Office 97 no longer compatible after 1709 update

Office Online is useless if you don't have and are not signed into Office on your PC.

When MS Upgraded their Windows Operating System to NO LONGER SUPPORT the Installation of Office 97 I was one of the many who was VERY Disappointed.

So I kept searching for solutions online (to no avail) and trying different ways to install until INSPIRATION STRUCK!

The one common denominator was 64bit Processors which caused Microsoft to create a separate "Program Files (x86)" directory for all 32 bit programs, which is where Office 97 kept installing.. so I decided to make a custom install and specify the "Program Files" directory for installation instead, and, voila, it WORKED! Even MS Photo Editor WORKS!

The only caveat is that Excel Macros no longer work. Apparently there is some link or pointer in the Registry that is missing or changed, so an error message is generated when I tried running my Excel Macros. The in-cell formula's however still work just fine.

I hope this helps those who have given up on Office 97 and started paying yearly for the PRIVILEGE of having the latest MS Office.

BJ51 said:

When MS Upgraded their Windows Operating System to NO LONGER SUPPORT the Installation of Office 97 I was one of the many who was VERY Disappointed.

So I kept searching for solutions online (to no avail) and trying different ways to install until INSPIRATION STRUCK!

The one common denominator was 64bit Processors which caused Microsoft to create a separate "Program Files (x86)" directory for all 32 bit programs, which is where Office 97 kept installing.. so I decided to make a custom install and specify the "Program Files" directory for installation instead, and, voila, it WORKED! Even MS Photo Editor WORKS!

The only caveat is that Excel Macros no longer work. Apparently there is some link or pointer in the Registry that is missing or changed, so an error message is generated when I tried running my Excel Macros. The in-cell formula's however still work just fine.

I hope this helps those who have given up on Office 97 and started paying yearly for the PRIVILEGE of having the latest MS Office.

You can always get the frozen Office versions like 2016 and 2019 forever for a one time payment.

BJ51 said:

When MS Upgraded their Windows Operating System to NO LONGER SUPPORT the Installation of Office 97 I was one of the many who was VERY Disappointed.

So I kept searching for solutions online (to no avail) and trying different ways to install until INSPIRATION STRUCK!

The one common denominator was 64bit Processors which caused Microsoft to create a separate "Program Files (x86)" directory for all 32 bit programs, which is where Office 97 kept installing.. so I decided to make a custom install and specify the "Program Files" directory for installation instead, and, voila, it WORKED! Even MS Photo Editor WORKS!

The only caveat is that Excel Macros no longer work. Apparently there is some link or pointer in the Registry that is missing or changed, so an error message is generated when I tried running my Excel Macros. The in-cell formula's however still work just fine.

I hope this helps those who have given up on Office 97 and started paying yearly for the PRIVILEGE of having the latest MS Office.

Thank you very much for this suggestion!

I can't use the perpetual Office versions because one of my machines is XP.

Paul Bacon said: I can't use the perpetual Office versions because one of my machines is XP.

Paul, my post had to do with Office 97 which I used for many many years ON Windows XP with No Problems - BJ51

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With regards to my personal predilection to using Office 97 has mostly to do with Word 97 Tables. I create many Word Documents utilizing Word Tables instead of Excel for several reasons.. The most important is Word 97 was the LAST Word that would allow you to set the EXACT Width to a Table Column, which I need when trying to fit 15 Lbs of Fertilizer into a 10 Lb Bag. All the later version of Word when you go to set the Column Width as what Width you would PREFER, But, if Word decides it won't fit it will change what was entered to what it THINKS it should be. I can also do a Shading Color for a particular word to indicate what I changed since the last time I edited the table, Excel will only allow a fill color that fills the Entire Cell, NOT an Individual Word.