Possible program transfer?

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Sirius - 31 Jul 2008 14:56 GMT

Hello,

My older friend is at it again, he thinks I'm some sort of a wiz who can do
pretty much anything with his pcs.
He wants me to transfer MS Word 2003 from his 5 year old pc to his new Vista
pc without the installation disk!
It came preinstalled. And he can't get used to the 2007 version.
I'd hate to disappoint him so I said I'll find out what can be done. Please
correct me if I'm wrong but I don't believe it's possible.
Of course we would take it off the old one to prevent copy violation. I
would not even know how to get started.

I guess I need to take the folder from Prog Files, then there must be some
in other ones like App data, common files, sys32
Not to mention registry keys.

It seems there is no standalone version of MS Word 2003.
Would have to buy the entire Office Suite?
On his pension he can't afford to go out and spend $300.00
He does not even need the whole suite. Just Word.
This is what he's used to. He tried Open Office.org, not the same thing.
But then again, beggars can't be choosey...

Thank you very much in advance for any suggestions.

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Pegasus (MVP) - 31 Jul 2008 15:18 GMT

> Hello,
>
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
>
> Thank you very much in advance for any suggestions.

An MS Office newsgroup would be a far better place
to ask this question but the answer will most likely be
the same: He needs a CD with MS Office on it. Copying
the relevant files would be easy but it won't give him an
operative installation of Word.

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Tom [Pepper] Willett - 31 Jul 2008 15:18 GMT

Tell your friend it can't be done. You need the installation media.

: Hello,
:
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
:
: Thank you very much in advance for any suggestions.

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Mike Hall - MVP - 31 Jul 2008 15:36 GMT

> Hello,
>
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
>
> Thank you very much in advance for any suggestions.

It is not possible. Download Open Office 2.4 from here. It is open source,
free and will open Office files..

www.openoffice.org

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Alias - 31 Jul 2008 16:03 GMT

>> Hello,
>>
[quoted text clipped - 25 lines]
>
> www.openoffice.org

Um, please note that the OP wrote, and I quote: "He tried Open Office.org".

Alias

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Thee Chicago Wolf - 31 Jul 2008 15:43 GMT

>My older friend is at it again, he thinks I'm some sort of a wiz who can do
>pretty much anything with his pcs.
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
>
>Thank you very much in advance for any suggestions.

Without the media it's a bit of a moot point but I am curious if you
could get the Product ID number and serial and see if the vendor would
be willing to give you a replacement CD. It's a longshot but maybe
armed with this info you might have a leg to stand on. I don't see why
getting a replacement CD for something you paid for would be such a
big deal.

You can get the Product ID by firing up Word, click Help, and choose
About Microsoft Word. You can get the software key using a simple
utility like KeyFinder Pro available here:
http://windows-product-key-finder-pro.snappy-download.qarchive.org/_download2.html

or something like WinkeyFinder here:
http://www.winkeyfinder.com/remository/winkeyfinder/winkeyfinder-1.72-final.php

Good luck.

- Thee Chicago Wolf

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Bob I - 31 Jul 2008 16:29 GMT

>>My older friend is at it again, he thinks I'm some sort of a wiz who can do
>>pretty much anything with his pcs.
[quoted text clipped - 37 lines]
>
> - Thee Chicago Wolf

OEM installs are non-tranferable

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Bob I - 31 Jul 2008 16:27 GMT

Two things wrong here. First Office applications won't install without
an installation disc period. And secondly the "preinstalled" Word on his
old PC is only licensed for use on that PC, it can't be transferred or
installed elsewhere legitimately. So, try e-BAY or Amazon.com for
another legal retail copy with an install CD.

> Hello,
>
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
>
> Thank you very much in advance for any suggestions.

Reply to this Message

Alias - 31 Jul 2008 16:40 GMT

> Two things wrong here. First Office applications won't install without
> an installation disc period. And secondly the "preinstalled" Word on his
> old PC is only licensed for use on that PC, it can't be transferred or
> installed elsewhere legitimately. So, try e-BAY or Amazon.com for
> another legal retail copy with an install CD.

Correction, not "can't be transferred" but "may not be transferred".

Alias

>> Hello,
>>
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
>>
>> Thank you very much in advance for any suggestions.

Reply to this Message

Lem - 31 Jul 2008 18:17 GMT

> Hello,
>
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
>
> Thank you very much in advance for any suggestions.

You could try eBay. Someone with a non-OEM version of Office 2003 may
be selling because they've moved up to 2007.

A quick search shows:

"Microsoft Office 2003 Standard Edition NEW"
http://tinyurl.com/5cwfyp
currently at $40.00, with 10 bids; closing Aug-02-08 13:36:51 PDT

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FredW - 31 Jul 2008 18:38 GMT

>It seems there is no standalone version of MS Word 2003.
>Would have to buy the entire Office Suite?
>On his pension he can't afford to go out and spend $300.00
>He does not even need the whole suite. Just Word.
>This is what he's used to. He tried Open Office.org, not the same thing.
>But then again, beggars can't be choosey...

AbiWord is a free word processing program similar to Microsoft® Word.
http://www.abisource.com/

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Fred W. (NL)

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Ken Blake, MVP - 31 Jul 2008 21:22 GMT

> Hello,
>
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> I'd hate to disappoint him so I said I'll find out what can be done. Please
> correct me if I'm wrong but I don't believe it's possible.

You've already gotten answers, but I'll my voice to the chorus. You
are not wrong. It's not possible.

It's not just Microsoft Word. Except for a very occasional exception
(usually a very small program) all programs have many entries in the
registry as well as associated files and pointers to them within the
Windows folder. All of this is lost if you move its main files to
another computer and the program won't run.

Moreover, if it came preinstalled, it's an OEM version, and the
license for an OEM versions permanently ties it to the first computer
it's installed on. So even if were technically possible, it would be a
license violation.

> It seems there is no standalone version of MS Word 2003.

That's not correct. You can buy it standalone.

> Would have to buy the entire Office Suite?

No.

> On his pension he can't afford to go out and spend $300.00
> He does not even need the whole suite. Just Word.

Does he have to have that particular version? 2003? He can buy
Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, the latest version, for
example for $84.99 from Amazon.com.

Amazon.com also has various versions of Microsoft Works Suite. Works
*Suite* (note that it must be the Suite, not regular Works) includes
Word. I see that they have Works Suite 2005 (which includes Word 2002)
for $38.99, and Works Suite 2006 (which I *think* has the 2003 version
of Word) for $39.49

I provided Amazon.com prices because that's where I happened to look,
but there are lots of other online sources with good prices. Google
for them.

He may also be able to find a good price on a used copy of Word 2003.

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Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
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