# Uninstall MS Office 2007 & leave 2010 intact? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 18, 2013, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uninstall-ms-office-2007-leave-2010-intact/658679 "2013-05-18T14:33:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![minionkat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@minionkat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minionkat)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uninstall-ms-office-2007-leave-2010-intact/658679/1 "2013-05-18T14:33:10Z")
My laptop came installed with Microsoft Office Home & Student 2007. It was a trial edition and expired promptly. This didn’t matter to me, because I had purchased the a product key for the 2010 version. I have an annoying problem. Whenever I open a file, it defaults to using the 2007 version to open it. Then it asks for a product key for it and then it opens the file as read-only. The only way around this is to open the 2010 and then open the file from there. I am embarrassed to say how long I have been putting up with this. But I am now sufficiently annoyed to do something about it. I did some searching online and it appears I am not the only one with this issue. I did not find any clearly satisfying resolutions. Bottom line - can I uninstall just the 2007 version? Will it leave the 2010 intact? I don’t have disks, apparently, they just don’t do that any more. So I would really like to avoid having to uninstall both and then reinstall just the 2010. I have the product key kicking around here somewhere and could be pressed to find it if I really had to. I am hoping that a quick uninstall will relieve me of my woes. What say you, tech savvy dopers? ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uninstall-ms-office-2007-leave-2010-intact/658679/2 "2013-05-18T15:16:56Z")
yes, you can just remove 2007 If needed, 2010 can repair itself, there’s a 2nd copy for repairing any part of it, eg even if there were errors in copying the files from one drive to another or a antivirus removed some of the files. Also, your 2010 key allows you to download and install 2010 again , as much as you want. But you also have this image still, from where you first downloaded it ? ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uninstall-ms-office-2007-leave-2010-intact/658679/3 "2013-05-18T17:21:04Z")
Tangentially related to the OP: If you’ve been suffering with the ‘wrong’ program opening by default, _[change the default program](http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/change-which-programs-windows-uses-by-default)_. Got to CONTROL PANEL\>DEFAULT PROGRAMS and change things to suit your preference. ---
**Author:** ![minionkat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@minionkat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minionkat)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uninstall-ms-office-2007-leave-2010-intact/658679/4 "2013-05-18T22:32:33Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Tangentially related to the OP: > > If you’ve been suffering with the ‘wrong’ program opening by default, _[change the default program](http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/change-which-programs-windows-uses-by-default)_. > > Got to CONTROL PANEL\>DEFAULT PROGRAMS and change things to suit your preference. I tried that, they weren’t in the list.