"Network name cannot be found" installing 2003

[MS$DesignersRCretins]

I'm reinstalling on XP (SP3) (at home). I have the Office 2003 Professional CD which I inserted when the installer said it needed it. But then it aborted, throwing up a system window:

"\\192.168.0.4\users is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions.

The network name cannot be found."

Now, when I start to load Access (which re-triggers the installer), even without the CD, after a few seconds the error window pops up and aborts. Loaded (in order) are
MSACCESS.EXE
msiexec.exe
another msiexec.exe
OSE.EXE
another msiexec.exe

and boom, with one msiexec.exe remaining while the error message is up. That remaining one shows msiexec.exe, started by services.exe, command line c:\windows\system32\msiexec.exe /V

That IP address happens to be the one I use to transfer files to another P.C.. I could have activated it (i.e. turned on Advanced Sharing on the Windows 7 box) but I thought, Access shouldn't require me to talk to ANYbody, much less giving him an open door to another system.

I tried hard to search for this question before posting, but if it's an old repetitive question, I apologize.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

If you can get to the COMMAND WINDOW (Command prompt) try the ROUTE PRINT * command. See if one of the responses includes that specific address in the list that is displayed from the command. If 192.168.0.4 is on the right side of the line with 0.0.0.0 on the left, then your XP box thinks that your Win7 system is your default router for some reason. If that system is like most Win7's, it CAN'T take that role because routing is a server function, not an end-node function.

If you have a map of your home network topology, use the address of your cable or network provider's gateway box, which should be your default router. You will need to use both ROUTE DELETE and ROUTE ADD to fix this. But before we get that far, you need to understand what might be happening.

I am not familiar with the details of the various classes of installation CDs, but if that one is an aggressively licensed kit (and "Professional" kits often are), then it is looking for a way out to validate your installation or license key. Without that ability, you might not be able to perform the re-installation. Look on the Office 2003 box (if you still have it after 14 years) to see if it tells you that you need a network connection for validation purposes. That disclosure is usually on the either the back or the bottom of the box.

 

[MS$DesignersRCretins]

Thanks very much. ROUTE PRINT * does not show the 192.168.0.4 address anywhere. It does show 0.1 for gateway and 0.3 for interface.

I don't still have the box, but I do recall making a phone call with the 30 or so character product key when activating it in the past.

 

[MS$DesignersRCretins]

For what it's worth, Excel 2003 already runs completely smoothly; Word 2003 had been goes "preparing to install" says a file is missing every single time I start it, but it WOULD start and run; and starting today (after starting to install Access), now starting Word generates the same error message - however Word DOES run, unlike Access, which does not. Word starts 4 msiexec.exe's every time I start it. After starting WORD a couple of times, now the error message stopped.

Now the message stopped appearing, but MSACCESS.EXE just silently stops after about 10 seconds of
"Please wait while Windowws configures Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003

Gathering required information." Then that box disappears, as does MSACCESS.EXE.

Note, the error didn't just say 192.168.0.4; it said 192.168.0.4\users . \USERS\ is a folder on the Win7 box where I have earlier been connecting to. I would click that in My Network Places, entire userid/password to the Win7 box, then use SUBST to connect drive N: (FYI the CD is drive F.

SUBST shows
N:\: => UNC\192.168.0.4\users

So I tried deleting the drive N: SUBST. No help. MSACCESS.EXE still dies 10 seconds after starting it, and there's no error box. Now it's just a vicious silent abort.

Next step, reboot, after I reach a stopping place on 12 other projects I'm amidst, grrr.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

It has been a while (like, 14 years) but I recall that most Office kits include another option besides "reinstall." Can you do a "repair" type of installation.

Now that you have described using the folder on your .0.4 box as a mapped share, I understand where the address reference originates. There must be something in your system that referenced drive N: for something and really, REALLY wants it.

I'm wondering if there is a registry entry you need to "adjust" because it contains old data and is unable to resolve it. My other question is, why would you not just enable file sharing to that .0.4 system in order to get past the hurdle?

 

[MS$DesignersRCretins]

Thanks for your efforts. Rebooting was no help. Repair is a Control Panel add/remove program option, but I'm hesitant to do that or reinstall because it would be all of Office, and I would be suicidal if I lost and couldn't reinstall Excel 2003. So unless there's something else I guess I'll do without Access.

FWIW, it no longer whines for the 192 IP address. It just spawns a couple of copies of msiexec.exe and after 10 or so seconds ingloriously dies. I don't see any log files to consult. There are some .CAB files from hours ago when I stuck in the installation CD. The latest file date seems to be c:\windows\installer\...\accicons.exe and c:\windows\syste32\config\software.log ("in use" so I don't know how to view it)

 

[The_Doc_Man]

The .CAB files are "cabinets" used by the installer.

The nice thing about the "repair" option is that it doesn't appear to fix that which wasn't broken in the first place. Basically, it assures that all required files are present by checking each file and replacing the ones that are missing.

I understand your reluctance, but at this point you cannot do what you want to do. How long can you put up with a broken Access? It's your problem and your project, only you know your timeline. For what it's worth, though, if you HAD a newer version of Office, it works on XP. One of my old machines was running XP and Office 2010 for a long time before that machine died of a failing hard drive. In that context, 2010 had no problems with 2003-format files.