Office 97 program from the administrative installation.

Specifically, the problem occurs because the SR-2 Patch cannot update a file when it is in use.

To prevent this problem from occurring, make sure that ALL users who have performed a Run From Network Server installation of Microsoft Office from the administrative installation you are updating exit ALL of their Microsoft Office 97 programs. This includes: All users should close the following Microsoft Office programs from the Close Program dialog box. To close these programs, press CTRL+ALT+DEL. Select the file and then click End Task. These programs use Mso97.dll, which is a file updated by the SR-2 Patch; it must not be running when you run the SR-2 Patch.

When all users have quit the Microsoft Office programs, you should then be able to use the SR-2 Patch to update the administrative installation of Microsoft Office 97 SR-1.

You can also use the SR-2 Patch to update the administrative installation at night or during a weekend, when no one is running any of the Microsoft Office programs from the server.

You can use the Microsoft Office 97 SR-2 Patch to update an administrative installation of Microsoft Office 97 SR-1.

NOTE: Before proceeding, use the Windows Explorer to map a drive letter to the server and share that contains your administrative installation of Microsoft Office 97 SR-1.

1. Download the SR-2 Patch from the Microsoft web site, or copy it from your Patch compact disc.
2. Create a new folder on your root called "Sr2". Move the SR-2 Patch, Sr2aof97.exe into this folder.
3. Click Start, and click Run. Type the following command line:
   C:\Sr2\Sr2aof97.exe /c:"Sr2patch.exe /a"
4. Click OK and click Yes.
5. Click Yes to accept the license agreement.
6. When all files have been extracted click OK.
7. Click Change Folder. Using the list select the folder on the server that contains the administrative installation of Microsoft Office 97 SR-1. Usually this is the Msoffice folder.
8. Once you have selected the folder click OK. Click OK again to proceed.
9. Click Change Folder. Using the list select the folder on the server that contains the shared applications used by Microsoft Office 97 SR-1. Usually this is the Msapps folder.
10. Once you have selected the folder click OK. Click OK again to proceed.
11. In the Open STF File for Patch dialog box select the STF file that you want to patch. The STF file should be located in the Msoffice folder. When you have selected the STF file click Open.
12. In the Open INF File for Patch dialog box select the INF file that you want to patch. The INF file should be located in the Msoffice folder and usually has the same name as the STF file. For example, if you selected Off97pro.stf in step 11 select Off97pro.inf in this step. When you have selected the INF file click Open.
13. Enter your Product ID (PID). Click OK to continue.
    
    The SR-2 Patch will copy all of the new SR-2 files to your network server. Due to the size and number of files it may take several minutes for this process to complete.
14. When installation is complete click OK to exit.

If you like, you may now remove all of the remaining files in the Sr2 folder on your desktop. You may want to keep a copy of Sr2aof97.exe available in case you need to use the SR-2 Patch again later.

When you patch an administrative installation of Microsoft Office 97 the SR-2 Patch creates backup copies of your STF and INF files. In the event of a problem, you can restore these backup files. The STF file is backed-up to a file with the extension S1S; the INF file is backed-up to a file with the extension S1I.

Once you have patched your administrative installation there are two methods you can use to update your workstations to Microsoft Office 97 SR- 2:

• On each workstation, double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon in the Control Panel. Select Microsoft Office 97, and click Add/Remove and click Reinstall.
• On each workstation, run the Sr2aof97.exe program. This will allow you to update the Microsoft Office 97 files on the workstation to SR-2.
  
  NOTE: You must patch your administrative installation before you use this method to patch workstations that are set to Run From Network Server.

Once you have updated each workstation, it is recommended that you restart it.

When you run the SR-2 Patch with the "/a" switch (step 3), you receive an alert message that states:

IMPORTANT! If any users are running Microsoft Office programs from the administrative installation you are attempting to update, you will receive the error message previously shown, and the SR-2 Patch will fail.