Member Avatar for lylekelley3

I have run out of ideas!

3 years ago I bought a dell 733Mhz with Win98se, 10gig HD. 18 months ago I bought a 60gig HD from WD and installed it. 6 months ago the 60gig died, I was able to transfer the files I wanted to keep from it and I removed the 60gig. Before I determined that it was the HD that was the problem, I thought it was something else, so I used the Recovery CD several times. Finally I found the Win98 setup files on the original 10gig HD and did a re-install of WIN98se from it. After that point I do not have any of the MSoffice Apps (MSWord, Excel, etc) they are still there, but they say I need to re-install then. This is a DELL, with only a recovery disk and the warrenty is out so I can't get any help from DELL. Is there any hope short of buying and upgrading to XP or something. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks In advance. :-|

Lyle :sad:

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Practical, step‑by‑step things to try before buying a new Office or moving to XP — building on and .

  1. Try restoring a Windows 98 registry backup (this can re‑register programs that still have their files). Boot to a command prompt (Command Prompt Only / boot floppy), change to the Windows command folder and run:
    scanreg /restore
    pick the most recent backup from before you ran the recovery, then reboot. The Registry Checker / Scanreg tool is the supported way to restore Win98 registry backups. (support.microsoft.com)

  2. If the Office program files still exist (look under C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office for WINWORD.EXE, EXCEL.EXE), try launching an EXE directly or use Office’s maintenance/Detect-and-Repair to rebuild shortcuts and registry entries (Control Panel → Add/Remove Programs → Change/Repair, or Help → Detect and Repair inside Office). That often restores everything without a full reinstall, but it may request the original Office CD during repair. (support.microsoft.com)

  3. If repair asks for media you don’t have: search any backups you made from the dead 60GB for setup files or registry cabinet files (rb0*.cab), borrow the same-version Office CD, or obtain recovery/application media from Dell (service‑tag based recovery options or paid recovery media — availability varies). Avoid downloading unofficial/unauthorized copies; use legitimate media and your product key. (dell.com)

  4. Short‑term alternatives and compatibility notes: older OpenOffice 2.x releases were the last to officially support Windows 98 (2.4.3 is the final Win98 build); modern LibreOffice requires Windows 7 SP1 or newer and won’t run on Win98. If you can’t recover Office on the 98 box, open documents on another machine or with an older OpenOffice build, then plan either to replace the media or upgrade the PC. (en.wikipedia.org)

Back up the whole Program Files\Microsoft Office folder and any registry copies before trying fixes so you can roll back if needed.

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Member Avatar for caperjack

Just a quick response .
WinXp doesn't come with these microsoft programs .
MSoffice Apps (MSWord, Excel, etc) .

Member Avatar for DMR

Unfortunately, it sounds like the reinstall left your programs and data intact, but overwrote your Registry with a new "clean" Registry. When programs are first installed, they write information into the Registry which basically tells the operating system how to "handle" the programs. A fresh clean Registry contains none of this information, so your new Windows install is totally unaware of any of the old programs that might still exist on your drive.

If you don't have (or never had) the "Applications" disk that Dell usually ships its new computers, you're pretty much out of luck. :(

Member Avatar for Catweazle

I'd agree with the suggestion that you need the 'Applications' disk. A recovery CD will put the registry, srat menu etc entries in place, but won't usually put the program files themselves on your hard drive. When you run them for the first time, you are prompted to place the program CD in the drive, and complete the installation.

This is what it sounds like has happened to you, and I'm afraid if you don't have the original 'Applications' CD, then you will need to purchase the programs separately.

If you only have the need to use the basic functions of the office suite of programs, you could try using the free 'Open Office' http://www.openoffice.org/ in their place, as it has very good file compatibility with Microsoft Office.

Member Avatar for lylekelley3

Thanks guys

I tought the registry was probably the problem. and you are right I dont have the app disk (dont think it was included when i bought the DELL) and i don't think i ever had it since the apps were already loaded when the computer arrived. Looks like I'll have to buy MSOffice or get an alternative. Thanks again for the info and help.

Lyle

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