MS Word

Keep Shortcuts for Both Word 2000 and Word XP on the Same Computer

The Problem:

I've installed Word 2000 and Word XP on the same computer, but there's only one set of shortcuts on the Start menu.

The Solution:

When you install Office XP on a computer that already has Office 2000 installed, Office XP tends to grab the Office 2000 shortcuts on the Start menu. You need to re-create the shortcuts for the Office 2000 applications you choose to keep. Here's the easiest way to re-create them:


Office 2003 puts its Start menu shortcuts in a Microsoft Office folder rather than directly on the All Programs menu, so it doesn't overwrite the Office XP or Office 2000 shortcuts.
  1. Choose Start » Run, type %programfiles% in the Run box, and press Enter or click the OK button. (%programfiles% is an environment variable that contains the path to your Program Files folder.)

  2. If the Program Files window shows a blue background with the message "These Files Are Hidden," click the "Show the contents of this folder" link.

  3. Open the folder containing Office. Usually, this is called Microsoft Office, but it will have a different name if you or whoever installed Office customized the installation.

  4. Open the folder containing Office 2000. The default name for this folder is Office.

  5. Right-click each Office 2000 application (for example, WINWORD.EXE) and choose Send to » Desktop (Create Shortcut) to create a shortcut on the Desktop.

  6. Close the window, rename the new shortcuts as needed (for example, from "Shortcut to WINWORD.EXE" to "Word 2000"), and then drag the shortcuts to where you want themfor example, to the Start menu.