Is this strain of Office 2000 Premium eligible for upgrade to Office 2003 Standard?

[Mary]

I currently run Office 2000 Premium and would like to install Office 2003.
Although Office Premium 2000 is listed as one of the qualifying products for
an upgrade, mine came as part of a training program (MS Direct Access
Hands-On Training Kit Office 2000) so it was not the usual retail product.
There is a PID no. on the front of the folder it came in along with a
Product Key. There is a different Product ID (PID) shown when I check "About
Word" etc. Is there some way I can check the PID to see if I'm eligible for
an upgrade? I seem to remember being told that it was not upgradeable but
see no reference to that on the packaging.

I've tried in vain to find a Sales no. for Microsoft but have had no
success.

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi Mary,

As I recall the MS Office 2000 HOT kit products should be
recognized by the Office 2003 upgrade editions, but you
may want to check with the folks who put out the HOT Kit
at http://microsoft.com/partners


=====I currently run Office 2000 Premium and would like to install Office 2003.
Although Office Premium 2000 is listed as one of the qualifying products for
an upgrade, mine came as part of a training program (MS Direct Access
Hands-On Training Kit Office 2000) so it was not the usual retail product.
There is a PID no. on the front of the folder it came in along with a
Product Key. There is a different Product ID (PID) shown when I check "About
Word" etc. Is there some way I can check the PID to see if I'm eligible for
an upgrade? I seem to remember being told that it was not upgradeable but
see no reference to that on the packaging.

I've tried in vain to find a Sales no. for Microsoft but have had no
success. >>
--
Let us know if this helped you,

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*

Office 2003 Editions explained
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/office/editions.mspx

 

[Mary]

Thanks Bob, I couldn't find any relevant contact info to use on the Partners
site, so I just called an Office TS number and they transferred me to
"presales." The rep I spoke to said he wasn't sure since this was an NFR
product but then checked with his supervisor who said yes. The supervisor
said he sold a no. of HOT kits in their day and they could be upgraded.

But, now I have found the small print within the Office folder, it says "MS
Office Premium are not for resale products (NFR). Note that NFR product
cannot be upgraded." I'm confused, did MS change their policy on upgrading
after this particular product was sold? How is the upgradeablity of a prior
version of a product checked during the installation process. Does it depend
on the Product ID or is there some code that should or should not be found
when it checks?