MS Office Small Business 2007 Upgrade failing

I have a 64 bit Vista Ultimate machine.
I am trying to upgrade my OEM Works 9 that came with my PC to Office Small
Business 2007.
I checked with the manufacturer (HP) and they said that the OEM Works 9 sku
is valid for the Upgrade I purchased, but they couldn't help me with my
problem. They pointed me to MS support.

I would go to MS support, but because I can't install the software, I don't
have a ProductID yet, and so I have to pay $50 to get support there.
If I was able to install the product, I'd be eligible for 90 days of free
support via the ProductID.

The message I get on the install is this:
"Setup can't find a version of Microsoft Office on your computer.

If Office is installed on a disk or network share, click the browse button
to select the appropriate disk or share. If you have a version of Microsoft
office on a CD, place the CD in your CD-ROM drive, and then click the browse
button to select the appropriate drive."

So, when I click browse and choose the Microsoft Works folder, it still says
it's not valid.

I wonder if it has anything to do with this article:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928113

Since my machine is a 64 bit machine, %programfiles% points to "C:\Program
Files" but Works is installed in "C:\Program Files (x86)".

What stinks about that article is it doesn't tell me how to resolve the issue.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

BUYER BEWARE. I am in the same boat. Box clearly states OEM Works 9 is
eligible for upgrade. Ironically, HP told me opposite, "I would like to
inform you that for Operating System retail versions the Microsoft provides
and supports the upgrades. As the PC is bundled with the Operating System OEM
version as a complimentary, the Microsoft does not support the upgrades." So
who's correct and can someone at HP or MicroSoft figure this out?????

Someone suggested loading Trial Offer for Student and Home then doing
upgrade. The link is
http://www.microsoft.com/office/editions/prodinfo/standardtrial.mspx Will
let you know how I make out

How can they market these PCs and Software? It's clearly false advertising
by both HP and Microsoft.

"Shane Bishop" wrote:

> I have a 64 bit Vista Ultimate machine.
> I am trying to upgrade my OEM Works 9 that came with my PC to Office Small
> Business 2007.
> I checked with the manufacturer (HP) and they said that the OEM Works 9 sku
> is valid for the Upgrade I purchased, but they couldn't help me with my
> problem. They pointed me to MS support.
>
> I would go to MS support, but because I can't install the software, I don't
> have a ProductID yet, and so I have to pay $50 to get support there.
> If I was able to install the product, I'd be eligible for 90 days of free
> support via the ProductID.
>
> The message I get on the install is this:
> "Setup can't find a version of Microsoft Office on your computer.
>
> If Office is installed on a disk or network share, click the browse button
> to select the appropriate disk or share. If you have a version of Microsoft
> office on a CD, place the CD in your CD-ROM drive, and then click the browse
> button to select the appropriate drive."
>
> So, when I click browse and choose the Microsoft Works folder, it still says
> it's not valid.
>
> I wonder if it has anything to do with this article:
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928113
>
> Since my machine is a 64 bit machine, %programfiles% points to "C:\Program
> Files" but Works is installed in "C:\Program Files (x86)".
>
> What stinks about that article is it doesn't tell me how to resolve the issue.
>
> Any help would be much appreciated.
>
> Thanks in advance!