Okay - more computer advice

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Clogs
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Okay - more computer advice

Post by Clogs »

Well, my home pc is back alive and online, but my dear friend totally stripped the harddrive of everything in order to do it. I haven't lost an awful lot of information, since I back-up the important stuff to memory sticks in any case, and I can hunt out things like Firefox and AdAware, but the entire MS Office has gone bye-bye and needs replacing.

Any idea where I can get a reasonably priced MS Office 2007 suite? eBay has everything from £5 to £135 and I'm not sure of the quality of the cheapest or the relevance of the dearest.

Since I am now back to ultimate basics, could anyone recommend any programmes I should download or buy? Polite suggestions welcome!
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secretcode
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Post by secretcode »

Hmm...I'm pretty sure used copies of Microsoft Office on eBay are your best bet. If you just need an activation code, I can give you mine. Hell, I'll give it to anyone.
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Auntie Slag
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Post by Auntie Slag »

Would OpenOffice be any good to you? My friend uses it (it's a completely free & downloadable variant of Microsoft Office in case you've never heard of it), and is very compatible with Microsoft Office docs. She's never had any problems with it in either a cross-platform or cross-program sense.

A few bits and pieces are located in different drop-down menu's which might throw you a bit, but after the first one or two times it'll feel natural. Like ridin' a bike, guv'nor!

Could be good.
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Post by Sixswitch »

I second the Open Office recommendation. Used it for about a year with no problems. Only issues are with MDB (Microsoft Access) files - not sure how important that is to you.

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Post by Denyer »

My experience with OpenOffice rendering, even of simple RTF documents, has been very poor... but the problems are mostly one-way; stuff you receive may get reflowed, but stuff you produce and export in Word format should be alright.

If you want a legal copy of Office, and your kids have a school email address, you can get it for ~£40 --

http://www.microsoft.com/student/discou ... fault.aspx

-- otherwise retail for Home/Student is ~£100 from PC World or anywhere similar.

If you don't care about legality, there are other options. Not that I'd suggest for a moment you'd PM me to talk about stuff like that. Though I should note most people I know have settled on 2003, and for my own uses I stick to a legit copy of 2000.
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Clogs
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Post by Clogs »

Thanks for the suggestions. I was using MS Office XP most recently for Word, but the 2007 version would be fine. My real worry is that I wouldn't be able to open my stories (c'mon, they're mainly TF!) and/or save them in a usable format bearing the XP matter in mind. Luckily, I don't use Access at all at home so I may try the link download - thanks to those of you who have suggested it is A Good Thing to try.

Denyer: my boys don't have a school email addy, I'm afraid... although the youngest did get a paper from school with some confused description of a 'in-house' server and generic email. Whatever I get, I want to be able to download it to my new pc when I get the money, probably in the New Year, to build it.

Any views on what else this box of tricks could use? The only problem I have left to contend with is the borrowed antique graphics card.
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Post by Computron »

You tried looking for a copy of Office 2003?

IMO far better than 2007 for the simple fact that 2k7 saves files in a way that is only compatible with other 2k7 users. ok, I know you can tell it to save the file in 2k3 format but you have to actually go in and change teh settings when you save it - pain in the ass.
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Post by Denyer »

Computron wrote:IMO far better than 2007 for the simple fact that 2k7 saves files in a way that is only compatible with other 2k7 users.
There's a compatibility plugin for Office going right back to 2000. Microsoft have been severely leaned on by governmental requirements around the world for the last year or so.
Computron wrote:ok, I know you can tell it to save the file in 2k3 format but you have to actually go in and change teh settings when you save it - pain in the ass.
I loathe the 2007 interface, but IIRC you just specify a default file format in the options and won't be bothered again.

If you know where I can get a cheap licensed copy of 2003, or a very cheap media-only kit, incidentally, I'm all ears. Copies seem to be thin on the ground these days.
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Post by Computron »

Denyer wrote:If you know where I can get a cheap licensed copy of 2003, or a very cheap media-only kit, incidentally, I'm all ears. Copies seem to be thin on the ground these days.
We've got about 1000 in work though I have no idea how many of them are not on a machine at the moment and also how much they are.

Could get you media though if you have a key no problem
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Post by Springer007 »

I had a problem just last night lasting into this morning. My Windows XP was acting like a strobe light with the Start Menu and Desktop Icons. They were flickering on and off through the startup process, then stayed off for the remainder of the time the computer was on. I luckily fixed it, almost half a day of working on it, through just simply doing a system restore. I hope this doesn't happen to your computer because it was a pain to troubleshoot without having to wipe my hard drive clean. I figure I will wipe it once I get an all clear that Windows Vista: Mojave is safer to use than Vista.

(if anyone wants to suggest how I can further fix my computer from doing this again (possibly a virus I am betting) I would be more than happy to accept any suggestions.)
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Post by Denyer »

Sorry Compy, only just saw this. PM'd you.

Clogs, did that package turn up?
My Windows XP was acting like a strobe light with the Start Menu and Desktop Icons. They were flickering on and off through the startup process, then stayed off for the remainder of the time the computer was on.
Doesn't ring any bells. Maybe something hooking into explorer.exe, but odds are something in the bowels of the OS has just become corrupted.
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