Microsoft 365 Needed Repair

[hlewton]

Microsoft 365 Needed Repair

I made mention in another thread of my Office programs needing repair and my computer builder was remoting into my machine trying to fix the problem. I would like to follow up on this subject to see if anyone has any idea what happened. My computer guy fixed it, I hope, permanently. So far, I have tried restarting and it is working.

Last night when I turned my computer off, Excel, Word, Access, and Outlook were all working as they should. Today when I tried using any of the Office programs a dialog box came up saying something along the lines, I didn’t copy it exactly, of “An error occurred in Excel.” Three options were offered for me to click on. One was “Repair now” which I tried using a few times and nothing happened. The other 2 options were, I believe, “Cancel” and “Close.”

When nothing happened, I looked up Microsoft 365 in Control Panel’s Programs and Features. I clicked on it and the only option it gave me was “Install.” I saw no “Repair” option, so I clicked on “Install.” It sat there for 10 minutes and the computer was saying it was uninstalling. That is when I used the Task Manager to end the program after I had my computer builder on the phone. It must have had my computer confused because I had to reboot it in order for his remote in program to open.

Something I caused by choosing the Install option made all my Office programs that are pinned to my taskbar go blank. Probably because they were, at least, partially uninstalled. It took him a few tries and a couple reboots before he managed to reinstall my Office programs using a program called 0365HomePremRetail.img. He tried twice to use OfficeSetup.exe and it would not install using that program.

I don’t want this to happen to me again so if there are any ideas why this happened and anything I could have avoided, I would really like to know.

One other minor thing and if it would cause me more problems it’s not worth it. After he got Office up and running, in the Start menu Access is listed but its icon is blank. None of the other Office programs are that way. However, if I pin Access to either the desktop or taskbar, the Access icon is fine. If there is a safe solution to making the start menu display Access’s icon, please let me know.

I hear a lot about different problems Microsoft's updates cause, Could this be one of them?

Thanks

[HansV]

I have no idea what caused it. Cosmic radiation? Gremlins?

I have occasionally had application icons in the Start menu go blank. They always returned to normal one or two reboots later.

[hlewton]

I have no idea what caused it. Cosmic radiation? Gremlins?

I have occasionally had application icons in the Start menu go blank. They always returned to normal one or two reboots later.

Thanks for the reply. It is scary the things that seem to go wrong for no reason and because of nothing, I believe, I could have done to cause it. Now had I messed with the registry or anything like that, as I'm contemplating doing, I could blame myself, but I didn't yet. Maybe I won't now for sure.

I'll see about that blank icon in a day or two. I have never before had any blanks like that. Again, something new to me.

[JoeP]

If this is with Windows 10 or 11, do you have Fast Startup enabled? It is on by default. I've seen some weird things happen with it on. Go to Control Panel | System and Security | Power Options. In the left navigation pane, click on "Choose what the power buttons do". Then click on "Change settings that are currently unavailable". You can then turn "Fast startup" on or off.

[hlewton]

If this is with Windows 10 or 11, do you have Fast Startup enabled? It is on by default. I've seen some weird things happen with it on. Go to Control Panel | System and Security | Power Options. In the left navigation pane, click on "Choose what the power buttons do". Then click on "Change settings that are currently unavailable". You can then turn "Fast startup" on or off.

It was on so I turned it off. Hope that helps. My Control Panel is different but I eventually found it under Power Options. I hope that helps.

[hlewton]

I have no idea what caused it. Cosmic radiation? Gremlins?

I have occasionally had application icons in the Start menu go blank. They always returned to normal one or two reboots later.

Well it took a few more Windows/Office updates and quite a few reboots and a MS technician reinstalled Win 11 but I noticed the Access Icon is as it should be again.