No sooner had Microsoft posted its long-awaited Office 97 Service Release 2 bug-fix collection than reports of trouble started rolling in. Seems that if you managed to get the update installed, the patch worked as advertised, introducing only a couple of very obscure bugs. But in certain situations, the update simply refused to install, even if you had already installed the SR1 update as instructed.

Microsoft yanked the recalcitrant SR2 patch for repairs within ten days of posting it, though sadly not before we had added it to our cover CD. Fortunately, a revised version that installs under a broader range of conditions is now available. It's on this month's CD, and also obtainable from www.officeupdate.microsoft.com/Articles/sr2fact.htm. If you downloaded and tried to install the original version with no luck, give this new one a try (now that your hair's grown back). But if you successfully installed SR2, don't bother downloading all 23MB again ù there's nothing new inside. (To find out which release you have, choose HelpûAbout Microsoft Word from within Word.)