Posting to bump this since I had a HECK of a time nailing this one down and no one answered this poor person!
Seems that Vista x64 (and maybe 32 bit, but I didn't have this happen when I installed Office 2007 in 32 bit) can have a REGISTRY problem. This causes an continual "Configuring ..." every time you start an Office Program.
I ALSO got an "outlvba.dll is not a valid Office Add-in" error when starting Outlook.
Chasing THAT on Google got me nowhere since it can be caused by other things, but this turned out to be a VISTA problem. Here's what I did to fix it. AS ALWAYS, IF YOU'RE NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE REGISTRY, YOU SHOULD GET HELP FROM SOMEONE WHO IS! That being said, the fix is really easy. MAKE A REGISTRY BACKUP AND A SYSTEM RESTORE POINT FIRST!! (Done with disclaimers ... LOL)
Windows Vista X64 Registry Permissions Fix:
1. Start -> Search regedit and click regedit.exe at top of Start menu
2. RIGHT Click HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT Key and choose Permissions
3. Click ADVANCED button, then got to Owner Tab
4. Choose Administrators and CHECK "REPLACE OWNER ON SUBCONTANERS & OBJECTS" !
5. OK (back to main permissions windows)
6. If not there create these:
System: Full Control & Read - (THE OTHERS MAY POP UP WHEN THIS IS CREATED, IF SO YOU'RE DONE!)
Administrators: Full Control & Read
Creator Owner: Special permissions
Users: Read
6. Click OK. THEN REBOOT!
TIP: If doing this to get Office to work in Vista without "configuring" every time:
1. REMOVE Office with REVO uninstaller (say NO to Office's reboot) to remove all items.
2. Run CCleaner on both files AND registry check, remove ALL Office related items (only).
3. (Optional) Run another Registry Cleaner like Wise (x64 compatible), ONLY remove OFFICE stuff! The rest may be OK, but I use Registry cleaners with GREAT caution, they can blow you up in "AUTO" mode. Only remove what you're looking for, scrolling isn't THAT hard ...! :-)
4. Reboot
5. Put in the Office CD AND OPEN FOLDER TO VIEW FILES, DO NOT RUN SETUP!!
6. RIGHT click setup.exe and RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR.
7 Yer Done, follow installer. :-)
Best of luck!
PuterPro
