Office XP Service Pack 3 update failed - but I don't have Office XP

Berton said:

A bit of history: There was a Microsoft Works then the word processor application part of it was replaced by a version of Word, the new version was called Works Suite, both were discontinued...

Yep, I used to use the MS Works spreadsheet. It was the only MS office kind of program I used besides Publisher, and of course Notepad for quick notes. I only ever used Word occasionally at work, but never liked it, and never used it at home.

Anyway... back to the issue of the Office XP SvcPack 3 that doesn't wanna act right. B/c you said you had uninstalled a program that causes conflicts, I went on an uninstall spree... which included both versions of Publisher. Most of the others were just programs I wasn't even using. I went to Windows Update in Settings and that XP SvcPack that had been hung up and waiting was not there - perhaps that update happened during one of the two or three times I rebooted my computer while uninstalling stuff. I Clikked on the "Check for Updates" button and the system now claims that all is well in Uptodateville.

But I will be reinstalling Publisher...hopefully without issue. I have yet to get used to Apache OpenOffice "Writer." OpenOffice is what I turned to when MS decided to kick MS Works to the curb.

Thanks, Berton.

You might try FreeOffice. It reads/write MS office documents. I liked it better that LibreOffice.

I've done some small investigation myself on this issue, and this are my findings :

1./
I got the same error when I tried to install word and excel 2002, after I installed office 2019.
The windows10 installer asked also for the office sp3 installation.
Happily, I have this one off-line, and in the correct language. So I installed it manually, and it worked.
After this upgrade the installer asked for a lot of security updates, but fails to install them.
He gives the same error as for the sp3 upgrade.
So, when you somehow can install this upgrade, you're not yet finished.

Due to problems with the key-board layout in wordXP I removed the office XP package.

2./
On my laptop, with windows10 (originally win8.1) , I still use office XP. And I didn't install office 2019 on that machine.
(Personally, I don't like the office 2019 menu structure and the lack of flexibility to adjust it)
With this configuration, I never got any problem with automatic updates.

I solved the problems with the key-board in word, by manual assigning the desired combinations.
Like AltGr é for @ , AltGr " for # , AltGr e for € , ..

Therefore, I think that the problem with the installer is due to lack of cooperation between the office 2019 package together with the office XP package. Something interfere with each other.

3./
When I installed "Microsoft photo Editor" on the machine with office 2019 (see somewhere else on this forum) I got the same problem again.
I read on this forum (again), that you can exclude updates somewhere in the updater.
I've done this as work around, and it works like a charm.

Mark