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badger
02-Oct-06, 15:37
I bought a new pc last year with XP home but kept my old Office 97 and Publisher 97 as was quite happy with it. My old pc was on Windows 98. Publisher has had various problems since I loaded it but I can get round them with a bit of cussing. However I’ve just notice that Outlook (which I use for Calendar and Contacts) seems to have got its dates mixed up for next year, e.g. 25 March 2007 is shown as Sunday in the Calendar but if I switch to Events view, Easter Day is shown as Sun 30/03/1997. :eek: Does Outlook have a built in failure after 10 years? I am reluctant to abandon MS programs as I need to be compatible with other users for various committees etc. but don’t see why I should have the expense of upgrading.


Also I automatically accept all Windows downloads as assume they are recommended but two recent ones, which were quite large, changed my Outlook view and messed up my wireless adapter so I had to change USB ports. This is all making me a bit nervous. Any advice?

blueivy
02-Oct-06, 16:07
Hi badger,


I bought a new pc last year with XP home but kept my old Office 97 and Publisher 97 as was quite happy with it. My old pc was on Windows 98. Publisher has had various problems since I loaded it but I can get round them with a bit of cussing. However I’ve just notice that Outlook (which I use for Calendar and Contacts) seems to have got its dates mixed up for next year, e.g. 25 March 2007 is shown as Sunday in the Calendar but if I switch to Events view, Easter Day is shown as Sun 30/03/1997. :eek: Does Outlook have a built in failure after 10 years? I am reluctant to abandon MS programs as I need to be compatible with other users for various committees etc. but don’t see why I should have the expense of upgrading.

MS programs don't have a built in failure after 10 years. I'm not sure of the problem you're experiencing and it seems a little weird. Have you fully patched Office 97 with SR1 and SR2?

Star Office (http://www.sun.com/software/star/staroffice/index.jsp) and Open Office (http://www.openoffice.org) both support Windows Word / Excel formats (up to a point, however if you're able to read them in Office 97 you can use Star Office / Open Office). Star Office is $69.95 and Open Office is free. I've only used Open Office and it's actually pretty good!

You may also be able to get an upgrade from Office 97 to Office 2003 as if you use the following:


Microsoft Office 97
Office 97 Professional, Office 97 Small Business Edition (version 2), Office 97 Small Business Edition (version 1), Office 97 Standard
Also I automatically accept all Windows downloads as assume they are recommended but two recent ones, which were quite large, changed my Outlook view and messed up my wireless adapter so I had to change USB ports. This is all making me a bit nervous. Any advice?

Which ones haven't you accepted? I have all of the Microsoft patches that are required and have yet to find one cause any real problems for me.

badger
02-Oct-06, 19:18
Thanks blueivy - knew I could rely on you :) . Haven't patched Office with anything since I reloaded last year and didn't know they still supported it so will have a look. My son was trying to persuade me to use OpenOffice but I was reluctant to change and someone did mention Star to me recently. Will try SRs first.
I have accepted all Windows downloads - just let it do them automatically. I like XP but it definitely doesn't like my old software. I agree that date thing is weird - couldn't believe it myself but there it is and I use Calendar all the time. I have it set to show UK holidays and they were there before but can't see them now. Tried putting them in again, even though it said I already had them, but made no difference. Suppose it could be coincidence but definitely seemed to happen after those last downloads.
Don't want all these problems now - my days of fiddling with computers are over - I'm retired - I just want it to work. :cry:

blueivy
02-Oct-06, 20:55
Thanks blueivy - knew I could rely on you :) . Haven't patched Office with anything since I reloaded last year and didn't know they still supported it so will have a look. My son was trying to persuade me to use OpenOffice but I was reluctant to change and someone did mention Star to me recently. Will try SRs first.
I have accepted all Windows downloads - just let it do them automatically. I like XP but it definitely doesn't like my old software. I agree that date thing is weird - couldn't believe it myself but there it is and I use Calendar all the time. I have it set to show UK holidays and they were there before but can't see them now. Tried putting them in again, even though it said I already had them, but made no difference. Suppose it could be coincidence but definitely seemed to happen after those last downloads.
Don't want all these problems now - my days of fiddling with computers are over - I'm retired - I just want it to work. :cry:

Hi Badger,

Thanks for the compliments!

Office 97 downloads are available from Office Online (http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/officeupdate/CD010224961033.aspx)

Open Office is actually pretty good. Very big download but you can always install it and try it to see if you like it. It doesn't integrate itself like Office does so it won't change anything you have (unless you tell it to).

The dates are weird and under normal circumstances I'd say raise a support call with Microsoft, however you'll know what they'll say!

XP should have no problems with Office 97. Apply the updates and see if it fixes the problems.

badger
03-Oct-06, 12:00
Thanks for the advice. I did look at the downloads page for Office last night and decided wasn't feeling strong enough. Maybe I'll have another go today. Will also look at Open office. More I look at Calendar the more weird it gets.

blueivy
03-Oct-06, 12:33
Thanks for the advice. I did look at the downloads page for Office last night and decided wasn't feeling strong enough. Maybe I'll have another go today. Will also look at Open office. More I look at Calendar the more weird it gets.

The Service Releases for Office are quite big from what I remember but I have applied them many times and they never caused me any problems. All I would suggest is that when you install SR1, reboot and then install SR2 and reboot again. Not sure if it forces you to reboot but it doesn't do any harm! :confused

Let us know how you get on and whether it fixes your possessed PC :)

badger
11-Oct-06, 18:42
Not done yet - too busy - but I will, I will :eek:

badger
20-Oct-06, 16:53
Finally done and I survive! Thanks for help - both here and via email.

blueivy
21-Oct-06, 09:59
Finally done and I survive! Thanks for help - both here and via email.

Glad it worked out well for you and you survived!