The Official Computer Tech Support Thread

Trollheart · 04-02-2021, 08:23 AM

Need some good tech advice here.
A long, long time ago (but not in a galaxy far far away) I wrote some stuff using Lotus Word Pro. Recently I went back to that writing and was working on it. I was able to reinstall the program and use it. Now though I have upgraded to Windows 10 and the program won't install.

So my question is this: is there any way to temporarily install Windows 7 on my PC without it impacting on my current OS? Note, I do NOT want to dual boot. This is simply a one-off, to allow me to get into the prog, copy the files and convert them, and then uninstall Win 7, but I don't want to do it if afterwards the system is looking for Win 7 and won't run Win 10, or if it causes any issues with my current OS.

So, any advice?

Plankton · 04-02-2021, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Need some good tech advice here.
A long, long time ago (but not in a galaxy far far away) I wrote some stuff using Lotus Word Pro. Recently I went back to that writing and was working on it. I was able to reinstall the program and use it. Now though I have upgraded to Windows 10 and the program won't install.

So my question is this: is there any way to temporarily install Windows 7 on my PC without it impacting on my current OS? Note, I do NOT want to dual boot. This is simply a one-off, to allow me to get into the prog, copy the files and convert them, and then uninstall Win 7, but I don't want to do it if afterwards the system is looking for Win 7 and won't run Win 10, or if it causes any issues with my current OS.

So, any advice?

If you do a clean install of Win7, you should be able to 'upgrade' to Win10 with no issues.

As far as that Lotus software, there's some interesting info here regarding installing it through Safe Mode as well as a few other attempts:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...4-bca864ace0f2

What a pita though. I hope you have all your data files backed up.

SGR · 04-02-2021, 02:21 PM

Have you looked into free conversion online? LWP to DOC/DOCX?

https://cloudconvert.com/lwp-to-doc

If you have a Windows 7 disc, you could get free hypervisor software (like VirtualBox), and then install Windows 7 on a virtual machine. If you've got your LWP files on a USB stick - you could access that from within the Windows 7 virtual machine. Doing all this would be more of a pain than simply finding an online service that converts them.

Paul Smeenus · 04-02-2021, 05:10 PM

I'm with you on printers, it's so heinously expensive to print! I'm very fortunate that I really have no need to print.

Trollheart · 04-02-2021, 06:36 PM

Thanks guys. I won't bore you with my incredible adventure in the land of 32-bit Vista-powered laptops, but suffice to say that eventually, after literally spending the day trying everything from reinstalling Word Pro to online conversion - none of which worked - I finally got it. I was able to read the files on the old ASUS and copy them into ODT docs, and they're now safely back on my main PC.

FYI, none of the LWP ->DOC websites worked, nor did extracting text strings. If anyone ever finds themselves in a similar situation give me a bell and I can help. Serves me right for not converting the files when I had access to WordPro, but at least I know how to do it now. And I didn't have to reinstall Win 7.

SGR · 04-02-2021, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Serves me right for not bowing down to the Microsoft monopoly on office software and using Lotus like big rebellious dummy

Glad you fixed it

Trollheart · 04-02-2021, 08:30 PM

Oh I hate Microsoft with a passion! After Lotus Word Pro became unusable I searched for another word processor, eventually ending up with Open Office and Google Docs. I wouldn't touch Word unless I had absolutely no other choice. I hate Micro$oft. I wouldn't use their OS if I had a choice. Almost as bad as Apple.

SGR · 04-03-2021, 09:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

I wouldn't use their OS if I had a choice. Almost as bad as Apple.

You required to use it at work or something? I much prefer macOS as a daily driver. Linux distros for development.

Trollheart · 04-04-2021, 05:19 AM

No I don't work, not in that way anyway; I'm fulltime carer for my sister. No, I've just used it for so long now (since about the late 1980s) that it's a pain to try to learn, say, Linux, and I can't afford a Mac. So I'm stuck with Windows. Guess it's better than being stuck in windows.

The Batlord · 04-04-2021, 09:58 AM

Perhaps you should try jumping out a window.

04-02-2021, 08:23 AM	#2101 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	Need some good tech advice here. A long, long time ago (but not in a galaxy far far away) I wrote some stuff using Lotus Word Pro. Recently I went back to that writing and was working on it. I was able to reinstall the program and use it. Now though I have upgraded to Windows 10 and the program won't install. So my question is this: is there any way to temporarily install Windows 7 on my PC without it impacting on my current OS? Note, I do NOT want to dual boot. This is simply a one-off, to allow me to get into the prog, copy the files and convert them, and then uninstall Win 7, but I don't want to do it if afterwards the system is looking for Win 7 and won't run Win 10, or if it causes any issues with my current OS. So, any advice? __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

04-02-2021, 06:36 PM	#2105 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	Thanks guys. I won't bore you with my incredible adventure in the land of 32-bit Vista-powered laptops, but suffice to say that eventually, after literally spending the day trying everything from reinstalling Word Pro to online conversion - none of which worked - I finally got it. I was able to read the files on the old ASUS and copy them into ODT docs, and they're now safely back on my main PC. FYI, none of the LWP ->DOC websites worked, nor did extracting text strings. If anyone ever finds themselves in a similar situation give me a bell and I can help. Serves me right for not converting the files when I had access to WordPro, but at least I know how to do it now. And I didn't have to reinstall Win 7. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

04-02-2021, 08:30 PM	#2107 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	Oh I hate Microsoft with a passion! After Lotus Word Pro became unusable I searched for another word processor, eventually ending up with Open Office and Google Docs. I wouldn't touch Word unless I had absolutely no other choice. I hate Micro$oft. I wouldn't use their OS if I had a choice. Almost as bad as Apple. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

04-04-2021, 05:19 AM	#2109 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	No I don't work, not in that way anyway; I'm fulltime carer for my sister. No, I've just used it for so long now (since about the late 1980s) that it's a pain to try to learn, say, Linux, and I can't afford a Mac. So I'm stuck with Windows. Guess it's better than being stuck in windows. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

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04-02-2021, 02:21 PM	#2103 (permalink)
SGR No Ice In My Bourbon Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: /dev/null Posts: 4,327	Have you looked into free conversion online? LWP to DOC/DOCX? https://cloudconvert.com/lwp-to-doc If you have a Windows 7 disc, you could get free hypervisor software (like VirtualBox), and then install Windows 7 on a virtual machine. If you've got your LWP files on a USB stick - you could access that from within the Windows 7 virtual machine. Doing all this would be more of a pain than simply finding an online service that converts them.