Office 2010 + 2003

DeaconFrost said:

They should open by double-clicking, unless you don't have the file associations set up. Do they have the the proper icons?

You may have it there..file associations, how do I set that up. The Icon seem the same

Tried file association and again nothing ion the "preferred Programmes list"

There's a recommended programs section, yes, but there's also a Browse button. Use that to browse to the proper 2010 executable. It works the same as it has in XP and Vista. Most likely, the 2003 installer broke the associations. There may also be an option to repair or restore them from within one of the 2010 applications, maybe in the options or the Diagnostics.

DeaconFrost said:

I can't imagine wanting both on the same system, but it seems as though you'd be better off specifying different install folders, so instead of Office, make them Office2010 and Office2003...but then again it seems to have been done again later on.

The files can be made backwards compatible, for reference. But, if you only need it for a class, I'd virtualize an old copy of XP, throuw Access 2003 in it, and then you'll be able to clean it up and remove it when the class is done.

Hi there

the OP said he NEEDED both because 2010 was NOT backwards compatable with 2003 -- however IMO you CAN save office documents on 2010 in a format 2003 can understand. This isn't exactly the same as using 2003 since the menus etc are different and there are extra features.

The EASIEST way IMO to do this would be to install the office 2003 on either an XP or a W7 VIRTUAL machine -- use vbox / vmware player both free.

If you just install the OS and Office your VM will be very small ( could be in the case of XP a 512MB machine) and take up almost no resources. You'll also learn about Virtual Machines and can shut it down when you are not using it.

Use "Host only" networking to share files between your VM and the Host W7 system. There are plenty of tutorials o the Virtualisation section on the Forum.

Incidentally this is often an "Industry" standard method of developing / testing software by running different versions on Virtual Machines and comparing them to the current released version.

Cheers
jimbo