Excel version to work with latest WinXP update?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dave Peterson
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Dave Peterson

Lots of people are running xl97 with WinXP.

You may want to try reinstalling excel/office.

Or even google the exact messages you get to see if there's a solution.

I'm not sure what upgrade you did, but as a worse case scenario, you may want to
try backing it out via control panel's add/remove programs.

But I wouldn't do that until I exhausted all other avenues.
 
I've been using Excel 97 for about ten years. It does everything I need a
spreadsheet to do, and I've never felt any need to upgrade. However, the
latest automatic update to my Windows XP computer broke Excel -- when I try
to run it now I just get a message saying it's no longer supported, and I
need to upgrade. (Thanks a lot, Microsoft.)

So my question is, How recent a version do I need, to work with WinXP now? I
have no intention of springing for the newest version at retail, but I could
see what's available used on eBay -- if I knew how recent the version has to
be.

Failing that, I could get one of the OEM versions of Corel Office that are
selling cheap on eBay -- again, if I knew whether the WinXP update wouldn't
break that too. Does anyone know if the recent versions of Quattro Pro will
work with this update?

Neil
 
Dave Peterson said:
Lots of people are running xl97 with WinXP.
Click to expand...

I was too, right up until that last automatic update.
You may want to try reinstalling excel/office.

Or even google the exact messages you get to see if there's a solution.

I'm not sure what upgrade you did, but as a worse case scenario, you may
want to
try backing it out via control panel's add/remove programs.
Click to expand...

It was just one of the WinXP automatic updates that come along frequently.
This was about a week ago. None of the many others had caused any problem at
all. It doesn't appear in the Add or Remove Programs list, unless it's under
a name that doesn't mean anything to me.

Since these updates seem to be all for security purposes, I wouldn't want to
remove it anyway.

Well, I'll be dipped. I just tried it again and now Excel works perfectly
again. No error messages, everything seems to be fine. Very strange indeed,
but as long as it works I'm happy.

I probably wouldn't have tried it on this machine again if not for your
reply, so thanks!

Neil
 
Sun said:
I've been using Excel 97 for about ten years. It does everything I need a
spreadsheet to do, and I've never felt any need to upgrade. However, the
latest automatic update to my Windows XP computer broke Excel -- when I try
to run it now I just get a message saying it's no longer supported, and I
need to upgrade. (Thanks a lot, Microsoft.)

So my question is, How recent a version do I need, to work with WinXP now?
Click to expand...

Before upgrading Office, why not uninstall that latest update? Unless
it's something you critically need, I'd think that would be less
disruptive (not to say cheaper). See Windows Add/Remove Programs. If
you have trouble, you can ask over in
microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics .

There's also some possibility that something else is wrong, and
Windows updates are not the source of the problem. In that case,
you'd have the expense of upgrading Office plus the effort of
learning the new version, without fixing the trouble.

In general I'm not a big fan of automatic updating. It's convenient,
sure, but what Microsoft considers a "critical update" may actually
be critical, or it may not bring you any benefit at all. I have
Windows notify me automatically, but then I pick and choose what to
download and install.
 
Mon, 21 May 2007 00:27:29 -0400 from Neil Harrington
Since these updates seem to be all for security purposes, I wouldn't want to
remove it anyway.
Click to expand...

Some are, some aren't, and Microsoft is not always accurate in
identifying them.
 
Did you check that "Show Updates" box at the top of the Add/Remove dialog?

Some aren't removable (IIRC).
 
Stan said:
Before upgrading Office, why not uninstall that latest update? Unless
it's something you critically need, I'd think that would be less
disruptive (not to say cheaper). See Windows Add/Remove Programs. If
you have trouble, you can ask over in
microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics .

There's also some possibility that something else is wrong, and
Windows updates are not the source of the problem. In that case,
you'd have the expense of upgrading Office plus the effort of
learning the new version, without fixing the trouble.

In general I'm not a big fan of automatic updating. It's convenient,
sure, but what Microsoft considers a "critical update" may actually
be critical, or it may not bring you any benefit at all. I have
Windows notify me automatically, but then I pick and choose what to
download and install.
Click to expand...
I'd agree with the effort to uninstall the update, if you know the
culprit. Quattro Pro 11 works for me with XP Home SP2 and *most* of the
MS updates.

Bill
 
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