Installing MS Ofice Standard and Windows XP

I'd like some advice on the following 2 installs:

Laptop: It's a few months old and it came with a trial version of MS office (which I never actually activated). Over the weekend I bought MS office Standard 2007 and would like to install it. My questions are: Do I uninstall the trial version that came with my laptop or do I activate it and put in the serial number of he MS office I bought? Or do I just put in the CD of the MS office I bought and install it from there?

Desktop: I have a 3 yr old desktop which runs Windows XP (non legit copy). I bought a legit copy of win xp and now I want to install the legit copy over the non legit one. Again what's the best way to do this? I really don't want to have to install all my programs from the beg..?

Thanks for your help.

 

It would be best if you uninstalled the trial version fully and then did a completely clean install from the version you just purchased. One reason to do that is that the trial version is an OEM version whereas the one you bought is a Retail version in all likelihood. There are licensing differences between OEM and Retail, and so it would be the most prudent to remove the trial version first.

In terms of legitimizing your copy of XP, you might be able to do it following what this guy did:

-I cribbed that from a thread on another forum.

 

Thanks for your reply. I'll do what you mentioned for MS office. Do you know if I could install MS office on my laptop and desktop? Would this create any problems?

As for windows xp, I think that it's best if I do a fresh install? Does this mean that I have to repartition my hard drive and re-install all my programs etc? I guess I better start backing up my files lol

 

A fresh reinstallation means everything will be lost, so backing up now is a very smart thing to do!

Viz installing MS Office on two systems, I assume you mean that you want to do both installations using the same CD/DVD you just bought, correct? If that's the case, then I believe the answer is no - only the Home Office and Student version of MS Office can be installed on more than one system at a time; the Standard version cannot (to my knowledge). However, once you've installed it on one computer, I think you might be able to purchase a second license directly from Microsoft online for a lot less than it would cost to buy another complete Retail version, which would then allow you to install a second copy on your other computer using the same installation media.

 

Out of curiosity what would happen if I went ahead and tried to install MS office on my desktop..(after I install it on my laptop which is where I need it the most)....would it not allow me? What would happen?

 

Looks like you might be able to, this is from the Office 2007 Licence Terms:

2.INSTALLATION AND USE RIGHTS. Before you use the software under a license, you must assign that license to one device. That device is the “licensed device.” A hardware partition or blade is considered to be a separate device. a.Licensed Device. You may install and use one copy of the software on the licensed device. b.Portable Device. You may install another copy on a portable device for use by the single primary user of the licensed device. c.Separation of Components. The components of the software are licensed as a single unit. You may not separate the components and install them on different devices.

 

Kewl...thanks for the info. I'll give it a try. )