Reinstall MS Office 2010?

Windows 10 20H2

For the last year or so I've been running MS Office 2010 that came preinstalled on two refurbished computers--a laptop and a PC--that I received from a Comcast Program called Internet Essentials, which back then provided low cost refurbished computers to low income folks like me. (They apparently have switched from offering refurbished computers, and now appear to be offering only new stripped down laptops).

A couple or more weeks ago the hard drive in the PC failed. A technician at my neighborhood computer repair shop was able to save the data from the failed drive, and copy it to a new SSD drive which he installed in the PC, but all the software was lost.

The PC has what appears to be license sticker for Office 2010 on the outside of the case. Would that permit me to download and install Office 2010 (if it's even available on the web anymore)?

Yes, you can download and activate Office 2010 if you have the licence key. I would use the heidoc.net ISO downloader tool to get the installation file Microsoft Windows and Office ISO Download Tool

CluelessInSeatl said:

The PC has what appears to be license sticker for Office 2010 on the outside of the case.

Will,

That would be surprising. Are you sure it's not
Office 2010 Starter Edition

There's a discussion in MS software missing after hard drive replaced [post #4 Bree] - TenForums
There's also some guidance in How to repair, uninstall and reinstall Microsoft Office Starter 2010 - HPSupport

Best of luck,
Denis

Hi Denis! Thanks for checking in to help with this.

Here's what the sticker says:

Office H & B Refurbisher

WIll,

OK

Delete that diagram in case the partial product key can be abused.
How to Remove a Screenshot or Image from TenForums.com Post - TenForumsTutorials

Here's a cleaned up copy of Will's CoA photo


I think you might be OK.
- I don't recall anybody else saying that their Starter Edition was labelled as H&B [Home & Business].
- But I have never seen that "Refurbisher" label before either.
@Bree do you have any advice for Will?

So when you use Steve's Heidoc link above, be sure to select the 2010 H&B Edition download.

All the best,
Denis

Let me digress for a moment:

I've never gotten used to Office 2010. The "ribbon" drives me crazy; I can never find what I need on it. And since support for Office 2010 ended over a year ago, would I be at any greater risk if I were to install Office 2003 instead of Office 2010? I still have my old installation disk for Office 2003. I'm wondering if MS would allow me to install and activate it.

Will,

You'll find that several others are sill using 2003 as well. If you search the forum section you will see if they have any guidance for you.
https://www.tenforums.com/microsoft-office-365/
See the Search forum button near the top-right corner.

I activated an Office 2007 installation last year without any problem.
I have not noticed any reports of 2003 users reporting activation problems.
Whichever version you decide to install, do first check for any trial version that might have been put on by the computer repairer and uninstall that beforehand or you will get activation problems.

As for risk, any unsupported application can have newly-discovered vulnerabilities [that don't get patched because there are no new updates to do so].
If it were feasible to count the number of vulnerabilities then I'd expect 2003 to have more than 2010.
But if no current users of 2003 are screaming about it leading to malware attacks then you might reasonably decide to take the chance.

I am still using Office 2007 so I am probably at less risk then a 2003 user but at more risk than a 2010 user.
- I strongly dislike many of the user-hostile improvements in 2016 & beyond.
- I like the Ribbon.

But never use Office 2003's facility for putting a password on a file to open it.
- These passwords were implemented very badly and an Office 2003 file can be opened without its password in a few blinks of the eye.
- The password capability was significantly improved for Office 2007 and further improved for Office 2010.
- If you need to use the Office password facility then you ought to stick with Office 2010.

Denis

CluelessInSeatl said:

Let me digress for a moment:

I've never gotten used to Office 2010. The "ribbon" drives me crazy; I can never find what I need on it. And since support for Office 2010 ended over a year ago, would I be at any greater risk if I were to install Office 2003 instead of Office 2010? I still have my old installation disk for Office 2003. I'm wondering if MS would allow me to install and activate it.

Else you could find a cheap licence for Office 2016 /19. I have several for £5 to £10 which are still working after 2 years.

But he doesn't like the Ribbon. It drives him crazy.

Denis

Try3 said:

But he doesn't like the Ribbon. It drives him crazy.

Ha ha ha! You got that right, Denis! Thanks for my first belly laugh of the morning. I needed that!

Speaking of the ribbon, you posted earlier that you like the ribbon. If it's not too much bother, I'd appreciate hearing from you what you like about it. Maybe I could learn to like it too if someone were to explain to me how and why it's an improvement over the old drop down menus.

As for which version of Word to install on my refurbished PC, I'm wondering if it might not be time for me to ditch MS Word altogether and seek an alternative. The trouble with doing that is that the main feature of Word that I use every day is the Outline View. I can't imagine living without it. The last time I checked, none of the Word clones such as Libre Office, Free Office, etc., didn't have an outline view.

I just Googled "outliners" and found nearly a dozen options, so maybe one of them would work for me. Then I could replace MS Word with Libre Office or one of the other Office clones for spread sheets and everyday word processing, and get off the merry-go-round of Microsoft's planned obsolescence, forced upgrades and "user-hostile improvements." (Love that phrase! )

- - - Updated - - -

Steve C said:

you can download and activate Office 2010 if you have the licence key. I would use the heidoc.net ISO downloader tool to get the installation file Microsoft Windows and Office ISO Download Tool

Is that downloader tool necessary for downloading an ISO file of Office 2010?