Mac Office 2011 Update 14.2.4: "Error encountered installation failed".

Anonymous
2012-09-20T03:41:05+00:00

I have tried installing the latest update of Mac Office 2011 which is version 14.2.4, however, at the end of the installation I get a message "error encountered installation failed".

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Anonymous
2012-09-27T23:51:01+00:00

Hi everyone!

Thanks to everyone who sent installation logs for this issue.  There are two separate 14.2.4 installation issues that have shown up in this thread.

The first issue (and most common in this thread) stems from re-installing on top of existing installations. In general, don’t do this. Re-installing on top of existing installations can re-introduce files that should not be present. If you need to re-install, please be sure to remove Office 2011 as described on the following links:

Video | Uninstall Office 2011

Step-by-Step Instructions | How to completely remove Office for Mac 2011

One workaround for the 14.2.4 update that has helped some users is to temporarily move or rename the /Library/Automator folder. You can do this by following the steps below:

  1. With Finderopen, choose Go > Go to Folder...
  2. Type in the following path and then click Go:

/Library 3. Find the Automator folder, select it, and then click the name of the folder again to Rename the folder. Name the folder Automator_OldNote: OS X may prompt you for your password. This is normal. 4. Attempt to install the 14.2.4 update again. 5. If the update installs correctly, rename the Automator_Old folder back to its original name: Automator

If that solution does not work and you know you have re-installed Office 2011 on top of an existing Office 2011 installation, you’ll need to remove Office 2011 properly and re-install. 

The second issue was some users changed the size of the /tmp/ directory on their machine which was too small for the update to fully install. Re-sizing the /tmp/ directory resolved the install issue for these users.

If you're still experiencing issues installing the 14.2.4 update, please create your own thread by choosing **Ask a question...**at the top of this page. Be sure to include details about which solutions you've already tried.

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  1. Anonymous
    2012-10-15T22:52:33+00:00

    Cody thanks for your help.  After some trouble finding the Automator Folder ( I should have read your instructions) properly the update worked fine !

    I am about to do some serious work budgeting and the out of sync tool bar icons are now fixed !  I was wondering why MS would have changed these icons and started to look how to change them back. I then discovered it was a "bug" which you have fixed !!

    Thanks again

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  2. Anonymous
    2012-10-18T19:05:26+00:00

    Hi, Scott. My install failed with the "Please contact software manuf... etc" message. 

    I haven't reinstalled Office (& I have no idea where the original disk would be, at this point!) and I tried moving the Automator folder. I saw the email addy in another response, so I'll email you the install log file.

    (Oops, I forgot: I'm running OS X 10.8.2)

    Thanks

    Carolyn

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-10-19T15:59:18+00:00

    It worked, but it took a lot of time.

    I'm trying to think when I could have re-installed Office, and I'm drawing an absolute blank. I know I installed Office when I bought this machine - about 18 months ago - and I did do a Time Machine-based restore when I upgraded to Mountain Lion. Perhaps that's when Office was "re-installed"?

    (I am really not in the habit of reinstalling software if it works And I doubt anyone else is, either!)

    Anyway, while it worked, and I've got the toolbar back, I do agree that this was simple laxity on Microsoft's part. Between the Windows-style installer, the need to close Safari (I have no idea why) and the fact that I had to do two other updates first (thank goodness my internet connection stayed up!) before I could apply this update was really irritating! I won't even mention being unable to work with an Apple-standard folder - that was, quite frankly, beyond reasonableness.

    Please test any other updates more comprehensively. And don't tell users they have done something they probably haven't.

    Thanks for you help, Scott. It shouldn't have been needed.

    Regards,

    Carolyn

    PS I've just discovered that while the update demanded I close Safari - for some reason, when I reopened it - none of the sites I had open were there! It did it the last time I tried this update, and I thought it was a glitch. No, it seems that it wipes out the list of what's open. That was really annoying - I'd got pages open for days, for reference, as I work on my project!

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  4. Anonymous
    2012-10-22T00:22:21+00:00

    Thanks for this solution - it worked for me :-)

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