Topic: MS Office 2003 Driving Me Mad

[chorleydave]

As some might remember, I recently had to install the horrible Windows 2000 Professional SP4 on a PC so that I could run Office 2003, as the college I work at has now gone onto that apology for an office suite.  However, within a week Windows 2000 had gone, after me spending three days without any firewall or anti-virus as it kept eating the .dlls.  My main PC is now back on Windows ME and Office 2000, and (no matter what others might think of that OS) I am now trouble-free.

However, I still had the problem of needing Office 2003, so I "obtained " Windows XP and installed it on my secondary PC along with Office 2003.  The problem is, although I kept the Office setup files on my hard drive, every time I try to start either Word 2003, Excel 2003, or Powerpoint 2003 (the three applications I need for work) I get a pesky message that "Office is installing a component" (or words to that effect) and I have to stick the Office CD in to complete the installation.  On every occasion, the component it wants to install is Microsoft Office Application Recovery, even though I already have it.

Needless to say, as I already detest having to use any Microshaft software less than five years old (as it takes five years before it is bug-free) this is now driving me nuts.  Does anybody have any idea why Office 2003 keeps wanting to reinstall this Application Recovery thing, and how I can stop it from happening?

Thanks.   :x

[Simon]

Have you tried removing and re-installing the whole thing, Dave?  I have to say, I have been using Office 2003 since, er, 2003, without any problems at all.  

[chorleydave]

Thanks, Simon.

I think reinstallation is going to be my only option, isn't it?  Otherwise, I suppose I could get rid of it altogether and save anything I do at work as Office 2000 format by using the Save As File Type, and I could then work on it at home in Office 2000 and as it is (supposed to be) backwards-compatible I should still be able to open the files I create on any 2003 machine, shouldn't I?

[Simon]

Don't know about the backwards compatible bit.  I know it works between Office XP and Office 2003, but haven't tried it with 2000.  It doesn't actually take that long to uninstall and reinstall it, so it shouldn't be too painful, Dave, and might be your easiest option.  During the installation, you can obviously choose the components you require, to save wasting space, and time, installing features you don't need.

Actually, thinking about it, isn't there a 'Repair' option, when you load the Office 2003 CD?  That might be quicker, if it does the trick.

[chorleydave]

I hadn't though of trying the repair thingy.  I'll have a look at that.

Thanks again, Simon.  

[Clive]

I use Office 2000 and have never had a problem with reading XP or 2003 files.

[chorleydave]

I use Office 2000 and have never had a problem with reading XP or 2003 files.

Hi, Clive.

I know it 2000 will open 2003 files as long as they are simple, but some of the stuff I bring home has been created by someone else (especially Powerpoint presentations) and as they have used features new to 2003, 2000 cannot handle them - hence I ended up having to install 2003, even though like all Microshaft stuff beyond 1998 it is full of useless rubbish...err, I mean features.

I've done a repair on the PC with Office 2003 on, so I'll see how it goes.

[Rodders]

It is my understanding that so long as an individual registers as a student, faculty member, or staff of an educational institute, they can obtain a free educational licence for Sun Star Office v8 (download).

Since Star Office applications have a very high degree of compatibility with their MS Office counterpart, I imagine quite a few people would find their problems solved by registering with Sun and downloading this suite.  

[chorleydave]

Great, Rodders.  I'll have a look at that.

Thanks.  

[sam]

and you could also use [Open Office] which I'm sure Star Office used to use some of... or is similar to.