Archive for April, 2011

Can anyone deny with the Microsoft Office program? I don’t think so, in fact, this is the most user-friendly program, which any software company has developed so far. It is loved by one and all, right from students to professionals no one remain untouched. It is one of the essential stuff of businesses. But, this is the most panicked software as well. It’s not only me, there are lot more users, who have gone through the menace of MS office installation and activation.

I read about Ribbon, the Fluent User Interface, which is the cornerstone of Office suite 2007, and has replaced conventional menus and the toolbars. Besides, enhancing the performance it has given new attire to the application. Groove and Office SharePoint Server are the exemplary development which is wooing the businesses segment a lot. Being a person driven by innovation, I decided to get the new office version on my system. I consulted a Tech Support company regarding the same. Understanding my curiosity, the tech personal diagnosed my system compatibility, which luckily didn’t dismay me. I have the Windows XP service pack 2 on my system, which was good to support it.

Once I agreed to acquire the Microsoft Office support service, the technician asked for the Microsoft Office 2007 CD. He enquired about the previous version which was already installed on my system. A pleasant thing, which I liked about the technician, was that he gave me the option of installing the new version without removing the previous one. However, I went with the clean installation, and then he removed the earlier version from the “Add or Remove Program” section under the Control Panel as follow:

“Upgrade” or “Customize” options are too available, if you don’t need to uninstall the previous versions. A window prompts as below:

However, if you ignore all these intermediaries then Windows Installer service initiates to install the Office 2007 Set-up file on your system. As per the Microsoft Office support service I was able to successfully install it on my system.

For smooth installation, accept the “EULA” part and then and let the installation to proceed, once you’ve installed Office 2007, Microsoft encourages you to get updates and advice from its site. Later on, you would be asked to validate your copy, If you’re connected the Internet, you can validate your copy of Office 2007 in a matter of moments. Else, call on the toll-free telephone number to get it validated. If you postpone this process, you can run the applications 25 times before you must validate your license.

Though, you may keep both the older and the newer versions on your system but at the same time you need to keep a converter program later to use the older software to open the newer files.

Indeed, it was a great Computer Support, which helped me to smoothly complete the Microsoft office installation procedure. Are you interested to do the same?

Like everyone, I too had planned different things for my weekend. My resolution was to finish up all the pending tasks on my HP pc but as you know ‘Man proposes and God disposes.’ When I turned on my PC in the morning after breakfast, I noticed that the screen is turning azure and nothing else. There were some texts and then it was restarting back. I unplugged and re-plugged all cables and switches but finding no clue then I called up a local technician. He suggested me to format your pc and reinstall Windows after diagnosing the machine. The reason being it was infected severely with viruses.

I availed the tech support for the same and it worked successfully. First of all he created a backup of my Outlook e-mails, user-account settings and other documents on an external hard-disk and then started the troubleshooting using the Windows XP installation CD. The solution was so effective that it made my pc completely virus-free. It now boots well and run like as though it ran on the day one, when I had bought. I am sharing the complete Computer Support here, which I think can help you a lot to repair your system at no cost.

Step 1- Insert your Windows XP installation disc into your CD or DVD drive.

Step 2 –Restart your computer and start Windows setup using Microsoft Windows bootable XP disk.

When prompted “Press any key to boot from CD”, press any key to start the setup. If your computer doesn’t display the “Press any key to boot from CD” message (by default it should) then check your motherboard manual for info and enable the “Boot from CD” setting, after you enable “Boot from CD” option from your BIOS, the message will show.

Step 3 – System Loading

After you enter the setup, the CD will load up a blue screen and will start loading operating system files (this takes a few minutes). When it finishes, it will list a few options, “Press ENTER to set up Windows XP now” is the one we need. Click it.

Step 4 – Accept Windows License Agreement

Second screen is “The windows usage agreement”. It should be displayed now, showing that you need to press F8 to accept the agreement. Press F8 to accept.

Step 5 – Setup start

If an existing Windows XP installation is detected by the system, you are prompted to repair it. Skip it.

Step 6 – Delete old partition and format

Now, choose the partition where you prefer to install Windows XP. This is where you will delete your partition and format drive C. The box in the lower half of the screen shows all your drives and the partitions that currently exist on your hard disk. Use the “Up” and “Down” arrow keys to highlight/select “C:” partition and press the “D” key. On the next screen press the ‘L’ key to confirm that you want to delete partition “C:”, and finalize the deleting of the partition.

Step 7 – Create installation partition

Choose the partition where you want to install the Windows Files. The box on the lower half of the screen should no longer show a partition, instead of “C:” you should see “Unpartitioned space xxxxxMB”. Select/highlight this with the arrow keys and press the “C” key to create a partition on the drive (this is where you will install windows).

Step 8 – Format Your PC

This screen lets you choose the file system you prefer the drive to be formatted with. Choose NTFS “Quick” (recommended because NTFS is faster and more secure). Use the arrow keys to select and hit the “Enter” key.

Step 9 – Start Windows XP Setup

Setup auto-formats the “C:” partition, and starts with Windows XP installation. From here you are all set and the installation of Windows will proceed. This will take a while. The computer will reboot several times, and will continue with installation. Don’t remove the Windows XP setup CD, and don’t press a key till asked for.

Reinstallation gives a new birth to your machine. It Removes Viruses and other unwanted stuffs including obsolete, empty and orphan registry keys. Thus it enhances the system performance by vitalizing the system memory. Post Windows installation the next important task is to restore all your data, drivers and settings from the backup-disk. You can also install other programs including e-mails, browsers, Microsoft Office and more on your system.

Bizarre! One side Microsoft is showing its benevolence towards Windows XP and Windows Vista customers by catering service pack and extending the Microsoft technical support till mid of 2014 and 2017 respectively, and on the other side it has biased the old customers from using the mind blowing Internet Explorer 9 and yet-to-hit Explorer 10. I don’t want to make a survey but surely the guys having an emotional touch with Windows XP and Vista, are not going to digest is easily.

I read the news on the Internet and felt absolutely discriminated. But it’s a business strategy from Microsoft and you can’t do anything rather than accepting the challenge. Windows Vista passed through so much of criticism regarding software compatibility and driver issues that I was tagged as the stubborn one, who can’t change the decision. In fact, I too suffered some problems but I had accepted all, as a part and parcel of life. Because problems make you wise and teach you a lesson to be better.

Last week, I purchased a new hp printer. I went through the pamphlet and the manual guide to know about the installation procedure. I connected the pc with the printer and then entered the printer CD into the CD-drive to set-up and install the machine. The software was installed, even though the printer icon was not visible on the system. I called up the printer vendor to fix the problem. But he couldn’t make a breakthrough, and surrendered, at the last saying that the “Windows Vista Printer Spooler Service is not working” and there is not fault with the printer. He went away with an advice of Microsoft Vista support phone number.

Again, it was a bitter test for my love with Windows Vista. I dialed the Tech Support number and soon my call was entertained by a young technician. After a bit of formalities he started the troubleshooting process. I sat relax! What I was watching the movement of the mouse pointer on my screen. He was performing almost like a wizard. Hardly, he would have taken 10 minutes and then prompted me to take a print-test. I did, and it worked. Thank God! For keeping my faith live. Certainly, He is the one who saves you when all left.