Member Avatar for David49

I need a new computer and am wondering whether to buy a bare m/c and install XP, or to buy one with Windows 7.

I use Office 97 which works fine with XP, though no longer supported. It seems it aslo works with Vista.

Has anyone tried it with Windows 7, and if not any thoughts as to whether it is likely to work?

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Quick summary and practical guidance for anyone landing on this old thread: Office 97 can sometimes run on Windows 7 x86 (32‑bit), but many people hit installer/DLL registration errors on x64 installs — the root technical limitation is that 64‑bit Windows does not support 16‑bit installers or 16‑bit components, which causes many legacy setups to fail. (learn.microsoft.com)

Notes tied to the existing posts: ’s failed install on 64‑bit and ’s SP‑install issues are consistent with those platform limits. The most reliable ways to keep Office 97 working are (a) run it inside a genuine Windows XP environment (virtual machine or Microsoft’s XP Mode), or (b) use a 32‑bit host OS. Windows 7’s XP Mode (available for Professional/Enterprise/Ultimate) publishes legacy apps into the host desktop and is designed for exactly this scenario; for other editions, a VM (VirtualBox/VMware) with a Windows XP guest achieves the same result. (learn.microsoft.com)

Security and maintenance caveats: Office 97 is long out of Microsoft support and running unsupported applications on older OSes (including Windows 7) increases risk. Migrating documents to a supported office suite or converting files to current formats is strongly recommended when feasible; Microsoft provides guidance on upgrading older Office installations. Also note that Windows 7 itself reached end of support (no security updates) on January 14, 2020. (learn.microsoft.com)

Quick checklist (practical next steps):

  • Prefer a 32‑bit Windows 7 host if native install is required; try Setup.exe in Compatibility Mode and run as Administrator.
  • If on x64, use XP Mode or a VM and install Office 97 inside that virtual XP.
  • Convert or migrate documents to a modern suite where possible to avoid long‑term security and compatibility pain.

This complements the thread posts (install failures, SP issues, and the suggestion to use an alternative suite) by giving a concise, platform‑aware workflow and safety guidance.

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Member Avatar for chw748

I use office 97 and just bought a new laptop with windows 7. So fare I have been ubable to load 97 service pack2 because windows 7 doesn't recognize the sp1 that I installed earlier. The two service packs were required before I could get office 97 to work on vista. I get several errors trying to run Access, but I think I could clear them up, if I could get sr2 installed. Word and excell work ok. I don't use anything but these three aps, so I don't know if the others would work.

Member Avatar for jbennet

Simply, why?

Member Avatar for Ancient Dragon

I made a couple attempts to install Office 97 on 64-bit Windows 7, and the both failed because some of the DLLs could not be registered. After installing the basic Office 97 from CD, I tried to install SP1, and it failed due to DLL registration problems. So I tried to uninstall it, but that failed too. Finally I reinstalled the basic Office 97 from CD then successfully uninstalled it.

If you have 64-bit Windows 7 then you will just have to upgrade to new version of Office, or get the free open source version OpenOffice. OpenOffice doesn't have all the whistles and bells that MS Office has, but if you liked Office 97 then you should not have a problem using OpenOffice.

Edited by Ancient Dragon because: n/a
Member Avatar for jbennet

Well, considering access doesnt work, and the old version of outlook doesnt have much in the way of its main selling points (integration with currently supported versions of exhange poor/non-existant and it doesnt sync with PDAs), then you are basically just using Word/excel/PP 97, in which case you are better with OOO as it can open the newer formats, has around the same features as 97 for sure, and has less exploits to boot.

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