Windows 7: MS Office 2003 compatible with Windows 7?

This is just a suggestion. You mentioned Office 2003, but then told us you installed Office XP. If Office XP was the only version I had to use, I'd switch to Open Office in a heartbeat. Chances are, it will be just as compatible with current files, as an office suite going back nearly ten years.

You are wrong. I can open .docx and other new Office files just fine with Office XP. You have to download a compatibility pack from MS, but Windows Update installed it for me this last time. So, there is no real reason not to use it. If you are a fan of Open Office, good for you, but not everyone has to be. And one thing is for sure, no version of MS Office will open a .odt file. This can cause problems in some situations. For example a friend of mine just got a C on a school paper instead of the A the teacher told him he would have had because he had to turn the paper in late, because he saved the file as .odt (Open Offices default) and put it on a flash drive, intending to print it off at school. We only have 2007 and aren't able to install anything on school computers.

Edit: here is the link to the compatibility pack if any one needs it http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

I addressed some issues with the converters in another thread. Simply put though, your friend didn't know what he was doing, and made a classic user error. Are we really going to blame that on the product? He made a mistake....the software didn't fail. Had he saved it as the correct file type (which at one time could be set as the default), he wouldn't have had the issue, and you wouldn't have had this anecdote to share.

I also asked in the other thread to leave the snippiness out of the threads, as it benefits no one. I said in the other thread that "I believe" not "I'm 100% dead sure". Correct me if you must, but leave the snippiness out.

As I should have mentioned as well, please follow your own advice. While you may not be a fan of Open Office, don't discount it for others either. Personally, I love MS Office, and I'm not crazy about the UI of Open Office. I'm smart enough, and have been around the block enough to know that my personal opinions don't make for advice for others in all cases. Sometimes, you just have to throw out valid solutions and let the users pick. Open Office is a valid solution as well, and gives the thread start a choice. Sticking with Office XP is a valid option. I threw it out there as a suggestion.

I have tried multiple times to set .doc as the default in Open Office and never been able to. If he used Office XP, the problem never would have occured in the first place. Yes, the program worked like it was supposed to, so I can't place total blame on the program. I responded to what you wrote in the other thread and will state the same thing here for the sake of the OP. Excel XP is not good in general in my opinion. If Excel is something you use a lot, Open Office is better. I just don't think its right to say that XP in general should not be used. It works fine except for Excel.

I installed Office XP and afterward installed some Windows updates, and this actually took care of the margin squares that were appearing in my Word documents. Now they no longer appear. However, now I have a new problem. I cannot open my Excel programs without without the Windows Installer window coming on and telling me that "The feature you are trying to use is on a network resource that is unavailable.

If I go to Start>Programs>Microsoft Excel, then I am able to open some existing excel files from the menu of previously opened files on the right. (It's looking for MS Home & Student, which I no longer have) (Error 1706 - Setup cannot find the required files.) But I cannot use any file icons or shortcuts to open them.


Is this a Windows Installer Issue? Or do i have to reinstall again? Or maybe try a different uninstaller? What'd I do wrong...
Hope this is clear.

Sounds like something went wrong with the installation. The XP Professional disc has an option to do a repair install. Try that first. Also, did you do a full install? IIRC there is an option for standard and full installs. I always do a full install

Thanks. I'll try it this evening and get back to you.
By "XP Professional disc" You do mean the Office Suite, right? (I'm not running XP as the OS). ie., the disc I used to install Office XP pro.

I'm not clear anymore if I did a full install or not. I thought I did. But I'll try a repair and get back to you.

Thanks.

Yeah thats what I mean. I was a little rushed earlier and just left off the word "office."

I did the Office XP CD repair, and I am happy to report that the repair worked. I have Excel back using my original shortcut icons, and Word is normal also, no longer showing margin squares. Everything seems back to normal again, and that is great!
Thanks for your help & advice. I greatly appreciate it!

Glad to here it is working for you.