MS Office updates fail

[Chris Hogg]

Using Win10; 64 bit. I have started getting repeated messages saying that my automatic Office updates have failed. It's getting annoying. I have several folders with Office-related stuff in them, some may be old, hang-overs from earlier versions that never got removed when I installed more-recent versions:

In C:/Program files/Microsoft Office/ there is an Office12 folder, containing another folder 1033, but the files in there seem to relate to setup functions.

In C:/Program files(x86)/Microsoft Office/ there are several folders, including one (Office12) and another (Office14). The former contain what I assume are the main Office folders and files that actually get used (Winword, Excel, Powerpoint etc). There is also a folder named Updates. The Office14 folder simply contains a few .dll files that look as if they relate to Office programmes that I use (e.g. GKWord.dll, GKExcel.dll etc).

I have tried several things to solve the problem:

Searching the Internet suggests that my Firewall may be blocking the updates: I have tried disabling the Windows Defender firewall for a few hours, but it didn't seem to stop the updates failure (I'm nervous about leaving the firewall disabled for too long, anyway). Apart from that, most of the suggestions relate to recent versions of Office such as Office 2016, 2019 or 365. This, for example: open any Office programme, create a new blank document, click on File, then on Account, but my version of Office doesn't show Account, which I assume is only available for recent versions, so that's no help.

I've thought about allowing the updates through the firewall, but I'm not sure what of the various Office programmes I should permit, as it seems to require a particular programme address rather than just a general folder name. I also have Malware Bytes and Acronis true image running, but I usually get a report if they block anything.

Under Settings-Advanced Windows Update Settings I tried disabling 'Receive updates for other Microsoft products' but that didn't help, and anyway there are probably other MS programmes that ought to be updated from time to time.

Should I disable something in the C:/Program files(x86)/Microsoft Office/Updates folder? If so, what?

Any other suggestions will be welcome, but be aware that I'm no techie when it comes to computers!

[Martin Brown]

Sounds like rubble left behind by a previous version.

Office14 would be Office 2010 I think. Mine updates OK <fx>crosses fingers<\fx>

Look the MSKB entries for update failures relating to your present full version number(s) and hope that something shows up. You should be able to find the specific updates that way, download and apply them.

[Chris Hogg]

Thanks for the reply. Forgive my ignorance, but MSKB = Microsoft knowledge base? Where would I find it, on my computer or on a MS web site? If the latter, how would I tell which update was the one that failed for me?

[Richard]

<snip>

Have you tried a repair?

[Martin Brown]

I think this might be the one you want.

Beware of fake MSKB sites higher up the list on Google searches - they are not flagged as bad by my semi-paranoid settings but I don't trust them not to be offering downloads that are contaminated with malware.

[Chris Hogg]

Thanks again. But as I've only started getting the update failed messages recently, I stumbled my way to the April releases, but couldn't see any updates for what I thought was Office12, as that's the folder it's in in my computer. But then I realised that I wasn't actually certain what version of Office I was using, and after more stumbling around, I found that actually I'm using Office 7! Perhaps it's just time to get a newer version! I don't want anything too recent like 365, or too sophisticated, because my needs are fairly basic. I'll probably just go for Office 2016.

[Dave W]

Personally I recommend Office 2003, as that was the last version that didn't have a screen-hogging toolbar ribbon. The files are in the Office11 folder. I think Office12 folder contains Office 2007 files, or conversion files to convert Office 2007 to Office 2003.

[Martin Brown]

Rather than call it Office N it is easier all around if you report a year number and detailed version it reports from inside the Help page

In particular the serial it gives of the form

Version: 14.7268.5000 (32-bit) which is Office 2010 (14)

For 2007 and above File Help

before that I think it was in Help About

If you are on Office 7 that seems like it must be pre Office 2007 so you are in for a big shock moving to a new version of Office. Unless you have a compelling reason to do so it may well be a waste of money. I still remember watching people pull their hair out using Office 2007. If you thought clippy was annoying then "the ribbon" was a disaster.

You can get a shim that allows pre 2007 Office to open modern files.

Office 2002 and 2003 were particularly good vintages. Office 2007 was a dog and didn't work correctly out of the box. Office 2010 was the first decent one after "the change".

You might get a good price on Office 2013. I'm not aware of any compelling improvements in 2016 that are worth having. YMMV Mostly it just gets bigger each time and more of a resource hog.

Various free Office clones are reasonably good for most things.