"Over-Install" MS Office Pro 2003 on top of MS Office SBE 2003?

[sternba2222]

I have MS Office Small Business Edition (SBE) 2003 that was originally
pre-installed by my laptop PC vendor. I have now enrolled in a university
course that requires that I have use of MS Access 2003 (which is not included
in MS Office SBE 2003). I am looking at options to get MS Access 2003
installed on my laptop PC. (I have no previous versions of either MS Office
or MS Access, so I am not considering doing any upgrades.)

What would happen of I purchased a new complete (NOT upgrade) MS Office Pro
2003 (either the Retail version or the Academic License version) and
attempted to ("step up") install it to my laptop while the pre-installed
version of MS Office SBE 2003 was still there? Would the MS Office Pro 2003
installation "sense" that there is already MS Office SBE 2003 (pre-installed
version) already installed on my laptop PC, and thus be able to install only
those components of MS Office Pro 2003 (i.e. Access 2003, and support for XML
and IRM) that were NOT already installed via MS Office SBE 2003 and thereby
"step up" my MS Office SBE 2003 to MS Office Pro 2003? Or would I have to
uninstall MS Office SBE 2003 prior to installing MS Office Pro 2003?

There appear to be both pricing and functional advantages to me to be able
to "step up" to MS Office Pro 2003, if it is possible, instead of just
purchasing and installing MS Access 2003 separately. I would also rather not
have to uninstall my pre-installed MS Office SBE 2003 in order to get MS
Office Pro 2003 installed.

Thanks

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Mixing two editions from the same series of Office isn't recommended. Generally the approach would be to back up your data,
uninstall the Small Business Edition, restart the PC then install the Professional Edition.

If the Small Business Edition was an OEM one, it is tied to that computer and can't be reused on another.

=======
I have MS Office Small Business Edition (SBE) 2003 that was originally
pre-installed by my laptop PC vendor. I have now enrolled in a university
course that requires that I have use of MS Access 2003 (which is not included
in MS Office SBE 2003). I am looking at options to get MS Access 2003
installed on my laptop PC. (I have no previous versions of either MS Office
or MS Access, so I am not considering doing any upgrades.)

What would happen of I purchased a new complete (NOT upgrade) MS Office Pro
2003 (either the Retail version or the Academic License version) and
attempted to ("step up") install it to my laptop while the pre-installed
version of MS Office SBE 2003 was still there? Would the MS Office Pro 2003
installation "sense" that there is already MS Office SBE 2003 (pre-installed
version) already installed on my laptop PC, and thus be able to install only
those components of MS Office Pro 2003 (i.e. Access 2003, and support for XML
and IRM) that were NOT already installed via MS Office SBE 2003 and thereby
"step up" my MS Office SBE 2003 to MS Office Pro 2003? Or would I have to
uninstall MS Office SBE 2003 prior to installing MS Office Pro 2003?

There appear to be both pricing and functional advantages to me to be able
to "step up" to MS Office Pro 2003, if it is possible, instead of just
purchasing and installing MS Access 2003 separately. I would also rather not
have to uninstall my pre-installed MS Office SBE 2003 in order to get MS
Office Pro 2003 installed.

Thanks >>
--
Let us know if this helped you,

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

Pricing and Packages for '2007 Microsoft Office System'
http://microsoft.com/office/preview