Official Word Starter update?

Anonymous
2014-08-16T15:23:38+00:00

When I opened up my laptop this morning (8/16/14) there was a pop-up on the screen telling me  there was an update available for Microsoft Word Starter 2010 and asking me if I wanted to download it.  It did not look like the typical Windows or Office update notification.  I closed the pop-up and opened Windows update and ran it.  There were some updates available, but none that said they were for Word Starter.  IS there a new Update for Word Starter or is this someone trying to get me to download a virus?

***Office Product moved to Office 2010 by the Moderator.***

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Suzanne S Barnhill 279.1K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
2014-11-20T16:27:28+00:00

Microsoft has posted a Knowledge Base article describing and explaining this popup and providing a solution. Find it at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/3016799.

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Anonymous
2014-08-20T14:23:14+00:00

Hi everyone,

We heard back from the product group. The dialog is expected for a legitimate Office 2010 starter update. It appears for click to run scenarios where the path is missing a piece of information between the build that the user is running on and the latest available build.

The august update that was pulled is a Windows update, not an Office update.

Thanks!

DK - MSFT support

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-12-25T20:18:32+00:00

    I stand corrected. I obviously overlooked the fact that Office Starter is in the list of programs. Thanks for pointing it out!

    It was in fact the prerequisite you mention that confused me. I wouldn't expect a service pack for the full version of Office to be required for an update that applies to Starter.

    I have now edited my previous message, explaining that my initial statement was incorrect.

    Thanks... do you think that the "prereq" service pack (2687455) is apparently not a true prereq (since "dependent" or "downstream" updates like 2883019 seem to install successfully without it, even though KB2883019 lists 2687455 as a prereq)?

    In fact, 2883019 seems like a relatively minor update, designed to address: "When you try to activate an Office 2010 program by using a MAK key, you may receive the following error message..."

    I suspect that 2687455 is only a "soft prereq" for 2883019 (since the product works without it); I haven't seen "MAK key" defined... perhaps Microsoft Activation Key? ... but it's probably license-activation related, which would fit with comments in the community about C-T-R licensing and its current suitability for widespread adoption by the consumer market.

    I would suggest that this confusion should be escalated to product management; that probably requires attention from someone with more clout than a single retail customer.  As a product manager, I would want to know when customers are getting this much miscommunication, through official KB channels, about "my" product.  That indicates a KB QA problem, several of which have been reported here in the Community for December 2014 updates. 

    (In the meantime, I am going to check KB2687523, "technical information about each Service Pack 2 (SP2) update that has been released for the Microsoft Office 2010 client products," to see if we can learn anything more about 2687455, although the article dates back to mid-2013.)

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  2. Stefan Blom 351.3K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2014-12-25T19:27:45+00:00

    Rereading the KB article at http://support2.microsoft.com/kb/2687455/en-us, it does explain that SP2 can be installed with Starter also. So everything is well, I suppose.

    It is clear that Office Starter updates are poorly documented.

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  3. Stefan Blom 351.3K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2014-12-25T19:20:52+00:00

    Actually, that's not quite true... the "view products that this article applies to" link specifically mentions Office 2010 Starter as well.

    This article also specifies a prerequisite: "To apply this update, you must have Microsoft Office 2010 Service Pack 2 (SP2) installed. "

    However, my machine does NOT have that prerequisite installed (as best I can tell ... KB2687455, correct?) ... yet 2883019 installed successfully and automatically via Windows Update.

    I stand corrected. I obviously overlooked the fact that Office Starter is in the list of programs. Thanks for pointing it out!

    It was in fact the prerequisite you mention that confused me. I wouldn't expect a service pack for the full version of Office to be required for an update that applies to Starter.

    I have now edited my previous message, explaining that my initial statement was incorrect.

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