I'm customising my XP SP3 install and am nearly done.

The only problem I'm having now is with the unattended installation of Office 2007 (Enterprise, through software assurance for my company)

I have created a custom.msp file with all the settings & what to isntall. However, when running the install it fails, returning the error that setup encountered a problem.

I checked the log files and found the following:

Error: Failed to install product: C:\MSOCache\All Users\{90120000-0115-0409-0000-0000000FF1CE-C\OfficeMUI.msi ErrorCode: 1601 (0x641)

After this occurs the Windows Installer Service seems to become permanently broken. I cannot install any other program which uses the Windows Installer Service (e.g. messenger etc) I just receive an error about the Windows Installer Service being unable to be accessed.

I believe it might have something to do with the component removal in nLite but I'm not sure as I followed a number of guides to get the current removal options I have.

I also disabled/manual set a few services by using the eldergeek.com guide to services (and what was, and was not essential)

Anyone know what's up?

I have attached my lastsession.ini below.

LAST_SESSION.INI

OK I just tried messing about with the order of my RunOnceEx, and it seems that Symantec can't install either, So I'm thinking this is more a problem with Windows Installer than Office.

Does anyone know if I removed anything which may have been required for Windows Installer to work properly?

OK Installing the Windows Installer 4.5 Distributable from the Microsoft Website seems to have fixed the service but obviously that's AFTER my RunOnceEx has failed. Any ideas guys?

Xeijin, I think people are hesitant to respond because you said:

(Enterprise, through software assurance for my company)

NLite is for personal use only (See license agreement in the nLite folder in the Program Files folder). I suspect most think you are using nLite in the business environment - I did. Hope not, but let us know and possibly we can help. Enjoy, John.

Xeijin, I think people are hesitant to respond because you said:

(Enterprise, through software assurance for my company)

NLite is for personal use only (See license agreement in the nLite folder in the Program Files folder). I suspect most think you are using nLite in the business environment - I did. Hope not, but let us know and possibly we can help. Enjoy, John.

Hi johnc,

This is not the case, to clarify the license for enterprise is through the software assurance agreement with my company, and the extension to that agreement known as the "Home User Program" [HUP] which allows individuals to pay a nominal amount for an extra license key to be used with home computers (when saying 'My Company' meaning the one I work for). I mentioned this because I know some MVPs suspect those using enterprise editions of Piracy (since warez releases often go for the 'best'/corporate with no activation) as the "Enterprise" edition is not available online, I assumed it would be a similar case here.

Ironic I guess!

I have created my own customised visual style, and custom user account (visible in the nlite session file) I hope this will help attest to the fact that it is indeed for personal use.

Thankyou for the heads up, and sorry for any confusion.

Edited February 25, 200917 yr by Xeijin

Xeijin, I certainly accept that your use is personal.

How are you executing the Office installer - from RUN1_XP-64.BAT? I would suggest installing the lastest MSI installer (WindowsServer2003-KB942288-v4-x64.exe), although I don't think that will correct your problem. I think I would be careful about removing OOBE. Other than those two items, I am afraid I have little to offer except to start putting stuff back in and test the results. I was hoping someone who knew about Office install would help. I hope you are using a virtual system such as VirtualBox or VMware Server - both free. Please make sure to always start with a fresh copy of your CD files/folders, do all your work in one nLite session and integrate only one SP. Enjoy, John.

Hi johnc, thanks for your reply.

I actually wanted to ask, is the Windows Installer Service used at all during the T-13 portion of setup (I believe it is the portion of setup where files are installed via svcpack) Because I have integrated some of RogueSpear's switchless installers at that point, and they install fine, so I am starting to think that perhpaps it is one of the packages that causes a problem?

Confirmation that the windows installer service is indeed used during the setup billboard would be helpful in confirming this problem.

Xeijin, here is a good time line of installation. I do not know if the MS Installer is run at t-13, but I use the Unattended RunOnce exit to run a batch file that does lots of things including running MSI to install several programs. It works fine. Hope this helps, John.