Office 2004: "An unexpected error occurred while trying to load the Microsoft Framework library;" solution

MacFixIt reader Rob recently described a problem experienced by a handful of other readers where one or more Microsoft Office 2004 applications fail to launch (or halt at other processes) -- returning the error "An unexpected error occurred while trying to load the Microsoft Framework library."

Rob writes "I recently had to re-load my system from a backup, and since then my MS Office tools (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) have all been complaining that "An unexpected error occurred while trying to load the Microsoft Framework library.

"I've tried (1) Re-loading Office 2004, (2) Re-loading OS 10.3, then re-loading office 2004 and (3) copying a file called 'Microsoft Framework library' directly from the install disk, but nothing seems to work."

Microsoft discusses a similar issue with Office v.X in one of its Knowledge Base articles, and has a solution that can also be applied (in modified form) to Office 2004.

According to Microsoft, the behavior may occur if files in the Office identities folder are locked. The following solution steps are adapted to fit Office 2004.

1. Quit any Office v. X programs that are currently running.
2. Open the folder ~/Documents/Microsoft User Data/Office 2004 Identities
3. Open the folder for the affected identity.
4. Verify that files in the Identity folder are not locked (Locked files show a small padlock below the lower-left corner of the file's icon.)
5. If any files are locked, select the file, and then click Show Info on the File menu.
6. Click to clear the Locked check box, and then close the Show Info window.
7. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for each locked file. The affected Office program should now start properly.

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