Vista, and Office XP on slave drive

[Nancy]

The motherboard on my old computer died. Hard drive was still OK, though.
Have put it in an external HD enclosure and hooked it up to the new Gateway -
running Vista. I don't have the disks for Office XP, it came pre-installed
and I purchased it, but no longer have the product key. I do NOT want to
upgrade to Office 2007, I want to use the Office XP I paid for, and was happy
using. I can't transfer programs using WET or WETC - at least, I haven't
been able to figure out how to do it, with both drives connected to the same
computer. How can I configure Vista to run my the copy of Office XP
currently installed on my old HD?

 

[Mick Murphy]

You can not transfer Programs to another Hard Drive, even with Windows Easy
Transfer.
They have to be re-installed.

 

[Nancy]

I don't want to transfer it to another hard drive, I want to use it on the
hard drive it's currently installed on. I took the hard drive out of the
computer with the dead motherboard (computer was running WindowsXP), and have
it installed in an external hard drive enclosure and connected to my new
computer (running Vista). I just want to use the program where it's
currently installed. When I try to open Word from its location on the old
hard drive, I get an error message saying "The operating system is not
presently configured to run this application." How do I configure the
operating system (Vista) to run the application (Word from OfficeXP, on the
old hard drive)?

 

[Gordon]

I don't want to transfer it to another hard drive, I want to use it on the
hard drive it's currently installed on. I took the hard drive out of the
computer with the dead motherboard (computer was running WindowsXP), and
have
it installed in an external hard drive enclosure and connected to my new
computer (running Vista). I just want to use the program where it's
currently installed. When I try to open Word from its location on the old
hard drive, I get an error message saying "The operating system is not
presently configured to run this application." How do I configure the
operating system (Vista) to run the application (Word from OfficeXP, on
the
old hard drive)?

Unfortunately you can't do what you want. Firstly, you can't run an Office
application from an external HDD, it MUST be installed on the internal HDD,
and secondly, and more importantly, it would appear that what you purchased
(if it came pre-installed as I understand it) is an OEM version of Office.
You cannot legally transfer an OEM version to another computer in any way or
form.
Sorry, you'll have to either buy another copy, or consider the free Open
Office (which IMHO) is more than equal to Office XP anyway. (Apart from
Outlook, as Open Office does not have a PIM as yet)

 

[SG]

Nancy,

Sorry to say but there is no way to accomplish what you are wanting to do.
Their are hundreds of Registry entries and files installed on your C drive
when you install Office and now that drive is something else when you tried
opening Word or any other Office program their are no paths or dependencies
files nor nothing else to start them.

--
All the best,
SG

Is your computer system ready for Vista?
https://winqual.microsoft.com/hcl/

 

[Gordon]

Nancy,

Sorry to say but there is no way to accomplish what you are wanting to do.
Their are hundreds of Registry entries and files installed on your C drive
when you install Office

Plus the fact that the OP has an OEM version - so it couldn't be transferred
anyway....

 

[Nancy]

Thanks. Between the last time I posted and now, I'd kind of figured that was
the case so I downloaded Open Office and have already started using it. I'm
sure as heck not purchasing yet another version of Office. (I stopped using
Outlook years ago, gmail suits my needs and I prefer web-based e-mail anyway.)


Thanks for your help.

 

[Mick Murphy]

I told you it had to be re-installed!

 

[SG]

Sadly but true and IMO something needs to be done about these OEM versions
of any software to make it CLEAR to the buyer of what they are getting when
purchased. I don't feel it takes a 50 page EULA to explain. It doesn't take
a lawyer to put on a box, a web page or whatever something as simple as
WARNING this is a OEM Version and a few lines explaining what that means
just as you explained and many others in these groups over the years. It is
the responsibility of the user to read the EULA, but at the same time MS
knows it's the nature of the beast to simply click OK and move on.


--
All the best,
SG

Is your computer system ready for Vista?
https://winqual.microsoft.com/hcl/

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

Sadly but true and IMO something needs to be done about these OEM versions
of any software to make it CLEAR to the buyer of what they are getting
when purchased. I don't feel it takes a 50 page EULA to explain. It
doesn't take a lawyer to put on a box, a web page or whatever something as
simple as WARNING this is a OEM Version and a few lines explaining what
that means just as you explained and many others in these groups over the
years. It is the responsibility of the user to read the EULA, but at the
same time MS knows it's the nature of the beast to simply click OK and
move on.


--
All the best,
SG

Is your computer system ready for Vista?
https://winqual.microsoft.com/hcl/

The OEM EULA does not exist for the benefit of the end user. The rules apply
to the manufacturer/vendor. It is the responsibility of the computer
manufacturer/vendor, but they shuffle responsibility onto the retail store,
who in turn are not interested in having to say anything which may be
perceived as negative to the victim looking to buy a computer..

--
Mike Hall - MVP
How to construct a good post..
http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm
How to use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups..
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=newswhelp&style=toc
Mike's Window - My Blog..
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx

 

[SG]

Perceived as negative to the victim? and that's part of the problem, they
say nothing at all. The buyer goes in or orders a system and has no idea
there is a difference between Retail & OEM thus it's never questioned. I've
dealt over the years with so many people Mike that has no idea there are
many differences in computer systems, they think they are all alike. To them
a computer is a computer and to think they should know the difference
between OEM & Retail is out of the question. I say there must be in the near
future a standard set by someone to educate everyone in simple BOLD
understanding of what they are buying. Yes OEM is cheaper, but to so many
buyers out there they have no idea the real reason why and don't question
it. It's natural for everyone to look for a good deal and many see the low
cost as such. It pisses me off to see so many coming here to seek help only
to find there's nothing we can do but educate them for a future buy. I know
it's the responsibility of the computer
manufacturer/vendor, but MS indirectly should be held responsible as well.
They must change their agreements with these OEM's and make them held
accountable for their EULA agreement with the end user and make them clearly
state what the user can and cannot do.

--
All the best,
SG

Is your computer system ready for Vista?
https://winqual.microsoft.com/hcl/

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I don't want to transfer it to another hard drive, I want to use it on the
hard drive it's currently installed on. I took the hard drive out of the
computer with the dead motherboard (computer was running WindowsXP), and have
it installed in an external hard drive enclosure and connected to my new
computer (running Vista). I just want to use the program where it's
currently installed.

The only way to use a program from where it's currently installed is
to boot from the drive that it's installed on.

When I try to open Word from its location on the old
hard drive, I get an error message saying "The operating system is not
presently configured to run this application."

Exactly.


How do I configure the
operating system (Vista) to run the application (Word from OfficeXP, on the
old hard drive)?

You can't. You would need to install that old hard drive as the boot
drive in some computer. You'd then have to do a repair installation of
its version of Windows. That would *probably* work, but it might not.