I have the same error. I am on Windows 2000, and Office 2003 Pro. The problem
started with trying to upgrade from Visual Studio 2005 Beta 2 to live
version. Various uninstall and install suggestions from MS just made a mess
of my system.

"Matt" wrote:

> Correction for the previous query: I tried the full install of SP2 not SP3
> for Office 2003. There is no SP3 yet. My office programs report that the
> version installed is Office 2003 SP1. Thanks, Matt
>
> "Matt" wrote:
>
> > Hi Carey,
> > I have the same error code. I tried the full install of SP3 but the package
> > reported that the entire content of the update was already installed in a
> > previous, larger update. I'm still getting the same error message when I try
> > to run windows update. My last successful update was on 14-September. I next
> > tried on 23-September and started getting the error message. I have tried
> > several times since then to no avail. Incidentally, and probably coneected,
> > Everytime I try to install any Office addons or any other software full
> > install or update (including various utilities, HP printer software, etc.) I
> > get an installation failure with reference to an unavailable MSIEXEC.exe
> > program. It states that one possible cause for the failure is that Windows is
> > operating in safe mode, which is not the case. I suspected that all of these
> > programs use the MS installer and that the installer was somehow corrupted. I
> > have performed troubleshooting, checking log files and registry values per
> > the Knowledge base recommendations (when searched using "msiexec.exe"). I
> > even used the redistributable msiexec.exe package for XP to reinstall but I
> > still get the same error message. It appears that the msiexec.exe package is
> > installing correctly but it suddenly goes from less than half progress to
> > finished in a blink of an eye but does not resolve the problem. Other details
> > that might help: I'm running Windows XP professional, fully legit and
> > authenticated, Office Professional 2003, fully legit and authenticated, I
> > have all of the installation CDs, I have my computer set to autoupdate, I
> > also update "religiously" about once a week with custom option to look for
> > third party drivers or optional updates that might improve performance, I use
> > Windows firewall, Mcaffee Antivirus, updated automatically and scanned once a
> > week, several spyware and adware detection/removal programs including MS's
> > Beta spyware program. Until now this has been a very healthy and robust
> > system. Do you have any suggestions that I can try? I've tried to reinstall
> > the office software and even the operating system but it wont even allow
> > that. In the case of the office software it reports the msiexec.exe
> > unavailable error. For the operating system it want reinstall because it
> > reports that the existing system is newer than the system on the CD. I'd
> > appreciate any help you can offer. Thanks, Matt
> >
> > "Carey Frisch [MVP]" wrote:
> >
> > > Download and install SP3 directly. Download the "Full File" titled:
> > > OfficeXpSp3-kb832671-fulefile-enu.exe (58925 KB).
> > >
> > > Office XP Service Pack 3 (SP3)
> > > http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en
> > >
> > > --
> > > Carey Frisch
> > > Microsoft MVP
> > > Windows XP - Shell/User
> > > Microsoft Newsgroups
> > >
> > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > "Kym" wrote:
> > >
> > > | I was trying to install this update Office XP Service Pack 3 and received the
> > > | above error code. Does anyone know what I should do or why I received this
> > > | error?
> > > |
> > > | Thanks
> > >