Installation of Office 2007 (over Office 97)

[skibuz]

I have Windows XP home SP2. I currently have Office 97 Professional Edition
installed. I have the CD. I purchased and want to install Office 2007. Do I
need to uninstall Office 97 before installing Office 2007? I went to
add/remove programs and tried to uninstall Office 97. It instructed me to
insert my CD ~ which I did. But it appears to attempt to install the Office
97 again.
Thanks!

 

[Peter Foldes]

Did you purchase a full Retail version of Office 2007 or was it a Upgrade edition. If it was a full retail version and not an Update version then I would recommend that you uninstall the 97 version and install the 2007 version alone.

As far as uninstalling Off97 as you describe in Add\Remove it will remove the97 version by inserting the 97 version of the CD. It might seem that it is trying to install but it is actually uninstalling it.

 

[skibuz]

Yes, I purchased a full Retail version of Office 2007. Thank you for your
advice. I will continue with the add/remove programs attempt to uninstall the
Office 97 version. I might note that at this link
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;158658 it
provides detailed information as to how to completely remove Office 97. It
appears to involve editing some registry entries which I find a little
intimidating. Do you think if I am able to complete the uninstall process via
the add/remove programs, I would not need to complete the instructions in the
link above?
Thank you for your help and advice!

 

[skibuz]

Peter,
I obviously did something wrong in my attempt to add/remove Office 97. I
went through what appeared to be the installation process and it appeared to
try to reinstall the program. It got an error at the end of the process and
said the installation did not complete.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thank you!

 

[jsloan1223]

Try shutting the computer down. Check add/remove programs and see if office
97 is still there. if so, try to remove it again. Wait wait wait until it's
done. Give it the cd's if it needs them. Reboot again, and then try to
install the new version of office.

Jocelyn

 

[skibuz]

Jocelyn,
I rebooted. Office 97 was still there. I went through the add/remove
programs to remove Office 97 again. It prompted me to insert the CD. I
followed the instructions, selecting Custom and I selected All. I don't see
any options to uninstall and it appears to attempt to reinstall the program.
At the very end of the process, I get the error:
Htmlmarq.ocx was unable to register itself in the system registry. Only
option was to click OK. Then it says the Office 97 installation was not
completed successfully. I rebooted and the Office 97 still appears in the
add/remove programs.
Any thoughts? This is really frustrating!
Thanks!

 

[jsloan1223]

There's a registry hack available at
http://forum.theispguide.com/isp-ftopic2753.html BUT!!! If you're not
comfortable editing the registry, don't do it! If you make an error, it
might refuse to boot and need everything reinstalled.

Since you're trying to overwrite office 97 anyway, if you're not brave
enough to try the registry edit, then just see if you can install the new
office over the top. You might have to experiment with the upgrade/fresh
install thing. If it works, great, you're done. If not, then maybe try
editing the registry (or talk someone into helping you).

Good luck!
Jocelyn

 

[skibuz]

Jocelyn,
I tried again to go through add/remove programs to try again. I inserted the
CD when prompted, selected Custom again. This time I "unchecked" each item
and continued. It went through the installation process. This time it said
Microsoft Office 97 setup successfully completed. I rebooted and it still
appears in my add/remove programs.
Why is this so difficult?? I'm stumped!

 

[jsloan1223]

The problem is that office 97 is apparently not "designed" to work on windows
XP sp2. If you do a web search for the error you received, you find that
lots of people had the same problem when trying to INSTALL office 97 on their
new machine.

So be glad you have a new version!
The install of the new version should be dramatically easier than the
uninstall of office 97. Be sure to reboot in between (just in case). Have a
great weekend!

Jocelyn

:

 

[skibuz]

Jocelyn,
When I installed the Office 97 it was before I upgraded to SP2 so there was
no problem. Are you suggesting that I go ahead and try to install my Office
2007 without first uninstalling the 97 version? If so, I will proceed that
direction.
Thanks!

 

[jsloan1223]

actually your previous post sounded like you have already removed office 97.
so I would try rebooting the machine, ifyou haven't already, and then check
add/remove programs. I bet it's not there anymore. Then try installing the
2007. Worst it does is give you a different error -- one that the microsoft
people will address in their knowledgebase articles. I do think you'll be
just fine. the ms folks sometimes forget about backwards compatibility, but
usually they are fine with installing new versions of software alongside new
versions of windows.

Jocelyn

 

[skibuz]

Jocelyn,
I have spent the majority of the day trying (in vain) to uninstall Office
97. I have tried every alternative that I can find and it remains in my
add/remove programs. I will proceed to attempt to install my Office 2007 over
the Office 97 unless someone advises me that I should NOT do that.
Wish me luck ~ I'll let you know if it works!
Thanks for your help!

 

[Peter Foldes]

I do not remember for sure it has been a long time but if you put in the Off 97 install CD and when it starts it gives you the option of uninstalling and repairing OFF97. This is without using the Add Remove . I would 1st do the repair option and then the uninstall option after rebooting from repair.

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

Have you tried this option?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/176823/en-us

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, skibuz asked:

| Jocelyn,
| I have spent the majority of the day trying (in vain) to uninstall
| Office
| 97. I have tried every alternative that I can find and it remains in
| my add/remove programs. I will proceed to attempt to install my
| Office 2007 over the Office 97 unless someone advises me that I
| should NOT do that.
| Wish me luck ~ I'll let you know if it works!
| Thanks for your help!
|
| "jsloan1223" wrote:
|
|| actually your previous post sounded like you have already removed
|| office 97. so I would try rebooting the machine, ifyou haven't
|| already, and then check add/remove programs. I bet it's not there
|| anymore. Then try installing the 2007. Worst it does is give you a
|| different error -- one that the microsoft people will address in
|| their knowledgebase articles. I do think you'll be just fine. the
|| ms folks sometimes forget about backwards compatibility, but usually
|| they are fine with installing new versions of software alongside new
|| versions of windows.
||
|| Jocelyn
||
|| "skibuz" wrote:
||
||| Jocelyn,
||| When I installed the Office 97 it was before I upgraded to SP2 so
||| there was no problem. Are you suggesting that I go ahead and try to
||| install my Office 2007 without first uninstalling the 97 version?
||| If so, I will proceed that direction.
||| Thanks!
|||
||| "jsloan1223" wrote:
|||
|||| The problem is that office 97 is apparently not "designed" to work
|||| on windows XP sp2. If you do a web search for the error you
|||| received, you find that lots of people had the same problem when
|||| trying to INSTALL office 97 on their new machine.
||||
|||| So be glad you have a new version!
|||| The install of the new version should be dramatically easier than
|||| the uninstall of office 97. Be sure to reboot in between (just in
|||| case). Have a great weekend!
||||
|||| Jocelyn
||||
|||| "skibuz" wrote:

 

[skibuz]

Milly,
Thank you for your suggestion. I found this link but is specifically stated
for use with Office 97 Standard and my version is Office 97 Professional. It
also states that it is to be used in conjuction with Windows NT 4.0, Windows
95 or Windows 98.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;158658#appliesto

The link you provided states that is is designed to be run AFTER you run the
Setup program for Office and click the Remove All to remove Office. I
haven't been able to be successful in getting the thing removed! Also, it
states to be used with Office 97 Standard Edition ~ but (if I could get the
Office 97 program removed), I could give it a try. I don't know what
differences there are between Office 97 Standard and Office 97
Professional......

I appreciate your suggestion!

I might try one more time to do an "Uninstall" of the Office 97 before
proceeding.
Martha

Have you tried this option?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/176823/en-us

--Â
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, skibuz asked:

| Jocelyn,
| I have spent the majority of the day trying (in vain) to uninstall
| Office
| 97. I have tried every alternative that I can find and it remains in
| my add/remove programs. I will proceed to attempt to install my
| Office 2007 over the Office 97 unless someone advises me that I
| should NOT do that.
| Wish me luck ~ I'll let you know if it works!
| Thanks for your help!
|
| "jsloan1223" wrote:
|
|| actually your previous post sounded like you have already removed
|| office 97. so I would try rebooting the machine, ifyou haven't
|| already, and then check add/remove programs. I bet it's not there
|| anymore. Then try installing the 2007. Worst it does is give you a
|| different error -- one that the microsoft people will address in
|| their knowledgebase articles. I do think you'll be just fine. the
|| ms folks sometimes forget about backwards compatibility, but usually
|| they are fine with installing new versions of software alongside new
|| versions of windows.
||
|| Jocelyn
||
|| "skibuz" wrote:
||
||| Jocelyn,
||| When I installed the Office 97 it was before I upgraded to SP2 so
||| there was no problem. Are you suggesting that I go ahead and try to
||| install my Office 2007 without first uninstalling the 97 version?
||| If so, I will proceed that direction.
||| Thanks!
|||
||| "jsloan1223" wrote:
|||
|||| The problem is that office 97 is apparently not "designed" to work
|||| on windows XP sp2. If you do a web search for the error you
|||| received, you find that lots of people had the same problem when
|||| trying to INSTALL office 97 on their new machine.
||||
|||| So be glad you have a new version!
|||| The install of the new version should be dramatically easier than
|||| the uninstall of office 97. Be sure to reboot in between (just in
|||| case). Have a great weekend!
||||
|||| Jocelyn
||||
|||| "skibuz" wrote:

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

Differences between Standard and Professional = Access.
I posted the link as it has worked for me under Windows 2000. YMMV.

It will clean the registry after you delete the Office 97 folders from your Windows.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, skibuz asked:

| Milly,
| Thank you for your suggestion. I found this link but is specifically
| stated for use with Office 97 Standard and my version is Office 97
| Professional. It also states that it is to be used in conjuction with
| Windows NT 4.0, Windows 95 or Windows 98.
| http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;158658#appliesto
|
| The link you provided states that is is designed to be run AFTER you
| run the Setup program for Office and click the Remove All to remove
| Office. I haven't been able to be successful in getting the thing
| removed! Also, it states to be used with Office 97 Standard Edition
| ~ but (if I could get the Office 97 program removed), I could give it
| a try. I don't know what differences there are between Office 97
| Standard and Office 97 Professional......
|
| I appreciate your suggestion!
|
| I might try one more time to do an "Uninstall" of the Office 97 before
| proceeding.
| Martha
|
|
| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:
|
|| Have you tried this option?
|| http://support.microsoft.com/kb/176823/en-us
||
|| --Â
|| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
||
|| Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
|| unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
|| reading.
||
|| After furious head scratching, skibuz asked:
||
||| Jocelyn,
||| I have spent the majority of the day trying (in vain) to uninstall
||| Office
||| 97. I have tried every alternative that I can find and it remains in
||| my add/remove programs. I will proceed to attempt to install my
||| Office 2007 over the Office 97 unless someone advises me that I
||| should NOT do that.
||| Wish me luck ~ I'll let you know if it works!
||| Thanks for your help!
|||
||| "jsloan1223" wrote:
|||
|||| actually your previous post sounded like you have already removed
|||| office 97. so I would try rebooting the machine, ifyou haven't
|||| already, and then check add/remove programs. I bet it's not there
|||| anymore. Then try installing the 2007. Worst it does is give you
|||| a different error -- one that the microsoft people will address in
|||| their knowledgebase articles. I do think you'll be just fine. the
|||| ms folks sometimes forget about backwards compatibility, but
|||| usually they are fine with installing new versions of software
|||| alongside new versions of windows.
||||
|||| Jocelyn
||||
|||| "skibuz" wrote:
||||
||||| Jocelyn,
||||| When I installed the Office 97 it was before I upgraded to SP2 so
||||| there was no problem. Are you suggesting that I go ahead and try
||||| to install my Office 2007 without first uninstalling the 97
||||| version? If so, I will proceed that direction.
||||| Thanks!
|||||
||||| "jsloan1223" wrote:
|||||
|||||| The problem is that office 97 is apparently not "designed" to
|||||| work on windows XP sp2. If you do a web search for the error you
|||||| received, you find that lots of people had the same problem when
|||||| trying to INSTALL office 97 on their new machine.
||||||
|||||| So be glad you have a new version!
|||||| The install of the new version should be dramatically easier than
|||||| the uninstall of office 97. Be sure to reboot in between (just
|||||| in case). Have a great weekend!
||||||
|||||| Jocelyn
||||||
|||||| "skibuz" wrote:

 

[skibuz]

Milly,
I tried again to uninstall my Office 97. This time it brought up a menu that
gave me the option to uninstall (go figure!!). I got it uninstalled and then
went to the site you recommended to clean the registry. I downloaded the
eraser97.exe file and in launched a readme.txt file. In that it said,
"Versions of Windows later than Windows 2000 are not supported. Windows XP is
not supported."

So I'm thinking I should leave well enough alone and just install my Office
2007.
Thoughts?
Thanks!

Differences between Standard and Professional = Access.
I posted the link as it has worked for me under Windows 2000. YMMV.

It will clean the registry after you delete the Office 97 folders from your Windows.

--Â
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, skibuz asked:

| Milly,
| Thank you for your suggestion. I found this link but is specifically
| stated for use with Office 97 Standard and my version is Office 97
| Professional. It also states that it is to be used in conjuction with
| Windows NT 4.0, Windows 95 or Windows 98.
| http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;158658#appliesto
|
| The link you provided states that is is designed to be run AFTER you
| run the Setup program for Office and click the Remove All to remove
| Office. I haven't been able to be successful in getting the thing
| removed! Also, it states to be used with Office 97 Standard Edition
| ~ but (if I could get the Office 97 program removed), I could give it
| a try. I don't know what differences there are between Office 97
| Standard and Office 97 Professional......
|
| I appreciate your suggestion!
|
| I might try one more time to do an "Uninstall" of the Office 97 before
| proceeding.
| Martha
|
|
| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:
|
|| Have you tried this option?
|| http://support.microsoft.com/kb/176823/en-us
||
|| --ÂÂ
|| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
||
|| Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
|| unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
|| reading.
||
|| After furious head scratching, skibuz asked:
||
||| Jocelyn,
||| I have spent the majority of the day trying (in vain) to uninstall
||| Office
||| 97. I have tried every alternative that I can find and it remains in
||| my add/remove programs. I will proceed to attempt to install my
||| Office 2007 over the Office 97 unless someone advises me that I
||| should NOT do that.
||| Wish me luck ~ I'll let you know if it works!
||| Thanks for your help!
|||
||| "jsloan1223" wrote:
|||
|||| actually your previous post sounded like you have already removed
|||| office 97. so I would try rebooting the machine, ifyou haven't
|||| already, and then check add/remove programs. I bet it's not there
|||| anymore. Then try installing the 2007. Worst it does is give you
|||| a different error -- one that the microsoft people will address in
|||| their knowledgebase articles. I do think you'll be just fine. the
|||| ms folks sometimes forget about backwards compatibility, but
|||| usually they are fine with installing new versions of software
|||| alongside new versions of windows.
||||
|||| Jocelyn
||||
|||| "skibuz" wrote:
||||
||||| Jocelyn,
||||| When I installed the Office 97 it was before I upgraded to SP2 so
||||| there was no problem. Are you suggesting that I go ahead and try
||||| to install my Office 2007 without first uninstalling the 97
||||| version? If so, I will proceed that direction.
||||| Thanks!
|||||
||||| "jsloan1223" wrote:
|||||
|||||| The problem is that office 97 is apparently not "designed" to
|||||| work on windows XP sp2. If you do a web search for the error you
|||||| received, you find that lots of people had the same problem when
|||||| trying to INSTALL office 97 on their new machine.
||||||
|||||| So be glad you have a new version!
|||||| The install of the new version should be dramatically easier than
|||||| the uninstall of office 97. Be sure to reboot in between (just
|||||| in case). Have a great weekend!
||||||
|||||| Jocelyn
||||||
|||||| "skibuz" wrote:

 

[Harlan Grove]

Have you tried this option?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/176823/en-us

....

There's a link on that page to

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/254250/

which is titled 'OFF97: How to Completely Remove Microsoft Office 97
on Windows XP, Windows Me, and Windows 2000' which seems to be a
better choice for the OP.

This latter KB article details the necessary steps. There's nothing in
it that couldn't have been accomplished with a batch file (a
COMMAND.COM batch file - no CMD.EXE extensions needed - including
removing Registry entries), so it's difficult to fathom why Microsoft
couldn't produce a tool to remove Office 97 completely which would
work on any version of Windows capable of running Office 97. Guess
that assumes anyone at Microsoft still knows how to write batch files.
Oh well, maybe someone will write a VSTO/.Net applet to do the same
thing.

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

If you got it uninstalled - whoopee! 1 down and 1 to go. Whew!

I would reboot (cleans up a lot of extra leftovers) and then install Office 2007. I would also (depends on how big your hard drive is) do a custom installation and select the option to have everything run from my computer - no muss nor fuss when updating or repairing and all features are installed locally and not looking for your install CD at 45,000 ft over the Grand Canyon.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, skibuz asked:

| Milly,
| I tried again to uninstall my Office 97. This time it brought up a
| menu that gave me the option to uninstall (go figure!!). I got it
| uninstalled and then went to the site you recommended to clean the
| registry. I downloaded the eraser97.exe file and in launched a
| readme.txt file. In that it said, "Versions of Windows later than
| Windows 2000 are not supported. Windows XP is not supported."
|
| So I'm thinking I should leave well enough alone and just install my
| Office 2007.
| Thoughts?
| Thanks!
|
|
| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:
|
|| Differences between Standard and Professional = Access.
|| I posted the link as it has worked for me under Windows 2000. YMMV.
||
|| It will clean the registry after you delete the Office 97 folders
|| from your Windows.
||
|| --Â
|| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
||
|| Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
|| unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
|| reading.
||
|| After furious head scratching, skibuz asked:
||
||| Milly,
||| Thank you for your suggestion. I found this link but is
||| specifically stated for use with Office 97 Standard and my version
||| is Office 97 Professional. It also states that it is to be used in
||| conjuction with Windows NT 4.0, Windows 95 or Windows 98.
||| http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;158658#appliesto
|||
||| The link you provided states that is is designed to be run AFTER you
||| run the Setup program for Office and click the Remove All to remove
||| Office. I haven't been able to be successful in getting the thing
||| removed! Also, it states to be used with Office 97 Standard Edition
||| ~ but (if I could get the Office 97 program removed), I could give
||| it a try. I don't know what differences there are between Office 97
||| Standard and Office 97 Professional......
|||
||| I appreciate your suggestion!
|||
||| I might try one more time to do an "Uninstall" of the Office 97
||| before proceeding.
||| Martha
|||
|||
||| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:
|||
|||| Have you tried this option?
|||| http://support.microsoft.com/kb/176823/en-us
||||
|||| --ÂÂ
|||| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
||||
|||| Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
|||| unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted
|||| without reading.
||||
|||| After furious head scratching, skibuz asked:
||||
||||| Jocelyn,
||||| I have spent the majority of the day trying (in vain) to uninstall
||||| Office
||||| 97. I have tried every alternative that I can find and it remains
||||| in my add/remove programs. I will proceed to attempt to install my
||||| Office 2007 over the Office 97 unless someone advises me that I
||||| should NOT do that.
||||| Wish me luck ~ I'll let you know if it works!
||||| Thanks for your help!
|||||
||||| "jsloan1223" wrote:
|||||
|||||| actually your previous post sounded like you have already removed
|||||| office 97. so I would try rebooting the machine, ifyou haven't
|||||| already, and then check add/remove programs. I bet it's not
|||||| there anymore. Then try installing the 2007. Worst it does is
|||||| give you a different error -- one that the microsoft people
|||||| will address in their knowledgebase articles. I do think you'll
|||||| be just fine. the ms folks sometimes forget about backwards
|||||| compatibility, but usually they are fine with installing new
|||||| versions of software alongside new versions of windows.
||||||
|||||| Jocelyn
||||||
|||||| "skibuz" wrote:
||||||
||||||| Jocelyn,
||||||| When I installed the Office 97 it was before I upgraded to SP2
||||||| so there was no problem. Are you suggesting that I go ahead and
||||||| try to install my Office 2007 without first uninstalling the 97
||||||| version? If so, I will proceed that direction.
||||||| Thanks!
|||||||
||||||| "jsloan1223" wrote:
|||||||
|||||||| The problem is that office 97 is apparently not "designed" to
|||||||| work on windows XP sp2. If you do a web search for the error
|||||||| you received, you find that lots of people had the same
|||||||| problem when trying to INSTALL office 97 on their new machine.
||||||||
|||||||| So be glad you have a new version!
|||||||| The install of the new version should be dramatically easier
|||||||| than the uninstall of office 97. Be sure to reboot in between
|||||||| (just in case). Have a great weekend!
||||||||
|||||||| Jocelyn
||||||||
|||||||| "skibuz" wrote:

 

[spudpei]

....

There's a link on that page to

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/254250/

which is titled 'OFF97: How to Completely Remove Microsoft Office 97
on Windows XP, Windows Me, and Windows 2000' which seems to be a
better choice for the OP.

This latter KB article details the necessary steps. There's nothing in
it that couldn't have been accomplished with a batch file (a
COMMAND.COM batch file - no CMD.EXE extensions needed - including
removing Registry entries), so it's difficult to fathom why Microsoft
couldn't produce a tool to remove Office 97 completely which would
work on any version of Windows capable of running Office 97. Guess
that assumes anyone at Microsoft still knows how to write batch files.
Oh well, maybe someone will write a VSTO/.Net applet to do the same
thing.

I have the exact same problem - Have MS Office 97 Pro on XP Home edition SP2
and have installed MS Office 2007 and am unable to remove the Office 97. I
have read the great answers diddling with registries, backing up systems that
are pretty scary. I have printed out 320820, 302894, 302700, 309340 & watched
the video.
There has to be some other way - there are lots who have or will have the
same problem upgrading from Office 97 to 2007. Learning the new ribbon &
finding out where this super new stuff is located is chore - probably will
eventually make us all more productive, but I'm hesitant in getting in way
over my head & losing my system, files etc and not be able to get back on
track. Is there a simple, non-scary, "remove Office 97" for Dummies? Thanks,
spudpei