XP & Office Pro 2000 upgrade

OK I will start by saying I dont have an IT background like many others woudl have.

I'm looking for some advice. I have a PC running on Win XP. A few days ago one of my kids kicked the PC and it wouldnt boot up. I got around this re-loading the op system. I have spent the whole weekend re-building everything (printer driver, anti-v, DSL wireless link, e-mail account(s), etc etc). I thought I had it more or less cracked then I discovered that the MS Office Pro 2K Upgrade that I installed back in '03 was also a problem. Couldnt open Word/Excel etc. I use these a lot and absolutely hate MS Works.

Since I got the PC up and runnning again I've downloaded every MS Update available and am now operating with SP3. I did this first because I knew how vulnerbale I would be with an old version of MS Explorer without patches and fixes for the last 5-6 years. I think this may be the crux of the following problem.

Am running the install again using the original discs (Office Pro 2k) but after entry of the product key etc the install seems to hang (no obvious actvity after 1 hour or so and the progress bar has not even commenced). The only obvious thing is that the CD drive light is constantly on and the CD is red hot when you take it out. There is no noticeable HD activity at all. The system does not report the install as "not responding" so although nothing is apparently working as it should the system is not giving showing any concern.

Dont know how to get the programs re-installed. Any advice/help appreciated.

Advance apology: yes I know the software and op sys are really old but I was happy with both and just want them back! Please dont tell me to go and buy more recent versions!!

 

Thanks for the advice. I cant see any major scratching on either or the two cd's involved. However I tried copying both to the hard drive and again the process hangs on a given file on each CD (about 1 minute into the copying process) and I can hear the drive labouring so maybe it is the disk(s). I have a second drive, tried that and the same result. I just cant understand how both CD's could be damaged. I've looked after them well over the years am starting to have MS Office 2k withdrawal symptoms at this stage! I even had to swollow my pride use MS Works yesterday......

 

I still use Office 2000 too and it works fine. This is a long shot, but: If that CD is an original Microsoft Office 2000 Install CD, you might be able to get MS to replace it for a small handling fee. Of course, chances are they would just try to sell you an upgrade, but it is worth a try.... Greg.

 

Getting no joy copying or using the cd's so I'll call it a day, thanks though for the advice offered. I do have Word, but I used to use Excel a lot and the odd time Access so I'm not a big fan of Works consequently!

Thanks again.

 

Perhaps a long shot but you might try using another computer to see if you can make new copies from your old discs. One should also make sure the drive optics are clean and that can be accomplished (somewhat) with a CD cleaner disc sold in record stores and some computer shops.

 

Thanks a lot I'll give that a try too. Thanks toi the other posters for taking time to offer advice