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PowerPoint 2002 "Upgrade"

by Rory Hertlein

Since its release in the summer of 2001 PowerPoint 2002 Upgrade has been a source of much confusion and frustration. This is true for both the consumer and the support technicians at Microsoft who support this product. Admittedly Microsoft released a mis-printed batch of boxes in which the software was packaged. Unfortunately, it wasn't caught quickly enough and has led to many problems and unnecessary support calls by the consumer.

The issue causing all the problems is a simple mis-print on the back of the box listing the qualifying products that can be "upgraded" by the PowerPoint 2002 Upgrade: among the several products listed is Microsoft Office Small Business Edition.

Two problems arise at this point. The first being the consumer stops reading at that point satisfied they have Small Business Edition installed so therefore, they think, this (PowerPoint2002 Upgrade) will install without failure. If, however, they were to continue reading further down the paragraph they would notice that it says in ( ) the products must be versions 97 or 2000. Most consumers buying this upgrade have Small Business Edition version XP (2002) installed on their system. This leads to the second problem.

The second problem being that when they get home, sit down in front of their computer, anticipating a happy fun-filled relationship with the latest version of PowerPoint, upon installing the software they are faced with an error message: "Error 1608; No qualifying product was detected on your computer. Please select the drive where it installed to continue with setup" at which point the confusion and frustration begins!

"Well the box said I could install it if I have Small Business Edition installed which I do…" or "The salesman at XYZ Computers told me this would definitely work…"

As I mentioned earlier, all this is due to a miss-print on the box. Microsoft never intended to list Small Business Edition as a qualifying product for PowerPoint 2002 Upgrade.

Now; there are a couple of things that can be done at this point. The first, and obvious, being the consumer can simply return the purchase to where they bought it and exchange it for the correct version: PowerPoint 2002 full version, standalone. Or something else can be done.

Assuming the consumer owns one of the qualifying versions of Office (97 or 2000) PowerPoint 2002 Upgrade can be installed without having to re-install one of the older versions. Even if they have MS OfficeXP Small Business Edition installed which we already established will not upgrade. To get the software installed follow the steps outlined below:

Step 1: once the error message is displayed stating that a qualifying product was not found, eject the PowerPoint 2002 Upgrade CD.

Step 2: insert the earlier version Office CD* (while holding the "Shift" key down for just a few seconds after inserting the CD to avoid the Installation Wizard beginning) and select the CD-rom drive in which the earlier version is inserted. At this point the user agreement will display. DO NOT accept the agreement just yet!

* The earlier version can also be MS Office Small Business Edition 97, or 2000.

Step 3: once the User Agreement is displayed on the screen, eject the earlier version CD, insert the PowerPoint 2002 Upgrade CD THEN accept the user agreement. PowerPoint 2002 Upgrade version will now install with no further problems. It is generally recommended to choose "Complete Install" when you are asked what installation type to continue with.

One other step that is STRONGLY recommended when purchasing and installing software is to be sure to read, and understand, the Minimum Requirements for the software listed on the software's box.

You will notice I mentioned MS Office Small Business Edition 97 or 2000 will work as a qualifying product for the upgrade, even though earlier I mentioned Microsoft never intended to list Small Business Edition. The reason for this is the same reason you do not need to re-install the previous version of Office in order for PowerPoint 2002 Upgrade to install. The upgrade version of PowerPoint is searching the system for a specific file that once detected, whether it"s on the system or the previous version CD, will indicate to the PowerPoint upgrade that a qualifying product does indeed exist.

Microsoft has since corrected this frustrating issue by releasing newly printed boxes that no longer list Small Business Edition as a qualifying product.

Enjoy the latest version of PowerPoint!

Rory Hertlein is a frequent contributor to the PowerPoint Newsgroup. Rory supports Business Graphics Animation Class for a major computer company in the US with which we are all very familiar.