Solved Office 2007 related software...to keep or not to keep?

[pappi]

I had uninstalled Office 2007 suite and kept Office Works. I also have kept( still have) Power point and compatibility pack that together totals more than 300MB.


I understand PP is for presentation(?) while the compatibility pack is to enable older office version (2003) to continue to work. I am not sure about any of these. For instance what does presentation mean? Is it when I use my laptop to do slide presentation using projectors, say in lecturing?(which I have no intention to do). I do not remember ever having office 2003, or any version of office(I always had deleted them as bloatware).


Question: Can I then safely remove Power Point and Compatibility pack? Is any of these two currently being used somewhere else in my system, in my daily browsing/computing? When I view web slide picture presentation(say, of Prince George), is PP involved?

 

[matts6887]

Well; if you do any presentations using powerpoint; I would honestly leave it alone the way it is unless the program is causing a problem of some sort. As for when you view picture presentations; i do believe powerpoint could be used if you actually created and are using it to view the presentation in lieu of windows picture/slide viewer. Hope this helps somewhat. Post again if further answers are needed.

 

[pappi]

The fact that MSN keeps offering security updates to these programs makes me aware they can be potentially venues for malware(a la Java...which incidentally I found out I really did/do not need). It's not just the size..

In other words, I do not want to keep any program or software I have no use for regardless of size...for security concern.

My real imposing concern is possible deleterious effect of deletion from cross utilization and dependency by other programs/software that I use daily...like flash, adobe reader, etc. I'm really not clear about this "presentation" stuff. I always thought it's when lecturers use the PP format to present lecture while attached to a projector(which I use at work but with different laptop and everything has been set up by secretaries. All I do is use the remote and laser pointer.)

It seems I can safely remove compatibility pack since I have no Office 2003 0r 2007(or 2010)suites. I use Microsoft works(which I hope is independent of the compatibility pack). For now, I think I will keep PP, just in case.

 

[pappi]

It has been spelled out to me by a responder in Microsoft community forum that since I had deleted Office 2007, I should no longer have Power Point. Which is true. What I was mistakenly calling PP is actually PP viewer. And all the security updates are for PP viewer and Microsoft works.

Does that mean I have no use for PP viewer since I have no PP?

 

[derekimo]

Does that mean I have no use for PP viewer since I have no PP?

Well you seemed like it was worth keeping in this thread,

http://www.sevenforums.com/microsoft-office/323634-compatibility-pack-2007-office-system.html

The viewer is nice if you just want to view PP, the full version lets you create and view them.

You are the only one that can answer whether you have a use for something.

Sounds like it's bugging you, you can uninstall it and if you ever need it reinstall it.

 

[pappi]

Because of my low level of computing skill, even after Google(or Bing) mini-research, I am still unclear whether or not it is safe to delete PP viewer and Compatibility Pack. So, just as I experimented with deleting Java(I was not clear whether or not I needed it or safe to delete it) I am now experimenting with these two programs. I have deleted PP viewer and CP...and see if I am OK without them.


So far so good.

 

[Callender]

Compatibility Pack

Because of my low level of computing skill, even after Google(or Bing) mini-research, I am still unclear whether or not it is safe to delete PP viewer and Compatibility Pack. So, just as I experimented with deleting Java(I was not clear whether or not I needed it or safe to delete it) I am now experimenting with these two programs. I have deleted PP viewer and CP...and see if I am OK without them.


So far so good.

Compatibility Pack is needed when a user is running an older version of MS Office - say the 2003 version but needs to open, view and edit office documents that have been created with a newer MS Office suite.

Example: By default MS Word 2010 will save a document with the .docx file extension. This cannot be opened by older office suites that use the .doc file extension by default. However if the Compatibility Pack is installed there's no problem.

If you're running an up to date Office Suite you don't need the Compatibility Pack.

As for Java - the need for it depends upon whether you've got any programs installed that use it or if you browse to any sites that need Java enabled in your browser for some features to work correctly.

Personally I keep it off my machine and only ever install it on a "when needed" basis to run a particular program then remove it afterwards.

Java removal utility:

JavaRa - SingularLabs

 

[pappi]

Thanks Callender for relevant response. Got it(finally).

I am not running any version of Office suite. Microsoft Works is all I need.

Yes, that's what I do with Java...keep it off my machine. Once-in-a-blue moon I install it PRN, then uninstall.

I will do the same with PP viewer.(I am still not sure I understand this PP stuff. But I have better concept of PP viewer)