Upgrade from Office XP Professional to 2007

[beagle eyes]

I am using Office XP Professional on a Dell with Windows XP. My Office disks
say: UNLICENSED SOFTWARE - illegal without separate license from Microsoft.
It runs fine on Windows XP. When I go to "About Microsoft" I see a statement
that says "This product is licensed to: (a long string of numbers and
letters). I want to upgrade to Office 2007 but I don't know if my existing
Office is really licensed. I found the disks after my husband passed away
and there is no box, only the discs in plastic CD covers. I do have all the
Product ID and Key codes. Can I go with an upgrade or do I have to start
over with a new Office?

 

[beagle eyes]

Just wondered if I have a beta version.

 

[DL]

Where did you locate the Product ID & key codes? (dont post them)

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

If it had been a beta version, then it would have expired a number of years
ago. It sounds like a retail version, so my guess is that you qualify for
the upgrade pricing for 2007.

 

[beagle eyes]

It was written on the packaging which is only some plastic wrap. There was
a little sticker about the size of a mailing label with the number written on
it. Then, when I was loading the program onto the computer it came up and I
wrote it down. It turns out the numbers are the same. There are 3 disks and
on the back of one of them has a yellow sticker labled "Volume Licensing
Customer: to install this product you will need a Volume License Product
Key.......". It goes on to say it can be gotten by contacting the Microsoft
Activation Center and a website is given. I don't remember do that at all.
I just hate to spend $250 to find out it won't upgrade.

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

In that case, you might NOT qualify for the upgrade. What you have is
covered by a different kind of license. I don't know what exactly the
"sniffer" looks for when upgrading, but I would think that it would be
looking for a retail version, not something obtained through a company's
volume licensing agreement. You could, of course, try it, but if you buy the
upgrade version and then aren't able to use what you have to qualify, then
you might be stuck with something you cannot use.

 

[Gemini]

Since you've been using Office XP, you may want to download the trial version
of Office 2007 first and try it out. The UI is radically different and is not
a universal favorite. So, check it out before you spend the $$$s to upgrade
or buy a full version.

hth!

-- Gemini