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Installing Office 2003 on a new computer with Windows 10

Anonymous
2021-04-26T16:02:49+00:00

From reading this forum, I know that Office 2003 will run on a computer with Windows 10.  Andre Da Costa has written in detail about that.  But my question is a little different.  

I have a new computer with Windows 10.  The place where I bought the computer would not install my Office 2003 because it is no longer supported by Microsoft.  So I installed it myself.  No problem there.  But to use Office 2003, I have to activate it with Microsoft.

I was given two options:

I want to activate the software over the internet (recommended).

I want to activate the software by telephone

I followed the recommendation and clicked the first option, with this result:

The activation wizard is unable to find a connection to the Internet.  Please make sure that your connection is working properly and then retry activation in a few minutes

Well my internet connection is working, so I gave up on that activation.

Then I contacted Microsoft and requested a return call.  I got the call quickly, and the person told me Microsoft could not activate by telephone because Office 2003 is no longer supported (the person did not want to get into whether Office 2003 would still work).  

I then tried again to see what a second person would say.  This person put me on hold while he said he would consult a supervisor.  Eventually I was disconnected.

Of course I can keep trying to speak to someone at Microsoft, but I thought I would post this to see if the "community" has anything to say.

My GUESS is that I will be unable to activate Office 2003, even though I fully expect it would work on my new Windows 10 computer if it could be activated.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Install, redeem, activate | For home | Windows

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  1. LemP 74,925 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2021-04-29T18:07:19+00:00

    I would be happy to explore your suggestion:

    "the free 'Office type' programs that can both read and create MS Office docs"

    Can you be specific about what these alternatives are?  Thank you.

    Apache OpenOffice:  https://www.openoffice.org/

    System Requirements:  https://www.openoffice.org/dev_docs/source/sys_reqs_aoo41.html

    Libre Office:  https://www.libreoffice.org/

    System Requirements:  https://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/system-requirements/

    Comparison (one of several similar articles):  https://www.techradar.com/news/libreoffice-vs-openoffice

    10+ people found this answer helpful.
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  2. Anonymous
    2021-04-26T16:23:52+00:00

    Not supported means no updates of any type, so using it is a security risk. Its not fully compatible with Win10, in particular MS Outlook

    Andre's article was written in 2016 and now has little relevance as various win10 updates will impact on 2003 

    You would have to use phone activation to activate.

    You would be better off using one of the free 'Office type' programs that can both read and create MS Office docs

    10+ people found this answer helpful.
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  3. Anonymous
    2021-04-29T18:07:12+00:00

    I did speak to two different people.  The first one said that Office 2003 could not be activated by telephone because it was no longer supported by Microsoft.  The second person put me on hold to ask a supervisor if it could be activated by telephone.  I was eventually disconnected, never hearing what a supervisor said.  I have yet to try a third time, but I might.

    6 people found this answer helpful.
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  4. Anonymous
    2021-04-26T17:51:52+00:00

    "You would have to use phone activation to activate."  So far Microsodt has told me they cannot do a phone activation.  I have no idea if that is true or just a way to get rid of me!

    I do not use Outlook, so I don't care if the 2003 version is compatible with Windows 10.

    I would be happy to explore your suggestion:

    "the free 'Office type' programs that can both read and create MS Office docs"

    Can you be specific about what these alternatives are?  Thank you.

    6 people found this answer helpful.
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  5. Stefan Blom 339K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2021-04-29T17:53:41+00:00

    You can try the phone number for your region from this article:

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/-telephone-activation-is-no-longer-supported-for-your-product-error-when-activating-office-9b016cd2-0811-4cb3-b896-5a6a13177713

    Stay on the line until an actual person responds.

    3 people found this answer helpful.
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