"Office update is unable to check for updates"...

[treborsitnay]

I have been receiving the error "office update is unable to check for updates" when I run the Office Updater from the web site for our W2K server. This started with the original Office 2K Prof suite some time back. And since we are now an extremely small company and very "tight" financially (I am now the remaining IT person, and only working half time), I have had to put off resolving this for to long, and just today had the opportunity to try to do so. I tried updating to Office 2003 Prof. using the "Remove all other instances of Office" option. The installation appeared successful, but the same error occurred when I ran the updater.

I have tried every option Microsoft listed regarding this (apparently common) error (all 10 'Methods' listed in the "How to troubleshoot failures updateing ... Office...", ID 304398, and several others), as well as a number of suggestions from various forums and support group sites, - including running the "Windows Installer Cleanup Utility" - but so far, no reolution.

I have a full backup image of the server, and can return the server to the state/condition prior to my beginning this endeavor, but would like to resolve it completely if possible, and bring Office (2000, 2002, or 2003) running fully up to date on this box.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.