File Validation Add-In for Office 2007

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I’m installing Office 2007 on a Windows 10 virtual machine in the hopes of opening some old Word 5.x files. Windows Update installed quite a few security updates, but the Microsoft Office File Validation Add-in failed with Download error 0x80240023.

Office 2007 1

The first hit when I googled that error code was someone else with the same issue. Of the 78 replies, this one was highlighted as the answer, and worked:

  1. Go to C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download
  2. Find OFV.CAB and extract it. You’ll have OFV.msi
  3. Install it and hit Retry on Windows Update.

Office 2007 2

Sure enough, after the manual installation, the file is no longer offered by Windows Update.

Word 2007 is still not recognizing a Word 5.x file even though it works on another computer (an old Windows XP machine). That’s a separate issue.

17 thoughts on “File Validation Add-In for Office 2007”

  1. Ilean

    How do you find the OFV.cab file in there, and how do you go about extracting it?

  2. Mark Berry Post author

    I went to the C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download folder in Windows Explorer, then typed “OFV.CAB” in the Explorer search box. Once found, highlight the file as shown in the screen shot. It shows the contents (just as it would for a .zip file). Drag the OFV.msi file to your desktop to extract it.

  4. Mark Berry Post author

    @Elsabe has provided a link to the File Validation Add-In in the Microsoft Update Catalog. Interesting that that is still out there even though the corresponding KB article 2501584 is gone. The catalog lets you download ofv_475de2eccfddbb06f945efb53472963e8ff88d0b.cab. From there, you can extract OFV.msi. That OFV.msi has an MD5 hash of 6f36f038ac3e7f45e89abb20a45676cc, which matches the MD5 hash of the OFV.msi that I extracted earlier as described in the main article above.

  6. Peter Dornauer

    WOW……very helpful your explanation.
    This error in the update-mechanism of Win10 was bothering me badly and I tried a lot of so called “solutions” in the INet, but I couldn’t get rid of it.
    THX to your explanation, my Win tell me finally again: “You’re up-to-date !! ”

    Again THX from Vienna…you made my day ;-)

  8. Andrew

    When I try to download it I got information that it is not safe and download is not possible ???

  9. Mark Berry Post author

    @Andrew, I don’t know what you are downloading and from where. I got a download error (see above) with Windows Update, then I was able to extract the installer from the Download folder. If I am uncertain about a URL or file, sometimes I use http://www.virustotal.com to see if the file has a known virus.

  11. Mark Berry Post author

    Oh I see. Yes, browsers have started throwing errors on the Microsoft Catalog because the link is not HTTPS. Here’s a report on that from several years ago, but I think the browsers are just recently getting more strict:

    https://www.computerworld.com/article/3256304/microsoft-is-distributing-security-patches-through-insecure-http-links.html

    If you trust Microsoft, you can try the download. Then right-click on the file, select Properties, and confirm that it has a Digital Signature from Microsoft.

  12. Andrew

    Hi Mark, Many Thanks for that, I will try and we will see :-)

  14. Mark Berry Post author

    Thanks Andrew. Looks like that was digitally signed by Microsoft in 2011, so it’s authentic. Whether it is safe or contains bugs is another question :).

  15. a_aramini

    The file should be safe to download. Your browser is blocking it because the download request is being done over http and not https. I allowed the download in my browser (Firefox) and compared it to the version I took out of Windows Update (C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download) as stated in this post. I also compared it to a version on another system. All 3 of my copies are all digitally signed by Microsoft Corporation ‎Friday, ‎January ‎14, ‎2011 11:49:40 AM.

    The file size and hashes of each of my copies match and show no signs of malware or virus when analyzed by VirusTotal (https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/7807b1fd033c9dfc3693684a242867f3a1b9931f249865d0fe439b7df462da12/detection):

    File size 1.95 MB (2049536 bytes)
    MD5 6f36f038ac3e7f45e89abb20a45676cc
    SHA-1 400227e2d0648e320d05e1805085775595d38124
    SHA-256 7807b1fd033c9dfc3693684a242867f3a1b9931f249865d0fe439b7df462da12
    Vhash 89ce56ef6dbfb064214dc6fff820807d
    SSDEEP 49152:tr5Nj/aeBVUSoYV2tHxJUMTEuzVesIBmQ5ruPZ:5/as32tRx3I0Q5ru
    TLSH T1E7953311A4C37B13EB6FA4725753D32A59AC9C41AF10945F3A88B2307AF67B0B6DA50C
    File type Windows Installer
    Magic CDF V2 Document, Little Endian, Os: Windows, Version 6.0, Code page: 1252, Title: Installation Database, Subject: Microsoft Office File Validation Add-In, Author: Microsoft Corporation, Keywords: Installer, MSI, Database, Release, Comments: This Installer database contains the logic and data required to install Microsoft Office File Validation Add-In., Template: Intel

    Thanks for this post. I was having a similar issue on a Windows 10 machine. It wouldn’t let me accept the license agreement and just said (error encountered). Got it installed (confirmed via Programs and Features: Microsoft Office File Validation Add-In, Microsoft Corporation, 10.7MB, version 14.0.5130.5003).

    However, in Windows Update it was still sitting there waiting for me to review/accept the license agreement, which I could not do and I could not clear out the “stuck” pending OFV update.

    To clear that out, I went to “Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update” and paused updates for 7 days. Then I Clicked “Advanced Options” and toggled off “Receive Updates for other Microsoft products when you update Windows”.

    Finally, I rebooted (not sure if reboot was necessary), went to Windows Update, clicked “Resume Updates” and toggled back on “Receive Updates for other Microsoft products when you update Windows”

    It then checked for updates, didn’t offer me the Office Validation Add-In and declared “You’re up to date” with green checkmark.

    Thanks a bunch for this post. I was worried I’d have to shell out $$$ for a new Office Suite/365 never ending subscription or live with a “stuck” update indefinitely.

  16. A_Aramini

    The file hashes, digital signature info, and VirusTotal info I provided in my previous comment are for the OFV.msi file which is inside the cab file.

    The .cab file itself has a digital signature of: Microsoft Corporation ‎Monday, ‎January ‎24, ‎2011 9:27:35 AM

    and it’s hashes are:

    MD5: 42699399752ABEAFD0CADE19363C2FD5

    SHA1: 475DE2ECCFDDBB06F945EFB53472963E8FF88D0B

    SHA-256: C8F4EE81DD9CFFB4499CBC7D7FFA24F385834828802D5B7E5FBCA4C37D1848DC

  17. Eduardo

    Parece que sirvió !!!!! Muchas muchas gracias !!!!!!

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