Methods to Upgrade Office 2007 to 2010
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Migrating to Office 2010

Microsoft released Office 2010 in April 2010 and it became available for purchase in June. The new edition of Microsoft Office features new security options, built-in screen capture, accessibility checker, Microsoft Office Backstage view, Office Web Apps, support for 32-bit Office 2010 applications that run on 64-bit Windows operating systems by using Windows-32-on-Windows-64 (WOW64), Outlook social connector, and much more.

The upgrade process from earlier version of Office program to Office 2010 can be done in three ways: an in-place upgrade, new operating system upgrade or uninstall upgrade.

System Requirements of Office 2010

Before upgrading or installing Office 2010 , you need to ensure that you have any of the following operating systems:

  • 32-bit edition of Windows XP with Service Pack 3. Note that 64-bit edition of XP is not supported.
  • 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Vista with Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2, Windows 7, Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 2, Windows Server 2008.

The recommended hard-disk space has increased from 2GB to 3GB because of new features.

Methods of Upgrading to Office 2010

The software Microsoft Office 2007 upgrade to Office 2010 - as well as upgrading Office XP, 2000 or 2003 to Office 2010 - does not require of removing the old version. When installing Office 2010 on a computer that has a previous edition of Office software you have the option to remove, keep all previous versions, or only remove a particular Office program.

Upgrade scenarios are called In-place, Uninstall and New Operating System Upgrades:

  • In-place upgrade - The earlier version of Office, such as the 2007 Microsoft Office system, is installed on computers.
  • Uninstall upgrade - The earlier version of Office, such as the 2007 Office system, is first uninstalled before the upgrade to Office 2010.
  • New operating system upgrade - The computers get a new version of the operating system, such as Windows 7, and an upgrade to Office 2010.

If in any event the installation of Office 2010 fails, e.g., you received Error 1935, the installation will roll back to previous version of Office software. Note that after I upgraded Office 2007 to 2010,

because I opted to remove all previous versions of Office programs.

Upgrading Office Starter 2010 to Office 2010

Microsoft has replaced Microsoft Works with Office Starter 2010, which is a version of Office software with reduced functionality. The starter edition is available as OEM version only, which means PC manufacturers will be deploying it on new computers. People that have new computers and Office Starter edition can upgrade to Office 2010 .

Activation of Office after Upgrading to Office 2010

Activating After Upgrade Office 2007 to 2010

It is necessary to activate Office 2010 software because the product key of earlier Office suite or programs is not recognized for Office 2010. Activating Office 2010 is the same as activating previous versions of Office software: over the phone or online using an Internet connection.

Final Words

It is recommended to use the 32-bit edition of Microsoft Office 2010 even if you are using 64-bit edition of Windows. This is because the 64-bit operating system can use more virtual and physical memory than 32-bit systems. In addition, you can enjoy more add-ins for Office if you use the 32-bit edition of Office in a 64-bit system. However, Microsoft recommends considering the 64-bit edition installer of Office software if you have Excel files that is larger than 2GB.

Are you ready to upgrade or buy Office 2010? Check out the Office 2010 comparison article before buying an Office 2010 license.

Image credit: Screenshot taken by the author.