Share via

Office Starter 2010 Not Starting - Searching for sfttray.exe

Anonymous
2014-10-01T21:41:28+00:00

OK, This could be an old issue but for several months I didn't know how and why I had a problem with my Office Starter. I have it installed on a rarely used mini laptop which I mainly use during travel. After spending a lot of time researching this issue online, I realized the problem was caused by some Microsoft update. Well done, Microsoft. Also the strangest thing is that the folks at Microsoft don't at all feel responsible to provide a solution as they consider Office Starter an OEM responsibility even though it was Microsoft who caused the problem in the first place.

Anyway, this is a brief summary of my problem. My Office Starter was not starting so I followed the solution provided  in article  https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2465140 but after performing the repair I DID NOT get this window

Instead, I got a one month Office 365 free trial offer. I thought this was a Microsoft stunt to market their new product so I accepted the trial. When the trial expired, Office 365 became a viewer only so I uninstalled it and was expecting to have my Starter working again but it didn't. I ran the repair but this time after performing the repair, there was no icon in the start menu to open the above window or any other window.

Now Office Starter is behaving in a weird way. The default program cannot be associated with the virtualization handler CVH.EXE, and  I can run the  programs only until the next reboot, then whenever I run any Office Starter program I get this error:

Windows is searching for sfttray.exe. To locate the file yourself, click browse

I ran the repair several times and the result was always the same.

I checked the start menu shortcuts and the weirdest thing is that the target changes automatically after reboot. For instance, Word shortcut target immediately after performing Office repair is:

"C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Virtualization Handler\CVH.EXE" "Microsoft Word Starter 2010 9014006604090000"

However after computer restart it automatically changes to:

C:\Users\Alberto\Desktop\sfttray.exe "Microsoft Word Starter 2010 9014006604090000"

I thoroughly scanned for viruses but nothing found.

I thought I knew one or two things about Windows, but this virtualization handler thing is driving me nuts. I did though manage to find a work around by copying all the Office Starter shortcuts immediately after repair and saving them on my desktop but still I cannot associate the default programs in order to open the files by double clicking, and can only open them from within the program.

Any help OTHER THAN restoring to factory defaults or contacting OEM will be appreciated

Thanks,

Microsoft 365 and Office | Install, redeem, activate | For home | Windows

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

9 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2014-10-07T21:14:10+00:00

    Hi Mohan,

    Thank you for your reply, but unfortunately it didn't work. I created another administrator account, and from this account did the repair twice and started several times but with the same result, it only works until the computer is restarted.

    What is driving me nuts is how and why after computer restart the shortcut target automatically changes to C:\Users\Alberto2\Desktop\sfttray.exe "Microsoft Word Starter 2010 9014006604090000". Where is this sfttray.exe that is supposed to be on my desktop anyway? I read online that it is part of the Virtualization Handler thing, and searched for it everywhere on my computer but couldn't find it.

    As I mentioned before I still believe this problem happens because after performing repair I don't get the window with the use Office Starter 2010 button, so the application registration is not complete. How can I get that window back? I guess the answer is probably hidden somewhere in that inaccessible click-to-run protected Q drive.

    During my search I found some sites offering free download of Office Starter: setupconsumerc2rolw.exe (1,594 KB), which looks like just the downloader. What do you think if I run this file? Could this re-install it and solve my problem? I'm a bit hesitant to try it as some people reported it asking for activation key. I don't want to completely lose Office Starter, at least now I can manage to start it somehow.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2014-10-07T16:14:13+00:00

    Hello Alberto,

    Thank you for your response and apologies for the late reply.

    In order to resolve this issue, I think it would be best to check if the issue repeats in a new Windows User Account on your computer. The repeated instances when Office Starter shortcuts in the Start Menu become corrupted could be due to a corrupt Windows User Account, as such issues are generally attributed to a corrupt User Account.

    I would suggest you to create a new Windows 7 User Account following these steps.

    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-user-account#create-user-account=windows-7

    Login to the new User Account and make sure to repair Office Starter 2010 programs from Programs and Features in the Control Panel. Repair Office Starter 2010 in the new Windows User Account only.

    After repair restart the computer and log back to the new Windows User Account.

    Check if this resolves the issue - try restarting the computer a few times and log into the new Windows User Account to check if this works to resolve your issue.

    Let us know the result.

    Thank you.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2014-10-07T09:27:13+00:00

    Hi Mohan

    I was very happy to see your first reply and promise of assistance, but now you disappeared.

    I check this page several times everyday hoping to find a reply from you.

    I hope you can provide the solution to this problem

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2014-10-02T22:28:08+00:00

    Hi Mohan,

    Many thanks for your reply, and I'm really glad to see a Microsoft Engineer responding. Unfortunately that blog doesn't help in my case. In fact I have already seen it and probably every other related post out there, as I have been researching this issue for several days now.

    It seems you have missed some details in my question. My problem is that after performing Office Starter repair everything works fine but only until the next reboot. After reboot Office Starter program shortcuts in the start menu become corrupted as detailed in my question above, and nothing happens when double clicking the files. Also nothing happens when I try to re-associate the files or extensions with the virtualization handler C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Virtualization Handler\CVH.EXE

    I could be wrong, but I believe this problem happens because I no longer get the USE dialogue window after performing Office repair in order to start using Office Starter . So CVH.EXE doesn't get registered in the Windows Registry as an application. Is there any way I can get this back?

    Also, the following could be helpful to others as a temporary solution until hopefully Microsoft provides the proper one.

    I managed to find workarounds for these problems by copying the Office Starter programs' shortcuts to desktop before they become corrupted, and created batch files to which I associated Office extensions. The text in these batch files is as follows for Word and Excel respectively:

    "C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Virtualization Handler\CVH.EXE" "Microsoft Word Starter 2010 9014006604090000" %1

    "C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Virtualization Handler\CVH.EXE" "Microsoft Excel Starter 2010 9014006604090000" %1

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2014-10-02T17:37:40+00:00

    Hello Alberto,

    Welcome to Microsoft Community.

    I am sorry to know that you have been facing issues with launching Office files with Office Starter 2010 on your computer. I understand how it feels when a product designed to work in a certain fashion does not work up to expectations or does not function at all. I will be assisting you with this issue.

    This is an issue with file association not working for Office 2010 files on your computer. We will have to re-associate the Office files to open with Office Starter 2010.

    In order to resolve this issue, I would suggest you to follow the resolution as per the following Microsoft TechNet Blog link.

    http://blogs.technet.com/b/office\_sustained\_engineering/archive/2013/09/18/office-2010-starter-edition-file-type-associations-missing-after-september-2013-update.aspx#pi47623=1

    Hope the steps mentioned in the above blog link helps you in resolving this issue. Let us know the result.

    Thank you.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments