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.***

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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. Stefan Blom 351.3K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2014-12-27T15:53:28+00:00

    I'll see what I can find out from the Office team about KB article 2883019 and any required prerequisites for Starter.

    For what it's worth, "MAK" applies to volume licensing and it means "Multiple Activation Keys"; see "Frequently Asked Questions About Volume License Keys" at http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/existing-customers/product-activation-faq.aspx).

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  2. 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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  3. 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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