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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Office 2000
- Microsoft Word 2000
- Microsoft Excel 2000
- Microsoft PowerPoint 2000
- Microsoft FrontPage 2000
- Microsoft Outlook 2000
- Microsoft Access 2000
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SYMPTOMS
========

When you start any of the programs included with Microsoft Office 2000, the
following error message appears:

There was a problem starting the Office Assistant. Would you like to try
reinstalling it?

If you click Yes, the following error message appears:

The Office Assistant could not be started. Please repair the Assistant by
running Office 2000 setup and selecting "Repair Office 2000".

When you start Microsoft Excel 2000, the following error message appears:

Microsoft Excel requires file OLEAUT32.DLL to run. The version of
OLEAUT32.DLL that is on your computer is older than the one required by this
version of Microsoft Excel.

Please run Setup again, and select the Reinstall option to install the correct
version of the file.

When you start Microsoft Outlook 2000, the following error message appears:

The required file OUTLRPC.dll cannot be found in your path, please reinstall
Microsoft Outlook.

When you start Microsoft PowerPoint 2000, the following error message appears:

The AGENTSVR.EXE file is linked to missing export OLEAUT32.DLL:277.

When you start Microsoft FrontPage 2000, the following error message is
displayed:

Microsoft FrontPage is not installed properly on this system and cannot
function. Please reinstall Microsoft FrontPage.

Click OK to exit.

followed by:

This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down. If the
problem persists, contact the program vendor.

If you click Details, an error message similar to the following appears:

FRONTPG caused an invalid page fault in module MFC42.DLL at 0137:5f4086f7.

When you start Microsoft Access 2000, the following error message appears:

The file 'OLEAUT32.DLL' is out of date. This program requires a newer
version.

CAUSE
=====

This problem occurs if you have an outdated version of Oleaut32.dll installed on
your computer.

RESOLUTION
==========

To resolve this problem, please use one of the following methods:

Method 1: Run Detect and Repair
-------------------------------

If the application does not close after you receive any of the error messages in
the "Symptoms" section of this article, follow these steps to resolve the
problem:

1. Click Detect and Repair on the Help menu.

2. Click Start in the Detect and Repair dialog box.

The Office Setup program replaces the outdated copy of Oleaut32.dll.

If the application closes after the error message appears, use these steps to
resolve the problem:

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and click Control Panel.

2. Double-click Add/Remove Programs.

3. Double-click Office 2000.

4. Click Repair Office.

5. Click Reinstall Office and click Finish.

NOTE: Because of the outdated version of Oleaut32.dll, you may receive error
messages during the reinstallation. Click Ignore in each error message dialog
box to continue.

Method 2: Rename Oleaut32.dll
-----------------------------

If Method 1 does not resolve the problem, follow these steps:

1. Quit all running programs.

2. Click Start, point to Find, and click Files or Folders.

3. In the Look in list, click My Computer. Select the Include subfolders check
box. In the Named box, type the following file name:

" Oleaut32.dll" (without the quotation marks)

4. In the list of files found, right-click the file, and on the shortcut menu,
click Rename.

5. Rename the file by changing the file name extension to ".old" (without the
quotation marks).

6. Run Office Setup again.

NOTE: You can also manually copy Oleaut32.dll from the Office 2000 CD1 and paste
it into the Windows\System folder. The location of the file on CD1 is:

:\CD1\SYSTEM\Oleaut32.dll

where is the drive letter for the CD-ROM drive.

\**
\** PARTNER:
\**
\**
\**
\** Steps to Reproduce Problem
\** --------------------------
\**
\**
\**
\** 1. Copy an old version of Oleaut32.dll to your System directory.
\** (Such as the one found on the Windows 95 CD-ROM disc in the Win95_09.cab
\** file.)
\**
\** 2. Start Excel 2000.
\**
\**
\**

\**
\** PARTNER:
\** comment 75322 from lizmcgil:
\** The other programs worked, but Outlook gave the Outlrpc.dll error on startup. Ran
\** Repair on IE5, which revealed an error about missing pstores.exe. Reinstalled
\** IE5, and this fixed the error in Outlook.

REFERENCES
==========

For additional information about Office errors that can occur with an outdated
version of Oleaut32.dll, please see the following article in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base:

Q224315 OFF2000: Error Starting Visual Basic Editor with Outdated
Oleaut32.dll

Additional query words: OFF2000 xl xl2000 wd wd2000 ol ol2000 ppt ppt2000 fp fp2000 acc acc2000 ole fp2k ppt2k xl2k ol2k wd2k

AFFECTS: Office 2000 upgrades
ISSUE: Error message " The OLEAUT32.DLL is out of date. This program requires a newer version"

KNOWN RESOLUTION

1. Look up article number Q224315. Microsoft says to run 'Repair Office', but it doesn't always work.
2. Copy OLEAUT32.DLL from the System folder on disc one of the Office CDs to another directory besides C:\Windows\System.
NOTE: You cannot copy the file while in Windows - it will be in use. Also you cannot rename the file and then reboot back into
Windows, error messages will occur and make the situation worse.
3. Boot into DOS
4. Rename the OLEAUT32.DLL file that is in C:\Windows\System to OLEAUT32.old
5. Copy OLEAUT32.DLL you copied from the CD fo the C:\Windows\System directory.
6. Restart back into Windows.
7. Delete the OLEAUT32.DLL file in the other directory (not C:\Windows\System).

MORE INFORMATION:

There are other OLEAUT32.DLL errors, such as IPFs, that this resoluton will not repair. These steps should be followed for the error listed above only. Other OLEAUT32.DLL errors can be referened on the KB. Call your mentor with the exact error message for troubleshooting.



Also…

Office 2000 installation problems on the Inspirion 3200

When trying to install Office 2000 or Front Page 2000 you may get an error that states:

"Windows Installer has been aborted. The I/O operation has been aborted because of a thread exit or an application request" or "Can't find OLEAUT32.DLL"

This is similar to the ACMSETUP error with Office 97 and is related to the shielding of the cable on the CD-ROM. Try turning off the DMA for both the CD-ROM and the hard drive. Shut off everything in selective startup in the System Configuration Utility. Try installing IE5 and then the rest of Office 2k.