New computer and Microsoft 365

[Parkette]

I have been using a very old Dell laptop using XP and 2002 versions of Word and Excel from a disc, I still have those discs.

I know that a lot of tech has moved on since then but to be honest, they worked just fine for me, my needs are very simple. The computer has been on its last legs for a while, the battery doesnt work, keys are sticky but on friday the hinge broke, so that was it. I have ordered a new Lenovo laptop.

I have some Word and Excel documents that I use, from time to time. I see that the new computer comes with Microsoft 365 but I think I have to pay for it, is it £100 a year? I cannot justify a subscription for the amount of use that I will get from my Word and Excel,

I would be grateful if I could have some advice please

Should I uninstall 365 when the computer arrives?

Will I be able to use the old Word docs after I uninstall 365?

Should I install 2002 Word and Excel from my old discs?

Any advice that you can give would be most welcome.

[Mr Pointy]

MS365 Personal is £60/year but that includes 1TB of online storage if that's any use to you:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-365/p/mi...

It's probably best to not install your Office 2002 copy over 365 so I'd delete 365 first. One thing to be wary of is I'm not sure if 2002 will install on Windows 10, althouh there are some reports it will work in Compatibility Mode.

If you uninstall MS365 is normally not a problem to get it back if you decide to change - you can download it from MS.

If they are straightforward Office documents & you don't need to exchange files with anyone else using MS365 you could always try the free equivalent from LibreOffice:
https://www.libreoffice.org/download/download/

[Parkette]

Thank you, that is really helpful

I will look into Libre,

Much appreciated

Edited by Parkette on Saturday 15th August 11:09

[Corso Marche]

Take a look at https://www.onlyoffice.com/desktop.aspx

There are free versions for home use. And there are free online versions too if you need to access files/documents from elsewhere or share them with others. I've tried all the most popular alternatives to MS Office and this is currently by far the best in my opinion. It definitely offers the absolute best compatibility with Office files, so if you have a lot of old files to move across you might have a higher degree of success with this over LibreOffice and others.

[Parkette]

Corso Marche said:

Take a look at https://www.onlyoffice.com/desktop.aspx

There are free versions for home use. And there are free online versions too if you need to access files/documents from elsewhere or share them with others. I've tried all the most popular alternatives to MS Office and this is currently by far the best in my opinion. It definitely offers the absolute best compatibility with Office files, so if you have a lot of old files to move across you might have a higher degree of success with this over LibreOffice and others.

Many thanks

[phil4]

And you can buy office standalone from Ebuyer and the like too: https://www.ebuyer.com/855040-office-home-and-stud...

Microsoft would dearly love you to join 365, so they can keep getting a yearly drip of money without needing to write or sell you a new version every few years. They can save doing the new version, and save on the marketing/selling.

It's the way it's all going though unfortunately.

[rgw2012]

Argos are doing a full 365 Home subscription(6 users) for £39.99 (with McAffee Total Protect as well if you want it) - cheapest 365 deal out there at the moment

[Trustmeimadoctor]

Or office standalone for about 20 from Amazon and ebay

[bitchstewie]

If it's really basic just use Office Online Free.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-365/free...

[buggalugs]

You sound like a potential candidate for Libre Office, the look and operation of it will be closer to what you're used to with Office XP or 2003 or whatever than the latest 365 will be too.

[NGRhodes]

I use LibreOffice for my own docs and its fine for occasional/light use.
There is always online version of Office for free.
Most people who use Office 365 at work can also install on their home machines (I think 5 in total), needs your work login to activate, but after that you can use a personal login.

[dhutch]

Software Geeks do very inexpensive 'reclaimed' licenses for office. Which is what I usually do.

[Parkette]

Computer has arrived, its horrible.

Windows 10 is a mess compared to XP, Cannot find My Computer, pendrives arent recognised,, no driver for the discs.

[Trustmeimadoctor]

Machines don't need cd/dvd drives to these days everything is digital distribution. 10 is fine but it's a bit of a change from xp but doesn't take long to get to grips with for an average turn it on use it kinda person.


What makes you think your pen drive isn't recognised? My computer doesn't exist just use file explorer the yellow folder

[Mr Pointy]

Parkette said:

Computer has arrived, its horrible.

Windows 10 is a mess compared to XP, Cannot find My Computer, pendrives arent recognised,, no driver for the discs.

I realise that moving up to Win10 can be disorientating & I'm about to go through the same transition with my sister who finds change very difficult to cope with. There is a program called Open Shell (use to be Classic Shell) which can provide an interface much more similar to the one you are used to. I haven't tried it myself but it may be useful for you:

https://open-shell.github.io/Open-Shell-Menu/
http://www.classicshell.net/

[Parkette]

Trustmeimadoctor said:

Machines don't need cd/dvd drives to these days everything is digital distribution. 10 is fine but it's a bit of a change from xp but doesn't take long to get to grips with for an average turn it on use it kinda person.


What makes you think your pen drive isn't recognised? My computer doesn't exist just use file explorer the yellow folder

I went to File Explorer and it couldnt see the pen drive at all, just wasnt there.

I had about 500 docs and pics to be moved across from a non blue tooth computer, I was trying to avoid Office on the new computer and Google Docs was really clunky, in fact the whole computer was really slow, over 10 minutes to open gmail for example.

To be honest, I have boxed the computer up to take back.

Edited by Parkette on Monday 17th August 16:01

[dhutch]

I went via Win7, but while it has changed and does feel very funny initially, it does settle down fairly fast imo.

[Trustmeimadoctor]

Any link to what you bought?

[mmm-five]

Parkette said:

I went to File Explorer and it couldnt see the pen drive at all, just wasnt there.

I had about 500 docs and pics to be moved across from a non blue tooth computer, I was trying to avoid Office on the new computer and Google Docs was really clunky, in fact the whole computer was really slow, over 10 minutes to open gmail for example.

To be honest, I have boxed the computer up to take back.

What model did you order? Is it a very cheap/basic one or very expensive/fast one?

Is the computer still installing all the Windows updates that didn't make it onto the laptop before it was sent out? (my sister's £400 IdeaPad 3 spent about a day of downloading, restarting & indexing before it was ready for normal use).

BTW, this is how you add This PC (aka 'my computer') to the desktop.

Edited by mmm-five on Monday 17th August 16:22

[Trustmeimadoctor]

You needed to see if drive was visible in disk management really sometimes they don't get given a drive letter but you can see them if they have been detected there