OFF2000: Running Multiple Versions of Microsoft Office

ID: Q218861

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Office 2000

SUMMARY

Although Microsoft does not recommend it, it is possible to install and use more than one version of Office on a single computer. For example, you can install and use both Office 2000 and Office 97 on the same computer.

This article describes the problems you may encounter when you do this and offers advice on preventing different versions of Office from conflicting with each other.

MORE INFORMATION

Order of Installation

If you want to install and use more than one version of Office on the same computer, you must install the earliest version first. For example, if you want to use both Office 95 and Office 2000 on the same computer, you must install Office 95 first. This step is necessary because of the way registry keys, shared programs, file extensions, and other settings are managed for each version of Office, and for the programs that are included with each version of Office.

The following table shows the order in which the versions of Office should be installed:


   Office      Installation 
   version     order
   -------     -------
   4.x         First
   95          Second
   97          Third
   2000        Fourth

The remainder of this article assumes that you installed the versions of Office in this order.

Default Install Location Changes to Office2K Folder

When you install Office 2000, the default folder for Setup is Office2k instead of \Program Files\Microsoft Office. This will occur if the Setup program detects that you have installed a distributed application using Microsoft Access run-time files.

Multiple Versions of Outlook

Microsoft Outlook 2000 cannot coexist with any previous versions of Outlook. If you choose to install Outlook 2000, the Setup program will not allow you to keep any previous version. Outlook 97 or Outlook 98 will be removed even if you select the Keep these programs check box in the Removing Previous Versions dialog box.

Microsoft ClipArt Gallery and Microsoft Graph

These programs will not run correctly when installed on the same computer with previous versions of Office. Because ClipArt Gallery and Graph overwrite registry entries used in the previous versions of Office, installing multiple versions of ClipArt Gallery and Graph is not a supported configuration.

Using the Office Shortcut Bar

When earlier versions of Office are installed on the same computer, the Office 2000 Shortcut Bar does not use buttons from Office 7.0 or 97 Shortcut Bar. Because the Office 2000 Shortcut Bar uses Windows Installer shortcuts, it cannot use the existing toolbars or buttons from earlier versions of the Office Shortcut Bar.

When either Office 7.0 or Office 97 are installed with Office 2000, the shortcut bars can be started separately although not concurrently, and each may have their own set of custom toolbars and buttons. These toolbars and buttons cannot be shared between the two Office Shortcut Bars.

For more information on Office Shortcut Bars, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q220914 OFF2000: Earlier Version of Office Shortcut Bar Runs at Startup

Shortcuts on the Start Menu

Office 7.0 and Office 97 use the same shortcuts on the Start menu to start programs. Because of this behavior, when you install Office 97, the Setup program overwrites the shortcuts for Office 7.0 programs. The following shortcuts are affected:

Microsoft Access
Microsoft Binder
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft Word

If you rename the Office 7.0 or Office 97 shortcuts before you install Office 2000, you can use the shortcuts for both sets of programs on the Start menu. To avoid confusion, Microsoft suggests that you add the words 7.0 or 97 to each renamed shortcut. For example, rename Access to Microsoft Access 97 before installing Office 2000 to keep a separate icon for each different version of Access.

You can also move the Office 7.0 or 97 shortcuts to a subfolder on the Start menu. For more information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q220885 OFF2000: Setup Overwrites Office 95 or Office 97 Start Menu Items

Microsoft Office Binder

When Office 7.0 and Office 97 are installed on the same computer as Office 2000, the Add Section dialog box in Office Binder displays document types for the most recently installed version of Office. As a result, when you insert a section an Office 2000 document type is used.

This behavior may cause problems when you try to share a binder file with those who use earlier versions of Office.

Double-Clicking Files In Windows Explorer

When you double-click an Office document in Windows Explorer, or from the recent documents folder of Windows, the following rules apply:

If a version of the program in which the document was created is running, the document is opened in that version.

With Office 7.0 or 97, if no version of the program in which the document was created is running, the document is opened in the version of the program that you most recently installed. With Office 4.x, every time you start an Office 4.x program it will register itself as the latest version installed and attempt to load the document with that version of the program.

To reassociate documents with the programs included with a particular version of Office, run the Office Setup program and click Reinstall (for versions 5.0, 7.0, or 97) or Repair Office (for Office 2000). Doing this registers the file associations for the version of Office.

For more information about using the Windows Explorer, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q141275 How to Open a File with Other Than Associated Program

Inserting Office OLE Objects Into Other Programs

If you install multiple versions of Office on the same computer and you insert an Office object, such as an Excel worksheet object, into another program, such as a Word document, the newest version of the program is used. This may cause problems if you share the container file with users who are not using Office 2000, for example, a Word document that contains an Excel worksheet object.

Shared Programs

If you installed the versions of Office in the order described in the "Order of Installation" section, you will not experience any problems when you use shared programs such as Equation Editor and Clip Gallery. Note that the Object dialog box may display more than one entry for each shared program; this behavior occurs because multiple versions of the shared program may be installed on the computer.