Multiple Versions of Office on the Same Windows Computer?

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For various reasons, I would like to install multiple versions of Office on the same Windows 10 computer — 2003 and 2007, and perhaps 2021.

Licensing issues aside, is there a way to do this (other than a separate virtual machine for each)?

Install instructions for 2021 say to be sure there are no other versions of Office on the machine before installing.  What happens if there are?

Also, if there is a way to do this, is there a way to default to opening an XLS file with 2003, and XLSX files with 2007 or later (e.g. via Open With..)?

Thanks for any links or insights!

— AWRon

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It used to be the case that you could, provided that you didn’t install Outlook on more than one of them (it would complain if you tried to have both Outlook 2003 and 2007 for example). But now, there’s all sorts of issues with C2R and non-C2R versions co-existing, as well as mixing 32-bit and 64-bit. I personally wouldn’t do it.

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AWRon

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Steeviebops is quite correct about there being “all sorts of issues” with attempts to install multiple versions of recent Office releases on a single machine.

I wanted to take a peek at the installer for 2021 that I had downloaded to a machine currently running Office 2019,  before installing it on another machine that doesn’t have any version of Office already on it.

As soon as I clicked setup.exe on Office 2021, it started to run all sorts of click-to-run files and immediately tried to wipe out my earlier Product Key for 2019.

Fortunately, I was able to quickly disconnect from the Internet and open Task Manager to kill the active click-to-run process, before too much damage was done.  (I was able to reject the offer to activate Microsoft 365, and instead continued with my activated Office 2019.)

However, I took the precaution of checking “background processes” before congratulating myself.  There I found five active c2r processes lurking, and sucking up power and memory, which I had to stamp out using End Task, before I was done.

I keep forgetting the Golden Rule:  Create a Restore Point before ever clicking on ANY file labeled “setup.exe.” 

In this case I escaped, but the aggressiveness of the way those files started to run made me think:  Is System Restore still an effective tool?

If I had let the 2021 Office destroy my 2019 installation, would I have been able to unwind that using a Restore Point?

Microsoft has downplayed mention of System Restore ever since Windows 7, and I imagine could find a way to install its Office products whatever way it damn likes without leaving you an out with system Restore.

What do people think?

— AWRon

 

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AWRon wrote:

is there a way to default to opening an XLS file with 2003, and XLSX files with 2007 or later

No need for that, Office 2003 and older versions can open the new .???X files if you install the Office 2007 Compatibility pack.

Note: it’s no longer available directly from Microsoft but can be downloaded from CNET.

https://download.cnet.com/microsoft-office-compatibility-pack-for-word-excel-and-powerpoint-file-formats/3000-18483_4-10648733.html

I’m using Officer 97 and my Uncle is using Office 2003 and we’re both able to open/edit/save the Word .docX, Excel .xlsX and PowerPoint .pptX formats!

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AWRon

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