Urgent: I need to get hold of an old laptop

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David77

New Member
Hello

The laptop I use at work is to be handed in soon to be upgraded. It is a Toshiba XP laptop with Office 2003.

It is to be upgraded to Windows 7 with Office 2007. This causes two problems for me:

1) No matter how much I try, I can't get my head round Office 2007 and I much prefer Office 2003.

2) On Windows XP it was very easy to search for items on the computer by pressing CTRL+F. You then had the choice of either searching for a word in a filename or (most importantly for me) searching for a word within a file/folder itself.

The second way of searching is an integral part of the way I work and can't see anyway of doing this on later versions of Windows.

This leaves me with two options. I can either find someone who can tell me how I can do that type of search on later versions of Windows (no luck so far) or I can buy a second hand XP laptop with Office 2003 on it.

Can anyone please tell me whether it is possible to search specific words in a folder on Windows Vista or Windows 7?

Failing that, can anyone suggest where I can get hold of the second hand laptop I described and how much I would have to pay?

Many thanks and sorry for the long message!
 
there is a search bar on the top right corner of every file browser window which searches the inside files too, whoever told you that it does not do it was wrong. all you do is open my computer and there is a search bar on the top right, type in the word you want to search and it scans all files and also within files like word documents for the word that you are searching for.
also for office 2007 you can download the ribbon of 2003 so the interface stays like 2003.
you should have no problems with the upgrade my friend.
 
Thanks for your response.

Unfortunately, there seems to be no way of specifying which search you do on the computer whether it is just in the filename or words within the file. I've tried doing searches on later versions of Windows and it doesn't work anywhere near as well. I've checked by searching the SAME folder off a pen drive on different version of Windows and it produces different results.

Could you tell me about the Office 2003 ribbon, how it works and how it can be downloaded, please? I've never heard of that before.

I think I will probably need to get a second hand laptop anyway. Does anyone know how much it is likely to cost and where I should be looking?

Thanks
 
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i think this is it for the ribbon http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/classic-menu-for-office-2007-EM010222066.aspx

here is google search for how it looks http://tinyurl.com/36v53zj

and on the note of search, i think i know what you mean, its just i have not used XP for so long, but i guess what you mean is that in XP you could say search for file or folder and so on. well as described before all you have to do it type what you are searching and then there is a thing appears saying that add a search filter and then you just select what you need. i.e. under type is file folder.
So there is a filter there that you can chose from. i hope that this is what you mean!!!
 

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Thanks for the response. I very much doubt I will be allowed to download that onto the laptop once it is upgraded :(

Also I checked an upgraded laptop and unfortunately it doesn't have as many search filters as the one in the pic you attached. It doesn't allow the type of search I want to do.

It looks like I will have to get a second hand laptop which I don't mind doing.

Does anyone have any suggestions on where I can look for one and how much it is likely to cost?

Thanks
 
It is an official Microsoft product, thus you should not have any problems with IT allowing it to be installed. (BTW i worked in IT and if someone came to me with the question if he can install this then i would allow it, since it poses no risk to the system as well no known compatibility issues)

Just to point out, any upgrade that your company gets will come with a downgrade option, at least here in UK, the company i worked for got new windows 7, but with a downgrade option.

on the search note, try going into start, documents in windows 7, in that window you will be able to do it. Also you can change some settings if you go to tools, folder options, search bar.

i think you are looking at this the wrong way, Windows 7 is so much better in terms of performance, the only reason some companies still chose to downgrade is because of software incompatibilities.

Windows 7 search bar in the start menu will do it for you and if you click see more results you will also be able to chose file folder option.

I will try to convince you not to waste money and just get used to windows 7.

what you could also do is run Windows XP Mode on Windows 7, which could be the substitute.

But if not you could buy any laptop you want, preferably older ones, which would cost relatively cheap (100$-200$) or a a good computer for around 300$-500$, plus windows XP which will be around 40$-100$. then you will need to do a clean install and get all the drivers manually, install them, you might have trouble finding ones for XP, but most should not be a huge problem.
 
Thanks but I've tried getting used to Windows 7 and I can't. The desktop computer I have at work is Windows 7 and I just can't get used to it or do the things I can do almost instinctively on my Windows XP laptop. The whole way in which I do my job is based on the things I can do on XP and can't do on Windows 7.

The laptops will soon be upgraded to match the desktop computers.

I also live in the UK, does anyone have any suggestions on where I should be looking for a second hand laptop. Are there any companies which specialise in this and have a good reputation?

I've tried searches on sites like Amazon or through google but haven't had any joy yet.

Thanks
 
Hello, if you are still here then try to use windows F in windows seven. that is basically the search window .....
 
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