Installing Microsoft Office

[student_trap]

Hey everyone,
i'm going to be getting microsoft office student and teacher today or tomorrow and am wondering what i should do about the Microsoft Office test drive that came on my powerbook (bought in april so is running panther, version 10.3.7 i think - i haven't downloaded any OSX upgrades yet). i have never opened it up as i thought it may start putting files all over the place and thus when i bought the actual office i would have trouble getting it all working smoothly. So what do i do when it comes? will it remove all the test drive files from my mac automatically, or will i have to erase it all myself and then install office? If so where are the files (will there be any stray ones?) and how do i erase them? Is there an uninstaller?

Also, due to other people (little sister) in my house being far less careful with CD's than me, i usually make a copy of all my important discs and use them (i keep the originals safely out of sight), so that if anything goes wrong i always have the originals somewhere to go back to, would this be possible to do, or will i have to just risk the disc getting scratched?

Thankyou in advance for any help you can give

 

[robbieduncan]

If you have never used the Test Drive simply drag it to the trash. I'm not sure about what the installer would do if you do not do this. It might well install Office and leave the Test Drive where it is.

I don't see any reason why you would not be able to back up the installer CD, although once it's installed you don't need the CD so you will not be using the backup anyway!

 

[MisterMe]

Hey everyone,
i'm going to be getting microsoft office student and teacher today or tomorrow and am wondering what i should do about the Microsoft Office test drive that came on my powerbook (bought in april so is running panther, version 10.3.7 i think - i haven't downloaded any OSX upgrades yet). i have never opened it up as i thought it may start putting files all over the place and thus when i bought the actual office i would have trouble getting it all working smoothly. So what do i do when it comes? will it remove all the test drive files from my mac automatically, or will i have to erase it all myself and then install office? If so where are the files (will there be any stray ones?) and how do i erase them? Is there an uninstaller?

Also, due to other people (little sister) in my house being far less careful with CD's than me, i usually make a copy of all my important discs and use them (i keep the originals safely out of sight), so that if anything goes wrong i always have the originals somewhere to go back to, would this be possible to do, or will i have to just risk the disc getting scratched?

Thankyou in advance for any help you can give

Unlike software that follows the rules, having the Test Drive version of Office on the same computer as the paid version can cause problems. Microsoft includes an uninstaller. Use it to remove the Test Drive version. There is a setting to preserve any user-created files. Then drag the Office folder off the CD into your Applications folder. Launch an Office app, and enter your serial number, etc.

 

[student_trap]

thanks guys for the quick responses, i will uninstall the test drive as you said Misterme and then install the paid for version. (just to check, will using the uninstaller wipe out all of the test drive files or will i have any stray files such as preference files left anywhere?)

Also, would you suggest that i back up the install disk by ceating a dmg(which i have never done before) and then burning to another disk?

Cheers

 

[pimentoLoaf]

I tried running the unInstaller on an unused version of MS Office and it essentially did nothing. So I simply dragged it's folder to the trash.

No need to make a backup of Office. Just keep track of the CD-key number and the resulting serial code it generates (you'll be advised to write that down somewhere); if you lose the CD, MS will probably send you a new one.

 

[student_trap]

i didn't know that microsoft were so generous (thanks for the hint as for the codes - will make sure to keep them in a safe place!)

 

[MisterMe]

I tried running the unInstaller on an unused version of MS Office and it essentially did nothing. So I simply dragged it's folder to the trash.

....

FWIW, I have used the uninstaller on two installations of Office Test Drive. It worked as advertised on both. In fact, if you have more than one installation of Office on your computer--let's say Office 2004 Test Drive, Office v.X, and Office 2004--the uninstaller gives you the choice of which to uninstall.