Is my MS Office hosed?

elSicomoro · 06-09-2008, 06:27 AM

The facts:

--3-year old Dell Laptop, bought new, now out of warranty
--Office XP Professional is now corrupt, keeps asking for the installation disk in order to even open files
--No installation disk...wife doesn't know if she even got one when she bought the computer

Dell seems to make it a pain in the ass to get backups. Am I better off just buying a new version of Office?

TIA.

BrianR · 06-09-2008, 09:13 AM

Linux and OpenOffice.

OK, not the answer you asked for.

It seems that the core files have been corrupted. Buying a computer SHOULD come with all the disks you need to reinstall, given the properties of WinBlows. However, they simply have one copy that they keep using to install and they just buy license keys.

I think a newer version if the best (and most expensive answer) unless you want to try OpenOffice for Windows.

It's free for download.

dar512 · 06-09-2008, 09:30 AM

These days, unless you cause a fuss, many computer manufacturers don't supply cds. There are cd images on the hard drive and you are supposed to burn those to cds as part of the setup.

Look around on your hard drive and see if you can find the disk images.

elSicomoro · 06-09-2008, 10:26 AM

OK dar, help the retard here...disk images?

dar512 · 06-09-2008, 10:48 AM

If you have them, they'll be really large files. Probably larger than 600M. Might have .img or .iso extension, but that's not guaranteed. These are bit images of what the cd should look like, sector for sector. Your cd burning software should recognize them and allow you to burn a cd from them. Look in your Dell directory. If you don't see something like that try using file search for all files (enter just * as the filename) and specify a size of 500000.

If you don't find anything, you probably don't have disk images. If you are sure you didn't lose the disks, you can try calling Dell and complaining.

I've never sprung for MS Office. All of us at the dar household use OpenOffice. It works well enough for our purposes and is pretty good at creating MS Office format files. It's worth a check if all else fails. And OpenOffice runs on Windows too. You don't have to switch to Linux.

smoothmoniker · 06-09-2008, 11:00 AM

Sorry man - no good answers here, just commiserating with the horror of losing an essential piece of software and having no good options. I've been there before.

mbpark · 06-09-2008, 08:34 PM

Have you installed Service Pack 3 for Office XP?

Dell shipped backup CDs of Office XP (my mother has OXP Small Business) around that time. If not, there's about a 4 GB partition used for recovery that probably has it.

However, Office XP is best left alone to rot. OpenOffice is light years ahead of it, and Office XP has nasty installer problems. I actually leave the CD in her CD-ROM drive so that when Automatic Updates runs, it will kick in and install the patches without prompting for it.

Do yourself a favor and just use OpenOffice. It won't crap on you. Microsoft Office XP is a product best left forgotten.

Elspode · 06-12-2008, 11:21 PM

MS Office is hosed right out of the box. I'm a Wordperfect guy myself.

06-09-2008, 06:27 AM	#1
elSicomoro Person who doesn't update the user title Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 12,486	Is my MS Office hosed? The facts: --3-year old Dell Laptop, bought new, now out of warranty --Office XP Professional is now corrupt, keeps asking for the installation disk in order to even open files --No installation disk...wife doesn't know if she even got one when she bought the computer Dell seems to make it a pain in the ass to get backups. Am I better off just buying a new version of Office? TIA.

06-09-2008, 09:13 AM	#2
BrianR Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 3,338	Linux and OpenOffice. OK, not the answer you asked for. It seems that the core files have been corrupted. Buying a computer SHOULD come with all the disks you need to reinstall, given the properties of WinBlows. However, they simply have one copy that they keep using to install and they just buy license keys. I think a newer version if the best (and most expensive answer) unless you want to try OpenOffice for Windows. It's free for download. __________________ Never be afraid to tell the world who you are. -- Anonymous

06-09-2008, 09:30 AM	#3
dar512 dar512 is now Pete Zicato Join Date: May 2003 Location: Chicago suburb Posts: 4,968	These days, unless you cause a fuss, many computer manufacturers don't supply cds. There are cd images on the hard drive and you are supposed to burn those to cds as part of the setup. Look around on your hard drive and see if you can find the disk images. __________________ "Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain." -- Friedrich Schiller

06-09-2008, 10:48 AM	#5
dar512 dar512 is now Pete Zicato Join Date: May 2003 Location: Chicago suburb Posts: 4,968	If you have them, they'll be really large files. Probably larger than 600M. Might have .img or .iso extension, but that's not guaranteed. These are bit images of what the cd should look like, sector for sector. Your cd burning software should recognize them and allow you to burn a cd from them. Look in your Dell directory. If you don't see something like that try using file search for all files (enter just * as the filename) and specify a size of 500000. If you don't find anything, you probably don't have disk images. If you are sure you didn't lose the disks, you can try calling Dell and complaining. I've never sprung for MS Office. All of us at the dar household use OpenOffice. It works well enough for our purposes and is pretty good at creating MS Office format files. It's worth a check if all else fails. And OpenOffice runs on Windows too. You don't have to switch to Linux. __________________ "Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain." -- Friedrich Schiller

06-09-2008, 11:00 AM	#6
smoothmoniker to live and die in LA Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 2,090	Sorry man - no good answers here, just commiserating with the horror of losing an essential piece of software and having no good options. I've been there before. __________________ to live and die in LA

06-09-2008, 10:26 AM	#4
elSicomoro Person who doesn't update the user title Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 12,486	OK dar, help the retard here...disk images?

06-09-2008, 08:34 PM	#7
mbpark Lecturer Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Carmel, Indiana Posts: 761	Have you installed Service Pack 3 for Office XP? Dell shipped backup CDs of Office XP (my mother has OXP Small Business) around that time. If not, there's about a 4 GB partition used for recovery that probably has it. However, Office XP is best left alone to rot. OpenOffice is light years ahead of it, and Office XP has nasty installer problems. I actually leave the CD in her CD-ROM drive so that when Automatic Updates runs, it will kick in and install the patches without prompting for it. Do yourself a favor and just use OpenOffice. It won't crap on you. Microsoft Office XP is a product best left forgotten.

06-12-2008, 11:21 PM	#8
Elspode When Do I Get Virtual Unreality? Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Raytown, Missouri Posts: 12,719	MS Office is hosed right out of the box. I'm a Wordperfect guy myself. __________________ "To those of you who are wearing ties, I think my dad would appreciate it if you took them off." - Robert Moog

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