You receive an "Unable to run this command" error message when you try to start Office 2000 programs (258197)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Excel 2000
  • Microsoft Access 2000
  • Microsoft FrontPage 2000
  • Microsoft Outlook 2000
  • Microsoft PowerPoint 2000
  • Microsoft Publisher 2000
  • Microsoft Word 2000
  • the operating system: Microsoft Windows 2000
  • Microsoft Office 2000 Premium
  • Microsoft Office 2000 Professoinal
  • Microsoft Office 2000 Standard
  • Microsoft Office 2000 Small Business
  • Microsoft Office 2000 Developer
This article was previously published under Q258197

SYMPTOMS

When you click one of the Office program shortcuts on the Programs menu, you may receive the following error message:
The installation source for this product is not available. Verify that the source exists and that you can access it.
When you click OK, you then receive the following error message:
Unable to run this command.

CAUSE

You may receive the error messages in the "Symptoms" section of this article if all of the following are true:
  • You are using Windows 2000.
  • You are logged on as a user or power user.
  • A member of the Administrators group used the /j switch to install Office. For example, they used a command line similar to the following:

    <path>\Setup /jm

  • Setup was run from a CD-ROM.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, do the following:
  1. Log off as the non-administrative user.
  2. Log on as a member of the Administrators group.
  3. Uninstall Office.
  4. Use the /j switch to run Office Setup from an administrative installation of Office. For example, your command line might look like the following:

    <path to administrative installation>\Setup /jm

  5. Log off.
  6. Log back on as the user or power user.
  7. Start one of the Office programs.

MORE INFORMATION

If you try to remedy this problem by applying the Enable user to use media source while elevated policy, you can start an Office program. However, just after the program starts, the following error message appears:
Required registry information is missing and this application cannot run.
Please run setup to correct this problem.
When you click OK, the error message disappears, but the program immediately quits.

This problem is one reason why it is necessary to use an administrative installation of Office 2000 in this situation. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

257593 Office 2000 programs quit immediately on Windows 2000 when you are logged on as user

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:10/13/2006
Keywords:kbstartprogram kberrmsg kbtshoot kbprb KB258197
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