I am having exactly the same problem - and it happens to most of our PCs as well.

When I try to manually install the Microsoft online services sign assistant - is actually say it already installed (it give me the option to repair or remove). So I am sure is installed correctly. Just not sure why it keep asking me to restart.

And the Office 365 shortcut doesn't create as well.

Any help on this is appreciated.

Angus

Me too as well and I can tell you I had to spend hours helping myself and barely making headway.  I firmly believe this has something to do with the later version of the Microsoft Online Sign In Assistant.  My problems have been mostly related to VIsta and 7 but I am building a WinXP box now to test out as well. If I have any version later than 7.250.4287.0 of the MSOIDSVC.EXE service located at C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Microsoft Online Services\MSOIDSVC.EXE then I see the continual loop.  THose machines that have the version 4287 do not but the latest one (7.250.4303.0) does.  I wish I could get my hand on the install app for 4287 to test out that theory but so far no luck.  This  just start happening to me last week and I am finally seeing posts from others like here of other people experiencing the same problem.  Microsoft has not seen a problem yet but enough of us are beginning to see it.  I am not sure what the conflict is but I am looking.  I would be curious to know what version of Office you are running on your Windows XP boxes?  I just installed the latest version of the sign in assistant (7.250.4303.0) on a Windows XP Pro SP3 workstation with Office 2007 Pro  and it did not loop..... until I ran setup again and now I have the same problem on the XP Box!!!  Except instead of asking me to restart it just finishes.  However if I run the setup again, it's asking to update the sign-in assistant.  I really don't think this client is properly registering itself with the operating system.   have tested this on multiple Office 365 organizations I either have or assist others and multiple OS's and Office Programs BPOS to Office 365 Transitions and first time installs.  Normally if the client and all the updates are fine the setup program just leaves you with a finish button (no updates needed).

Hi Angus and NephosMan,

Thanks for posting here. I understand that you are facing a Sign-In Assistant installation issue. Based on the different local environment, the root cause of the issue might be different. I sincerely suggest post it in a new thread in the forum with the detailed situation. If you received any error messages, please provide us for troubleshoot. This is so your question will be answered quickly.

Thanks,
Allen Qiu

Hi Allen

I have not been able to sort the issue.  I re-formatted the laptop and used the factory recovery cd to get it back to a clean version of XP. I got all the updates and service packs and then installed Offfice 2010. The result was the same.

I un-installed the online services sign in and tried again, this did not work.  I installed the online services from the download and this gives me error 1603 when getting downloads/updates.  I then manually installed the updates and it  appears to have installed them ok but when the  laptop reboots it goes to the 365 sign in and startes checking your system configuration and the loop starts.

I also noticed that after I had run the setup and configure office apps and am asked to re-start the pc, clicking on restart wont re start the pc, I have to do this 3 times to get it to reboot, I am sure this is part of the problem,   Its not the pc and this was fine untill I run the app set up

Thanks

Tony

I'm also having the same issue. All my PC's are up to date with all MS updates.

 

We are also having this issue with a new Win7 installs.  Same install loop.  Must be related either to a updated version of sign in assistant or a conflicting windows update.

Hi Tony,

Thanks for getting back. Before moving on, I would like to confirm if you are receiving the error message as "Error 1603: A fatal error occurred during installation." when running Office 365 Desktop Setup.

If this is the case, I noticed that in your case, it might be a permission issue. Please remove the Sign-in Assistant from Add/Remove programs (if it exists) before doing the following troubleshoot process.
You may refer to the following KB to troubleshoot this issue and see if it helps.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/834484

In addition, please add *.micrsoftonline.com to your trusted sites in Internet Explorer (8 or 9). You can also try reducing the security level.
Here are the steps for you:
1.Click tools in Internet Explorer.
2.Click Internet Options.
3.Click the security tab
4.Change the security level to a low level.
5.Click the "green check" Trusted sites.
6.Click the "sites" button, type: *.microsoftonline.com, and then click add.
After doing this, try to set up and configure your Office desktop apps by clicking set up from Office 365 Portal--Admin--Downloads page.

Please let me know if it's useful to you.

@jgnguyen1011 @Patrick, I wound to know if you got any error messages during the installation process? Is so, I sincerely suggest post it in a new thread in the forum with the error code and detailed situation. This is so your question will be answered quickly. Thanks for understanding.

Thanks,
Allen Qiu

Hi Allen

thank you for your reply.

Its not true i am receiveng the error message 1603. I only get tghis message when I manually install the the sign in assistant and run downloads. Under normal circumstances the 365 download section says the sign in assistant is installed and the rest are pending restart. After restert I get the same thing again.

I have followed your info in your last post and it did not work. The only difference is that  I can only checng my IE setting to medium not low.

many thanks

Tony

I have exactly the same issue's as above. I have 2 laptops both with Windows 7, 1 x64, 1 x86 version. On the W7x64 one I have even tried installing MS online Services Sign-in Assistant manually by downloading the x64 version. Then when I run MS Office 365 Desktop Assistant, it still tries to install MS online Services Sign-in Assistant but comes up error 1603. When I uninstall it and run MS Office 365 Desktop Assistant again it says its installing MS online Services Sign-in Assistant reboot required after it installs. Then I end up in this continually loop of rebooting and getting nowhere fast. It's the same on the W7x86 laptops as well. It has to be a MS software problem for ti to be happening on so many different machines with different OS's. I've got no idea of the next step ?

Hi Allen

I am using XP Pro, is it possible to do a clean boot on this OS?

Thanks

Tony

We are also having the exact same issue as described in this thread.  Is there a fix for this yet?  If this is happening to one or two people then that's fine I will say it's a fluke.  However, when every computer we run this app on show the same symptom you can't help but wonder that the problem is with the app itself.

Rebooted and attempted as per install instructions, absolutely no difference what so ever.

Kind Regards

Nick R