My oem system came with Works 9, so I am eligible for the cheap Office Professional Upgrade. However, Works has to be on the pc in order to install Office as an upgrade. The problem is that the oem Works cd also installs an Office Trial, which does not uninstall properly, even by following the knowledge base instructions for manual uninstallation, which involves removing a bunch of .msi files and modifying the registry. (I think the problem is the 64 bit Vista.) I don't want Works or the Office Trial on there anyway. Can I install office from someone else's non-upgrade cd but put in my valid upgrade serial number instead when it prompts me for a key code, so I don't have to install works? Or, could I install the product using their key code first, but without activating it or using it, then follow the directions in 895456 to change the product key to the new, valid product key?
Here is the chart for what previous programs qualify for upgrade to the various Office 2007 suites: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/FX101754511033.aspx I read it the same way you do, that having Works 9 qualifies you to take advantage of the upgrade price for Office 2007 Professional.
When installing an upgrade license for Office 2007 to a given computer, the program to be upgraded (the qualifying product for upgrade) does not have to actually be installed on the computer. Early in Setup, you will be prompted with a "locate your earlier Office" dialog. At that point, insert the Works 9 CD into your optical drive and have Setup browse to that drive's drive letter. Setup will see the Works 9 CD, and will then display the Software Licensing Terms for Office 2007. After accepting the terms, pop the Works CD out of the optical drive, put the Offfice 2007 Upgrade disc into the drive, and continue with Setup.For great advice on all topics XP, visit http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp
Marked as answer byParrotSlaveFriday, October 9, 2009 2:57 AM
Unmarked as answer byParrotSlaveFriday, October 9, 2009 10:00 PM
Marked as answer byParrotSlaveFriday, October 9, 2009 10:21 PM
Here is the chart for what previous programs qualify for upgrade to the various Office 2007 suites: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/FX101754511033.aspx I read it the same way you do, that having Works 9 qualifies you to take advantage of the upgrade price for Office 2007 Professional.
When installing an upgrade license for Office 2007 to a given computer, the program to be upgraded (the qualifying product for upgrade) does not have to actually be installed on the computer. Early in Setup, you will be prompted with a "locate your earlier Office" dialog. At that point, insert the Works 9 CD into your optical drive and have Setup browse to that drive's drive letter. Setup will see the Works 9 CD, and will then display the Software Licensing Terms for Office 2007. After accepting the terms, pop the Works CD out of the optical drive, put the Offfice 2007 Upgrade disc into the drive, and continue with Setup.For great advice on all topics XP, visit http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp
Marked as answer byParrotSlaveFriday, October 9, 2009 2:57 AM
Unmarked as answer byParrotSlaveFriday, October 9, 2009 10:00 PM
Marked as answer byParrotSlaveFriday, October 9, 2009 10:21 PM
Thanks. That will make it easier. I did a lot of reading here there and yon to come to the conclusion that it had to be on the hard drive, which didn't make sense, but... I've never used any kind of upgrade cd before or I guess I would have known. Maybe you can answer another question. I am going to get a Vista Ultimate upgrade disk also, so I can run Virtual PC and because I need an actual vista disk to get some recovery options so maybe I can repair autochk.exe, which SFC says is corrupted in both places, although if I upgrade immediately I hope that would fix the corrupted file problem. If I act quickly I can get a coupon for Windows 7 (although I plan to wait until SP1 to actually try Windows 7 out.) Would I have to use the Windows 7 upgrade on this particular pc? Do you know if the coupon is tied to a particular product key, or could I use it on a different Vista machine? I have looked and looked on MS's site to try and answer that question. By the way, I mailed that counterfeit Office back to the eBay seller instead of to Microsoft, although I did file a piracy report.
Proposed as answer byTechelasWednesday, December 30, 2009 8:24 AM
Edited byParrotSlaveSunday, January 3, 2010 7:15 PMclarification
That was 2 years ago, but more than one person had the issue of not being able to get the installer to recognize Works, either preinstalled or as a disc in the cd drive. That thread concluded that "WE contacted microsoft yesterday about this, and it is a known issue without a solution at present. Microsoft gave us a full product licence [sic] key to use with a downloaded version of Office 2007 as a workaround." Since this problem occurred before either service pack was issued, a logical person might assume that, if that forum was correct and there was an issue known to Microsoft, that issue would have been resolved in at least one of the service packs, so that it would be prudent to make sure that the upgrade cd is sp1 and not the original release.
I am having second thoughts anyway: it takes so long for me to find some of the simplest setting in 2007 that I might go ahead and get the 2003 version for this pc. I could suffer with Open Office, but I don't like their version of Excel, and I want Access, which I might use for some genealogical stuff.
I stumbled across this MS KB that I thought you would find of interest: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943290 "Error message when you try to upgrade Works 9 or Works SE 9 to an upgrade version of a 2007 Office suite"For great advice on all topics XP, visit http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp
I finally tried to install Office Pro 2007, but when I insert the oem Works cd and select "WORKS9", setup tells me, "The path you have chosen does not point at a qualifying upgradable product. Click 'Retry' to try again...." The KB article acknowledges the problem, but the solution is a patch for a Works which is already installed. I tried pointing setup to each of the folders on the cd, thinking that might help, but setup didn't like any of them either. As I mentioned, I don't want to actually install Works because it installs the Office Trial, which I can't get rid of.
I thought that perhaps I could get support via Microsoft's web site since I have a real product, not an oem version, but in order to get support, even for installation issues, you have to input a "product identification number," so it can decide whether you are eligible for free support or not, but, in order to obtain that, you have to have the product already installed--go figure out what genius set that up. I tried inputting each of the different numbers on the sticker, even the upc code, but it didn't like them either. Our time on planet earth is too limited to have to spend so much of it trying to get Microsoft products to work. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks....
Added later: I gave up and physically installed Works, so now I have a product identification number, which will give me free support from Microsoft. I am planning to install Vista Ultimate 64-bit, I think, which I have an upgrade version of, purchased directly from Microsoft, and I want to be able to put Office on that system without having to install Works, so I am still hoping for some kind of fix for when I do that, or even for when and if I have to use Fujitsu's restore cd again.
On a separate note, I see a locked [unfortunately] older thread on upgrade Hades [this site allowed the actual word in that thread to be used in the title of the thread, but I am having to use a euphemism here, because when I type the actual word, it morphs into ____] and I am hoping to avoid that, and I am wondering if there is a simple protocol for going from a Fujitsu oem Vista Home Premium 64-bit to Vista Ultimate 64-bit without having to spend a year or two trying to get it to work. I think that I should install without putting in a product key, and tell setup not to activate Windows, then tell it to do a custom install, then run the Vista dvd again, but within Vista. My upgrade Vista is recent so it has sp1 on it. Will this method work, or will I have some kind of Windows nightmare that will result in me getting frustrated and having to restore one of my system images? Does anybody know???
Edited byParrotSlaveMonday, December 28, 2009 2:09 AMclarification
Just checking in to see how you did with MS support helping with the issue of Works not being recognized as a valid upgradeable prodict to Office 2007.
And I agree, it's defintiely a Catch-22 situation with the Product ID number for installation issues!!!
Regarding your question on upgrading VHP to VU, there's a lot of good info at the Microsoft Answers forum for Vista here: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/default.aspx Check the Install, Uprade and Activate forum.For great advice on all topics XP, visit http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp
I would be very surprised if your suggestion did indeed work. If so, that would mean it is possible to activate a full retail license (which is what the downloaded Trials are) of Office with an upgrade license product key. My understanding is that cannot be done.For great advice on all topics XP, visit http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp
In office 2003 and prior it did not work. If you have Office 2003 upgrade you would need a full version key to upgrade or a CD. But in Office 2007 it does work. Not sure what made Microsoft make this decision but it does.
I am unbelievably happy with Microsoft (for a change!) and shocked too, but it actually worked. I now have Vista Ultimate--and, shock, the upgrade installed perfectly using the workaround of installing without a key, not activating, then upgrading from within Vista--and Office installed without a hitch, and it is now activated again. Office SP1 installed without a hitch, but SP2 would not install, either from a stand-alone file or via Windows Update; KB967642 suggested putting a cd in the dvd drive if their patch 967642 did not fix the problem, which it didn't. What is curious is that during the original install on my previous version of Vista, I had to click Retry dozens of time, I think because of Vista's control of msi files, but the issue did not occur this time. However, I did not have to resort to putting a cd in the dvd drive to get the SP2 to install when I was updating Office on my previous Home Premium Vista. On the previous installation, I had to apply some updates manually instead of from Windows Update, in order to get them to install, but not on the new installation. I was even able to get Nero to install this time. I did install the basic Office before reinstalling NIS2010. (I turn my 2wire off until I get my AV & FW back on to keep from accidentally getting on the internet, so I don't do any updating at first except by using archived files.)
KB967642 states "We do not recommend that you use Method 2. On some operating systems, Method 2 allows for the drive to be accessed so that the 2007 Microsoft Office suite service pack can be installed successfully. However, the issue with the original invalid drive still exists. Additionally, this issue may recur when you apply future 2007 Office updates." However, I had no choice. I am not that concerned about always having to put a cd into the dvd drive since you always used to have to put the original Office cd in anyway whenever you did updates, so it's like a throwback. What I am wondering is, and this may be relevant to Microsoft fixing this bug, is what the difference is: no cd in drive necessary for Office from real Office dvd installed on Vista Home Premium SP2, but dvd necessary for Office from download trial version on Vista Ultimate SP2. Vista did have a few more patches than when I did it the first time also.
Norton Ghost 14 has the same update issue on some Vista systems as Office: it won't update unless there is a cd of any sort in the dvd drive: two completely different programs (Office, Ghost), same glitch, same work-around--the only thing else they have in common is--the same OS.
Edited byParrotSlaveTuesday, January 5, 2010 4:41 AMextra info
