Vista and Office 2007 SP1 Service Pack, A Mouse’s Word of Caution

If you do not have Vista on your computer, you are free to come back next week. Or you can waste a couple of minutes and view short snippet from C-Net regarding the new Vista SP1 Pack.

My laptop is set to download Vista updates and for the most part, the SP1 upgrade went pretty well. The system is running a little faster (but not as fast as my Mac…sigh). Then I downloaded the Office 2007 SP1…that’s where the trouble began. The mouse would not work in Word 2007. It worked everywhere else within my system. So after some serious digging into Microsoft’s vast and cumbersome website, I find this. The “symptoms” they listed did cover the problem that I had: 

You install an automatic update for Microsoft Office Word 2007 on a Windows Vista-based computer. Additionally, the computer must be restarted after the automatic update is installed. However, if Word 2007 is running when you restart the computer, you may experience the following symptoms:

• The mouse does not work when you use Word 2007.
• You cannot open a Word document from the Search window in Windows Vista.
• You cannot open a Word document from Windows Desktop Search.
• Word crashes when you try to start or to exit Word.
• Word stops responding when you open the Open dialog box.
• Word stops responding when you save a document.Word stops responding when you close a document.

Reading the instructions I had to deal with deleting certain files from the registry. My worst nightmare. One wrong slip-up and the whole thing can blow. But I gritted my teeth, backed up my registry and critical work files on an USB key, set a system restore point, and deleted the required registry files as instructed. It worked. So if you did the upgrades and having any of the above problems, this might be your answer and you do the fixes at your own risk. If you are really uncomfortable with doing the fix, it pays to bring in the professionals.

As a Virtual Assistant, most of my jobs require word processing. This mouse problem potentially could have had my business crawling to a near-halt, but I did have a couple of back-up options, one of which I utilized:

1. I have OpenOffice Suite, a free open-source version of Microsoft Office. It does not have all the bells and whistles, but it will get the job done.
2. Use Google Docs online. You will need a Google Account to get this.

As an overall word of advice, since most people do not use Word 2007, save all files in Word 97 or earlier. OpenOffice and Google Docs might not support the new version at this time.

What? No Website? Consider Office Live

Not to be tooting my own horn, but when I started Remote Admin Services back in November of 2007, I needed a web presence at little to no cost and no funky advertising.  The solution was Office Live by Microsoft.  

New freebie and relatively low-cost features is written in depth by New York Times’ David Pogue about Microsoft’s revamped Office Live Small Business.

Setting up your own domain and emails (up to 100) is free for the first year, then $14.95 per year after that. Certainly that can’t be beat. You get business contact manager, Office document collaboration space, email marketing (beta, free for now), and a few other perks.

If you have absolutely no experience in website design, no problem, Office Live has a number of themed templates that can be adjusted to your needs from changes in color schemes to columns. Though I would have much preferred using Dreamweaver to make my site (at this time I would have to pay a premium monthly fee to use a non-OL design), I have been pretty happy with the overall outcome. Until I have completed my RAS 2.0 website and find another provider that can accommodate my own files, OL is where I will stay for now.

Some say that you need a lot of eye candy to grab attention.  In my experience for a small business, people want a quick-loading, clear, consistent, easy to find, information. The trick is keeping the content fresh to keep your visitors interested in returning.

Pogue wrote that 70% of one-person businesses do not even have a website.  I’m not sure where he got that statistic, but if he is accurate, that is really a crying shame. 

If you happen to be part of the 70%, Office Live Small Business is a great launching pad. If you do not have the time to create your Office Live presence, Remote Admin Services would like to help you get on the right track. 

Thinking of Taking The Home Office Deduction?

I am not an accountant and I certainly will not tell what one should do.  But if you are contemplating doing a home office deduction on your taxes this year and worry about an audit, read this great article that I found from Business Week.

If you will excuse me, I need to take a picture of my office…