25th September 2002

Question: I work for a small company and I have run into a problem when I try to install Frontpage 2000 on my computer; I get an error that says, "Cannot Load fp4Autl.dll." I approached the IT staff here and they said it shouldn't be a problem because I have Office 2000 installed. Since they couldn't figure out the problem, I figured I would ask you as to why this is happening?

Answer: I too have run across this problem and it is linked to your Office 2000 install. IT people (me included) are big fans of customizing and scripting software installations. That being said, I am betting that your IT staff installed your Office 2000 using something called a transform file (.mst) that they created with the Custom Installation Wizard. In the transform file they probably set Frontpage to Not Available and this is what is causing your current problem, especially if you are trying to install Frontpage through the Maintenance Mode. Don't worry though, there is hope. All this was repaired with the Microsoft Office 2000 Service Release 1/1a which you can get for free from Microsoft's web site or from Office Update. In the meantime there is a temporary workaround. Go to your Control Panel and double-click Add/Remove Programs. Once that window opens you can double-click Office 2000 and click Add or Remove Features in the Microsoft Office 2000 Maintenance Mode. Find Frontpage in the list and change the installation state to Run all from My Computer. All you have to do now is choose Update Now and then you should be able to start Frontpage.