reinstall word

P

psilopro

Word just left one day. I dont know how or why but now all of my former word
documents are in WordPad format. Word came with the Dell i am posting this
message with, liscenced, of course. I really dont think I have the program
on a disc - I've checked all of the factory software and its nowhere to be
found.
 
P

psilopro

I follow the instruction "run winword /r" (I noted the space befor the slash)
and I receive this error message: "Windows cannot find 'winword'. Make sure
you typed the name correctly and then try again." and then suggests that I
try to search for it. I tried the search just in case and of course this was
to no avail. I think I need to proceed from here as though word was never a
program on this computer. I cant find a trace of it. How can I get it back?
 
S

Suzanne S. Barnhill

After instructing Windows to display hidden and system files and folders, do
a search for winword.exe (making sure that hidden and system files are
included in the search). If it is still present, you just need to create a
new shortcut to it. If in fact it is really AWOL, then you'll need to dredge
up the CD and reinstall.
 
P

psilopro

I instructed the OS Search to display these things and found nothing. Could
it be on the Windows XP Home Edition disc that came with the computer? If
not and I in fact dont have the disc do I then have to buy Word?
 
H

Herb Tyson [MVP]

In Control Panel, open Add or Remove Programs, and scroll down to the
Microsoft items. Is there one there for Microsoft Works, Microsoft Office or
Microsoft Word? If so, click on it, then click Change, and see if Word is
still listed as installed.
 
P

psilopro

In add or remove programs, I find no mention of Word, Works, etc., and now
that I think about it, I may have deleted the whole Office package months ago
(it took up so much space). Is that the problem? If not, can I somehow give
Microsoft my product key or some verification to reinstall this essential
program free of charge?
 
H

Herb Tyson [MVP]

If you zapped it to save space, then you have a problem. I would check on
the disks that came with the computer to see if Office or Word is on any of
them. My next choice would be to see if the manufacture stored the
installation sets somewhere on your hard drive. Giving Microsoft your
product key won't help unless you actually have something you can install. I
think you can download a trial version of Office, and if you have your
original valid product key, that *might* work for activating the trial
version. Take a look here:

http://www.microsoft.com/office/trial/default.mspx
 
T

Tony Jollans

As Herb says if you threw it away, it's gone. If you bought Office with a
Dell and did not get the disks you should be able to get them from Dell
(there may be a small charge) - ring their technical support desk.
 
P

psilopro

Is Word able to run without Office? I dont exactly understand Office, but I
think I recall zapping it indeed because it had many apps and programs
attached (or "with" it somehow) that I didn't want.
 
J

JoAnn Paules [MVP]

Office is a collection of programs. Word is just one of them. If you
"zapped" Office, you may have deleted something that Word needed.

--

JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]
 
J

Jay Freedman

When you get the Office CD, you can choose to do a custom installation (this
is one of the choices on an early screen in the installer program) and then
choose to install only Word. You don't have to install all of Office
together. But you do need to get the CD -- either from Dell or by buying a
new copy.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.
 

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