Install SharePoint 2010 on a Windows 7 Workstation

When installing SharePoint 2010 on a Windows 7 laptop, Windows security system can create some unexpected problems.

My laptop belongs to a Windows domain. But I was not connected to the domain during the installation. The SharePoint setup program completed without any complaints. But when I ran the configuration wizard, it would complain that the user was not found in the SQL database.

I checked the SQL Express server. I could login as the machine's local administrator. But if I tried to run the configuration program as the machine's local administrator, I would get an error saying that there was a data error.

So I used the simplest solution: install everything as the machine's local administrator. Of course, I would have to adde the domain user into the SharePoint sites as an administrator afterwards.

Error 2349

When installing Microsoft Office 2010 and Sharepoint 2010, I ran into some problems. The installers for each product gave the same error: "Error 2349. An internal error has occurred. ( ) Contact Microsoft Product Support Services (PSS) for assistance. For info...".

I search on Google, Bing, and Yahoo. I tried may things. None helped. Then I read the installation log in the temporary folder. Apparently the installer ran into a permission issue. It tried to write into "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared". Somehow this directory is owned by "Trusted Installer", and no one has permission to write into it, not even the "Trusted Installer" itself.

So Microsoft has managed to secure the machine against its own installer, while viruses like "AV Security Suite" can install themselves even when "Microsoft Security Essential" is running. Good Job M$.

You can change the permission easily on the folder. First you would have to take the "ownership" away from the "Trusted Installer" and give it to the administrator. If you don't, everthing in the properties dialog box is disabled. Of course, this kind of "security measure" is only meant to make the ignorant feel secure. Once you take ownership, everything is enabled.Then you can change permissions on just about everything. Please may sure that you change ownership on all subfolders and "child objects" as well.

I gave full permission to the "Trusted Installer" to this folder. Actually, Sharepoint 2010 stores data files in this folder, so you really should give full permission to the current user as well. Otherwise, when you try to deploy Sharepoint packages, there will be more headaches.

After the permission chages, the installations went all the way without any problems.

Office 2007 Error: "There is not enough memory or disk space to run Word"...

When you are thousands of miles away from home, and Microsoft Office 2007 "Ultimate Edition" starts to tell you that "There is not enough memory or disk space to run Word" and "There is not enough memory or disk space to run Outlook", things can be a little hectic.

The root of this problem is in Microsoft Office Word. Outlook uses Word to edit and view emails, so Outlook would yield the same error. I searched on Google for answers. Most referred to older versions of Office. Some suggested that one should remove "Normal.dot", other suggested that one should clear the "STARTUP" folder, or delete the "Data" registry key, or delete the "Options" registry key. Some of the suggestions even came from Microsoft.com. By the way, Word 2007 does not have a "safe" command line switch.

I tried them. I ran Windows "System Restore" to various dates. None helped.

It turned out that the solution is simple: From Windows 7's Control Panel, go to Program and Features, selection Office 2007, and click on "Change". One of the two options in the popped up dialog box is "Repair".

So I ran "Repair".

That fixed my problem. I wonder why Microsoft' own knowledge base webpage for this exact problem did not memtion this fix.