Office 2010 Installation Error - Office 2010 Installation Problems
Office 2010 Installation Problems – The Most Common Issue
“Office Starter” as it is more commonly known is a sort of Office 2010 “lite” – consisting of Word Starter and Excel Starter, this stripped down version of Office comes pre-installed on certain new PCs.
Effectively a replacement for the now retired Microsoft Works, Office 2010 Starter Edition’s versions of Excel and Word feature the basic editing features but omit the more advanced functions. Unlike Works, however, Excel Starter and Word Starter feature full file format compatibility with the main Office products, and the apps are also compatible with older versions of office. There is even scope to open up files created in Works. If you want to upgrade, meanwhile, switching to the full Microsoft Office from the Starter Edition can be completed with just a few mouse clicks.
All of this great functionality and compatibility comes at a small price, however – adverts. Office 2010 Starter Edition features adverts for other Microsoft applications and other products deemed appropriate. This could prove to be a distraction, so if you’re lucky enough to get a free copy on your new PC or laptop, you might find the adverts are too intrusive.
(It is also possible to have the various full versions of Office pre-installed on a new computer - for a list of the full suites, see, Office 2010 Version Comparison.)
Office 2010 installation problems can occur for any reason. The most common issue that creates Office 2010 installation problems is that many users assume they can upgrade to the software by installing it over an existing installation of pre-release versions of Microsoft Office 2010, normally the Office 2010 beta or Office 2010 Release Candidate (Office 2010 RC). This leads to Office 2010 installation error.
None of the available Office 2010 suites are designed to upgrade over the pre-release versions of Office 2010. You can however, upgrade from Office 2007 to Office 2010 using an upgrade key from any retail store or from the Microsoft online store. You can also upgrade from the free Office 2010 Starter Edition or Office 2010 trial version to a full version. Please note that while upgrading from Office 2010 trial version to a full version, you need to perform an in-line upgrade else it will again result in an Office 2010 installation error.
An in-line upgrade means that if you are using a trial of Office 2010 Home and Student edition, you can upgrade to the full version of only the Home and Student version. Similarly, if you are using Office 2007 Professional edition, you can perform an upgrade to only the Office 2010 Professional and not any other edition in the Office 2010 suites. Hence, to avoid Office 2010 installation error, make sure you buy the upgrade key to in-line product only. For example, if you have been using Office 2007 Home edition, ask for Office 2010 Home edition only. Purchasing the upgrade key to any other edition in this case will not only lead to Office 2010 installation problems but also to a waste of your money, as most of the stores will not refund your money.
Coming back to the most common problem mentioned in the first paragraph, if you wish to avoid problems while installing Office 2010 (any edition), make sure you remove all traces of the pre-release versions. This includes Outlook Connector that most people forget to uninstall while removing the pre-release versions – Office 2010 beta or Office 2010 RC. If you face problems uninstalling Office 2010 products, use the Microsoft FixIt Utility to remove the suite completely. Make sure you click the right button labeled “Office 2010” by scrolling down the linked page. Once you remove the pre-release version, you should be able to install Office 2010 without any installation problems.
Office 2010 Installation Error When you use MSI Files
The Microsoft Office 2010 installer comes as an integrated package. When you browse the installation folders, you can find several MSI files for different products. Though the Setup employs these files for installing the different applications in any Office edition, if you think of installing specific products (example – only MS Word and Excel) by double clicking on their MSI files, you will encounter an Office 2010 installation error. The reason is that Office 2010, or for the matter, any version of Office, employs several shared files that also need to be installed before it can install specific products. To avoid Office 2010 installation problems, always install the suite or products using the setup.exe file provided in the main installation folder.
