Word XP "Preparing to Install" every time its run?

There is an add-in you can install for this. First check the Tools menu. If it has an AutoSave option then the addin is already installed. If not then goto Tools->Addins and install the AutoSave addin.

Hope this helps

Paulo

Sorry... wrong question...

But regarding this question you can check:

https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/20457030/Office-XP-on-WinXP-Home-constantly-Preparing-to-install.html
https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/20083853/preparing-to-instal-Microsoft-Office-after-installation.html

Also, do you hit the cancel button or it resolves on it's own?

Paulo

Hi Paulo,

Thanks for the reply. It does resolve on its own. The "Preparing to install" message only appears for a very short time, only just long enough to read what it says. Then it dissapears, and nothing seems to happen for about 20 or 30 seconds, then word appears.

I'll have a look at those links and see what happens.

Thanks,
Mathew.

Me again :-)

wondering if anyone can comment further here; I noticed that most of the talk is about running mulitple versions of Word on the machine, and that Word needs to reregister itself.

This question;
https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/20083853/preparing-to-instal-Microsoft-Office-after-installation.html

Led me to this link;
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q244/1/70.ASP#Question6 

Now, I setup this machine, and it was clean installed (it is brand new) with Office XP, but I now realise that the user of said machine has installed MS Project 2000 on the machine since I last worked on it, and the problem did not exist the last time I worken on it, so I am wondering if perhaps Project 2000 is the root cause of the issue?

Anyone care to comment?

Not much more I can say here, sorry... I seem to remember that I had the same situation (I didn't pay much attention to it though). Unfortunately the machine was formatted some time after and it started running smoothly again...

So I'm sorry to say that I'll have to leave this for somebody else who has any other idea...

Paulo

In case this of any use to anybody, it turned out that a program supplied to the client by an electrical products manufacturer that he had installed was causing the problem. Uninstalling it solved the problem.

Weird... :-)

Hi again Ozone,

Glad you could work it out. In that case you could post a 0 point question in Community Support Topic Area asking for a moderator to come to this one, close it and refund your points. That will take this question from the lot of open questions and you'll get your points back to use in other questions you may have ;)

PAulo

I will do that right now Paulo, thankyou. I am still learning my way around this site. :-)

Mathew.

This is a problem with the system registry.  For some reason the pointer to setlang.exe was removed from the registry.  What I have done, and has workd on several computers, is imported the registry keys that have setlang.exe in them.  I will past the script for the registry keys.  Copy and past into notepad then save as a .reg file. After you have saved them, open regedit and import them.  These keys are out of Windows 2000 and for Office XP.  Here is the first script.

MAKE SURE YOU CHANGE THE LOCATION OF WHERE THE REGISTRY POINTS FOR THE SETLANG.EXE FILE.  FOR EXAMPLE: 4 LINES BELOW IT POINTS TO "D:\\PROGRA~1\MICROS~1... IF YOUR INSTALL IS ON THE C DRIVE, CHANGE THE D TO A C.

Copy from below this line --------------------------------------------------

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared]
"OfficeSetLangInstallLocation"="D:\\PROGRA~1\\MICROS~1\\Office10\\SETLANG.EXE"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\HTML]
"KnownIDs"="htmlfile"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\HTML\Default Editor]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\HTML\Default Editor\shell]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\HTML\Default Editor\shell\Edit]
@="&Edit"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\HTML\Default Editor\shell\Edit\command]
@="\"D:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office10\\WINWORD.EXE\" /n /dde"
"command"=hex(7):27,00,5d,00,67,00,41,00,56,00,6e,00,2d,00,7d,00,66,00,28,00,\
  59,00,52,00,5d,00,65,00,41,00,52,00,36,00,2e,00,6a,00,69,00,57,00,4f,00,52,\
  00,44,00,46,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,73,00,3e,00,4c,00,26,00,72,00,66,00,55,00,\
  6d,00,57,00,2e,00,63,00,47,00,2e,00,65,00,25,00,66,00,49,00,34,00,47,00,7d,\
  00,6a,00,64,00,20,00,2f,00,6e,00,20,00,2f,00,64,00,64,00,65,00,00,00,00,00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\HTML\Default Editor\shell\Edit\ddeexec]
@="[REM _DDE_Direct][FileOpen(\"%1\")]"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\HTML\Default Editor\shell\Edit\ddeexec\Application]
@="WinWord"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\HTML\Default Editor\shell\Edit\ddeexec\Topic]
@="System"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\HTML\Default Editor\shell\Print]
@="&Print"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\HTML\Default Editor\shell\Print\command]
@=hex(2):72,00,75,00,6e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,\
  00,20,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,\
  25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,6d,00,73,\
  00,68,00,74,00,6d,00,6c,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,\
  6e,00,74,00,48,00,54,00,4d,00,4c,00,20,00,22,00,25,00,31,00,22,00,00,00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\HTML\Old Default Editor]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\HTML\Old Default Editor\shell]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\HTML\Old Default Editor\shell\Edit]
@="&Edit"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\HTML\Old Default Editor\shell\Edit\command]
@="\"D:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office10\\WINWORD.EXE\" /n /dde"
"command"=hex(7):27,00,5d,00,67,00,41,00,56,00,6e,00,2d,00,7d,00,66,00,28,00,\
  59,00,52,00,5d,00,65,00,41,00,52,00,36,00,2e,00,6a,00,69,00,57,00,4f,00,52,\
  00,44,00,46,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,73,00,3e,00,4c,00,26,00,72,00,66,00,55,00,\
  6d,00,57,00,2e,00,63,00,47,00,2e,00,65,00,25,00,66,00,49,00,34,00,47,00,7d,\
  00,6a,00,64,00,20,00,2f,00,6e,00,20,00,2f,00,64,00,64,00,65,00,00,00,00,00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\HTML\Old Default Editor\shell\Edit\ddeexec]
@="[REM _DDE_Direct][FileOpen(\"%1\")]"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\HTML\Old Default Editor\shell\Edit\ddeexec\Application]
@="WinWord"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\HTML\Old Default Editor\shell\Edit\ddeexec\Topic]
@="System"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\HTML\Old Default Editor\shell\Print]
@="&Print"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\HTML\Old Default Editor\shell\Print\command]
@=hex(2):72,00,75,00,6e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,\
  00,20,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,\
  25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,6d,00,73,\
  00,68,00,74,00,6d,00,6c,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,\
  6e,00,74,00,48,00,54,00,4d,00,4c,00,20,00,22,00,25,00,31,00,22,00,00,00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\MHTML]
"KnownIDs"="mhtmlfile"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\MHTML\Default Editor]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\MHTML\Default Editor\shell]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\MHTML\Default Editor\shell\Edit]
@="&Edit"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\MHTML\Default Editor\shell\Edit\command]
@="\"D:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office10\\WINWORD.EXE\" /n /dde"
"command"=hex(7):27,00,5d,00,67,00,41,00,56,00,6e,00,2d,00,7d,00,66,00,28,00,\
  59,00,52,00,5d,00,65,00,41,00,52,00,36,00,2e,00,6a,00,69,00,57,00,4f,00,52,\
  00,44,00,46,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,73,00,3e,00,4c,00,26,00,72,00,66,00,55,00,\
  6d,00,57,00,2e,00,63,00,47,00,2e,00,65,00,25,00,66,00,49,00,34,00,47,00,7d,\
  00,6a,00,64,00,20,00,2f,00,6e,00,20,00,2f,00,64,00,64,00,65,00,00,00,00,00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\MHTML\Default Editor\shell\Edit\ddeexec]
@="[REM _DDE_Direct][FileOpen(\"%1\")]"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\MHTML\Default Editor\shell\Edit\ddeexec\Application]
@="WinWord"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\MHTML\Default Editor\shell\Edit\ddeexec\Topic]
@="System"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\MHTML\Default Editor\shell\Print]
@="&Print"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\MHTML\Default Editor\shell\Print\command]
@="\"D:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office10\\WINWORD.EXE\" /x /n /dde"
"command"=hex(7):27,00,5d,00,67,00,41,00,56,00,6e,00,2d,00,7d,00,66,00,28,00,\
  59,00,52,00,5d,00,65,00,41,00,52,00,36,00,2e,00,6a,00,69,00,57,00,4f,00,52,\
  00,44,00,46,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,73,00,3e,00,4c,00,26,00,72,00,66,00,55,00,\
  6d,00,57,00,2e,00,63,00,47,00,2e,00,65,00,25,00,66,00,49,00,34,00,47,00,7d,\
  00,6a,00,64,00,20,00,2f,00,78,00,20,00,2f,00,6e,00,20,00,2f,00,64,00,64,00,\
  65,00,00,00,00,00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\MHTML\Default Editor\shell\Print\ddeexec]
@="[REM _DDE_Minimize][FileOpen(\"%1\")][t=IsDocumentDirty()][FilePrint 0][SetDocumentDirty t][DocClose]"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\MHTML\Default Editor\shell\Print\ddeexec\Application]
@="WinWord"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\MHTML\Default Editor\shell\Print\ddeexec\ifexec]
@="[FileOpen(\"%1\")][FilePrint 0][FileExit 2]"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\MHTML\Default Editor\shell\Print\ddeexec\Topic]
@="System"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\MHTML\Old Default Editor]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\MHTML\Old Default Editor\shell]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\MHTML\Old Default Editor\shell\Edit]
@="&Edit"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\MHTML\Old Default Editor\shell\Edit\command]
@="\"D:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office10\\WINWORD.EXE\" /n /dde"
"command"=hex(7):27,00,5d,00,67,00,41,00,56,00,6e,00,2d,00,7d,00,66,00,28,00,\
  59,00,52,00,5d,00,65,00,41,00,52,00,36,00,2e,00,6a,00,69,00,57,00,4f,00,52,\
  00,44,00,46,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,73,00,3e,00,4c,00,26,00,72,00,66,00,55,00,\
  6d,00,57,00,2e,00,63,00,47,00,2e,00,65,00,25,00,66,00,49,00,34,00,47,00,7d,\
  00,6a,00,64,00,20,00,2f,00,6e,00,20,00,2f,00,64,00,64,00,65,00,00,00,00,00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\MHTML\Old Default Editor\shell\Edit\ddeexec]
@="[REM _DDE_Direct][FileOpen(\"%1\")]"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\MHTML\Old Default Editor\shell\Edit\ddeexec\Application]
@="WinWord"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\MHTML\Old Default Editor\shell\Edit\ddeexec\Topic]
@="System"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\MHTML\Old Default Editor\shell\Print]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\MHTML\Old Default Editor\shell\Print\command]

Stop here for first registry file ----------------------------------------------------


Start Second Registry file ------------------------------------------------------------

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\UserData\S-1-5-18\Components\187E372C2C89DCA40846A8601D8F6623]
"9040110900063D11C8EF00054038389C"="D:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office10\\SETLANG.EXE"
"9040A11900063D11C8EF00054038389C"="D:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office10\\SETLANG.EXE"
"9040450945D64D11EB3E000CF4993045"="D:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office10\\SETLANG.EXE"


Stop here for second registry file ----------------------------------------------------