Office add-in is not shown in the menu

Question

I have a problem connected with Office 2007 and VSTO add-in.

Description:

Windows XP SP3 x86
MS Office 2007 x86 (Enterprise edition)
VSTO add-in (Word, Excel)

My VSTO add-in is not shown in the menu.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Excel\Addins\MyAddin
LoadBehavior = 3

In Add-Ins tab (File->Options) I can see that my add-in is active. There are no any exceptions.

I can reproduce this issue in the following order:
1. install MS Office;
2. install add-in
- .net framework 2.0 is installed;
- add-in is installed.

But if .net framework had already been installed before I installed the Office -- add-in works in the right way.

1. install .net framework 2.0;
   
2. install MS Office
   
3. install add-in
   ----> add-in works properly...
   

On Windows 7 x86 (Office 2010 x86) add-in works. Maybe because Windows 7 already contains .net framework.

I can't resolve this issue... Maybe you can help me.

Thank you in advance!

Answer 1

It looks to me that you are missing the VSTO runtime files. If so then you can download those here

In order to see what the problem is you need to set an environment variable VSTO_SUPPRESSDISPLAYALERTS=0 See this document on MSDN and then specifically the last paragraph "Troubleshooting Add-ins Using a Log File and Error Messages"

Answer 2

I have found cause of this issue. I have installed Primary Interop Assemblies for Office 2007 on end user system and my add-in works now.

1) Issue explanation:

"The computer must have a version of the .NET Framework installed (version 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, or 3.5) before the PIA installer is run. Windows XP does not include any version of the .NET Framework unless .NET 1.1 was downloaded from Windows Update. Windows Vista does include a version of the .NET Framework. When Microsoft Office is first installed, the .NET Framework installation is detected and the PIAs are automatically installed."

2) Adding the Office PIAs as a prerequisite

Maybe it will be useful for somebody.