Avoid multiple Microsoft Office versions on same computer
Q: I am unable to open .docx files directly from the icon. I can open them when I open Word, but I get an error message when I double-click the files. I have Microsoft Office 2007 Home and Student 2007. I also have Open Office on my computer. Any ideas you can give me for getting this problem solved would be appreciated.
A: Right off the bat, I see your problem. Having two versions of Microsoft Office installed, as well as Open Office, has caused your computer to be a bit confused about how to handle .docx files.
To remedy this situation, set your default program for these files by clicking Start and typing Default Programs and hitting enter. Look for the .docx files extension and change it to the version of Word you want to use when you double-click on this file type. That should cause Word to launch when you double-click this file.
As a rule of thumb, it is generally not a good idea to have two versions of Microsoft products installed on the same computer. I would determine which version of Office you want to use and uninstall the other.
You might also want to remove Open Office if you are not currently using it, because it is just an alternative to the Microsoft Office suite and is redundant if you are using Microsoft Office as your primary Office suite.
Q: Nowadays it seems that it is worth having a computer with a solidstate drive for the operating system and installed applications and a standard hard drive
to store the data. What makes this such a good idea?
A: Solid-state drives, or SSDs, unlike your more common hard disk drives, or HDDs, have no moving parts and manage data in much the same way as your random access memory, or RAM. When data is stored in this kind of media, your computer can access it much faster than it can from an HDD.
The drawback to SSD technology is that it is much more expensive than HDD technology. The cost of having a computer with an SSD drive any larger than 250 gigabytes can really put a dent in your computer budget. That is why you see so many portable computers with 250 GB SSD drives and are only now starting to see them with 500 GB and larger.
If you don’t need more storage than that, this can be a very good option. But if you want to store large amounts of data and still reap the rewards of SSD technology, you should consider a computer with both types of drives.
A computer with the applications and operating system loaded on an SSD and all data such as music, pictures, videos and document installed on a second hard disk drive will have the benefit of running fast and not breaking the bank. You could have a 256 GB SSD combined with a larger 500 GB or even a 1 TB HDD for storage and be off to the races.
A common upgrade is for computer users to install SSD drives in their computers as the primary drive. Then install the operating system and the application onto that drive. Then take the original drive and set it up as the secondary hard drive.
Obviously this is not something for the faint of heart. But if you have a little computer savvy, you might be able to get a system like this up and running.