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David Overton's Blog » Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista

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Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
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[updated 19th March 14:45 - added App Compat fixes KB article] 

I seem to be being asked this question a lot, so I thought I would blog the answer.  The short answer is yes, you can run Office 2003 on Windows Vista.  For that matter, you can run many other applications on Windows Vista too.  For those who want details on how to do this, go to this page.

Lets start from the top - most Windows applications run unmodified under Windows Vista.  Some have been designed to, others have been certified to ensure they do.  Details of this list can be found at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/933305 and includes products like Office 2003 (and 2007) and so on including those by Corel and so on.  There is also then community maintained lists, such as http://www.iexbeta.com/wiki/index.php/Windows_Vista_Software_Compatibility_List for software that people believes does or does not work.  Microsoft have released patches to Vista to increase the number of applications that run without any changes or user interaction.  Details of this patch at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932246

Should you get a program that will not run in Vista then there are a number of features that continue to enhance the ability to run untested / older software on your PC.  The simplest of these is the "compatibility tab" where you can go and choose compatibility mode or OS version you wish to run the application as.

On the same page will be options to change screen resolution, always run as an administrator, disable visual themes, dpi scaling and desktop composition. 

You might also find this tab is grayed out - normally due to the fact that the program is not linked to a .exe, but to a MSI install (e.g. the office applications).  To get round this you may have to create a new shortcut linking to the actual exe file required.  If you don't know how to do this - start the application, open up Windows Task manager (press Ctrl-Shift+Esc) and go to the process, then right click on it and select properties - this should help you.

If this fails, which is might to occasionally for those rarer applications there are several things to do.  One, let Windows Vista sends back the error report so we are aware of it - that way we can fix it if the issue is in Vista, or work with the application vendor to get it fixed.  The next route of attack to solve this problem is to use the diagnostic tools we provide (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927386) and if that fails, the application compatibility toolkit (which is more for business).  I would start looking at pages like http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsvista/aa905066.aspx and http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsvista/aa904987.aspx.  After all this, download a copy of VPC 2007 (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/virtualpc/default.mspx) and see if this can help you.

 

ttfn


David

 

 

Posted Mon, Mar 19 2007 2:45 PM by David Overton
Filed under: , , , , , , , , , ,

Comments

Article Feed » Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other … wrote Article Feed » Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other …
on Tue, Feb 27 2007 11:22 PM
Bill Smith wrote re: Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
on Sun, Mar 4 2007 3:13 AM

We own a travel agency with 20 PC's and 20 Office 2003 licenses. Recently my wife installed a copy form the same distribution disks on her laptop. It installed OK with no extra license needed to be purchased. But today she bought a home PC with Vista Ultimate. I tried to install Office 2003 for her on the tower but it would not let me. Help?

David Overton wrote re: Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
on Sun, Mar 4 2007 8:00 AM

Bill,

what error message did it give?  If you need to send me a picture (press print-scrn or PrtSC when the error is on the screen), please do so to doverton@microsoft.com.

thanks

David

David Overton wrote re: Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
on Sun, Mar 4 2007 8:08 AM

one quick point - you cannot install Office on more machines than you have purchased licenses for.  If you have a volume license or Full Packaged Product then you can install it on one machine to replace anohter eg buying a laptop to replace a desktop.

Volume licensing is available for 5 licenses and above and  gives home use rights.  OEM licenses are not transferable between machines and should be installed or supplied when a machine is purchased

ttfn

David

Christian Sizemore wrote re: Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
on Wed, Mar 7 2007 7:50 PM

Hey David I have installed Vista Business on machine on a Server 2003 AD Domain. Also on that machine I installed Office 2003. Everything functions great other than the EULA makes you accept each time you open a program i.e. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Publisher. Do you know how I can get this to stop. Also I have accepted it as the Admin like I do when installed on Windows XP. Any thoughts? Thank you for your time.

Christian

David Overton wrote re: Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
on Wed, Mar 7 2007 10:31 PM

Hi Christian,

Have you updated to the latest service pack for Office 2003?

thanks

David

Tim wrote re: Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
on Thu, Mar 8 2007 11:45 PM

I am trying to install Office 2003 and keep getting an error message:

ERROR EXECUTING FILE:

E:\Office11 - Disc 1- Professional\setup.exc

The requested operation requires elevation.

David Overton wrote re: Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
on Fri, Mar 9 2007 12:03 AM

OK,

Two things - I have never seen an Office 2003 CD with this file structure on it - I would check to see if it is genuine.  

As an aside, when a program says this, right click on the setup.exe file on the CD and click "Run as administation".

Please note, if this copy has been tampered with and contains any viruses or other malware, doing this will load the nasty stuff onto your system, so be sure it is not nasty first.

ttfn

David

Christian Sizemore wrote re: Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
on Fri, Mar 9 2007 12:36 AM

David,

Thanks for the help but Office is updated as of today and so is my Vista Business but I am still getting that error. Any other ideas? Thanks again.

Christian

David Overton wrote re: Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
on Fri, Mar 9 2007 1:00 PM

Christian,

I've just checked support.microsoft.com and discovered that this is a documented problem. Follow the information at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/884202/en-us for a solution.  Any problems, let me know.

thanks

David

Christian Sizemore wrote re: Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
on Sat, Mar 10 2007 1:19 AM

David,

Thanks for all your help it looks like that cleared it up. Thanks again for the help.

Christian

David Overton's Blog wrote Was Vista's arrival a surprises to anyone? No? Then how come so many people were unprepared - hardware vendors, ISVs, even Microsoft to an extent
on Sat, Mar 10 2007 6:01 AM

Lets start off by saying this is a RANT. If you don't like rants, look away now. I saw this in CRN and

karl wrote re: Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
on Sun, Mar 11 2007 4:54 PM

I called PC world to find out if they sold just an "access" to add to my student and teacher edition 2003.No they didnt. A bird at the other end told me that they only sold the latest in technology,so I asked if my 2003 edition could be used on vista, she said no only office 2007 will work on vista.I then rang microsoft who told me that pc world, currys, john lewis etc, sold just the access if I wanted to buy it.

Well so much for pc world. I won't be going there anymore.

David Overton wrote re: Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
on Sun, Mar 11 2007 10:29 PM

Karl,

while we tryto train everybody with everything they need to know, no-one is perfect.  Access can be bought seperately and Office 2003 definately works on Vista.  Ho hum.

Interestingly enough a search on www.pcworld.co.uk's web site for 'Access 2007' brought up the products you want to see :-)  I am sure you can find many other places too.

ttfn

David

esunderland79@iol.ie wrote re: Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
on Mon, Mar 12 2007 8:12 PM

Hi David

I wonder can you help me on this one?

When i put in my disk to install Office 2003 on Vista i get this message..

"the operating system denied access to the specified file E:\Office11\setup.exe"

Any idea what i can do here?

David Overton wrote re: Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
on Mon, Mar 12 2007 11:10 PM

Hi,

I would get the CD checked out - I have also mailed you directly with a request for more information.

thanks

David

David Overton wrote re: Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
on Tue, Mar 13 2007 11:56 AM

Also, the denied access message is often associated with a problem with the Autorun process.  I'm glad to have seen in the mail that you got it working by directly running the setup.exe file.

ttfn

David

novamura wrote re: Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
on Fri, Mar 16 2007 10:45 AM

hopefully you can help...

I am running Windows Vista Home Premium on my laptop (pre-installed, also pre-installed was trial version of Office2007 and MS Works)

Soon after purchase I installed Office 2003 and have been using it happily until I decided to uninstall Office2007 and Works...

Now I receive a Windows Installer telling me it's configuring Office 2003 whenever I open click on any Microsoft utility on my laptop (explorer,ie etc etc)

I've tried uninstalling/reinstalling Office2003 but no joy!

I think it's to do with the admin user control thing but am a little unsure how to deal with it?

Help appreciated!

Hassan wrote re: Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
on Tue, Mar 20 2007 7:21 PM

Im running Vista Ultimate and i try to install Office 20003 Pro, and i got this message: ERROR EXECUTING FILE:

E:\Office11 - Disc 1- Professional\setup.exc.

I whent this website as discription up --> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/884202/en-us: With no luck , i did every thing. It shows up that it was jast simpel. What i did was i open the cd and i jast clikked Install file, and walla it began to install :=)

David Overton wrote re: Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
on Tue, Mar 20 2007 10:17 PM

Hassan,

I woudl love to get to the bottom of this.  Could you find the setup.exe on your CD and right click it and go for properties?  Then look at either the version or digital signatures (or both) tabs and take a screen shot of them and e-mail them to me at admin@uksbsguy.com?

thanks

David

David Overton wrote re: Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
on Tue, Mar 20 2007 10:19 PM

Have you tried going back to a previous restore point before you installed Office 2003 - uninstall Office 2007 and then re-install Office 2003?

thanks

David

Vin wrote re: Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
on Sat, Mar 31 2007 4:43 PM

I did a clean install with Vista Ultimate on a laptop.  I have the laptop's original XP recovery disks which include, among other things, Office 2003.  Is there a way to load Office 2003 from these onto Vista?  Thanks

Frank Johnson wrote re: Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
on Mon, Apr 2 2007 6:00 PM

Hello, I have Vista Ultimate working OK on a 3GB Dell Dimension 9200 and have a licensed activated copy of Office 2003 Pro installed and working.  However, anytime I invoke any of the Office Pro apps, I get the popup window re needing to accept the EULA's terms / conditions.  If I click on the Accept button it goes away.  But the next time I invoke that app, the EULA popup comes right back.  Has anyone run into this?  

GayleV wrote re: Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
on Tue, Apr 3 2007 9:36 PM

David - THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH. Re my Microsoft Office 2003 EULA and Vista. I followed the link you gave to Christian. I changed the permission in the registry and now the end user license agreement has finally gone away!! Thanks, Gayle

peter wrote re: Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
on Thu, Apr 5 2007 6:44 PM

I recently installed office 2003 on a vista machine, and other than the EULA issue (which your help cleared up - thanks!), everything seems to work fine until I use Word.  When I open word, there is no problem...I can even create or open a file without issue. However, when I go to save or print a file, word unexpectedly gives me an error:"Microsoft word has stopped working: a problem caused the program to stop working" and then it attempts to download updates.  I have all of the updates, and I've tried reinstalling and validating the office install, but nothing appears to work.  Microsoft's knowledgebase doesn't have too much about this problem either that I could find.  Any help would be wonderful.

peter wrote re: Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
on Thu, Apr 5 2007 9:56 PM

I wanted to let you know that I fixed the problem myself, so don't bother researching it.  I think there may have been a conflict with all the trials of office 2007 on the machine.  I removed all of them using the remove program option from the control panel.

Then I completely uninstalled office 2003 using the cd, and then I explored the cd, right clicked on setup, ran as administrater, installed - and then I got an error about the installation being improper and would I like windows to reinstall it properly - I said "ok" and tried again, and then it finally installed, reinstalled the updates, and it works wonderfully.

What a headache!  But it works now!

Thanks again for the EULA trick though - that was an annoyance!

stan wrote re: Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
on Sun, Apr 22 2007 1:47 AM

does everything you have said in this blog apply  to vista 64 bit as well a to vista 32 bit? the two are not distinguishes in discussions!

stan

Jitesh M wrote re: Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
on Sun, Apr 29 2007 11:51 AM
hiii david i have installed microsoft office 2003 in my laptop running windows vista home premium the installation was perfectly fine i dint face any errors but when i try to open some file in ms word it goes through a virus scan and then hangs there. It doesnt seem to move forward and finaly i have to close it manually from the taskbar. When i open up only the program it opens up fine and am able to type in ther but when i save it and then try to open it again it still hangs at the same point please help me thanks in advance Jitesh
David Overton wrote re: Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
on Sun, Apr 29 2007 10:56 PM

Stan,

I think everything I say on the blog works for both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows.  Is there anything in particular you are thinking about?

ttfn

David

David Overton wrote re: Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
on Sun, Apr 29 2007 11:00 PM

Jitesh,

If you are seeing an anti-virus tool doing some scanning then it is the tool that needs to be looked at - talk to your A/V vendor to see if they can help.  Sorry I can't be more helpful, but I suspect their tool is not working with Office 2007 properly.

ttfn

David

Matt wrote re: Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
on Tue, May 1 2007 7:30 AM

Hi David, I would greatly appreciate some input before I buy a laptop with Vista Home Premium OS.  Will the new areo interface work if I just get the Integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950 or do I need to upgrade to the 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7400 TurboCache™?  Also, will Office 2002 work on Vista Home Premium?  If so, will i be able to connect the outlook to the new features Vista says the neat little things on the screen right side has a outlook task viewer or something?  Lastly, if I don't like Vista, would there be any forseeable problems by uninstalling it and installing XP Pro on the same laptop? Like driver issues or something?  The laptop I am looking at is Dell XPS M1210, T7400, 2GB DDR2..

Thanks Much..

hel bous wrote re: Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
on Sun, May 6 2007 3:08 PM

I just bought a toshiba satelite with vista premium home. I cannot "find" the office suite. I have from my previous pc a cd of ms office xp professional, can I install xp onto vista?

David Overton wrote re: Running Office 2003 on Windows Vista and running other applications that work on Windows XP on Vista
on Sun, May 6 2007 10:10 PM

Matt,

I can't find a 100% certain answer - Only Intel can answer this question, sorry.  However my Toshiba M400 has the intel 950 chipset in it and I run with Aero enabled.  Due to the fact that it is shared memory the performance is not amazing, but I get by.

Also, if you have Vista Business or Enterprise then you can downgrade to XP without cost to yourself, however this option is not available without buying XP for that machine on the home SKUs.

Office XP (2002) support is documented at support.microsoft.com/.../932087 it states that Office 2000, XP, 2003 and 2007 are all known to work on Vista.

ttfn

David