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Down grading office 2007 to 2003?

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14 replies

by eclopton

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I recently purchased 2 new systems form dell with office 2007(because they no longer sell 2003). I was told there is a way to down grade 2007 to 2003. We have many applications in 2003 and to maintain consistency we would like to stick with 2003 for the time being. Does any one know how to down grade to 2003? We have the 2003 media from other systems.

14 replies

by oh smeg

However it is possible to change the Default Save option in Office 2007 and change it to save in the 2003 Office Format. This would generally be restricted to word which has the biggest changes though.

by thumbsup2

Like Smeg said, Office 2007 can save documents to an earlier version (2003), but... that may not take care of your applications.

You'll have to contact Dell (or where you purchased the computers) or Microsoft to see if they offer a downgrade from Office 2007 to Office 2003 like they do for a downgrade from Vista to XP. Perhaps they even have an exchange program. No matter what, I would contact Microsoft and, at the very minimum, express your concerns about compatibility.

You might also want to check into volume licensing for Office 2003. That's how we get around the problem. We have the media for 2003 and simply purchase more licenses to install it on new machines.

by travler92

Run the repair for office 2007 and modify the installation by removing the components of the office suite.
Install office 2003 over the top.
Remember to remove ALL 2007 components.

Good Luck

by eclopton

i contacted microsoft. they where less than any help. the guy i spoke to knew very little english and there was a 1 hour hold to talk to him. in the end he said to send it back to dell and order 2003 from microsoft... our rep at cdw told me that if u purchase 2007 you have the rights to the previous version. the only one of our vendors we could find that sold 2003 was microsoft...

by oh smeg

To sell old versions of product.

Office also doesn't have a backward compatibility License like the OS does so to remain Legal you have to buy new copies/Licenses of Office 2003 from M$.

That is why I asked what was exactly told to you as it doesn't appear to be correct and sounds like a salesperson who is either misleading of confused.

While you can load the Office 2003 Application from your existing Media and activate it maybe if you are in business and get audited M$ is going to hit you in the hip pocket for stealing their product and quite rightly so.

Contact the seller and demand the install copies of Office 2003 as that is the only way that you stand a chance of getting [b]Legal Copies[/b] if you must use Office 2003. I'm assuming that the seller was telling you that you can alter the default display proprieties and saving option to mirror Office 2003 but wasn't actually telling you that you could install an older version of the product because this isn't legal.

Col

by oh smeg

The smallest Volume License that you can buy is 5 Site Licenses and there are only 2 computers involved here.

While it's true that you can buy an additional 2 licenses if you have an existing Volume License you can not buy a Volume License for just 2 computers and even the 5 Site Minimum would cost far more that 2 OEM Licenses.

Col

by cookieorc

I ran into this same problem with XP and dowgrading to vista... This is how it was explained to me. If you have a VLK then you can substitue your OEM licenses for the ones on your VLK. And Microsoft will allow you to downgrade any of your Vista like software. I do not know if this applied to you if you do not have a VLK...

by eclopton

we do have a 10 volume license for office 2003 but they are all in use. im not really following what you are saying tho.

by cookieorc

You have a single Volume License Key with 10 ueses on it... Is that waht your saying?

I am saying that since you bought the computers, assuming the software came one them or is OEM, You do not have to use your OEM key you can install Office '03 with a VLK license and still be considered legitimate.

by oh smeg

Solution and the current problem is easily & cheaply solved.

M$ will be selling these till the end of next year at the very least as things currently stand possibly longer particularly if they are add ons to an existing Volume License.

by absolutely

Then, charge your licenses to him/his company. If they're big enough to sell OEM software they're big enough to pay for their own mistakes.

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