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    I've apparently purchased an illegal copy of Office Professional 2003.  My PC came with a legitimate copy of Office Professional 2002.  I want to get legal with 2003.  My questions are:
    1. Can I purchase and install an "upgrade" edition?  Amazon.com is advertising a "Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003 Upgrade [OLD VERSION]" FOR $155.28.
    2. Do I need to reinstall the OEM Office 2002 before I install the upgrade?
    3. Is it reasonable to expect that, since the source is Amazon.com, this is a legal version?
    4. Does "Old Version" mean anything other than it's not Office 2007?
    5. Will my illegal copy of Office 2003 cause any problems after I uninstall it and install a legal version?

    I know that's a lot of questions, but I'll appreciate any help or guidance.
    Thanks,
    Tom

    Saturday, October 10, 2009 3:04 PM

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    Hello tgrillot,

    Don't worry, we don't charge by the question :-)

    Before you purchase a copy of Office to replace the nongenuine one, please read the FAQ to see if you qualify for the discounted or complimentary Office Genuine Offer:  http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/downloads/FAQ.aspx?displaylang=en#ID0EKNAC

    If you think you'd want to participate in it, you would initiate your participation from within the Office Genuine Advantage Notification screens that you are seeing on your computer (assuming you have the latest OGA Update installed).

    1.  Yes, you can upgrade Office XP Pro to Office 2003 Pro with an Office 2003 retail upgrade.

    2.  Not necessarily.  When the 2003 Office does not find an installed program to upgrade, it will ask you where it is.  At that point you remove the Office 2003 CD, insert the Office XP CD and tell the Office 2003 installer to find it on the CD.  The 2003 installer sees it, then you put the Office 2003 CD back in and resume 2003 setup.

    3.  Purchases on Amazon can come from the Amazon company itself or third party sellers.  I would feel comfortable if I were buying from the Amazon company itself.  Feel free to post a link.

    4.  Have no idea what "Old Version" would mean in the context of Office 2003.  I don't think the Amazon company would list it as such, so refer to #3.

    5.  Run the Office 2003 "Save My Settings" Wizard http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/826809.  Uninstall the nongenuine Office 2003 from Add Or Remove Programs (XP) or from Programs (Vista).  Restart the computer twice.  Then install the new Office 2003.  If an upgrade, see #2 above.  Once installation is complete, restart, then visit www.microsoft.com/genuine and click Validate Office to clear the OGA Notifier cache and to be sure your new Office validates.  Next, bring your settings back into Office with the settings wizard.  Finally, visit Microsoft Updates to get all the Office 2003 Service Packs and updates.
    For great advice on all topics XP, visit http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp
    Saturday, October 10, 2009 4:06 PM

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    Hello tgrillot,

    Don't worry, we don't charge by the question :-)

    Before you purchase a copy of Office to replace the nongenuine one, please read the FAQ to see if you qualify for the discounted or complimentary Office Genuine Offer:  http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/downloads/FAQ.aspx?displaylang=en#ID0EKNAC

    If you think you'd want to participate in it, you would initiate your participation from within the Office Genuine Advantage Notification screens that you are seeing on your computer (assuming you have the latest OGA Update installed).

    1.  Yes, you can upgrade Office XP Pro to Office 2003 Pro with an Office 2003 retail upgrade.

    2.  Not necessarily.  When the 2003 Office does not find an installed program to upgrade, it will ask you where it is.  At that point you remove the Office 2003 CD, insert the Office XP CD and tell the Office 2003 installer to find it on the CD.  The 2003 installer sees it, then you put the Office 2003 CD back in and resume 2003 setup.

    3.  Purchases on Amazon can come from the Amazon company itself or third party sellers.  I would feel comfortable if I were buying from the Amazon company itself.  Feel free to post a link.

    4.  Have no idea what "Old Version" would mean in the context of Office 2003.  I don't think the Amazon company would list it as such, so refer to #3.

    5.  Run the Office 2003 "Save My Settings" Wizard http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/826809.  Uninstall the nongenuine Office 2003 from Add Or Remove Programs (XP) or from Programs (Vista).  Restart the computer twice.  Then install the new Office 2003.  If an upgrade, see #2 above.  Once installation is complete, restart, then visit www.microsoft.com/genuine and click Validate Office to clear the OGA Notifier cache and to be sure your new Office validates.  Next, bring your settings back into Office with the settings wizard.  Finally, visit Microsoft Updates to get all the Office 2003 Service Packs and updates.
    For great advice on all topics XP, visit http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp
    Saturday, October 10, 2009 4:06 PM
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    Wow, that was a great response, and in only about an hour.

    I've already checked out the complementary offer and I don't think I qualify.
    The product is "Sold by Market Warehouse and Fulfilled by Amazon."  Anybody know anything about Market Warehouse?  They seem to have a great rating on Amazon's link to their Storefront site.

    Thanks again.
    Tom
    Saturday, October 10, 2009 4:35 PM
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    Well, I've finally found some time to do this reinstall, but when I try to uninstall Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003 with the Add/Remove programs tool I get the following message:

    "The installation source for the product is not available.  Verify that the source exists and that you can access it."

    There's only an OK button and no option to browse for it.  The install package came on 3 discs and I've tried with all of them in my CD drives and still get the same result.  Any ideas?

    Thanks again,

    Tom

    Friday, November 27, 2009 5:26 PM
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    Hello tgrillot,

    This should help out:

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932857

    For great advice on all topics XP, visit http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp
    Friday, November 27, 2009 5:39 PM