Word/Excel 2002 ‘migration’ from Windows XP (SP3) to Win 10 V21H2 (07/12/22).

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After many years of resistance (and zero consequences) I am finally making the move to a new(ish) HP Notebook and the inherent vagaries of Windows 10.

I don’t use Outlook, or any other MS products apart from Word & Excel, and this is a scenario that is not  likely to change for this 77 yo (who has been working with computers since before Microsoft was even thought of!).

On that -platform, I am now seeking advice on the line of least resistance to complete the process. Cost is not a primary issue – reluctant as I am to add to MS revenue unless absolutely necessary.

Excel is the main concern, as I have ‘developed’ numerous VB Macros over past years, to automate key functions in the weekly update of a financial & tenant property management system.  This is highly customised to handle all functions starting with the download of Bank records, and update of each of the 30 tenant’s current rent status. There are no graphs/charts or other ‘visual-effects’ involved – just solid number crunching, cell by cell, along with some End of Month worksheet creation/linking processes.

I need some practical guidance on this issue – particularly relating to Formulae & VB macro compatibility, as I wish to avoid any modification/redevelopment requirements – due to skill & time restraints. I also want a ‘stand-alone, on-site’ solution, rather than an ‘on-line’ one.

I have Office XP Professional V2002 & Office 97 Standard Edition CD’s with CD & Product Key data if that is of any relevance.

I had previously noted an advert. from pcsalesonline.com for an Office 2019 Home & Business product at $46.80 Lifetime Licence. Is this worth a try perhaps.

All responses/suggestions welcomed…don’t feel any need to hold back!

 

 

 

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They probably will migrate just fine. You may need to resave them as xlsm files.

I would also recommend doing a self signing on those macro files – Now’s the time to prep for Microsoft’s Excel macro crackdown | Computerworld as they will future proof them for security changes.

I personally do not recommend the $46 Office license.  It’s too cheap/the site it tracks back to is dodgy and while it may validate/authenticate now, my prediction is that it won’t long term.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady

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lmacri

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G2A has been mentioned by ghacks

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These vendors do placement ads, that doesn’t mean that they are vetted by the publication.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady

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You should be able to install your version of Office just fine. MS works hard at backwards compatibility. I currently use Office 2003 (not Outlook) on my WinX installation. I have also installed and used Office 2000 on WinX successfully. The reactionaries will tell you that if you use your Office you’ll be more open to security threats. That is your consideration – don’t be bullied. I have used Office 2003 for YEARS with no security penetrations. Use your AV. And enjoy many more years of using the Office you like. You paid for it – enjoy it.

P.S. – For best results, remove (Uninstall) any other (pre-loaded) Office software prior to installing your Office.

P.P.S. – You can have multiple Office versions installed – but the file extensions get messed up and there might be other negative interactions. See the Internet for information on multiple installations.

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Many thanks for the extremely practical response. I share your sentiments on “security risks” & the ribbon toolbar entirely. A couple of queries for you…

1. I only see Microsoft Edge which I’m happy to keep, plus some ‘pointers’ for Word/Excel etc that open an Office 365 free 1 mth trial and/or purchase offer – of no interest to me. Any problem with these remaining unchanged?
2. My Notebook doesn’t have CD device. I could get one if necessary, but I’m wondering if I could download V2002 Word/Excel installation files from ‘anywhere’? If not, would any of the ‘later but comparable’ versions be available for download eg 2003 – 2012?

 

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Just be aware of inadvertently accepting anything ‘free’ from MS (or for that matter, anybody else). Could be that if you click on a .doc or .docx file, instead of opening your office it opens MS’s free office. And that might mess up the file associations with your office. I’m not sure how MS has it set up – as I said, I try to avoid that stuff and have been on Office 2003 since I bought the computer. Each of my computers. First thing I do as part of setting up a new computer is to uninstall all office versions that came with the computer. I’m not going to use them so why keep them? And if you do inadvertently delete Edge or New Office, I’m sure MS will make it very easy for you to download and install them.

You can pick up a USB DVD drive or Blu-Ray drive for ~$40. It’s a good device to have. I occasionally rip a CD to add to my music collection and have even watched a movie or two from my vast DVD collection. And, you can install your software with it.

I don’t know of a URL to download previous versions of Office, but you can look. I have copied the entire DVD and put it in a directory on my HD and then installed from there. Faster and it allows easier changes to your installation. Just gotta know someone with an optical disk reader or buy one for yourself. Make sure you keep your registration number from the original distribution disk and sleeve/case.

Best wishes,

RamRod

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Excellent advice. Many thanks again. I’ve since followed your advice & purchased Microsoft Office Home & Student 2019 from the PC World site.

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John,

Since this is for personal use if you don’t want the problems with signed macros you can just create a separate directory for your macro enabled workbooks and then add that directory to the Trusted Locations. You can also add single workbooks to the Trusted Documents list in the Trust Center. As long as you don’t place any untrusted items in this list you should be good to go. Make sure your Macro Settings is set to “Disable VBA macros with notification”. By doing this you’re essentially doing what MS is going to enable by default. Unless of course, I totally misunderstand what MS is going to do.

HTH

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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RamRod

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Many thanks for the sound advice – as usual. Good to see you are still on patrol, and haven’t lost your touch. You did some Excel work for me in early 2015, along with zeddy & Maudibe.

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Hi John Fear:

I jumped straight from a Vista SP2 home computer with MS Office 2003 Pro SP3 to a new Win 10 Pro machine with MS Office 2019 Home and Business (Click-to-Run). All my old Word .doc and Excel .xls files opened normally in MS Office 2019 and were re-saved in the new .docx and .xlsx formats and I didn’t notice any issues, although it took me a while to get used to the new “ribbon” style of toolbar in MS Office 2019. I used to build MS Access .mdb databases and did quite a bit of VBA coding in those databases, and my Excel spreadsheets had lots of formulas, but I rarely use macros so I don’t know how well your macros will work in a newer version of MS Office. However, I suspect it shouldn’t take much tweaking, if any, to get your macros working as expected.

I would agree with Susan that a price of $46.80 for MS Office 2019 Home and Business “lifetime license” sounds suspicious. I live in Canada and paid $284.95 CAD (~ $220 USD) before taxes. Also note that this is not a “lifetime” license – it is a “pay once” perpetual license so there is no monthly subscription fee, but extended support for MS Office 2019 ends on 14-Oct-2025 (see https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/microsoft-office-2019). Microsoft is offering five years of “mainstream” support for Office 2021, but there are no plans to extend support beyond 13-Oct-2026, per https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/office-2021.

I purchased MS Office 2019 Home and Business because I wanted to use the same MS Outlook email client I used at work, but if I purchase another MS Office product with a perpetual license again I think I’ll get MS Office Home and Student (which includes Word, Excel and Powerpoint and is about half the price of Home and Business) and just use a good free third-party e-mail client like Thunderbird or eM Client. When I purchased my Win 10 computer I tried the built-in Mail app and didn’t like it (which is why I paid extra for MS Office 2019 Home and Business) but if I’d stuck with the Win 10 Mail app or tried a third-party email client I’m sure I could have managed without MS Outlook.
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Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v21H2 build 19044.1826 * Firefox v103.0.0 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.2205.7-1.1.19400.3 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.11.202-1.0.1716 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.6867 * MS Office 2019 Home and Business Version 2206 (Build 15330.20264 Click-to-Run)

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