(nonadmin) Repeating "Please wait while Windows Configures Office"

  • Thread starter Thread starter idiotprogrammer
  • Start date Start date
I

idiotprogrammer

(reposting here because no response on microsoft.public.office.setup)

I've been having a MS problem that's been really nagging at me. I'm
getting to the point where I might need to reinstall Windows
altogether. I want some insight as to what is going wrong.

I run as user (not admin) on xp home sp 2.

I recently installed MS Office 2003 and Adobe Professional 8. I have
not had a chance to actually use either program although I've opened
them once or twice. When I run as admin, I do not seem to have any
problems.

I had a previous version of Outlook 2002 installed, but the ms office
2003 installation cd prompted me to remove 2002, which I did.

Now, whenever, I open windows explorer (by right-clicking the Start
button), a dialog will pop up saying (Now configuring Adobe Acrobat 8)
and then it will keep chugging along, repeating over and over.
Sometimes, if I click cancel often enough, the cycle will stop.

Also, when I start an Office application, it gives me the same dialog
("preparing to install") and starts endlessly repeating itself. Often
it prevents the application from even running. With Outlook, it gives
this dialog
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rjnagle/321979863/in/set-72157594291061585/

When I run admin, I do not have these problems. Adobe and MS Office
presumably are suited for running as user.

Other relevant facts:

I have had problems with Explorer before.
a)Explorer often mistakenly interprets a folder with documents as a
multimedia folder (listing artist, genre, etc)
b)sometimes certain options in the context menu will not work. For
example, the context menu item "Add to winamp playlist" disappeared
completely, and hasn't come back when the focus is on the right panel
of Explorer. (winamp is supposed to work in a multiuser environment)
c)I noticed that Adobe Professional added an Adobe context menu
within win explorer.
d)I had an almost identical problem with a podcast application called
RSSRadio. Later in a well-documented bug,
(http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsupdate/browse_...
) Explorer failed to open and I had to uninstall .net 1.2 and
reinstall .NET 2.0. However, because 1.2 is a requirement for RSSRadio,
I reinstalled 1.2 (after the tech support people said it was likely to
have any effect on the 2.0.

Can you suggest some possible causes and ways to remedy the problem?
In my opinion, it sounds less like a problem with the application than
it is a problem with the user environment or even the OS. What do you
think?

Thanks.

Robert Nagle
http://www.imaginaryplanet.net/weblogs/idiotprogrammer/
Houston, Texas
 
Hello,

Did you install both the programs for all users or only for the specific user under which the
installation took place (admin user in your case) ? If the installation package does not give you
such an option during installation, you will have to manually install the programs under each user
profile where you plan to use the programs.

--
Anando
Microsoft MVP- Windows Shell/User
Microsoft Certified Professional
http://www.microsoft.com/mvp
http://www.mvps.org

Folder customizations
http://www.anando.org/folder
 
Yes, I installed both programs as admin for ALL users.

Usually when I run them for the first time as nonadmin, it has to do
some configuring. But my system does it EVERY time.

I'm thinking that something is seriously wrong with the system, not the
application itself.

rj
 
Ok, i had the same problem until 5 mins ago. You must add the user or
group (in my case "Users" group) with "Read permission enable" to the
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT in the RegEdit using an Administrator account, but it
can have a certain amount of risk.

You can also do this in a more secure an intelligent way:
clearing the event log of the system with an admin account, then login
with the problem account, press win+E, wait until the configurer ends,
return to the admin account, check the event log for a problematic
registry key, search the problem key in regedit, modify the
permissions, and restart from clearing the event log until u have no
more warnings.

If you dont have the experience using the regedit, please call someone
that has it and can help u.
 
With the method that i explain in my last post, you can also fix the
"windows configures ..." dialog with Office 2007, in accounts with no
admin privileges.

I hope that it will be useful for u.
 
With the method that i explain in my last post, you can also fix the
"windows configures ..." dialog with Office 2007, in accounts with no
admin privileges.

I hope that it will be useful for u.
 
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