Using pre-owned software

Hello,
My sister is talking about buying a used copy of microsoft office 2003 from a guy she works with. He upgraded and says he has removed it from his computer. How can she find out if she can legally use it, and if it can be validated (or whatever) so she can get updates from the microsoft site?
thanks, silly

 

Try it before you buy it! Get the disk, install it, and make sure you can update it before you pay your friend; however, I wouldn't pay much more than 10 bucks for Office 2003. In fact, if he were a real friend, he would just give you a program that old (my opinion).

Or better yet, download this alternative (to MS Office) which is free and kept up-to-date:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/OpenOffice.org_For_Windows_d3461.html

 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with office 2003.

10 bucks? Heh.

 

You are entitled to your opinion and so am I. In fact, I'm changing that value to $0.00 when compared with the features and support offered by the OpenOffice.org Suite.

Heh (back at you)

 

Thanks for your response. Should the original owner contact microsoft, or should my sister so MS knows that she is the new owner? If he activated or validated it online how could she also activate it? I may not be using the correct terms-I'm talking about the antipirating systme Microsoft now uses that prevents those who load software on multiple machines from updating.
thanks

 

You could inquire about this with MS, but generally speaking, if it is retail, and it is not installed on any machine, it is legally transferable to you. If its an OEM version, nothing you do will make it a legal transaction.

 

Microsoft does not have to be contacted. He simply deletes his copy and you install yours. The only time an issue would arise would be if he didn't delete his copy and kept trying to update it while you are trying to do the same thing. Geez... I really wish you would have posted this a month or so ago before I threw my copy of 2003 in the trash. Also, you can get a copy of the MS License here: http://www.microsoft.com/about/legal/useterms/default.aspx

 

Hello Adrynalyne,

My post was not intended to be a response to your post (which was an excellent response). In fact, I believe I was typing my post at the same time you were responding so I never even knew you had responded until I actually posted my response. I apologize if it sounded that way. I'm glad this thread is ended... peace!

 

Thanks alot for the info.
Silly

 

Re: Donate pre-owned software

To all, instead of throwing out any old software check out this Google link for lots of organizations that would appreciate receiving it. Some links are in Australia (because it finds OZ links for me) but other links are in other countries.

http://www.google.com.au/search?as_...as_dt=i&as_sitesearch=&as_rights=&safe=images

A Canadian link, as an example:
http://www.poz.ca/ourmission.htm
extract

Bazza