Buy download now, move to new computer later?

K

kaye

I want to get Office 2007 Professional as an upgrade. I expect to
replace my computer later this year. How will I move the software to a
new computer if I bought it as a download, with no installation disks?
 
B

Bernard Liengme

When you download, could you not save the file(s) to hard drive then copy to
CD (or thumb drive) for use in new PC?
To use upgrade do you need to have a retail (not OEM) older version of
office on the PC or on CD?
best wishes
 
K

kaye

In essence those are my questions. Do I need to retain the
installation files on my old computer and transfer them to the new one
when I buy it? Will they work to install Office 2007 on the new
computer without having to install Office 2003 on that computer? It
seems possible this would work if Microsoft encodes the information
that I'm an authorized user of the upgrade version at the time of
purchase rather than checking for the existence of Office 2003 on the
computer at the time of installation, but I don't know how they
implement their restriction on the upgrade price. Also, I'd like to
believe they would allow a download to the new computer as it isn't
always possible to transfer files from the old one. But I can't find
information about these procedures on their web site, and that's the
thing holding me back from purchasing Office 2007.
 
P

Patrick Schmid [MVP]

R

Renny Bosch

kaye, I had the same problem when I got my current computer and tried to
install my previous Office 2002 (Upgrade - I did have the CD). It wouldn't
allow the upgrade because while the new computer came with MS Works, that
didn't count as a basis for upgrading to Office. I finally had to buy an
old Office 97 (full version, not upgrade) for about $75, install that, and
then upgrade to my previous 2002.

There must be a better way, but so far nobody has explained how.

Perhaps you should call Microsoft directly and ask them how to do it. If
you learn something useful, please post back to the group.
 
J

JoAnn Paules

Microsoft spells out what can be used as a qualifying product for an
upgrade. I know that Office 2003 and 2007 both allow certain version of
Works as the qualifier for Office. To use an upgrade, you must have that
product. I am assuming that Kaye had done her homework and know what
products she needs to own before buying the software.

I'm guessing that you have a newer version of Works that you are trying to
use as the basis for an upgrade. You cannot use a new product as the
qualifier of an older product. there's no way that Microsoft could program
that in.

--

JoAnn Paules
Microsoft MVP - Publisher

How to ask a question
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375
 
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