Will Microsoft Works run on Windows 10?
QI bought a new laptop in 2013 and, following a lack of support from Microsoft, I switched from its Works suite to Libreoffice. Following recent problems with the laptop I decided to start again, but have consistently failed to download Libreoffice. The other day I found my original Works disc, and it made me wonder if there’s a way of installing this on my HP Pavilion G6-2332SA. Ken Humphreys
AThe answer is… maybe. Works was discontinued over a decade ago, and Microsoft no longer offers support for the suite in any form. The final version (Works 9.0) was officially compatible only with Windows Vista or earlier but, actually, it happily worked with Windows 7. Moreover, many people have also found that they’re able to run the program on Windows 8, 8.1 and 10 – so you’ve really got little to lose by trying.
In the first instance we’d suggest just popping the Works disc in your laptop’s drive and following the standard setup instructions.
If that fails, first restart your PC. Now put the disc in again and cancel the setup box. Next, press Windows key+e to launch File Explorer, then use this to browse the disc’s contents. Now rightclick the file called setup.exe and choose Properties. Then select the Compatibility tab, tick the ‘Run this program in compatibility mode for’ box, choose ‘Windows Vista (Service Pack 2)’ from the dropdown menu (see screenshot) and click OK. Now double-click setup.exe and keep your fingers crossed.