MS Office update is unable to check for updates on this computer (and associated errors)

My installed version of MS Office 2003 is 11.0.5614.0 and, after noting that automatic Windows updates had just been successfully installed, I decided to check for Office updates.

I went to the Office downloads home page http://office.microsoft.com/OfficeUpdate/default.aspx and clicked Check for Updates.

When "Checking for updates you need" completes the "Office Update site is unable to check for updates on this computer" error screen is shown - http://office.microsoft.com/home/office.aspx?assetid=FX010404541033 and suggests four possible causes:

1/ You do not have admin privileges [I do]

2/ There is a network problem: try again [I've tried many times]

3/ Windows Installer patch files (.MSP files) from previously applied Office updates are missing from the \Windows\Installer hidden directory on your computer. [there are 20 folders and 52 files in this directory, 12 of which are .MSP files]

4/ You installed Office updates in the past and then upgraded from Windows Installer version 1.0 to Windows Installer version 1.1. [I have version 2.0]

So, how do I fix this?


I decided to see what updates were available manually and found Office 2003 SP1 is available, downloaded the 72Mb file Office2003SP1-kb842532-fullfile-enu.exe and clicked on it.

I replied Yes to Do you want to install this update

I Accepted the displayed software agreement.

Files are extracted and prepared to install and a few seconds later I get:
"The update cannot be applied"


Why not? How can I fix this?

I then did the following:
Found my version of msiexec.exe is 2.0.2600.1106 and it resides in C:\Windows\System32
Checked this is correctly shown in the Registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSIServer
Restarted in Safe Mode and ran msiexec /regserver

... but I still get the "Office Update site is unable to check for updates on this computer" screen when checking for Office updates.


Finally, I went to Control Panel, Add or Remove Programs
Selected Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003 and clicked Change (in order to repair the Office installer)
The response was: "This patch package could not be opened.  Verify that the patch package exists and that you can access it, or contact the application vendor to verify that this is a valid Windows Installer patch package."

What do you suggest?

Or is an uninstall and install of Office 2003 sure to fix this?

Many thanks

Keith