Scared to open Word 2010

bonitakale · Apr 22, 2011

Okay, I have Word 2000. I don't know where I got it, and it may not be fully legit.

I just bought Word 2010.

If I install 2010, is it going to try to delete the older program? I want to have both, and be able to use whichever is more useful to edit a given manuscript.

As I see it, there are two possible issues: the age of the older program and its legitimacy, either one of which might trigger unfortunate effects in the new program. I'd rather return 2010 unopened than lose 2000.

alleycat · Apr 22, 2011

It SHOULD give you the option to preserve old versions with the Customize installation option (rather than the Upgrade option).

I THINK it would be safe to start the installation, and see if this is true, but I can't guarantee it since I haven't run this particular installation.

You might want to create a restore point before beginning.

scarletpeaches · Apr 22, 2011

Whenever I've installed a later version of Word, it's superseded the old one.

alleycat · Apr 22, 2011

scarletpeaches said:
Whenever I've installed a later version of Word, it's superseded the old one.

But did you select Customize, or use the default Upgrade option when you installed it?

scarletpeaches · Apr 22, 2011

God, I honestly can't remember. I had 97 on my previous laptop and upgraded to 2000 but that was around seven years ago. Then the laptop blew up (nothing to do with Word; the motherboard was fried) and I got this one.

alleycat · Apr 22, 2011

scarletpeaches said:
God, I honestly can't remember. I had 97 on my previous laptop and upgraded to 2000 but that was around seven years ago. Then the laptop blew up (nothing to do with Word; the motherboard was fried) and I got this one.

I suspect you used Upgrade, which would be typical; most of the time that's what we would want to do.

alleycat · Apr 22, 2011

By the way, you might want to consider getting rid of the older software at some point (when you're fully up to speed on the new version) if it's not a legal copy. Having pirated software can cause you problems later on. For example, some online tech forums will politely decline to help you if you've got cracked software on your computer. There could also be problems with updates from Microsoft (who knows when there is pirated MS software on your computer).

Torgo · Apr 22, 2011

Don't think MS is in the business of punishing people who upgrade to a paid edition from a pirate edition even if it is really obvious. I had a copy of Word 2003 of hazy provenance and it upgraded to iron clad legit 2010 with no issues.

alleycat · Apr 22, 2011

Torgo said:
Don't think MS is in the business of punishing people who upgrade to a paid edition from a pirate edition even if it is really obvious. I had a copy of Word 2003 of hazy provenance and it upgraded to iron clad legit 2010 with no issues.

No, they don't' go after anyone in that way, and they still update pirated versions of their software for security reasons (or they used to). I don't think there would be a problem loading the new version even if someone had a bootleg older version on their computer.

Williebee · Apr 22, 2011

Don't think MS is in the business of punishing people who upgrade to a paid edition from a pirate edition even if it is really obvious. I had a copy of Word 2003 of hazy provenance and it upgraded to iron clad legit 2010 with no issues.

Much past experience has shown this to be true, for me. However, if you do a custom install and run both versions, the new version, and follow on updates, will somewhere down the line involve the "validation" step.

That might well get your O2K version locked, or even your system locked until the computer passes validation.

I've actually only had that happen at the operating system level. Haven't had occasion to test this against the application (Office) level.

Jamesaritchie · Apr 22, 2011

You do have the option of keeping both on your computer, but doing so will give you fits, and it simply is not worth the effort. Validation is not the problem. I installed over a supposedly invalid copy of 2000, and there was no validation of the 2000 program, it's just too old, but trust me on this, the two programs do not work well together in any way, and one tends to shut down the other each time you open a program.

But from my experience, Word 2000 is outdated in every possible way, and there's nothing in 2000 that works better than 2010.

2000 has all sorts of problems and bugs that have long since been fixed in newer versions, and even Word XP was infinitely superior. So is 2010, though you will have to learn a new interface.

This is remarkably easy, however, if you go to the MS website and spend a few minutes running thorugh the tutorials there.

kwils · Apr 22, 2011

bonitakale said:
I want to have both, and be able to use whichever is more useful to edit a given manuscript.

Do you use any custom macros? Microsoft made some changes to VBA between Office 2000 and 2010, so you may have some trouble there switching back and forth.

bonitakale · Apr 22, 2011

Thanks so much; I'll keep checking for other ideas. Thing is, I edit. With Word 2000, I can send back a .doc file to someone who sent me one, and I can read a .docx file with an MS addon they offered.

But with Word 2010, I don't know how well I'll be able to handle Track Changes in a .doc file.

Is there any way to put 2010 on a different part of my hard drive? Partition it, or something? (By which I mean, ask one of my sons to do it.)

By the way, for my writing, I use WordPerfect. For me, the "reveal codes" that shows all the codes (far more than MS shows), so you can manipulate and delete them even if you have no idea what happened, trumps anything Word has to offer.

grizzletoad1 · Apr 22, 2011

I'm sort of in the same boat. I have Word 2000 that I used to write my ms with as well as other things. The version came with my old software that was installed on my computer (Windows 98!) I upgraded to XP some years ago, but only had the Office 2000 suite to install, and that's what I've been using to this day. I am planning to get a new computer and put "Old Reliable" here out to pasture. Will I be able to transfer my Word 2000 documents which includes my ms to a new version of Word once I get the new computer and system? I'm assuming it will be Windows 7 with Office 2010.

PEBKAC2 · Apr 26, 2011

With Word 2010, you can open documents back to Word 97 at least (it specifically lists "Word 97-2007 Documents (*.doc)" as a filetype that's supported). You can even open the old template files, old Works files, some Word Perfect files, etc.

You might want to do a web search and see if people are complaining about any formatting problems (that would be my concern) opening the old documents in the new version.

You can have both 2010 and older versions installed at the same time, but you have to do a custom installation and put them in different directories (otherwise the new version overwrite the old one). Keep in mind that if you do that, the filetypes will be associated with the new version (so double-clicking the file or right clicking and choose open will open the documents in the new app). So, to use the older office you'd have to open the app and then choose file > open to open the files.

If you do move to 2010, but you want to continue to save in the ".doc" vs ".docx" file type, you can change it so that you save in .doc by default. You do this:
Open Word 2010
Click File and choose Save As
Click the Tools dropdown (just to left of the Save button at the bottom of the Save As dialog)
Select "Save options"
Change the "Save files in this format" dropdown to "Word 97-2003 Document (*.doc)"
Click OK

This will change it so that every time you save, it will be in the older file format. Again though, you may see some issues with formatting, as the old file format may not support some of the new 2010 functionality/features.

bonitakale · Apr 27, 2011

Thanks, Pebkac, and everyone. My guru thinks partitioning would not help, so I'll go ahead, do the custom installation, and put it in a different directory. But, after I've finished what I'm working on right now, just in case.

grizzletoad1 · Apr 27, 2011

Yeah, this scares the crap out of me. What do you mean formatting problems? If I switched to a new computer with the newer stuff in it, will my ms and any other files associated with it be messed up and scrambled to the point it might be unreadable/usable? This concern me deeply, as I really do need a new computer. This one is still very reliable, but about to celebrate its 11th birthday! Sort of like a water heater. It's just a matter of time before it blows!

JSSchley · Apr 27, 2011

The install should go just fine, and I would second Jamesartchie's comment that there is nothing in Word 2010 that isn't eons better than 2000. Nothing is going to screw up your documents, and while there might be a learning curve, I would recommend not worrying about keeping 2000 unless you have a super pressing deadline that won't accommodate a few days' frustration of getting used to the new interface.

After helping my office migrate from 2003 to 2007 and now getting my parents on board with the move from 03 to 2010, I've gotten good at helping folks make the move, and I'd be happy to answer questions if you run into any. (Not an expert by any means, just a digital-native generation gal.

)

I've found this tool incredibly helpful: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/w...2007-command-reference-guide-HA010074432.aspx It gives you the 2000/2003 menu style and you navigate to the command the way you're used to, then the interface changes and it shows you the mouse sequence for how to do the same thing using the new menus.

Jamesaritchie · Apr 28, 2011

bonitakale said:
Thanks so much; I'll keep checking for other ideas. Thing is, I edit. With Word 2000, I can send back a .doc file to someone who sent me one, and I can read a .docx file with an MS addon they offered.

But with Word 2010, I don't know how well I'll be able to handle Track Changes in a .doc file.

Is there any way to put 2010 on a different part of my hard drive? Partition it, or something? (By which I mean, ask one of my sons to do it.)

By the way, for my writing, I use WordPerfect. For me, the "reveal codes" that shows all the codes (far more than MS shows), so you can manipulate and delete them even if you have no idea what happened, trumps anything Word has to offer.

Word 2010 will open any file that any version of Word created, no matter how old. Track Changes works beautifully with 2010, whether with a .doc file, or any other.

Word 2010 also has a much better "reveal code" feature than previous versions of Word, though still not quite as good as WordPerfect. But for everything else, I believe Word 2010 is much better than WordPerfect.

But as I said, anything you can do with Word 2000, you can do better with Word 2010, plus a bunch of things Word 2000 can't begin to do. Believe me, you're trading up in every possible way. Word 2000 really is horribly outdated.

bonitakale · Apr 30, 2011

Okay; I'll bite the bullet and grip the nettle and cut the knot. Open that package!

bonitakale · May 12, 2011

Thanks to everyone. I installed 2010 in a different folder and both are running okay so far. As was suggested, 2010 wants to be used for all Word docs, but it's easy to override.

Jamesaritchie · May 12, 2011

bonitakale said:
Thanks to everyone. I installed 2010 in a different folder and both are running okay so far. As was suggested, 2010 wants to be used for all Word docs, but it's easy to override.

Just be careful using both. It can lead to real screwups.

CaroGirl · May 12, 2011

You should definitely uninstall the old program. What you're doing now is far more risky.

I'm working on MS Word 2007, but I think it's pretty close to the 2010 version. It is much better, and you can save files to any format you want, including .doc and .rtf. The Track Changes feature works very well, and resaves to .doc format just fine. Don't be afraid to uninstall the old version, but be very afraid to run both on your machine.

AmericaMadeMe · May 12, 2011

I think it's time to bite the bullet and uninstall Office 2000. It really isn't a good idea to use a program that hasn't been supported since 2009, which dates back to 1999 - older than even XP. Unsupported, outdated Microsoft programs are malware magnets. You can get away with unupdated, or unsupported Microsoft programs if you never go online, but it really isn't a good idea. Older version of Word were very unstable. It's worth remembering that current versions of Word are entirely backwards compatible with older file types. Of course, Word 2010 remains utterly inferior to LibreOffice 3.32.

Jamesaritchie · May 12, 2011

AmericaMadeMe said:
I think it's time to bite the bullet and uninstall Office 2000. It really isn't a good idea to use a program that hasn't been supported since 2009, which dates back to 1999 - older than even XP. Unsupported, outdated Microsoft programs are malware magnets. You can get away with unupdated, or unsupported Microsoft programs if you never go online, but it really isn't a good idea. Older version of Word were very unstable. It's worth remembering that current versions of Word are entirely backwards compatible with older file types. Of course, Word 2010 remains utterly inferior to LibreOffice 3.32.

Well, I was with you until the last sentence. Word 2007 is infinitely better than LibreOffice in a dozen ways, and Word 2010 is better than Word 2007.

I suspect you don't actually have either version of Word. I have, plus LibreOffice.

Scared to open Word 2010

bonitakale

alleycat

Still around

scarletpeaches

alleycat

Still around

scarletpeaches

alleycat

Still around

alleycat

Still around

Torgo

Formerly Phantom of Krankor.

alleycat

Still around

Williebee

Capeless, wingless, & yet I fly.

Jamesaritchie

kwils

bonitakale

grizzletoad1

Plodding around into things.

PEBKAC2

Will crit for food.

bonitakale

grizzletoad1

Plodding around into things.

JSSchley

Have Harp Will Travel

Jamesaritchie

bonitakale

bonitakale

Jamesaritchie

CaroGirl

Living the dream

AmericaMadeMe

Jamesaritchie