putting office 2007 on new laptop

[jenny.jones]

I have office 2007 on my desktop and have update discs for it.


I recently bought a new laptop without office/publisher on it. Do I have to buy office 2010, or is there a way to put 2007 on with my upgrade disc?

[macropod]

Hi Jenny,

Most Office licences allow you to install Office on both a desktop PC and a laptop. This doesn't apply to pre-installed copies of office, though. Your reference to an upgrade disc confuses things. Can you provide a bit more detail about this?

[jenny.jones]

I upgraded the 2003 version that was installed on my desktop when I bought it to 2007 version using an update disc.
This is all I have - not the original, just the update discs.
It has been suggested that I buy a secondhand 2003 verson from ebay, download it onto my laptop, then use the upgrade disc to take it to 2007. Is this viable? Is it the only way?
Thank you - Jenny

[macropod]

Hi Jenny,

If the copy of Office 2003 that came with your old PC was an OEM installation, then that's the only PC it, or any upgrade, could be used with. You could, of course, quite legitimately use the upgrade on a different PC if it's no longer being used on the old one, but you'll still need a copy of any previous version (even, say, Office 4 on a floppy disk) before you can do the upgrade. The older version doesn't have to be installed before doing the upgrade - it just has to be available for validation during the upgrade.

In summary, then, your options are to either (a) obtain an older copy of Office that you can 'upgrade' from; or (b) by a new (non-upgrade) copy of Office.