Re: SOLVED: How to download an ISO image for Office 2007 Pro in the year 2018

[Arlen Holder]

On Mon, 6 Apr 2020 02:59:29 +0530, Arlen Holder wrote:

> Given I re-imaged the system recently, I had to download the Office 2007,
> where the office-2007-pro download URL in this thread _still_ works today
> without needing to call Microsoft Office support at +1-800-360-7561.
> <https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=27838>
>
> Here is this original 2018 thread on obtaining MS Office 2007 installers.
> o *SOLVED: How to download an ISO image for Office 2007 Pro in the year 2018*
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msg/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/7ru4_AyhPCY/zVvnOpmAAwAJ>
> Where these are key posts by Shadow & Paul:
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msg/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/7ru4_AyhPCY/O2k-41oNAwAJ>
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msg/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/7ru4_AyhPCY/8JxSMxBWAgAJ>
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msg/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/7ru4_AyhPCY/b5zePO8KAwAJ>
> etc.
>
> Based on those links posted in 2018, I had tried this first:
> <http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/01/209774629-10300055--NOA//office2010/X16-69453.exe>
> But that just redirected me to an Office 365 subscription page:
> <https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/home-use-program?rtc=1>
>
> Then I tried this URL, which acted strange, as nothing happened:
> <http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/01/32000519-3082940-O12SBATR-NOA/msoffice/pub/X12-30283/X12-30283.exe>
>
> *This is the only link that finally worked for me in April 2020*:
> <https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=27838>
> That downloaded "X12-30196.exe" from http://web.archive.org, specifically:
> <http://web.archive.org/web/20120111100736/http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msoffice/pub/X12-30196/X12-30196.exe>
> Which shows up in the Control-J download link as:
> <http://web.archive.org/web/20120111100736if_/http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msoffice/pub/X12-30196/X12-30196.exe>
> Whose 7-zip hash appears to be:
> Name: X12-30196.exe
> Size: 407010384 bytes (388 MiB)
> SHA256: 87542421E545C2F52416DC6216E98BB13ADB425424744EDB8B2C667619D27C68
>
> Doubleclicking on that installer file comes up with:
> Extracting files, please wait...
> Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007 <== note the "Plus" whatever that means?
> After choosing a custom installation, it says:
> Space required for Local Installation Source: 407MB
> Space required for program files: 798MB
> Total space required on drive: 1305MB
> Enter your 25-character Product Key:
> {you can skip this step for now, or enter the 25-character key}
>
> By default, it wants to be installed into:
> C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office
> But you should put it where it belongs, which, for me, is:
> C:\app\editor\msoffice
>
> Then it comes up with a window saying:
> Installing Microsoft Office Professional 2007...
> And, after a few minutes, the window says:
> Microsoft office Professional 2007 has been successfully installed.
>
> Note: I have no idea what the "plus" meant, but separately I ran:
> Name: SaveAsPDFandXPS.exe
> Size: 956344 bytes (933 KiB)
> SHA256: 32769F304991D8D5836D9AFADF20DB1FBAF6876F29E5FEB0D19C5B806A67441D
> Which installed the "Save as PDF" option to Microsoft Office 2007.
>
> BTW, it's off topic, but here is an Office 2010 download link also suggested:
> <https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/office?culture=en-US&ref=o12>
> Where I haven't tested that out yet (I will soon, but it's off topic here).
>
> And here's the thread where the BSOD forced a re-installation of Windows:
> o Windows 10 BSOD indicates a hardware problem - but what hardware is the problem?
> <https://alt.comp.os.windows-10.narkive.com/oL7PTNKu/windows-10-bsod-indicates-a-hardware-problem-but-what-hardware-is-the-problem>
> --
> Usenet is a public permanent archive of useful polite technical discussions.

Update

Yet again I needed to re-image the Win10 system due to failures to reboot after a hardware-related BSODs, as described in detail in this thread:
o Windows 10 BSOD indicates a hardware problem - but what hardware is the problem?
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.comp.microsoft.windows/u0ay9h777Wg>

After wiping the HDD, I had to re-install MS Office 2007 Pro, as per:
o SOLVED: How to download an ISO image for Office 2007 Pro in the year 2018
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/7ru4_AyhPCY>

Picking up where that M$ Office 2007 pro installation tutorial left off...
A. Make a "before" system restore point
Win+R > sysdm.cpl > System Protection > Create
B. Reboot (just to make sure the BSOD isn't on the verge of happening)
C. Install MS Office 2007 & the SaveAsPDF plugin (see instructions below)
D. Make an "after" system restore point
E. Reboot

Where the office installation step above is expanded as follows:

1. Doubleclick on X16-69453.exe saved from the previous tutorial's download
Name: X16-69453.exe
Size: 420496200 bytes (401 MiB)
SHA256: EF7A104E2CD4A75B5EF1CBBDC7D0F51B26DDEEFFF2BF0C9CF73844FC0C5D76D7

After the UAC access consent, it says
"Microsoft Office Plus 2007 extracting files, please wait."
When it asks "Enter your Product Key" type your 25-character Product key
ABCDE-ABCDE-ABCDE-ABCDE-ABCDE (a green checkmark will show up if valid)
Press [Continue]

2. Choose "Customize" when you see [Install now][Customize]
Check the "File Location" tab and change from:
File Location C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office
Change to: (this will be wherever your well-organized system puts things)
File Location C:\app\editor\suite\msoffice
Set the User Information to "." for the "Full Name" and "Initials"
(this doesn't seem to do anything - see later for details on why)

3. Turn everything it wants to install OFF first.
Then turn on ONLY what you want.

What I had wanted for a typical home computer was:
Microsoft Office Excel ==> Run from My Computer
Microsoft Office PowerPoint ==> Run from My Computer
Organization Chart Add-in for Microsoft Office programs ==> Run from My Computer
Microsoft Office Word ==> Run from My Computer
Office Shared Features
Converters and Files ==> Run all from My Computer
Office Tools
Equation Editor ==> Run from My Computer
Microsoft Graph ==> Run from My Computer
Total space required on drive: 882 MB
Press [Install Now]
It says "Microsoft Office Professional 2007 has been successfully installed."
[Close]

4. Also run the "SaveAsPDFandXPS.exe to add "Save As PDF" to MSOffice 2007.
Microsoft Office 2007 can only "print" to PDF and not "Save as PDF"
unless you add this tool.
Name: SaveAsPDFandXPS.exe
Size: 956344 bytes (933 KiB)
SHA256: 32769F304991D8D5836D9AFADF20DB1FBAF6876F29E5FEB0D19C5B806A67441D

2007 Microsoft Office Add-in: Microsoft Save as PDF or XPS
<https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=7>

5. The installer doesn't create any desktop shortcuts so you need
to put manually them in your taskbar menu C:\data\menu\editor\msoffice\
C:\app\editor\suite\msoffice\Office12\WINWORD.EXE
C:\app\editor\suite\msoffice\Office12\EXCEL.EXE
C:\app\editor\suite\msoffice\Office12\POWERPNT.EXE
C:\app\editor\suite\msoffice\Office12\ORGCHART.EXE

6. When you run any MS Office 2007 app, it brings up the Activation Wizard.
It says if you don't activate, you can run 24 more times and that's it.
If you choose to activate by telephone, it gives you this Installation Code
053633-428156-172221-685512-612944-854365-191614-758326-985554
But then it says:
Telephone Activation is no longer supported for your product.
(I also entered the old activation codes from a while ago but they didn't work.)
It says to enter your confirmation code but you can't get that by phone.

So the only thing you an do is activate over the Internet, which works fine.
"Thank You. Your copy of Microsoft Office Professional 2007 is activated"

7. I would remove the username from the documents:
Excel:Flag > Excel Options > Popular > User name: . > [OK]
PowerPoint:Flag > PowerPoint Options > Popular > User Name: . Initials . > [OK]
Word:Flag > Word Options > Popular > User Name: . Initials . > [OK]

8. I would archive the C:\MSOCache folder somewhere as a zip file (just in case).
Then I would delete C:\MSOCache because it clutters up the root filesystem.

9. And, I would remove the crap MS added to the right-click context menu.
New > Microsoft Office Word Document
New > Microsoft Office PowerPoint Presentation
New > Microsoft Office Excel Workbook

All I ever want in my right-click context menu is:
a. New Folder
b. New Shortcut
c. New Text Document (with a default name that I set in the registry)
HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\NamingTemplates
Create a new string value subkey:
"ShortcutNameTemplate"="\"%s.lnk\""
"RenameNameTemplate"="readme"

To disable unwanted right-click-new menu entries,
start Nirsoft ShellMenuNew.exe, & right click on the menu items
you don't want to see, and select "disable" in the Nirsoft app.
<https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/shell_menu_new.html>

That's pretty much how I installed MS Office 2007 Pro in August 2020.
--
Usenet is a web searchable public archive of useful tutorials & solutions.

[Ant]

That's a lot of work. I didn't have to use any of these with my retail
CD a few years ago for my decade old, clean installed updated 64-bit W7
HPE SP1 PC (not sure if W10 will be OK?). :)
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[Roger Mills]

On 28/08/2020 05:29, Ant wrote:
> In alt.windows7.general Arlen Holder<arlen_...@newmachines.com> wrote:
>> On Mon, 6 Apr 2020 02:59:29 +0530, Arlen Holder wrote:
>
>>> Given I re-imaged the system recently, I had to download the Office 2007,
>>> where the office-2007-pro download URL in this thread _still_ works today
>>> without needing to call Microsoft Office support at +1-800-360-7561.
>>> <https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=27838>
>>>
>>> Here is this original 2018 thread on obtaining MS Office 2007 installers.
>>> o *SOLVED: How to download an ISO image for Office 2007 Pro in the year 2018*
>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msg/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/7ru4_AyhPCY/zVvnOpmAAwAJ>

>>> Where these are key posts by Shadow& Paul:

>> C. Install MS Office 2007& the SaveAsPDF plugin (see instructions below)

>> start Nirsoft ShellMenuNew.exe,& right click on the menu items

>> you don't want to see, and select "disable" in the Nirsoft app.
>> <https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/shell_menu_new.html>
>
>> That's pretty much how I installed MS Office 2007 Pro in August 2020.
>
> That's a lot of work. I didn't have to use any of these with my retail
> CD a few years ago for my decade old, clean installed updated 64-bit W7
> HPE SP1 PC (not sure if W10 will be OK?). :)

I've still got an Office 2007 DVD from which I installed it on W10. But
since it's no longer supported, I haven't been able to get any updates.
I've also no longer got the Save as PDF option - but maybe the previous
post gives a clue for that. I'll have a look!
--
Cheers,
Roger
____________
Please reply to Newsgroup. Whilst email address is valid, it is seldom
checked.

[Arlen Holder]

On Fri, 28 Aug 2020 17:30:41 +0100, Roger Mills wrote:

> I've still got an Office 2007 DVD from which I installed it on W10. But
> since it's no longer supported, I haven't been able to get any updates.
> I've also no longer got the Save as PDF option - but maybe the previous
> post gives a clue for that. I'll have a look!

Hi Roger Mills,

Even though Office 2007 isn't supported, I reported that Microsoft
_installed_ it (via remote access) for me _after_ the 2018 cutoff date.

I simply called them, and told them the key, and they asked for permission
to remotely install it, and they installed it on my desktop for me.

I don't know if they _still_ do that, but the fact it's not supported is,
to me, meaningless in all manners since I don't _need_ anything more than
what was already in Office 2007 anyway.

The only thing I needed that wasn't in Office 2007 was the SaveAsPdf which
I obtained, at the time, from here:
<https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=7>

Just run the SaveAsPDFandXPS.exe after installing Office 2007.

Name: SaveAsPDFandXPS.exe
Size: 956344 bytes (933 KiB)
SHA256: 32769F304991D8D5836D9AFADF20DB1FBAF6876F29E5FEB0D19C5B806A67441D

BTW, here are the URLs from the thread of 2018, which I found via a
dejagoogle search just now for you:
BTW, these seem to be the URLs given, so far, for the Office 2007 Pro iso.

1. From Microsoft, but didn't work for Microsoft or for me.
<http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/01/209774629-10300055--NOA//office2010/X16-69453.exe>

2. From Microsoft, and which is what they used, but no longer works for me.
<http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/01/32000519-3082940-O12SBATR-NOA/msoffice/pub/X12-30283/X12-30283.exe>

3. I don't remember who posted this link:
<http://web.archive.org/web/20120111100736/http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msoffice/pub/X12-30196/X12-30196.exe>

4. From Shadow (this is what I installed in 2020 but I had it already):
http://msassist.com/files/MSOffice/2007/Pro/X16-69453.exe>

5. From Paul:
<http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msoffice/pub/X12-30196/X12-30196.exe>

I currently have both the X12 and X16 in my software archives:

Name: X12-30196.exe
Size: 407010384 bytes (388 MiB)
SHA256: 87542421E545C2F52416DC6216E98BB13ADB425424744EDB8B2C667619D27C68

Name: X16-69453.exe
Size: 420496200 bytes (401 MiB)
SHA256: EF7A104E2CD4A75B5EF1CBBDC7D0F51B26DDEEFFF2BF0C9CF73844FC0C5D76D7

--
The beauty of Usenet is the public web-searchable dejagoogle archives.

[Ant]

In microsoft.public.windowsxp.general Roger Mills <watt....@gmail.com> wrote:
...

> >> That's pretty much how I installed MS Office 2007 Pro in August 2020.
> >
> > That's a lot of work. I didn't have to use any of these with my retail

> > DVD a few years ago for my decade old, clean installed updated 64-bit W7

> > HPE SP1 PC (not sure if W10 will be OK?). :)

> I've still got an Office 2007 DVD from which I installed it on W10. But
> since it's no longer supported, I haven't been able to get any updates.
> I've also no longer got the Save as PDF option - but maybe the previous
> post gives a clue for that. I'll have a look!

Wait. Windows Updates stopped offering Office 2007 updates? Aw. I wonder
if it stopped in 64-bit W7 too. I can't check since I already have all
the updates. I know its online help doesn't work. :(

[Roger Mills]

On 29/08/2020 05:13, Ant wrote:
> In microsoft.public.windowsxp.general Roger Mills<watt....@gmail.com> wrote:
> ...
>>>> That's pretty much how I installed MS Office 2007 Pro in August 2020.
>>>
>>> That's a lot of work. I didn't have to use any of these with my retail
>>> DVD a few years ago for my decade old, clean installed updated 64-bit W7
>>> HPE SP1 PC (not sure if W10 will be OK?). :)
>
>> I've still got an Office 2007 DVD from which I installed it on W10. But
>> since it's no longer supported, I haven't been able to get any updates.
>> I've also no longer got the Save as PDF option - but maybe the previous
>> post gives a clue for that. I'll have a look!
>
> Wait. Windows Updates stopped offering Office 2007 updates? Aw. I wonder
> if it stopped in 64-bit W7 too. I can't check since I already have all
> the updates. I know its online help doesn't work. :(

My W7 machines on which I installed Office 2007 years ago have received
lots of security updates and bug fixes. Since it's no longer supported,
the version recently installed on W10 hasn't had *any* updates.

[Arlen Holder]

On Sun, 30 Aug 2020 13:12:59 +0100, Roger Mills wrote:

> My W7 machines on which I installed Office 2007 years ago have received
> lots of security updates and bug fixes. Since it's no longer supported,
> the version recently installed on W10 hasn't had *any* updates.

While I don't disagree Office 2007 isn't likely updated, that's almost like
worrying that a 2007 vehicle hasn't had any updates from the manufacturer.

Why does it matter?

Like a 2007 vehicle, it works just as well in 2020 as it did in 2007, and,
in actuality, just as with a 2007 vehicle, there's nothing but MARKETING
changes (e.g., the exterior GUI changes a lot) between the old & the new.

But maybe you see things differently than I do (I'm a home user, btw),
where a corporate user would see things differently, I'm sure.

Maybe you're worried about viruses?
o Is that a realistic threat?

Dunno. I don't use AV programs and, to my knowledge, I haven't had a virus
in, oh, probably decades (in the beginning I _did_ get them, but that was
in the floppy disk days - then I used all the freeware AV programs for
years, but they just slowed down the system).

In the end, I simply gave up on all that (although to this day I don't know
what the heck Windows Defender is doing in terms of AV protection).

To better get at why you lament that Office 2007 is no longer updated... I
need to ask what it is that you want them to update.

Is it the functionality or the security that you're worried about?
o What functionality do you need that is in new Office but not old Office?
o What security is it that you're worried about in home use of Office docs?
--
Usenet is an interesting public archived source of other people's opinions.

[Arlen Holder]

On Fri, 28 Aug 2020 23:13:46 -0500, Ant wrote:

> Wait. Windows Updates stopped offering Office 2007 updates? Aw. I wonder
> if it stopped in 64-bit W7 too. I can't check since I already have all
> the updates. I know its online help doesn't work. :(

Hi Ant,

I usually see you over in the Apple newsgroups... good to see you here.

I am faithfully trying to figure out why someone would care about
'updating' Office 2007, where I can only think of, offhand, two reasons,
neither of which is a worry for me (as a home user) but maybe for others?
1. security fixes
2. functionality improvements

As for functionality improvements, I asked long ago that basic question:
o What useful functionality is in the newer Microsoft Office that isn't already in the older MSOffice 2007 Pro?
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/sKGer09EakA>

As for security improvements, I asked, just now, this related question:
o Do you use the native default Windows 10 Windows Defender as your sole security/av protection?
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.comp.microsoft.windows/KFoFnBuoaag>

In my humble opinion, almost nothing improves appreciably over time,
whether that's a program like Super or CCleaner that starts out well and
then goes bad over time, or if it's the operating system itself:
o What can you do on Windows 10 that you can't do on Windows XP or Windows 7?
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/fJBY472ds3E>

Given it's likely not functionality, then it's perhaps security?
o But what security is in Office <latest> that's not in Office 2007 then?
--
Usenet is a public web-searchable archive of useful tutorials & opinions.

[Roger Mills]

On 30/08/2020 21:03, Arlen Holder wrote:
> On Sun, 30 Aug 2020 13:12:59 +0100, Roger Mills wrote:
>
>> My W7 machines on which I installed Office 2007 years ago have received
>> lots of security updates and bug fixes. Since it's no longer supported,
>> the version recently installed on W10 hasn't had *any* updates.
>

>

> To better get at why you lament that Office 2007 is no longer updated... I
> need to ask what it is that you want them to update.
>
> Is it the functionality or the security that you're worried about?
> o What functionality do you need that is in new Office but not old Office?
> o What security is it that you're worried about in home use of Office docs?

Mainly security. Some of the security patches were allegedly to fix
vulnerabilities which may allow your system to be hacked - but I don't
know how real they were.
I have a feeling that some bugs were identified and fixed, but can't
remember what they were. I'm not interested in additional functionality.

But I would like to be able to save as PDF. I'm hoping the link you
cited will fix that, but I'm currently away from my W10 system for a few
days so can't test that at the moment.

[Arlen Holder]

On Sun, 30 Aug 2020 23:13:19 +0100, Roger Mills wrote:

> Mainly security. Some of the security patches were allegedly to fix
> vulnerabilities which may allow your system to be hacked - but I don't
> know how real they were.
> I have a feeling that some bugs were identified and fixed, but can't
> remember what they were. I'm not interested in additional functionality.

Hi Roger,
Thanks for answering why you were worried.
I can't tell you not to worry, but I pretty much don't worry about that.

I got viruses decades ago for sure, in the floppy disc days, but I haven't
had a virus in decades (that I know of), so I'm not worried about that (but
I can understand if you are - and that's ok - I just wanted to know what
you were worried about not being updated).

To me it's like owning a 2007 car. It works as well as it did in 2007,
which was good enough for me when I bought it.

> But I would like to be able to save as PDF. I'm hoping the link you
> cited will fix that, but I'm currently away from my W10 system for a few
> days so can't test that at the moment.

I hope it's still there... let me check...
o <https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=7>
Drat. That's not there anymore. Sorry.

Googling the hash "32769F304991D8D5836D9AFADF20DB1FBAF6876F29E5FEB0D19C5B806A67441D"
<https://www.herdprotect.com/saveaspdfandxps.exe-4cf2d0791d8668fb4857504a178e883ab3d98533.aspx>

Dunno if those old links still work but the google found this:
o <https://archive.org/details/4F059E20CDA1306BF48F1337F23C89FC452A7040>

Another option for you is simply to print to PDF, where there are a ton of
freeware apps that allow you to print anything to PDf (even Microsoft
Windows 10 comes with a print to PDF, doesn't it)?

See also:
o Please improve this listing of available freeware PDF functionality
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/Vm6NyZz7g9U>
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.comp.freeware/iB5aOor0-Kw>
--
Maybe others have a waybackmachine link to the Office 2007 save-as-pdf?

[Arlen Holder]

UPDATE:

Hi Roger,

Googling for "SaveAsPDFandXPS.exe" finds more opportunities than googling
for the hash did (my mistake).

That simple search found plenty of downloads for you to try.

Dunno about the "virus status" of these though.

Maybe helpful folks like Paul know how to test that stuff better than I
can, as I generally don't download from unknown sources...

<https://techjourney.net/direct-download-link-for-office-2007-save-as-pdf-or-xps-with-no-validation/>
<https://techsalsa.com/download-office-2007-save-as-pdf-and-xps-add-on/>
<https://www.filehippo-filehippo.com/2007-microsoft-office-add-in-microsoft-save-as-pdf-or-xps/>
<https://www.pconlife.com/viewfileinfo/saveaspdfandxps-exe/>
<https://ccm.net/download/download-24107-microsoft-save-as-pdf-or-xps>
<https://microsoft-save-as-pdf-or-xps-add-in-for.software.informer.com/download/>
<https://softfamous.com/microsoft-save-pdf-xps/>
etc.

What I would do if I downloaded any of those, since they didn't come
directly from Microsoft, is I would scan them (somehow) and then also
doublecheck if any have the same hash as the one from Microsoft does:

Name: SaveAsPDFandXPS.exe
Size: 956344 bytes (933 KiB)
SHA256: 32769F304991D8D5836D9AFADF20DB1FBAF6876F29E5FEB0D19C5B806A67441D

--
The most helpful Usenet posters generally follow through on their results.

[Paul]

Roger Mills wrote:

>
> But I would like to be able to save as PDF. I'm hoping the link you
> cited will fix that, but I'm currently away from my W10 system for a few
> days so can't test that at the moment.

There's a Print To PDF print driver already installed
in Windows 10.

Paul

[Chris]

This. Or try libreoffice. It'll read office files quite well for export to
pdf.

[Tim Slattery]

Arlen Holder <arlen_...@newmachines.com> wrote:

>On Sun, 30 Aug 2020 13:12:59 +0100, Roger Mills wrote:
>
>> My W7 machines on which I installed Office 2007 years ago have received
>> lots of security updates and bug fixes. Since it's no longer supported,
>> the version recently installed on W10 hasn't had *any* updates.
>
>While I don't disagree Office 2007 isn't likely updated, that's almost like
>worrying that a 2007 vehicle hasn't had any updates from the manufacturer.
>
>Why does it matter?
>
>Like a 2007 vehicle, it works just as well in 2020 as it did in 2007, and,
>in actuality, just as with a 2007 vehicle, there's nothing but MARKETING
>changes (e.g., the exterior GUI changes a lot) between the old & the new.

One biggie is that the Help system for Office 2007 was entirely
online. Nowadays, if you use the Help menu in Office 2007 you just get
a message that the product is no longer supported. Not much help! Of
course there are resources: web forums, newsgroups, mailing lists,
google, etc, etc. But it's a PITA that the help menu is utterly
useless.

--
Tim Slattery
tim <at> risingdove <dot> com

[Arlen Holder]

On Mon, 31 Aug 2020 10:54:07 -0000 (UTC), Chris wrote:

> This. Or try libreoffice.
> It'll read office files quite well for export to pdf.

For years (and years) I tried office replacments, but they never worked
well on reasonably sophisticated MS Office documents.
o My experience was one in ten converted documents was a keeper.

So I gave up about 5 or 10 years ago on Office lookalikes.
o Do they work better now?

If it's not exact WYSIWYG in the replacement, it's no good in "many" cases.

Particularly because you don't know what it previously looked like
unless you ALSO have Office (or a WYSIWYG printout of the document).
--
On Usenet, people exchange ideas & politely flesh out topics of import.

[Paul]

The point is, this is a system-wide print-to-pdf facility.

I think the only reason Windows 10 got it, was to match the Apple OS.

Notice that the output to XPS facility still exists.
And how many customers could possibly be using that ?
Maybe the Smithsonian needed it, to print a sample
document entitled "Example of defunct XPS output".

Microsoft tried to make a competitor to PDF, and XPS
was it. I think they might have even changed XPS at
one point, such that the XPS output of one Windows
OS, would not work on another Windows OS :-/
(Which is the very purpose of portable document formats.)

For those keeping track, a very nice capability (print-to-PDF) exists for:
no reason at all.

Paul

[Ant]

Was there ever an offline help version from Office 2007?

[Arlen Holder]

On Tue, 01 Sep 2020 16:32:55 -0400, Paul wrote:

> Notice that the output to XPS facility still exists.
> And how many customers could possibly be using that ?
> Maybe the Smithsonian needed it, to print a sample
> document entitled "Example of defunct XPS output".

Hi Paul,
I blurted out my drink when I read that Smithsonian example! :)
o Thanks for the sensibly stated well-intended illustrative humor.

Like many, I'm rather old, and I've _never_ needed XPS in my life.
o What the heck is the use for it that is practical anyway?

As for printing to PDF, I've been adding the PDF driver for decades,
as has almost everyone here, at least until MS added it to the OS.

The PDF printer driver I used, most, was:
o cutePDF Writer <https://www.cutepdf.com/index.htm>
<https://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp>
<https://www.cutepdf.com/download/CuteWriter.exe>

Where I just noticed it also has a "PDF Editor" freeware???
o CutePDF Editor <https://www.cutepdf-editor.com/>
Which "seems" to be a webapp of some kind in the browser???
o <https://editor.cutepdf.com/>

Has anyone used that to _edit_ PDF files?
o What do you think of it?
--
Usenet allows intelligent adults to exchange ideas on technical issues.

[Roger Mills]

On 01/09/2020 16:24, Arlen Holder wrote:
> On Mon, 31 Aug 2020 10:54:07 -0000 (UTC), Chris wrote:
>
>> This. Or try libreoffice.
>> It'll read office files quite well for export to pdf.
>
> For years (and years) I tried office replacments, but they never worked
> well on reasonably sophisticated MS Office documents.
> o My experience was one in ten converted documents was a keeper.
>
> So I gave up about 5 or 10 years ago on Office lookalikes.
> o Do they work better now?
>
> If it's not exact WYSIWYG in the replacement, it's no good in "many" cases.
>
> Particularly because you don't know what it previously looked like
> unless you ALSO have Office (or a WYSIWYG printout of the document).

Maybe - but even if you transfer an MS Word document created on one
computer to another computer running MS Word there's no guarantee that
it will look the same - depending on the setup of the two computers,
available fonts, etc. It's much more likely to look the same if PDF
format is used - but it's not then readily editable. I doubt whether the
disparity between Office lookalikes is any worse than that between
different MS Word setups - particularly different versions.

[Roger Mills]

On 01/09/2020 22:15, Ant wrote:
> In alt.windows7.general Tim Slattery<t...@risingdove.com> wrote:
>> Arlen Holder<arlen_...@newmachines.com> wrote:
>
>>> On Sun, 30 Aug 2020 13:12:59 +0100, Roger Mills wrote:
>>>
>>>> My W7 machines on which I installed Office 2007 years ago have received
>>>> lots of security updates and bug fixes. Since it's no longer supported,
>>>> the version recently installed on W10 hasn't had *any* updates.
>>>
>>> While I don't disagree Office 2007 isn't likely updated, that's almost like
>>> worrying that a 2007 vehicle hasn't had any updates from the manufacturer.
>>>
>>> Why does it matter?
>>>
>>> Like a 2007 vehicle, it works just as well in 2020 as it did in 2007, and,
>>> in actuality, just as with a 2007 vehicle, there's nothing but MARKETING

>>> changes (e.g., the exterior GUI changes a lot) between the old& the new.

>
>> One biggie is that the Help system for Office 2007 was entirely
>> online. Nowadays, if you use the Help menu in Office 2007 you just get
>> a message that the product is no longer supported. Not much help! Of
>> course there are resources: web forums, newsgroups, mailing lists,
>> google, etc, etc. But it's a PITA that the help menu is utterly
>> useless.
>
> Was there ever an offline help version from Office 2007?

Yes - pretty sure the Help I've got with Office 2007 on W7 is offline
and doesn't need an internet connection. But there doesn't seem to be a
compatible native Help viewer in W10.

[Arlen Holder]

On Tue, 01 Sep 2020 23:11:17 +0100, Roger Mills wrote:

> Yes - pretty sure the Help I've got with Office 2007 on W7 is offline
> and doesn't need an internet connection. But there doesn't seem to be a
> compatible native Help viewer in W10.

This is interesting discussion between you and Ant,
where, personally, I've never found _any_ documentation
from Microsoft much help (it seems).

Nonetheless, I do have Office 2007 installed, so what
I'll do it re-run the installer (although I have to put the
C:\MSOCache back I think as I had removed it) to see if
"Documentation" is an installation option.

Drat. I deleted the C:\MSOCache, where I only have a 400MB
older archive; but I can still re-run the installer.

Name: X16-69453.exe
Size: 420496200 bytes (401 MiB)
SHA256: EF7A104E2CD4A75B5EF1CBBDC7D0F51B26DDEEFFF2BF0C9CF73844FC0C5D76D7

First question:
(o)Add or Remove Features
(_)Repair
(_)Remove
[Continue]

Hmmmmmmmm... I expected to see "Documentation", but it's not in the list.
User Information
Installation Options

Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office Access
.NET Programmability Support
Access Templates
Additional Wizards
Calendar Control
Typical Wizards

Microsoft Office Excel
.NET Programmability Support
Add-ins
Sample Files

Microsoft Office Outlook
.NET Programmability Support
Importers and Exporters
Organization Chart Add-in for Microsoft Office programsOutlook Add-ins
Organization Chart Add-in for Microsoft Office programsOutlook Messaging Components
Organization Chart Add-in for Microsoft Office programsOutlook Stationaery
Organization Chart Add-in for Microsoft Office programsOutlook Templates
Organization Chart Add-in for Microsoft Office programsVisual Basic Sdripting Support

Microsoft Office PowerPoint
.NET Programmability Support

Organization Chart Add-in for Microsoft Office programs

Microsoft Office Publishier
.NET Programmability Support
Commercial Printing
Organization Chart Add-in for Microsoft Office programsFont Schemes
Organization Chart Add-in for Microsoft Office programsPaperDirect Previews
Organization Chart Add-in for Microsoft Office programsPublisher Tmemplates

Microsoft Office Visio Viewer

Microsoft Office Word
.NET Programmability Support
Page Border Art
Quick Formatting Files

Office Shared Features
Clip Organizer
Clip Organizer Collections
AutoShapes and Themes
Clips
Popular Clip Art
Clips
Converters and filters
Graphics Filters
Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM) File Import
Encapsulated Postscript (EPS) File Import
Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) File Import
Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) File Import
Macintosh Graphics (PICT) File Import
Portable Network Graphics (PNG) File Import
WordPerfect Graphics (WPG) File Import
Text Converters
Recover Text Converter
WordPerfect 5.x Converter
WordPerfect 6.x Converter
Works 7.0-9.0 Converter for Windows
Digital Certificates for VBA Projects
Fonts
Additional TrueType Fonts
International Support
Japanese Font
Universal Font
Microsoft Office Access Database Replication Conflict Manager
Microsoft Office Download Control
Microsoft Office Themes
New and Open Microsoft Office Document Shortcuts
Proofing Tools
English Proofing Tools
French Proofing Tools
Spanish Proofing Tools
Translation Core Files
Visual Basic For Applications
Web Themes
Additional Web Themes
Typical Web Themes

Office Tools
Document Update Utility
Equation Editor
Hosted Webs
Language Settings tool
Microsoft Forms 2.0 >NET Programmability Support
Microsoft Graph
Microsoft Office document Imaging
Microsoft Office Picture Manager
Microsoft Query
Microsoft Script Editor (HTML Source Editing)
Research Explore Bar
Smart Tag .NET Programmability Support
Smart Tag Plugins
System Information
Windows SharePoint Services Support [RFMC]
Microsoft Office Access Web Datasheet Component [RFMC]
Windows SharePoint Services Support [RFMC]
--
Usenet allows purposefully helpful people to assist each other.

[Arlen Holder]

On Tue, 01 Sep 2020 23:05:27 +0100, Roger Mills wrote:

> Maybe - but even if you transfer an MS Word document created on one
> computer to another computer running MS Word there's no guarantee that
> it will look the same - depending on the setup of the two computers,
> available fonts, etc. It's much more likely to look the same if PDF
> format is used - but it's not then readily editable. I doubt whether the
> disparity between Office lookalikes is any worse than that between
> different MS Word setups - particularly different versions.

Update:

Always striving to add on-topic technical value, here's yet another way to
instantly and easily freely _extend_ the basic functionality of an older MS
Office version so that it can read the newer MS Office formats.

Caveats:
o I tested this only on one machine, and only on MS Office 2007.
o I don't yet have an office document with newer formats to test against.

o This link to the MS Office Compatibility Tool is apparently defunct:
<https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=33298>

o This link, supposedly, contains a second source:
<http://www.softpedia.com/get/Office-tools/Other-Office-Tools/Microsoft-Office-Compatibility-Pack-2007-File-Formats.shtml>

o That results in:
<https://softpedia-secure-download.com/dl/ff9aa8f36ae42d6ec36cee005ace7589/5f68a59a/100058971/software/office/FileFormatConverters.exe>
Name: FileFormatConverters.exe
Size: 28399752 bytes (27 MiB)
SHA256: A87A88BF0C89A6DA0DE9973A4E501C4CCC3B317CE26EC022D98B528372106E36

o With MS Office 2007 installed, running that resulted in the message:
"Compatibility Pack has been installed."
"Compatibility Pack for the 2007 Office system."
"The installation is complete".

Note: That doesn't show up in:
Win+I > Apps > Apps & features > (it doesn't show up here, unfortunately).

Note: I need to find an incompatible MS Office document to test it with.

In addition, I don't remember if we discussed how to add Save-as-PDF to
easily & freely extend the capabilities of the older Microsoft Office.

Microsoft Office 2007 can only "print" to PDF and not "Save as PDF"

unless you run the "SaveAsPDFandXPS.exe" tool from Microsoft.
o 2007 Microsoft Office Add-in: Microsoft Save as PDF or XPS
<https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=7>

Run the SaveAsPDFandXPS.exe _after_ installing Office 2007.

Name: SaveAsPDFandXPS.exe
Size: 956344 bytes (933 KiB)
SHA256: 32769F304991D8D5836D9AFADF20DB1FBAF6876F29E5FEB0D19C5B806A67441D

You should see it show up in your installed programs listing:
o Win+I > Apps > Apps & features >
Microsoft Save as PDF or XPS Add-in for 2007
Microsoft Office Programs version 12.0.4518.1014 (same as office version)
--
If you have a link to an incompatible newer format to test, let me know.

[Glow PC]

https://www.glowpc.com/inpage-2012-free-download/