The Entourage Help Blog

Add weekdays to dates in Entourage 2008

2008-07-04T23:00:00Z

Once in a while I get an idea from someone posting a question in the Microsoft Entourage newsgroup and wonder how I managed without it. Someone recently asked this question:

In the primary Inbox window, how can I have the dates in the Sent column display the day of the week also (i.e. Tuesday, 6/24/08, 3:00 PM instead of just 6/24/08, 3:00 PM)?

I've often needed to scroll back to a message received "just last Friday" or "two weeks ago Tuesday" but instead I had to rely on the subject and sender to locate the message or count backwards in my mind to the specific date.

With a simple change to the International System Preferences pane I can add the weekday to all my dates making messages easier to locate.

]]> The default date format under the Received and Sent columns in Entourage 2008 is "7/4/08" for the United States. Other countries may display the same date as "07.04.08" or "2008/07/04" or something else. The weekday can be appended to all of these formats.

To add the weekday to the date, quit Entourage and then select Apple menu --> System Preferences... --> International --> Formats and click the Customize... button. Change the Show drop-down menu to Short.

Locate the Day of Week item and simply drag it in front of the date above. For readability, I also added a comma and space between the weekday and the date.

Launch Entourage and weekdays will now be appended to the dates under the Received and Sent columns.

This feature is new to Entourage 2008 and not available in Entourage 2004, which does not use the settings in the International System Preferences pane for date display.

For additional information about how the International System Preferences pane plays a part with Entourage 2008's date and time display, read:

Pros and Cons of using Entourage 2008

2008-07-02T20:16:54Z

We see lots of comments on the newsgroups about problems using Entourage, but it has many good features too.

One user recently wrote:

I'm curious as to what people here like about Entourage. I like the interface, and having my calendar, notes, email all in one place. Entourage is also pretty good at managing IMAP accounts, and certainly better than Outlook for that, but it's still pretty lacking, especially since I can't import Windows data (PST).

Get your feelings off your chest about what you like and don't like about Entourage. No Microsoft bashing allowed and no foul language. Hope this is cathartic. We will not be responding to comments. This is just an opportunity for you guys to sound off.

FireFox 'Insert URLs' script updated

2008-07-01T06:23:30Z

About three years ago, I wrote a pair of scripts for Microsoft Entourage. They would take the current page displayed in either FireFox or Safari and insert the URL of that page into an Entourage message window. If more than one page was displayed, the script would let you select one or more of those pages and insert the URLs of all the pages you selected.

They have proved to be popular scripts. I have, over the years, received a great deal of feedback on them - almost universally appreciative!

]]> However, Since FireFox 3 was released a couple of weeks ago, I have received more than 40 emails telling me of a problem. The script no longer worked, but just threw an error dialog when the users attempted to run the script. I investigated and found that in amongst all the improvements of FF3, they had removed some of the scriptability (never very great) that was in FF2.

If you look in the AppleScript dictionary for Firefox using Apple's Script Editor, you will find that the class 'window' is not listed. However, it is accessible in both FF2 & FF3. Various properties can be accessed about the window using AppleScript - often by using class definitions rather than script keywords as would normally be done. The ones that concerned me were «class pTit» and «class curl». These properties used to return the name of a window and its URL. In FF3, the «class pTit» returns a 'Null Value' that causes the script to fail. Darren Mahaffy (Managing Editor of MacSurfer and TechNN) blogged about the problem in more depth here.

I looked around and wasn't able to find a suitable work-round, so I was stuck with a choice. Either I could leave the script broken, or I could reduce the functionality to match the omissions in FF3. Reluctantly, I chose the second option rather than loose the script all together (it is one that I make quite heavy use of).

So, "Insert FireFox URLs v2.0" can be downloaded from the Scripts page of my web site. It's the first script on that page. A similar script (but without the current restriction) is available for Safari at the same place.

As always, these scripts are free - all I ask is that you just drop me an email to let me know you are enjoying it and make any feedback you like - bug reports, improvement requests etc.

Date bug in Entourage 2008 causes birthday information loss

2008-06-28T19:46:51Z

Microsoft Entourage newsgroup poster Jean Frédéric raised this question:

Each time I try to enter a birthday date in the contact, it is rewritten.
Example: when I enter 12/06/1942, it turns to 12/06/39 The range of date concerned goes from 1940 to 1950.

In addition, when it syncs with iSync, there is a conflict between Address Book and Entourage that can only be solved by overwriting the Address Book data with Entourage's.

Both problems made me lose 70% of my birthday information...

Do you have any clue?

This reminded me of my earlier post Correct Time displays in Entourage calendar by adjusting the correct System Preferences where the International pane in System Preferences can cause odd behavior with time displays. The same System Preference plus an Entourage 2008 bug was also the cause of Jean Frédédric's date problem.

]]> Reproducing the problem

The problem presents itself immediately for anyone triggering the bug: a four-digit date such as 1942 changes to a two-digit date, which is always 39. For example, enter a birthday for a contact in Entourage 2008 as April 12, 1942

April 12, 1942." src="http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/images_2008/birthday1.jpg" width="450" height="343" class="mt-image-none" style="" />

and the year changes to 39. Note also that the Age field is not calculated and that the day of the week for the birth date is incorrect.

If you enter a birthday for a person who is one year or older,

then the year remains correct and the day of the birth date and age are calculated correctly.

What's happening?

In this situation Entourage is not calculating birthdays correctly for anyone born before 1950. This is actually two problems most likely caused by the same bug:

Any four-digit year from 1940 to 1949 will change to 39.
Any year through 1939 is being calculated as 2039 or its corresponding year.

Therefore, if a birthday is entered as April 12, 1942 (a Sunday), its year format will be changed to '39 and the date will change to April 12, 2039 (a Tuesday) because 1942 falls between 1939 and 1950.

Furthermore, if a birthday is entered as April 12, 1925 (a Sunday), its year format will be changed to '25 and the date will change to April 12, 2025 (a Saturday) because 1925 is less than 1939.

Confusing? Yes. Just understand that anything before 1950 is probably wrong.

How can I fix this?

The answer lies with the International pane in System Preferences.

The date format of the Birthday field in Entourage's Address Book is controlled by the Medium date format found in the International pane. To find this format select Apple menu --> System Preferences... --> International --> Formats --> Dates and click on the Customize... button. Change the Show drop-down menu to Medium.

The bug is triggered when the year of the Medium format is set to a two-digit year. Quit Entourage first and then simply change the format of the year from a two-digit to a four-digit year.

Launch Entourage and most years will be converted to the correct birth year. If you had a birthday of Saturday, April 12, '25 (Entourage thought this was 2025), it will now appear as Sunday, April 12, 1925.

After setting the four-digit year in the International pane, double-check birth years falling below 1908. These will actually be converted to 2008 or the corresponding year instead. For example, birth years of 1907 that had been formatted as '07 will be changed to 2007.

[Updated Sunday, June 29, 2008: Fellow MVP Bernard Rey has notified me that we should also double-check birth years from 1940-1949. These will all have been converted by the first bug to '39. Thank you, Bernard!]

MacBU is aware of this bug but they have not released information about a forthcoming fix.

12.1.1 updater woes- a version of the software required not found

2008-06-24T23:26:29Z

Several users are reporting this error:

This same error was fixed in a previous update with a workaround described here. However, this can be caused by user error (downloading the wrong updater or wrong language), but most likely it's caused by modifying files as described here. This includes modifying Office files as well as your OS file like removing languages. running Monolingual or Safari fix.

Fix if you have modified files:

]]>

Quit all applications (Easy way: log out/in with Shift key down to disable any startup items.)

Drag the Microsoft Office 2008 folder to the Trash.

Empty Trash.

Reinstall Office 2008 from your original installation disk. (see below for details***)

Restart

Update to 12.1.0 (SP1)**

Restart

Update to 12.1.1

Restart

Run Repair Permissions from Disk Utility.

** Be sure you have logged in with Shift key down to disable all startup items. Quit all applications before updating.

***After installing from the original install disk, the AutoUpdater will want to update itself. Let it update. When you see the AutoUpdater in the Dock, select to "keep in Dock" for the install process. Do not update further. Restart then run the AutoUpdater to let it install SP1. Restart then use your installer for 12.1.1 ~~(this is not yet available through AutoUpdate)~~. Restart.

(you can remove AutoUpdate after this process)

After you are updated:

You can download the script to show this info here. Be sure to get the correct version for Office 2008.

Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.5.0 Update

2008-06-24T20:44:15Z

Finally, a combo updater for Office 2004. This update includes all the improvements that were released in previous Office 2004 updates. It comes in at a whopping .dmg file size of 59mb.

The Office 2004 for Mac 11.5.0 Update is also available from Microsoft AutoUpdate. AutoUpdate is a program that automatically keeps Microsoft software up to date. To use AutoUpdate, start an Office program, and then click Check for Updates on the Help menu.

Improvements that are included in the update:

]]> The Office 2004 for Mac 11.5.0 Update contains several improvements to enhance stability and compatibility with documents that were created in Office 2008 for Mac and Office 2007 for Windows.

If the Open XML File Format Converter for Mac is installed, this update enables Office 2004 for Mac to read and write Office documents that are in the Open XML Format. There are no specific Entourage improvements added,

Description of the Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.5.0 Update

The Office 2004 for Mac 11.5.0 Update includes this following improvement that will make updating a bit faster.

The update installer now ignores backup copies of Office that were created by Time Machine.
For users of Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard), this update fixes an issue that causes the update installer to identify copies of Office in backup folders that were created by Time Machine. Folders that were created by Time Machine use the folder name extension ".backupdb."

Tips for a good install:

Log out/in with shift key down to disable all startup items. Make sure there are no applications open.
Restart after installing and run Repair Permissions from Disk Utility.

Download the English Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.5.0 Update package now.

All updates can be found on Mactopia. Look for Newest in the right side column.

I also suggest you archive (zip) your Office for Mac folder prior to updating. If the update has problems, you can easily revert to the archived copy. It's too early to know if this update will cause problems.

Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac 12.1.1 Update

2008-06-24T20:24:09Z

The Office 12.1.1 update is now up on MacTopia. The 12.1.1 update is not yet available through auto-update. MacBU seems to have set a pattern of releasing via direct download only prior to releasing via AutoUpdate. In the past this has resulted in some changes to make the updater more reliable. It's too early to say yet if this update will be problematic.

If you are concerned about updating, archive (zip) your Office for Mac folder prior to updating. If the update proves problematic for you, simply revert to the archived version.

]]> The Office 2008 for Mac 12.1.1 Update is focused on improvements in Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The double-click issue is part of the fix.

Word documents open correctly when you double-click the document or when you download the document from a Web site.

Improvements for Entourage users:

Stability is improved.
This update fixes an issue that causes Office 2008 applications to quit unexpectedly when you open or use Office 2008 applications.

Stability is improved when you wake the computer from sleep.
This update fixes an issue that causes Entourage 2008 to quit unexpectedly when you wake the computer from sleep, such as when you close and then open the lid of a laptop.

The update installer now ignores backup copies of Office that were created by Time Machine.
For users of Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard), this update fixes an issue that causes the update installer to identify copies of Office in backup folders that were created by Time Machine. Folders that were created by Time Machine use the folder name extension ".backupdb."

If you are having problems updating, see this Check List to troubleshoot your install

Sync Services still causing problems for some users after SP1

2008-06-22T05:18:44Z

Some customers still see problem with Entourage's Sync Service after upgrading to SP1. For example, they see frequent crashes in Entourage's sync service and constantly see conflicts for the same set of contacts and events in the sync alert dialog although they have resolved the conflicts previously.

Solution: Reset sync service in Entourage and the sync service in the OS. Until you clean up your data stored in the truth (a special database that stores sync information on a Mac), you will continuously sync bad data and duplicates over and over.

]]> For this cleanup process, I recommend these steps;

Turn Off Sync Services for all your apps
Clean up duplicates in each or skip to #4
Turn On Sync Services
Clean up duplicates again in the one source that will be your primary source
Follow the steps below to reset Sync Services (this will erase data)

Note: Always backup before deleting data!

Cleaning up Duplicates

To delete Entourage duplicates, use one of the delete duplicate scripts found here.
Delete iCal duplicate appointments
Remove duplicated field data in iCal and Address Book
Use the Menu command in Apple's Address Book: Card --> Look for Duplicates

Reset sync services and start fresh (Warning this erases data!!!)

Turn OFF all sync services in Entourage preferences
Quit ALL Office applications (including Daemon - How to quit daemon)
Quit Safari, Address Book & iCal and all applications synching through .Mac (Transmit, Yojimbo...)
Use Activity Monitor to quit Sync Services
Delete the contents of ~/Library/Application Support/SyncServices/
Optionally: if you want to replace all data in the system Address book and iCal with Entourage data, delete all iCal & Address Book Data Files:

~/Application Support/iCal/*~/Application Support/AddressBook/*
~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iCal/*
~/Library/Caches/com.apple.AddressBook/*

Open the .Mac System preferences and make sure .Mac synching is enabled
Restart all applications that sync to .Mac (Safari, Address Book, iCal, etc.... and Entourage).
Turn ON Sync Services in Entourage preferences.

Note: Currently syncing with .Mac has problems. You might not want to sync to .Mac at this time.

REPLACE, REPLACE, MERGE?

There's a dialog that pops-up in Entourage when you turn on synching of a calendar or address book that asks something like: "You have enabled Sync Services for a folder, do you want to?"

Replace Entourage items with Sync Services items
Replace Sync Services items with Entourage items
Merge Entourage items with Sync Services items

If you have selected Entourage as your primary source, you will want to select "Replace Sync Services items with Entourage items"

The "Replace Entourage items" option will delete all items in Entourage and override them with the contents of the Sync Services truth. You'd want to do this if you haven't used Entourage in a while or you consider your cell phone's address book the primary "rule" for your contacts.

The "Replace Sync Services" option makes Entourage the short-term rule. All contents within your truth will be deleted and replaced with Entourage items. In this case, all contacts in your Address Book app would be deleted and then replaced with those from the address book selected in Entourage.

The "Merge" option is normally the safest option. Nothing gets deleted. Items in the Sync Services truth go into Entourage and items within Entourage go into the Sync Services truth. Because this can be a bit messy, causing duplication, or unwanted items this is not an option we want to use for this process.

After selecting one of these options, all changes in anything that talks to the truth will be synchronized to any application that listens.

Recommended reading: Basics of how Sync Services Works

E-mail message as attachment is unreadable in Exchange Server 2007 environment

2008-06-22T04:49:10Z

Entourage 2004 and 2008 users are unable to receive e-mails that contain other e-mails as an attachment if their email server is Exchange 2007 SP1. The solution is to Install RU2 directly on Exchange server. Links and details follow.

]]> Symptom:

In a Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 environment, an e-mail message is in disorder and is unreadable. However, the same e-mail message is readable if it is received by a user in a Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 environment. Read KB:

An e-mail message is in disorder and is unreadable in an Exchange Server 2007 environment

Update Rollup 1 for Exchange Server 2007 SP1 fixes the issues that are described in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article: 945428

Description of Update Rollup 1 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1

Microsoft has released Update Rollup 2 for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1). This article describes the following information about the update rollup:

Description of Update Rollup 2 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1

SOLUTION: Install RU2 (it is cumulative) directly on Exchange server.

Client Certificate-based Authentication in Entourage 2008

2008-06-17T02:18:29Z

Recently Microsoft released Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Office 2008 for Mac. There are some new features in SP1 for Entourage 2008 users, one of them is 'Client Certificate-based Authentication'. Be sure to check out Amir Haque's blog article Client Certificate-based Authentication in Entourage 2008. Amir will walk you thru the setup on server & client sides so that it will be helpful to those who want to use this feature in Entourage.

Antidote updated to work with Office 2008

2008-06-13T02:22:02Z

Antidote RX est un correcteur orthographique et grammatical pour la langue française qui s'intègre à de nombreuses applications. Druide (la maison mère) vient de mettre en ligne une mise à jour GRATUITE permettant l'intégration à Office 2008.

Le mode de fonctionnement de cette application et son intégration à Entourage ont été présentés dans l'article précédent Spell-checking done right.

Continue to read in English

]]> Antidote from Druide Informatique is a spell checker (spelling and grammar) for French that integrates in a lot of applications. Druide just updated Antidote for FREE to work with Office 2008!

Corentin Cras-Méneur explains how to use Entourage with Antidote in Spell-checking done right.

MacBU reproducing new Exchange and SP1 certificate error

2008-06-11T22:58:05Z

A contact of mine at the Macintosh Business Unit (MacBU) of Microsoft has verified that they have reproduced a problem first seen in the release of SP1 for Office 2008 where a new certificate message may appear at startup with no apparent means of disabling it.

]]> Since the release of SP1, some Entourage users in Exchange environments have noticed a new dialog window at startup. The message states, "Unable to establish a secure connection to mydomain.com because the server name or IP address does not match the name or IP address on the server's certificate." The domain mydomain.com refers to the domain of the Exchange Server and not the Exchange Server itself.

This message is different from a similar certificate message displayed when an authoritative root certificate is not installed.

Repeated attempts to completely trust the server's certificate as well as the root certificate do not mitigate the problem of the message displaying at every launch of Entourage.

For developers, reproducing a problem is 90% of the battle in troubleshooting and fixing a problem. However, MacBU can not provide a timeline for a fix nor whether or not it will be included in the next update.

Quick Time 7.5 update causes moment of panic

2008-06-11T02:00:13Z

I installed the QT 7.5 update today and I had an OMG moment. All my contacts seemed to disappear. When I tried to address a message nothing was coming up in autofill. I checked my Address Book in Entourage 2008 and there were no contacts listed. I selected different views in the folder side bar and the contacts came back up, but I still couldn't address a message. Then Entourage crashed. After restart it's working.

If this happens to you, be sure to send in the crash log when MERP comes up.

Use this reminder that things happen that are disastrous and unexpected. Make sure you have backups.

There is an Automator action that will backup Entourage 2008 contacts to a text file. Open Automator and select "Export Entourage Contacts" I don't have Entourage 2004 installed to verify this is available for Entourage 2004.

In all versions you can always use File --> Export and select as tab delimited file.

Will Snow Leopard be the end of Entourage?

2008-06-10T07:44:46Z

My jaw dropped.

Right on this page Apple -- Mac OS X Leopard -- Snow Leopard about midway down Apple says:

Microsoft Exchange Support
Snow Leopard includes out-of-the-box support for Microsoft Exchange 2007 built into Mail, Address Book, and iCal. Mac OS X uses the Exchange Web Services protocol to provide access to Exchange Server 2007. Because Exchange is supported on your Mac and iPhone, you'll be able to use them anywhere with full access to your email, contacts, and calendar.

I don't have to ask myself if Apple can pull this off. Of course they can! But with a "free" Exchange solution "out-of-the-box" what does this mean for Microsoft Entourage?

]]> Entourage is falling short

Exchange support for the Macintosh platform has never had parity with Windows. Outlook 98 and Outlook 2001, the only true Outlook clients for Macintosh, were basic versions of their Windows counterparts. Entourage, now in its third version of Exchange support, still lacks many features that customers have been requesting for years.

Switchers, who are adopting the Mac as their primary computer platform after leaving a long-time relationship with Windows, expect something better than what they left behind, especially when they learn Microsoft makes Office for Mac and Windows.

For many folks who have only known the one platform, Office is practically synonymous with Windows. Right or wrong, they expect their experience on the Mac to be similar to what they had on Windows.

Many switchers have expressed their disappointment with Office 2008 for Mac because it simply doesn't do everything Office 2007 and earlier could do on Windows. And when they begin exploring Entourage 2008 they are befuddled to learn that it doesn't support sending Tasks and Notes through Exchange, doesn't support server side rules or doesn't support PST files.

Bring it on!

Competition is good. The fact that Apple is joining the market in Exchange support means that Mac users will not only have a choice of product but the products themselves will have to get better to stay marketable.

Apple has on its side an impeccable flair for design and products that "just work" plus Address Book and iCal data can sync with multiple services. But can Apple do in one new version of Address Book, iCal and Mail what Microsoft hasn't accomplished in three versions of Entourage?

Microsoft has experience on its side, not to mention all the Exchange Server resources and development in-house. It also has stronger AppleScript support and powerful search capabilities, which are needed by power users. Can it continue to offer more Exchange support than Apple to keep it a product in demand?

I look at this two ways:

What should Microsoft be doing to improve Entourage?

While full Outlook parity would be nice I don't think it's necessary for Entourage to be considered the preferred Exchange client. But the following are musts.

Tasks and Notes must work with Exchange
Mail, calendaring and contacts already work and Exchange users are screaming for these last items. Not only should Microsoft include this support with Exchange, they should include it for non-Exchange (POP and IMAP) accounts as well so that home and small business users can send and receive tasks with each other.

Entourage must support PST files
While PST files aren't technically an Exchange feature they are an Outlook feature that has no equivalent on the Mac. At minimum, Entourage should be able to import and export the PST file format that is compatible with all recent versions of Outlook. Ideally, it would be able to just use the PST file format.

Sync statuses and metadata with Outlook
Exchange support needs to consider those who work on multiple computers either at work or between work and home. Read/Forward status arrows, categories and other metadata must sync seamlessly between Entourage and Outlook.

Calendar scheduling should be equal to Outlook
The Calendar is a core component of Exchange and Entourage should be able to take full advantage of its capabilities such as direct booking of resources, finding first available meeting times and supporting multiple calendars at once. Microsoft should take Apple's lead and provided an overlay view a la iCal.

Entourage needs a non-syncing Work Online mode and an offline mode that syncs the Global Address List
While on the company network Entourage must offer the ability to not sync and allow immediate viewing of messages on the server. While traveling, users should be able to sync not only their accounts but also the company GAL.

What should Apple do to make Address Book, iCal and Mail the better Exchange clients?

Apple has both the convenience and the inconvenience of starting with clean code. Mail (assuming Mail will be Snow Leopard's Exchange client) is built in XCode but must go through the retrofitting process that Entourage did back in 2003.

Support Kerberos authentication
Network applications in the Enterprise should be integrated with network services such as Kerberos for single sign-on authentication. Not only does Entourage 2008 support Kerberos but Microsoft Messenger does as well. Integrating iChat with Office Communications Server would be a bonus.
Adopt a three-column view for Mail
Although this isn't an Exchange feature, it's valuable for the Enterprise road warrior. The three column format is an alternative to the preview on bottom that works well for laptop users with smaller but wide screens who need to maximize their screen real estate. Interestingly the Mobile Me mail view looks very much like Entourage.
Include Public folder support
I don't see this happening. Public folders is on the Exchange Server 2007 list of de-emphasized features but corporate demand may keep this feature around longer than Microsoft intends.
Include an automatic archive feature
Apple could surpass Entourage in this area if it would automate moving server-side messages into a local archive that can be readily accessed and modified like PST files.
Market strongly to the education market
Entourage 2004 Student & Teacher users were surprised that when they upgraded to Entourage 2008 Home & Student that Exchange support was no longer included. The $129.00 price for a new version of Mac OS X is still less than the $149.00 cost of Office without Exchange support.

The recent decision by Apple to license ActiveSync from Microsoft has probably contributed to their entering the Exchange support arena, which can only mean the two companies are probably already positioning their products for different markets. I suspect Apple will gain the education market while leaving Microsoft to handle the enterprise.

The conspicuous statement on Apple's website that Snow Leopard support will be using the Exchange Web Services protocol means that they are onboard with Microsoft's plans to not use MAPI nor WebDAV. Entourage 2008, however, relies on both Exchange Web Services and WebDAV, which means support for connecting to Exchange Server 2000 and 2003 is a potential but not a guarantee.

Failure to update Office 2008

2008-06-10T02:24:42Z

Previously, we discussed a workaround when you get the error " A version of the software required to install this update was not found on this volume" that involved copying the installer to your desktop. You can also get this error if you have modified Office or your system files.

Have you "trimmed the fat" on your computer? Have you run a language pack utility to save disk space? What about Monolingual, Safari fix or Xslimmer? Office for Mac 2008 Installer will install both sets of code (Intel/PPC). Did you strip out the additional code? All of these modifications can cause your update to fail.

Did you rename Microsoft Word to Word 2008? (name, location, and items in the folder have to remain the same as installed) Did you move any Office components? If you rename or modify any of the files in the Microsoft Office 2008 folder, you cannot install product updates.

Did you install and then immediately upgrade without restarting? The update usually fails on Tiger, but it will not always fail and it will not always pass on Leopard. Best Advice: restart and be safe.

Fix when you have modified files:

]]>

Quit all applications. (Easy way: log out/in with Shift key down to disable any startup items.)

Drag the Microsoft Office 2008 folder to the Trash.

Empty Trash.

Reinstall Office 2008 from your original installation disk. See details

Restart (restarting before you launch any Office app is important!)
Update
Restart
Repair Permissions. How-to

More details on modifying files is described here.

For help with other errors installing or updating Office 2008 visit:
Install/Update Errors Office 2008

Read Dos and Don'ts for a good install

Check List to troubleshoot your install