Trouble with cabinet caching prevents Office 2003/2007 install

I'm at my wits' end.

I've got a copy of Office 2007 Enterprise Edition. I already had Office 2003 Professional Edition installed. When I go to install Office 2007, it pops up a screen saying "Setup cannot find Office.en-us\OfficeLR.cab. Browse to a valid installation source, and then click OK". I point it at the CD, and the same window immediately pops up again. I can see the file is there. No dice. I cancel the install.

I go to the below file to view the log:
C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temp\SetupExe(20070206002454F54).log

and see:
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Cannot detect OSE service. Return code: 1060
Running OSE version 12.0.4518.1014
Cannot detect OSE service. Return code: 1060
Running OSE version 12.0.4518.1014
LIS: wait for package "{90120000-0115-0409-0000-0000000FF1CE}" to complete caching
LIS failed to cache download "{90120000-0115-0409-0000-0000000FF1CE}-C" resource "OfficeLR.cab". Cache Error 0x80070017
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Before the obvious question gets asked -- no, the CD is not dirty :) It is brand new and installed Office 2007 perfectly on my laptop. I've tried it in both CD-ROM drives on the desktop (one is a CD-RW, one is a DVD+RW). I have tried copying all the files to the hard drive and running setup there - no errors during copy, but the same error during install.

I thought, perhaps this just doesn't want to upgrade my Office 2003 installation. Let's remove it.

I remove Office 2003, reboot, and try the Office 2007 installer. Same error. I say "Alright, the hell with this", and go to reinstall Office 2003 and LO AND BEHOLD... as soon as the install begins... I get to the step "Current action: Waiting for cabinets to be cached to local installation source" and get an error: "Installation Error: File not Found. A required installation file Q3561405.CAB could not be found".

Same deal as Office 2007... I know the file is there and I point the installer to it but it just pops up the same screen again.

I head to check out the logs again, and see this:
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WaitCacheImpersonate:  Error 0x80070017: failed an attempt to cache cabinet: Q3561405.CAB
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I seem to have a problem with the LIS or Local Installation Source mechanism that Office uses both in version 2003 and 2007. Same type of caching error.

Things I've tried:

- installing from ISO rather than CD (same problem with both versions)
- running registry cleaner (latest version of CCleaner several times)
- deleting reg keys with GUID names from HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Delivery (no effect)
- deleting all files from temp directory (no effect)
- deleting all files from Windows Prefetch directory (no effect)
- deleting all files from MSOCache directory (no effect)
- reinstalling Windows Installer 3.1 (no effect)
- trying an administrative install of 2003 - doesn't exist for 2007 - failed
- trying to use LISTOOL (intially says MSO.dll is missing or damaged... expected since I uninstalled Office. On second run, says The Office Source Engine (ose.exe) can not be started.
- sharing the CD over the network from the computer where it did install correctly, and trying to install over the network (no effect)

Any ideas, guys and gals?Start Free Trial