IT Queries: Computer problems answered

In the “Tools” bar (Word Document) is a number of “Mail Merger” items. It takes quite a bit of time to get to the end to find the end – “Customise” and “Options” I have never used mail merger, and don\’t know how it has acquired so many of them, they just keep growing.

Is there any way I can delete some of them?

There certainly is, just right-click the toolbar and take the tick off the Mail Merge menu.

You can remove more icons by clicking the customise tab then dragging the commands off the tool bar into the customise box.

I have been looking at ways of buying Microsoft Office cheaper than recommended retail price.
In my travels I came across an American website (Soft Sales)offering Microsoft Office(OEM) for $79(US)brand new. It says all you need to do is download MS Office(in pdf format). No manual is included but all authentication and verification codes are. What are your thoughts on buying such an item? I haven\’t actually bought the item.
I am currently running Windows XP on a pentium 4 pc.

It sounds extremely dodgy. OEM software is supposed to be sold with hardware and the price is extremely cheap.

What’s more, it appears these guys are expecting you to download the trial edition and they are merely selling the authentication codes to unlock the trial.

To say this is risky is an understatement. Microsoft have a track record of disabling these codes and Office 2007 can be disabled this way. It’s possible you might end up with it simply not working one morning.

With these sort of software deals, if something’s too good to be true it usually isn’t true. If these people are prepared to rip-off one of the world’s biggest companies, then they are not likely to have many qualms about treating the likes of you and I poorly.

We’d suggest avoiding this like the plague.

I had problems that with my new computer which my technician put down to the fact that I had activated the 2007 Microsoft Office System that came already installed and gave me 30 or 60 days ‘free’ use. I’d then installed my old Office XP over it.

I just looked in my uninstall programme list and I saw that I now have installed both the 2007 Microsoft Office System & my own Microsoft Office Professional 2007 – each is occupying 507 MB of memory.

Should I uninstal the 2007 Microsoft Office System, please?

No, if the system is working fine then you should leave Microsoft Office installation files alone. One of the bugbears with MS Office is that it shares a lot of its features across applications and it’s unpredictable how those shared functions work together.

If you are having problems then it might be worthwhile to clean up the problem by uninstalling all versions of Office and then reinstalling the latest one (not the trial version).

Hi

After working on a document (University paper) for 8 hours that same document was saved without the final changes although it was saved at various stages along the way. All we have is the document opened at the starting point.

Our question is, is there a way to access the document at a point prior to the last save, the save icon was pressed to save the work to C: drive, and also e: Flash drive, but the search with the filter, ‘date modified ‘failed to locate the finished document in either place.

I have Windows XP.

It sounds like the document hasn’t saved to where you think it did. The first thing we’d suggest to search all your drives to see if it isn’t hiding in a different location.

Another possibility is the name is wrong, try searching for all files modified in that time. It might be under a different name or file type.

If you still can’t find it, Microsoft Word (which is what we’ll assume you’re using) saves the file you’re working on as a tmp file. Often, Word doesn’t clean these up so there’s a working copy of your document still on the system.

Often temp files are hidden, so in the Windows search panel choose the More Advanced Options heading and tick the Search hidden files and folders option and repeat your search on all files modified during that time.

Unfortunately in this case it does sound like you’ve done everything right. So if you can’t find it there might be a problem with your computer and we’d recommend getting a tech out to check it.

I’ve bought a new computer with Office 2007 and my other machines can’t see the documents I make in it. What should I do?

Microsoft have introduced a new format for Office files in an attempt to comply with international open document standards.

This means older versions of Office can’t read anything created in the new edition.

If you want be able to read documents created in the newer version of Office you’ll need to install the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack.

This allows users of older versions of MS Office to read Word, Excel and Powerpoint documents created in the 2007 format. While this will allow you to read the newer documents, you won’t get all the features built into the 2007 version.

We recommend all users of older versions download and install the compatibility pack as Office 2007 will steadily overtake older versions of Office and this problem will become more common.

I have a new Vista computer, how do I remove the Office 2007 trial program?

It’s a very good idea to remove the trial program before installing any other software as we’ve seen a few problems, particularly after installing another version of Office.

To remove it, click the Start button, go to Settings, click Control Panel and then select Programs.

Once you are in the Programs applet uninstall anything that refers to Office 2007.

Reboot the computer when you’re finished and proceed with installing your other software.

I’ve bought a new Vista machine, can I run my old Office XP software on it?

The short answer is yes. Office XP is listed as being compatible with Microsoft Vista.

There are a few provisos to this. We’ve found Office XP hates running as a Limited User unless you’ve run it first with the user being an Administrator, this is common with most versions of Office on Windows XP and Vista.

Instructions on setting up XP for a Limited User are here. The procedure is similar for Vista.

One thing we would strongly suggest before installing any software is to remove the Office 2007 trial if it has been included on your system. We’ve found a number of machines running terribly because it wasn’t removed before installing another version of Office.

I have had some trouble with my computer, It seemed to be some type of virus, which has left me limted use of my computer. The CD ROM will not work, so I cannot reload my windows, when I try to open word, excel etc, it opens but windows installer come up saying installing excel feature,and asked me to insert xp disk,which I can\’t because CD Rom not working, I also have external drive but also not work now,Also have trouble with upgrades from Microsoft.

It doesn’t sound like a virus but a problem with the motherboard drivers. Drivers are the software that translates commands from Windows to the hardware. In this case it sounds like your USB and IDE drivers have a problem.

It’s always worthwhile checking for a virus. The Trend Micro Housecall is a good online tool.

If you find the housecall doesn’t work, then downloading and installing the Windows Scripting Host might resolve both this and your Windows Update problem.

There are two other Windows Update problems we’ve addressed previously and it may be worth checking these.

The “insert disk” message is an irritating problem that plagues Microsoft Office users. The simplest solution is to fix the CD problem so you can insert the installation disk to keep the system happy.

You might find the Local Installation Source Tool might help, but our experience is that easier to get the disk.

Overall, it sounds like you need a computer tech to have a look at your system as there are a number of things going wrong with your system.

Which version of Microsoft Office should I buy?

Microsoft have made their office range incredibly complex with seven different versions available. Each version has different programs and some have some severe licensing restrictions.

For home users, we recommend the Home and Student edition. This includes Word, Excel and Powerpoint which are the applications most households use. This version is also licensed to go onto three different computers, which makes it an even deal.

One thing to watch with versions of Microsoft Office are the OEM versions that are available. These are tied to the original computer and can’t be used on any other machine, which makes the boxed product better value if you are going to install it on three computers.

For business users, you need to consider carefully which version to get. Office Basic is fine you don’t expect to every use Powerpoint, for most businesses Office Standard is fine, but if you need products like Microsoft Access then you’ll need Office Professional.

You can add features later, but it can become expensive.

Microsoft have the full range of their Office products and their features on their website.