On Tue, 11 Oct 2005 20:22:26 +0100, Alex Coleman
wrote:

I have:
XP Pro/SP1
Office 2000 SR-1 Professional


I have got some problems with Excel. When I click an XLS file I get
a message flash up and then vanish which says "Preparing To Install"
and then nothing else happens.

I can launch Excel by running the EXE direct. I still get the
message "Preparing To Install" but then Excel appears.

MS Word is ok.

I decided to do a repair installation. I put my original CD in the
CD drive and clicked Add/Remove Programs MS Office Change. I get
a message saying:

"The installation source for this product is
not available. Verify that the source exists
and that you can access it".

I get the same message if I click "Remove" for MS Office.

And if I go to the CD and list the files and launch the SETUP.EXE
file I also get the same message. (This time the message box is
titled Windows Installer whereas before it was titles Add/Remove
programs.)

How do I get around this to repair my Excel?


Open Admin tools/Services

Make sure the "Office Source Engine" service is running.

If this service is not running then Office updates and many times the
Office Setup (if you already have Office installed) will not run.