New Microsoft Office Update Facility

September 9th, 2003, 11:08 am

Recently in 2003, Microsoft Bulletins 35-38 have required updating a number of security patches. Below is Microsoft's new Office Update facility that works a lot like Windows Update.

Microsoft Office Security Updates
http://office.microsoft.com/officeupdate/default.aspx

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Actual Experience: Overall, I was pleased with how well this process worked on an individual PC. It went remarkably well on one of my main systems. I have a fairly complex MS Office installation (with the Full Office XP Professional, Project 2002 Enterprise, Viso 2002 Enterprise, and Front Page 2002). The download was 48MB for all service packs and critical updates combined and it functioned identically to Windows Update processing. Since all my Office XP products are registered or activated there were no issues. However, if you installed some products by CD, during the install phase it prompts you to insert CDs (e.g., I had to find my Visio 2002 Professional CD before processing could continue). Still, this was a great way to get all these products up-to-date in a matter of minutes for an individual PC.

Dunderklumpen · Post by **Dunderklumpen** » September 9th, 2003, 11:24 am

Microsoft will cut down the software needed to keep their products updated from about 8 to 2. The new updatesoftware is in betateststage right now.

Post by **alanjstr** » September 9th, 2003, 11:24 am

That site has been around for more than a year. It only works with Office 2000 and above, so everyone that has those big holes in Office 97 are on their own.

For Office 2000, it made me insert the CD every 5 minutes.

scragz · Post by **scragz** » September 9th, 2003, 12:06 pm

harrywaldron wrote:…The download was 48GB for all service packs and critical updates combined…

48GB!

Lost User 8002 · Post by **Lost User 8002** » September 9th, 2003, 12:39 pm

scragz wrote:
harrywaldron wrote:…The download was 48GB for all service packs and critical updates combined…

48GB!

A lot of updates...

September 9th, 2003, 1:19 pm

The site admin at McAfee noted the same ... The number is expressed in KB so I did a little carried away - LOL ...

Even though I made A's in calculus classes in college, maybe I should go back for a refresher course

http://forums.mcafeehelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=15872

September 9th, 2003, 1:20 pm

scragz wrote:48GB!

Thanks - I fixed this one

tolremeno · Post by **tolremeno** » September 9th, 2003, 1:47 pm

oops! tried to do it in firebird ... that won't do.

Post by **shadytrees** » September 9th, 2003, 2:52 pm

alanjstr wrote:For Office 2000, it made me insert the CD every 5 minutes.

Can't you just insert the CD in and put it there?

iarnell · Post by **iarnell** » September 9th, 2003, 2:57 pm

What are those sneaky unmentionables at Microsoft trying to pull now? I gave office update a quick try and sure enough, it managed to pick up that I haven't got KB824934 yet. It's even smart enough to realise that it shouldn't let me go ahead and do its evil work automatically because this is an admin point install.

But, it managed to detect that I don't have the Jan 2003 update for Outlook. Not too surprising since I don't have Outlook installed (we're a Notus Lotes house - Outlook is "not available"). Even though it must know that I used an admin point, it offered to download and install it for me.

Unlike updates to IE that I must install, even though I don't use it; there should be no reason for forcing (ok, encouraging) me to update something that I never installed in the first place.

chrisgeleven · Post by **chrisgeleven** » September 9th, 2003, 4:13 pm

I tried it today for the first time at work and it worked very well. I like the interface and they cut down on the number of new windows that were opened in the previous version.

I am really looking forward to the next version of Windows Update, which is supposed to have pdates for all Microsoft products. One stop security nightmares....

September 9th, 2003, 4:15 pm

iarnell wrote:Unlike updates to IE that I must install, even though I don't use it; there should be no reason for forcing (ok, encouraging) me to update something that I never installed in the first place.

Thanks for sharing and this facility requires some fine tuning still.

Alan shared some great commentary on this.

I also updated 2 other PCs (XP and 2000 pro). I had done a network type install on Office XP on my Windows XP system and locked up when trying to give it a CD instead. After I copied Office XP back out to the network then I successfully completed this. Overall, I liked this capabiility and thought MS did a credible first start on this. Still, there might be some occasional issues using this.

Post by **alanjstr** » September 9th, 2003, 4:15 pm

hao2lian wrote:
alanjstr wrote:For Office 2000, it made me insert the CD every 5 minutes.

Can't you just insert the CD in and put it there?

Yeah, but I took it out before I rebooted. And then it wanted more updates. So I fed it.

Post by **shadytrees** » September 9th, 2003, 4:22 pm

You should've played with it before rebooting. :-)

Micha the not so Old · September 9th, 2003, 6:16 pm

I dislike the way Microsoft makes you reboot between everything. I'm on a dialup, and must reconnect everytime.

Does it update verything, or can you download and save, in case you need to set your computer up again at some later date? I hated that with Office 2000 SP1. I don't bother doing that anymore.

New Microsoft Office Update Facility

New Microsoft Office Update Facility

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