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Introduction
This article concerns problems you may be experiencing with your Office Tools Pro program that are installer-related. Symptoms of the problem include getting error messages such as "Please wait while Microsoft Office configures the Access 2003 Runtime," or "Please wait while Office Tools Pro installs the requested features." In some cases, Office Tools Pro may actually be appearing to "roll back" to an older version.
Background
A recent trend in the Technical Support industry is to use certain types of software to manage client computers. One way these tools are used is to allow remote access to the computer being supported, using tools such as GotoMyPC. Another way is to provide protection for program files. This document concerns the latter approach to using software for support purposes, and how this approach affects Office Tools Pro.
SupportSoft is a program that belongs to a class of programs we call "self healing" technology. SupportSoft works by monitoring the program files on your computer, replacing changed files with files from your original installation. In theory this is a good approach, but it assumes that every file in an installation is a "static" one (i.e. it never changes). This approach does not work for a Microsoft Access application (such as ours), since the program files change (slightly) every time the program is used.
The Windows Installer that is used to install Office Tools Pro also contains self-healing technology. When SupportSoft replaces program files in Office Tools Pro, the Windows Installer detects that these files were "tampered with," and attempt to correct the problem. This is what causes the "Please wait while Microsoft Office configures the Access 2003 Runtime," or "Please wait while Office Tools Pro installs the requested features" error messages, resulting in an endless tug-of-war between Office Tools Pro and SupportSoft.
SupportSoft does not answer their phone (an automated attendant provides several options for voice mailboxes). We have left messages, and have tried contacting them via other means, but so far have been unsuccessful. Their automated attendant bluntly states that SupportSoft does not provide support for their software to end users, and to contact one of their vendors for support. We contacted one of their vendors, but this vendor was also unable to reach SupportSoft.
Since we are unable to contact SupportSoft for guidance on this issue, we are recommending that all Office Tools Pro customers remove this software from their computers.
Who is affected
SupportSoft software is part of Tioga Software’s remote support and management tools (Tioga.com, Support.com, and SupportSoft.com are one and the same company) and is installed by the setup CD of the @Home ISP (@Home and MediaOne are now part of Comcast, with the ComcastSupport software being the main culprit for introducing the SupportSoft software on a PC). The Tioga/SupportSoft.com software is also included in the Sony Support software that comes with some Sony Vaio’s and HP Pavillion’s, and it is also part of the BellSouth DSL HelpCenter.
We also suspect that if you use any Intuit product (Quickbooks, Lacerte Tax, etc), you may also have this software installed. You may not know that this software is installed on your computer. To find out if it is, open Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, and look for SupportSoft in the list.
How to correct the
problem
Using Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs,
uninstall SupportSoft (or ComcastSupport, Sony Support Software, Tioga, as applicable), and restart the computer. After the computer restarts, you may need to reinstall Office Tools Pro, as the SupportSoft software may have already rolled Office Tools Pro back to an older version prior to you uninstalling it. Perform a backup of your database prior to reinstalling Office Tools Pro.
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