Wish me luck, I think I'm gonna call Microsoft....

[Breadfan]

You may remember me mentioning a few days ago that I was trying to get our old copy of Office 4.3 working again at work. Our asbestos lab has software that requires Excel 5.0 of all things, and they're going to do some work over in Korea, so they need it over there to run the stuff they have.

At anyrate, 2 of the 23 disks are completely corrupt. I was copying them to my hard drive, and then I was gonna burn em on CD for portability. I take it that since I'm not selling it or distributing it, that copy it from floppy to CD is not bad...well maybe also the fact that its Office 4.3, lol.

Anyway, I can't get the data off these two disks, and can't seem to find anyone with a copy of office 4.3 to copy those 2 disks. So I figured why not just call M$ and request two replacement disks?

Heheh, should be interesting, its sorta like after being here for awhile I feel like I'm calling Darth Vader or something... :)

Mike

[alan]

Ok.. here's an question i'm sure you've been asked already:

Why not install a newer version of office then use that newer version to "convert" the old files?

[Breadfan]

Good question....

The reason is becuase this PLM/PCM software they have saves and reads to tables in Excel 5.0 format. So the files must stay in 5.0 format to be retrieved by this data software later. And this software doesn't have Excel 5.0 built in either, its gotta be on the machine.

Yeah a real pain, I wish they'ed just upgrade their data software, but apparently its really hard to find a decent one, they're happy with what they have, and when you do find a decent one its really expensive so they just don't wanna bother now.

Mike

[alan]

But I think that if you installed OVER the old... the newer versions have the ability to open the older versions.... I learned this in school... but then again it WAS a State school.

I have 43 floppies from when i bought Office 97... you are welcome to them if you can use them.

alan

[Ridenow]

I wonder if I still have a copy of that at home. I am prone to keep things. If I do have it, how would I get it to you? Which disks are corrupt?

[Pinky]

I just verified that Office 97/Excel has the ability to save worksheets/books in any of the old formats... including 5.0

[Ridenow]

Originally posted by Pinky
I just verified that Office 97/Excel has the ability to save worksheets/books in any of the old formats... including 5.0

Yeah, but are the people Breadfan works with smart enough to do that?

[M@€$†®Ö™]

All I gotta say is good luck. I have made a few calls to M$ and only 1 bared any fruit.

Maestro

[pcgirl]

There has to be a way you can safely upgrade....that's one of the few good things about Office, the newer versions *usually* will read older versions of documents/spreadsheets without any problem. Even if your company's software stores the files in 5.0 format, Office 97 or 200 should be able to read them without a problem, right?

[Breadfan]

Yeah I actually saw in Office 97 that I can save and open files from older versions. I need to sit down and have this guy explain the situation better to me. He it sound like the program itself NEEDS Excel v5 to operate, not that it needs any copy of office that'll open those types of files. But see, I am thinking just like you guys, I don't really understand it.

I started trying to question some people a few weeks ago about it, but no one here knows all that much. Apparently though, they guy they had doing computer work before me (a good guy too), had already tried to run the program with Office 97 with no luck. Infact, he had to remove it from the guys computer and run this old skool version.

So the problem and therefore the answer lies in this asbestos data program which I know very little about. I'm gonna go learn more about it and see if I can trick some people aroudn here into saying something helpful!

Ridenow, if you do have it on floppy, I am missing disks 2 and 8, and if you sent me a copy of each disk I'd be more than happy to return the disks after I copy them and pay mailing.

But hopefully it wont come to that. I just ran out to pick up some more CDR's, cause we ran out. I'm burning what I got on CD and I'm gonna see if I can install just Excel 5. That does one really good thing: It wont change anything. This guy has used this setup of this program and excel 5 for years now, so I'm a bit leary about sending him to Korea with something different, even if he seems to understand it here...don't want him stuck out there trying to call me for help.

Also, I'm gonna look at this Asbestos software and see what I can figure out.

Thanks for the help guys! I'll let you know if I find anything...
Mike

[Breadfan]

Heheh, ok, so I took a few minutes yesterday afternoon to sit down with the guy who runs our asbestos lab.

This is hilarious.

So first time I talked to him, he's telling how some program needs Excel 5.0, and that they tried Office 97 but it wouldn't work.

I talk to him more, get him to show me what he's talking about.

Turns out there is no program...I don't know why he said there was, but there isn't.

Turns out hes just making tables and converting them to graphs, and likes Excel 5.0 becuase he knows how to use it and knows where everything is.

So I finally got from him the reason I've been trying to get our ancient copy of Excel 5.0 running: Cause he doesn't wanna learn Excel 97.

I told him its most likely very similar, but he kept telling me how the toolbars look different and how things are different in the menus and how "Well I could probably figure it out, but I already know how to use this one!"

I hate that...its like "Hey why don't you work your butt off trying to either find a copy of this or get our corrupt copy to work so I don't have to bother learning Excel 97!" Worst part is I didn't know that from the start, I thought my hard work trying to get a working copy of it was becuase some old software they had used it as a core program or something...

Even worse though, is the fact that he's going to a military base in korea (a US one). And, he's most likely not taking a laptop, so he's gonna have to find their tech guy (its a small base, only about 30 people) to uninstall whatever Office program they have and put on Office 4.3, LOL! I bet they run UNIX with Star Office there...HAHA! That'd ruin his day I bet!

So thanks for the help...he still wants me to get it working for him, I'll probably end up finding a copy or getting ours to work....but maybe next time he tells me he's running out of hard drive space I'll help him out by telling him to just type "format c:"!!! HAH!

Mike

[FerrariF50]

asbestos lab wooooo......

[Pinky]

You need to be firm with stubborn supervisor's / coworkers.

If we all still drove model T's and used an abacus for math, where would we be? Put it to him that way, and tell him now is as good a time to learn as any...

The guy really has no choice, the day will come he will have to use a newer version. It almost came this time, and still might based on what you said...

You'd be doing him a favor by being candid/honest and stop placating his ignorance.

[Ridenow]

I forgot to look for my copy, I had other things on my mind, like that they are desolving my department and forcing me to become Tier 1 helpdesk.

Tell this guy that you can get it to work, but it will cost, oh...$150 to get new disks, but you can not get a recipt so you need cash from him.... Yes I know how far that will get you. Another option is to tell him it can not be done. You did reseach and that product is no longer available, your sources went dry. Or you can tell him you might be able to get it, but not before he leaves.

Ya know, we could really throw him for a loop, I know where my copy of Corel is. :)

I know how these things are, so I will try to look for my copy tonight.

[Breadfan]

Thanks Ridenow, if you do have 2 and 8 that'd save me trying to get 'em from M$

Pinky I agree with you 100%. Infact, this guy should've been weened off when we first went over to Office 97 which was years ago. But he wasn't.

But I am faced with a dilemna: Do I trust him to learn it well enough in a week? If he goes over to Korea and can't do what he needs to because I didn't give him the software he told me he needed, then the blame for his lack of productivity is put on me.

I'm gonna probably get this old Pentium 100mhz laptop thats running Win98 and put it on there. That way he doesn't have to mess up anything with their computers over there, and he has the software he "needs".

But thats just for the Korea trip. Now that I know the situation, trust me, he won't be using Excel 5.0 anymore around here.

But I still say that I feel leary about sending him across the world with something he might not be able to figure out...

Mike

[Ridenow]

That is his fault for not planning ahead and would be his fault for any lost productivity. You need to gauge how savy the manager he would complain to. If this manager is reasonable they recognize how outdated this software is. If that is the case then you should give this person a heads up before the guy can complain, the first story os often given more crediblity. If this asbestos lab guy is the one giving you grief then you can tell him you are only the messenger and he should not kill the messenger. You should also point out all that you did to try to do it his way.

If they do not pull the rug out from under my life *again* today I should remember to look.

[Mictlan]

Well, the first thing that you were told is right. If you made a macros program in Excel 95, you just can't expect it to work with Excel 97. At work we have several useful program that must be run in Excel 95. We could upgrade them, if the same guy that programed the macros still worked here. I have been telling my boss that we must take the time to check the code (well we first have to crack the password, the guy that did the programs protect them with a password, wrote it down and his notes got lost when we move to another building) and tranlate it to the Visual Basic used in Excel 97.

Also, I made a good macros for some at school, and when I tried to used them here at work got the same problem.

Well, that leaft me a good lesson: Always write down the code of a program, and always use comments on your programs.

[Newbie_Doo]

Moved to Software and Operating Syatems (after much deliberation).

[Ridenow]

Sorry, I found Office version 3.0 with Excel 4.0 on 5.25 floppys, Word Version 6.0 with all the converters, disks 16-20 of Office 95 still sealed in plastic(don't ask, I have no clue), Borland Turbo C 3.0 + 4.0, Dos 6.22, Win 3.11 still sealed, Harvard Graphics 2.0, Mosaic 1.0, Mortal Kombat.....

I don't think I have it, but I will keep my eyes open.

[n2]

wow, thats really something for this employee to be ashamed of.
how long would it actually take someone to learn a newer version of an app they're already familiar with?

to be so lazy as to go so far as to lie,
about there being a core proggie???

i can't imagine he is a very productive employee, he certainly isn't a concerned one. newer versions of software offer (usually) more flexibility and are less time consuming for the same result, as well as factoring in conformity to real world standards in file support... this guy obviously cares less right?

who does not want to progress? thats what boggles me!

i really believe a repremand is in order for this fellow.
he needs to "get with the program" LOL

[Breadfan]

NewbieDoo: Thanks for moving, this started out general but kinda morphed its way into a software thread :)

Ridenow: Thanks for checking, its cool that you don't have it. I don't think I'll go as far as calling MS, so if I can't get it working then the problem will be solved b/c he'll be s.o.l.

N2: Actually he's a good guy, and very productive in the lab. Its funny though, you work with good people who are productive as well, and they change drastically when it comes to something like computers. In a way they don't know them, therefore they fear them and fear change. I remember when people were freaking out becuase we moved to Outlook for Email while some people were using really old versions of Outlook Express. Time to pop on Eudora and really mess with em :)

Really when it comes to computers, you can see alot of normally productive people get very nervous. The thought of trying to learn a new program and abandon something they know is actually a really scairy thought.

So in a way, I half feel sorry for the guy. I get along with him real good, so I had to tell him in a really nice voice that its time to let go of Excel 5.0.....lol! :)

Mike

[pcgirl]

There's a somewhat harsh but very applicable "rule" I like to tell people who are reluctant to upgrading hardware/software:

"Move up, or move out"

Very simple. ;)

[Breadfan]

Heheh, I like that saying! I gererally do that without quite saying that...kinda like "too bad, heres a memo with instructions on how to use the new software, learn it."

I still haven't quite decided if I can apply that for this Korea trip or not though....but you know what, I really should. Anyway, I feel bad for the tech guy over there who's gonna have to be isntalling Excel 5.0 on one of their systems over there!

Actually, I had to take this stupid Excel class at gmu, it was so easy, but I got a book out of it...maybe I'll just give him to book and be like "here's all ya need".

Will have to think that over...oh well, if you can't tell, theres other things higher on my priority list :)

Mike

[Mord-Sith]

hey if you want to sell that win 3.11 sealed Ill take it for like $10+shipping

[Maddman]

A lot of people have an attitude of if it isn't broke don't fix it. My parents are like that I suggest they migt want to upgrade something on there computer and they ask why is it broken and I say no but it is getting old and you could do more with this and after that it just goes down hill and ends with me not upgrading it.

[Kingslayer]

Don't let it bother you. I have nothing but a high school education. I work as a computer tech/assistant LAN admin. I work in a place that if full of attorney's that have gone to school for 4,6,8 years and can't plug a friggin mouse in.

[FerrariF50]

lol now whats just plain sad lol

Originally posted by Kingslayer
Don't let it bother you. I have nothing but a high school education. I work as a computer tech/assistant LAN admin. I work in a place that if full of attorney's that have gone to school for 4,6,8 years and can't plug a friggin mouse in.