Maurice said:
A friend purchased a copy of Microsoft Office97 Pro SR1 at a garage sale
for 10 cents complete with product number, and Cd key in original case.
It looks genuine to me.However it is scratched (too deeply to polish out
) so I used the freeware "CD Check" program to recover all the files.
All the files have been recovered except the ones in the following folders.
F:\office\WMS\win95\
F:\office\WMS\ WINNT\
Most of them are DLL files.
I telephoned Microsoft here in Australia and they said that Office 97 is
no longer supported and therefore a replacement Cd would not be
provided. Their solution was to upfrade to the latest version for $649.
Does anyone know where I mighr obtain these files.
Maurice Helwig
Maurice,
My experience is that Microsoft uses advanced methods to copy-protect
their products. In essence, all copy protection schemes use "illegal"
techniques, and MS is no exception -- in fact, you can expect them to be
a leader in especially unbeatable copy protection. This means that
whereas you'll likely be able to get usable file transfers using such
superb products like the free Exact Audio Copy, they won't work because
the install routines will be looking for a _physical_ key that won't be
copied precisely from the original disk.
The installation experience in a case like this is very maddening, and
undoubtedly on purpose. The drill usually goes that you go through the
entire install process step-by-step, and at the very end, the operation
hangs, churning and churning forever. The only way out is to reboot. So,
it's a waste. Variation #1 is that you get an entire successful install,
and then when you try to use the program, it won't work.
You've got two excellent alternatives:
1. Buy a new copy of Office 97 on the "underground" software market.
There's probably a nice hobbyist shop someplace in Australia that'll
sell you a brand new uninstalled copy for a pittance. Just network
around a bit and I'm sure that you'll come up with a nice, usable copy.
Not 10 cents, but maybe 30 cents.
2. As the other poster said, spring for a copy of Open Office. It's
really afforedable at a cost of $00.00. And being open-sourced by a
worldwide community, unlike Big Brother's products, this one is really
well maintained.
Now, for the downside:
I'm still using a Windows 9x system, and I'm also using Open Office
(v1.0). I've used Word and Excel on the job, so I've got good
comparisons. It's a good job, a really good job. But it's still a bit
rough around the edges -- klutzy is the word I'd apply. The outlining
function doesn't work. And there's one mode in MS Office that's not here
(I forgot which). The compatibility looks pretty decent. I was amazed to
find that a Powerpoint presentation came right into OO lickety-split. I
wouldn't be surprised to find that the bugs that I've uncovered have all
been fixed by now.
If you're using an old system, let's say, Windows 95 with a slow
processor, you may find that Open Office is just too humungous to work
effectively on your box. In that case, I think that Option #1 will be
superb for you.
Let us know how you made out.
Richard
Btw, I think