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Microsoft Office 2003 Fails
None of the Office programs will open. Each tells me that the program "has encountered a problem and needs to close". I can open existing Word and Excel files, but cannot create new ones.
How to re-install this program on an 8 year old XP/SP3 system? It came pre-installed from Dell. I have the original CD, but it seems to be physically blemished, and does not complete a repair or re-install. I have the product key from Dell (Microsoft Office SBE 2003 with BCM).
Does Dell offer this program for download? Can I download if from Microsoft, and use the activation key supplied by Dell?
joe53
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February 28th, 2013 21:00
Thank you Sujatha K.
As I stated, the re-installation CD Dell provided does not work. (Probably due to its age). I am disappointed Dell can offer no option other than to contact Microsoft, for software that I purchased from Dell.
That said, I was able to resolve the problem on my own.
It seems that XP's Data Execution Prevention (DEP) was responsible for my Office problem. In my investigations, I noticed that DEP was grayed out in System Properties>Advanced tab>Performance>Settings>Data Execution Prevention tab.
I was able to re-enable DEP by editing my boot.ini. All Office programs now work.
DELL-Sujatha K
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February 28th, 2013 18:00
Hi joe53,
You may install the Microsoft Office software from the CDs and activate with the product key you have. In case you are unable to install the software from the CDs the option is to contact Microsoft for further assistance.
Philip_Yip
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March 2nd, 2013 02:00
Just a quick tip. I assume your computers optical drive is as old as the CD. Newer optical CD/DVD drives can often read CD/DVDs that older ones cannot...
If you have a newer computer to hand or a friend with a newer computer. It may be worth copying the CD using ImgBurn and burning yourself a new copy on a blank CD or copying the files directly to a USB stick. I have done this on many an occasion with Dell Windows XP Reinstallation CDs.