[eb]

Hi! I bought a laptop with Windows XP on it, but being between jobs, I
couldn't afford to buy MS Office *too*, although I like it a lot -- I settled
for Open Office instead. MS Word has some advantages and I would like to use
it, so I asked a friend if she had an extra license I could use.
My friend found her old Office 97 installation media, together with the
license certificate and agreements and all that, and I was able to install it
on my machine, but my conscience does not let me use it because I understand
that this copy of 97 was intended only for use on my friend's machine, the
one she bought it on.
Part of me says "97 is so old anyway, and as soon as you are able to buy the
current version, you will. This will help you get there." Another part of
me says, "the agreement says this was just for the original machine, and
certainly at most it should be used on only one machine -- you know yours
would be at least a second copy."
I wish I could find someone in MicroSoft who would help me out, confirming
one side or the other (yes, even though I think I know which side would win),
or if possible, giving me another alternative.
I used to use Star Office and liked it very well, but it's not free anymore.
I think it was once shareware or something.

[JoAnn Paules [MVP]]

If more people felt like you did, Office might not be quite as expensive as
it is.

Is your friend still using that software?

--

JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]

~~~~~
How to ask a question
http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375




"EB" wrote in message
...
Hi! I bought a laptop with Windows XP on it, but being between jobs, I
couldn't afford to buy MS Office *too*, although I like it a lot -- I
settled
for Open Office instead. MS Word has some advantages and I would like to
use
it, so I asked a friend if she had an extra license I could use.
My friend found her old Office 97 installation media, together with the
license certificate and agreements and all that, and I was able to install
it
on my machine, but my conscience does not let me use it because I
understand
that this copy of 97 was intended only for use on my friend's machine, the
one she bought it on.
Part of me says "97 is so old anyway, and as soon as you are able to buy
the
current version, you will. This will help you get there." Another part
of
me says, "the agreement says this was just for the original machine, and
certainly at most it should be used on only one machine -- you know yours
would be at least a second copy."
I wish I could find someone in MicroSoft who would help me out, confirming
one side or the other (yes, even though I think I know which side would
win),
or if possible, giving me another alternative.
I used to use Star Office and liked it very well, but it's not free
anymore.
I think it was once shareware or something.

[eb]

Hi JoAnn,
Yes, and I think she has forgotten that it was meant for only one machine.
I'll bring that to her attention.
Can you tell me how to uninstall Word 97? Is that what I really need to do?
Can you tell me how I might get something to work with, like a beta version
of 2007 or something?
By the way, I like Publisher too! I have used it at my congregation's
office, to put the bulletins together. They have a license of course.
I wish you all the best!
Elisabeth Baker

"JoAnn Paules [MVP]" wrote:

If more people felt like you did, Office might not be quite as expensive as
it is.

Is your friend still using that software?

[JoAnn Paules [MVP]]

I personally will not recommend downloading the beta version. It is a test
version that is not supposed to be installed on production systems. If
someone wants to risk the stability of their computers, I can't stop them
but I won't be the person to tell them to do it.

You should always uninstall programs thru the Control Panel, Add/Remove
Programs. If that doesn't work, there are some other things to try but let's
be optimistic and assume that it will work.

--

JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]

~~~~~
How to ask a question
http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375




"EB" wrote in message
news

Hi JoAnn,
Yes, and I think she has forgotten that it was meant for only one machine.
I'll bring that to her attention.
Can you tell me how to uninstall Word 97? Is that what I really need to
do?
Can you tell me how I might get something to work with, like a beta
version
of 2007 or something?
By the way, I like Publisher too! I have used it at my congregation's
office, to put the bulletins together. They have a license of course.
I wish you all the best!
Elisabeth Baker

"JoAnn Paules [MVP]" wrote:

If more people felt like you did, Office might not be quite as expensive
as
it is.

Is your friend still using that software?

[eb]

Thank you, JoAnn
The Control Panel did it for me, to remove Excel 97, but I took a wrong turn
in trying to uninstall Word 97. I suppose it still isn't completely
uninstalled, but I removed files to the point that it isn't functional.
I went ahead with the 2007 Beta package, and I'm happy with it. I see that
today I cannot replace anything with ^p, or it will crash, but that's all
right -- it's good for now, and maybe I can provide some helpful comments.
Happy Wednesday coming up! Thanks again for your encouragement -- my
conscience is a lot happier now!
Elisabeth

[JoAnn Paules [MVP]]

You're very welcome. :-)

--

JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]

~~~~~
How to ask a question
http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375




"EB" wrote in message
...
Thank you, JoAnn
The Control Panel did it for me, to remove Excel 97, but I took a wrong
turn
in trying to uninstall Word 97. I suppose it still isn't completely
uninstalled, but I removed files to the point that it isn't functional.
I went ahead with the 2007 Beta package, and I'm happy with it. I see
that
today I cannot replace anything with ^p, or it will crash, but that's all
right -- it's good for now, and maybe I can provide some helpful comments.
Happy Wednesday coming up! Thanks again for your encouragement -- my
conscience is a lot happier now!
Elisabeth