Unable to open .docx files after conducting March 2010 Microsoft Update

I'm running Windows 2000, MS Office 2003 Professional, and Office Compatibility Pack. My system has been running quite stable. In conducting the March Microsoft Updates, it updated with the following files:

Security Update for the 2007 Microsoft Office System (KB978380)
Update for the 2007 Microsoft Office System (KB977724)
Update for Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 Junk Email Filter (KB979771)
Security Update for Microsoft Office Excel 2003 (KB978474)
Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool - March 2010 (KB890830)

After conducting this update, I find that when I attempt to open a .docx file, I get "There was an error opening the file." error message. I went into Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel, but was unable to find KB977724 listed. I tried removing the Office 2007 Compatibility Pack and downloading it/installing it fresh, but to no avail.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

See the "How to obtain help" section of, e.g.,
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/978380

For home users, no-charge support is available by calling 1-866-PCSAFETY
(and/or 1-866-234-6020 and/or 1-800-936-5700) in the United States and in
Canada or by contacting your local Microsoft subsidiary. There is no-charge
for support calls that are associated with security updates. When you call,
clearly state that your problem is related to a Security Update and cite the
update's KB number (e.g., KB978380).

Or you can...

Start a free Windows Update support incident request:
https://support.microsoft.com/oas/de...spx?gprid=6527

The Consumer Security Support home page & Microsoft Update Solution Center
also offer support options
https://consumersecuritysupport.microsoft.com/
http://support.microsoft.com/ph/6527#tab3

For more information about how to contact your local Microsoft subsidiary
for security update support issues, visit the International Support Web
site: http://support.microsoft.com/common/international.aspx

For enterprise customers, support for security updates is available through
your usual support contacts.

Do you both have 977724 installed?

I did open a case: Support Request Number - 1127134209

As for your question on having 977724 installed, I don't know how to verify, other than going onto Microsoft Update, reviewing my update history, and it showing that I successfully installed 977724.

Per my history, I too have 977724 installed. It does not, however, show up
under Add/Remove Programs.

I have not had the time to open a case as I am working on a deadline.

Same here:
W2k
MS Office 2003 Professional
Office 2007 Compatibility Pack

Failures appeared immediately upon installing this month's patches, which
included updates to the Office Compatibility Pack.

This bug manifests on only the computers on the network which have not
been upgraded to Windows XP. The XP computers on the network with the
same software installed are not affected.

Watching this thread and hoping for a solution.

KB980210 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/980210)supersedes KB972224 but the Issues that this hotfix package fixes have no reference to W2K and MSO2K3. I would be reluctant to use it without info that it will resolve the issue

We have the same issue. There is also an issue of being unable to open
(convert) .xlsm files. This only occurs on our Windows 2000 PCs with Office
2003 & the Office 2007 Compatibility Pack.

977724 updates MSO.DLL in

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE12

977724 does not show up in Add/Remove programs, but I was able to find an
older version of MSO.DLL in the Windows Installer patch cache:

C:\WINNT\Installer\$PatchCache$\Managed\00002109020090400000000000F01FEC\12.0.6425\

To verify that the problem is caused by the MSO.DLL from 977724, I renamed
the MSO.DLL in

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE12

& copied the MSO.DLL I found in the patch cache to the above location. I was
then able to open (convert) .docx files in Word 2003 & .xlsm files in Excel
2003.

The version of MSO.DLL installed by 977724 is 12.0.6521.5000 & is dated
10/29/2009. The version from the patch cache is 12.0.6425.1000 & is dated
04/03/2009.

I tired installing the hotfix from

http://blogs.technet.com/office_sust...-kb977724.aspx

It does NOT fix this issue.

This is not an isolated incident, I have had the same issue as of March 10th.

It seems it affects users who are:
1) on Windows 2000 OS
2) Are running Office 2003
3) Have had the three security updates installed as of March 10th.

I too have a case number (1127128725) which has been no help whatsoever.
The aforementioned link also does not solve the issue as it is for a Server
oriented OS.

It seems to me that Microsoft should rectify this issue as it is clearly
their patch that created the incompatibility issues.

That is a great find. I installed a previous version of the MSO.DLL which
has also solved my compatibility issue.

For informational purposes, others who are having an issue can try replacing
the MSO.DLL mentioned in Sam's post with this one which is also version
12.0.6425.1000

Microsoft should immediately issue another hotfix to resolve this issue so
we as consumers don't have to dig around and patch together solutions like
this on our own.

The update has been pulled:

http://blogs.technet.com/wsus/archiv...-kb977724.aspx

KB977724 wasn't one of the March 2010 updates anyway.

I think this is also my problem. Of all the many thousands of users
out there who might be suffering from this issue, apparently caused by
a MS update, only a few will be sophisticated enough to mess around in
the innards of the programs to extract the relevant file. Many won't
know where to go to for help. I don't fancy doing it as if I mess it
up I have no idea what the consequences might be. Why aren't
Microsoft acknowledging this and removing the update? How can pressure
be applied? It's a disgrace.

Would an easier solution be to uninstall the updates which are
supposed to have caused the problem? Any downside to this?

These updates have also broken Office 2002 on Windows 2000 although the error
is different- "This is a pre-release version of the compatability pack.".
I have mostly office 2002 but the few Office 2003 machines I have started
producing the "error opening file" message on the same day (12-03-2010).

Replacing the mso.dll, as you described, instantly fixes the broken
computers on my network.

That may not be true for those having .NET Framework 4.0 *Beta*/CTP/RC
installed.

It looks like the ver 12.0.6500.5000 (SP2) of the office compatability pack
might also be an issue...

****We fixed the problem with the FileFormatConverter.exe ver
12.0.6015.5000****

We are running:

1) Windows 2000 sp4
2) Office 2003 sp3

When we ran microsoft update we skipped SP2 and acknowledged the first 2
security updates...

Workaround until this is resolved...

That is a great find. Your solution RESOLVED the file opening issue for .docx and .xlsm files using MSO2K7 Compatibility Pack on my systems with:
1) OS W2Kpro, W2KSVR
2) Running MS Office 2000SP3
3) Security update KB977724 installed (Which has been pulled)

are you still wanting a sample of an impacted file?

The full OS description should read:
1)OS W2Kpro SP4 amd W2KSVR SP4 with all MS-Updates.

As non of the W2K OS show the KB977724 update in ARP and also do not create an Uninstall DIR in the WinDIR use the WindowsUpdate.log in that DIR or Belarc to check if it was installed.

sent you an email in the hope that I got your address right
Let me know if you get it.

There are varied levels of sophistication required to understanding and dealing with this issue, which proves a point that learning the basics of how a PC works (Hardware - OS - Applications Software) can never be wasted time and the sophistication one is prepared to pursue in learning about PCs is up to the individual. For the rest there are friendly and helpful threads like this one. It is foolish to expect MS to hold your hand like babies.

See the Known Issues section ("This problem can occur if the file is saved
to a network location and then configured as a shared workbook) of
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/978474.

For home users, no-charge support is available by calling 1-866-PCSAFETY
(and/or 1-866-234-6020 and/or 1-800-936-5700) in the United States and in
Canada or by contacting your local Microsoft subsidiary. There is no-charge
for support calls that are associated with security updates. When you call,
clearly state that your problem is related to a Security Update and cite the
update's KB number (e.g., KB978474).

Or you can...

Start a free Windows Update support incident request:
https://support.microsoft.com/oas/de...spx?gprid=6527

Customers who experience issues installing Microsoft security updates also
can visit the following pages for assistance:
https://consumersecuritysupport.microsoft.com/
http://support.microsoft.com/ph/6527#tab3

For more information about how to contact your local Microsoft subsidiary
for security update support issues, visit the International Support Web
site: http://support.microsoft.com/common/international.aspx

For enterprise customers, support for security updates is available through
your usual support contacts.

I also run win2000 and MSO 2003 sp 3.

Where do I find this version of the FileFormatConverter.exe (12.0.6015.5000****)??

How do I "run microsoft update and skip SP2 and acknowledged the first 2
security updates..."??

I must say a big "thank you" to Sam & Chuey for providing the key to what has been a very frustrating and time consuming problem.
In a couple of minutes of following their advices I was able to resolve the problem.
What a great resource site and great people.
Thanks again from a very appreciative "down under" new member.

Does anyone have a similar solution for MS Office 2008 for Mac? I have the same issue in that I can't open older versions of any Office document since installing the latest update (I'm at 12.2.5 now). I've posted to Mactopia.com as well but haven't heard anything yet.

I have W2K(SP4)+O2K(SP3)+Compatibility Pack installed.

After digging around and following the posts, I replaced the following file;

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE12\MSO.DLL

with MSO.DLL from a computer which runs XP+O2K+Compatibility Pack without any problems.

Then it started working.

Working DLL has the version 12.0.6554.5001
Problem DLL has the version 12.0.6514.5000

Hope this helps to anybody having the same issue.

Thank u very much it really helped me also and on thing is that i was able to do on my system without any error message.

After a couple of months of trying different solutions. I have been able to source an older version of the Office Compatibility Pack! (props to TwoJ over at Siginet Software!)

As far as I can tell this is version 1 of the Compatibility Pack, making it compatible with Windows 2000. Sharing it here for others.

I cannot post the URL as i don't have 50 points, but it is on my public dropbox folder

I have tested this on 7 Windows 2000 PC's and it is working on all of them! :)