Microsoft Office Suite Woes

Discussion in 'Software' started by tripwire45, Mar 5, 2008.

  1. tripwire45
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    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    I installed a trial version of Office 2007 when I was writing my latest SharePoint 2007 book. Of course, I had no intention of buying and installing the full featured product, so when I was done, I used Add or Remove Programs to uninstall the trial software.

    Now, when I try to open any documents using my full featured Office products (Office XP Professional), the "preparing to install dialog appears followed by a prompt saying it can't find the installation CD. Naturally, I'm upset. I went to a restore point on the machine before I uninstalled Office 2007, thinking that might fix whatever was broken but am still having troubles.

    At least, I can open Word now without too much of a problem, but Excel is hopeless. I checked in Add or Remove Programs and Office XP Pro is still on the list and each office product is in the All Programs list. I do have all of the CDs that originally came with the PC including the Office CD, so I could reinstall/repair, but before I continue to "shoot from the hip", I want to see if this is an issue any one has experienced or if any one has other ideas.

    EDIT: I also just got a notice from Automatic Updates that "2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP 1) is ready to be installed on my computer. Go figure.

    Thanks.
     
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  2. BosonMichael
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    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    You can solve this problem by installing a full version of Microsoft Office. :twisted:

    Okay, okay, so that's NOT the answer you wanted... :p
     
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  3. Mr.Cheeks

    Mr.Cheeks 1st ever Gold Member! Gold Member

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    Trip,
    When did you install Office? and i take it you have already tried reinstalling Office in Safe Mode?
     
  4. tripwire45
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    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    Ok. Office 2002 (Office XP Pro) came installed on the machine when I got it from Dell about 3 or 4 years back.

    A few months ago, I installed the Office 2007 Trial Version so I could sample the tools and how they work with SharePoint 2007.

    Yesterday, I uninstalled the Office 2007 Trial Version using Add/Remove Programs

    I never touched the Office 2002 (Office XP Pro) installation and as far as I'm concerned, the Trial Version shouldn't have touched it either.

    I haven't tried to install or reinstall a thing since discovering the problem a few hours ago because I wanted to learn if trial versions *normally* skrew up already installed (earlier) full-featured versions.

    I just wasn't sure if I was expressing my problem clearly. Now, is reinstalling the original software in safe mode the recommended course or is there something else you think I need to know before proceeding? I am trying to avoid making another decision that will make things worse since my decision to uninstall the Trial version of Office 2007 obviously messed something up.

    Thanks, all. :)
     
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  5. Mr.Cheeks

    Mr.Cheeks 1st ever Gold Member! Gold Member

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  6. nugget
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    What formats were you saving the documents in?

    I would try to install the original office 2002 again and see what happens. You might need to install the compatability pack afterwards too.
     
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  7. tripwire45
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    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    Not sure if the Microsoft link applies since it seems to be focused on uninstalling and then reinstalling Office 2007. Not sure I understand your question, Nugget. I was primarily working in Word 2002 when doing my writing and never had a problem with it (I did have a problem opening slide shows, since PowerPoint 2007 tended to open when I wanted the slides to open in PowerPoint 2002).

    Oh, perhaps this will help. The trial version had expired prior to my uninstalling it. Don't know if that makes a difference.

    Seems like my option is to reinstall Office 2002 and hope for the best. Deffo going to create a restore point before that, though. :wink:
     
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  8. tripwire45
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    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    Well, after all that angst, I slipped in the Office 2002 installation disk, launched set up, chose to repair my installation, letting the program automatically detect and repair any problems. It went through its thing and presented me with a dialog saying that Office installed successfully. No restart was required.

    I clicked out of everything, ejected the disk and tried out Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Everything worked flawlessly. All is right with the world (for the time being).

    Thanks, all. :)
     
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  9. BosonMichael
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    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    Actually... your decision to install the trial version of Office 2007 (with a current version of Office already installed) is what messed something up. :twisted: That should answer your statement, "...I wanted to learn if trial versions *normally* skrew up already installed (earlier) full-featured versions." ;)
     
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  10. tripwire45
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    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    I must have missed that caveat in the documentation. :wink:
     
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