Office 2007 in Windows 2000

[win32]

56 minutes ago, Dylan Cruz said:

Any ideas on how to fix this, either getting the High Encryption Pack or, more mysteriously, why it somehow thinks I don't have SP3 when I do have SP3?

That's also weird.

I just installed SP3 (which needs 1.5 GB of HDD space by the way). It's greyed out in add/remove programs, but Office 2007 itself is not. It was specified as such in the "about" box; I was able to use several features introduced in SP2/3, including PDF exportation.

I also created an encrypted Word document, which I was able to open successfully afterwards.

[InterLinked]

20 minutes ago, win32 said:

That's also weird.

I just installed SP3 (which needs 1.5 GB of HDD space by the way). It's greyed out in add/remove programs, but Office 2007 itself is not. It was specified as such in the "about" box; I was able to use several features introduced in SP2/3, including PDF exportation.

What? My SP3 installer exe is only 351 MB. How large was yours?

That's what I found too. SP3 is greyed out for change/remove.

Quote

I also created an encrypted Word document, which I was able to open successfully afterwards.

I haven't tried that, but I'm referring to open document not encrypted on this PC. If you encrypt it in a newer version of Word and try to open it there, does it work for you?

Also, based off of your suggestions and what we've tried, we put this guide together: https://w2k.phreaknet.org/guide/

Not 100% comprehensive yet, because I need to figure out what is up with encryption and I haven't even opened Outlook yet... I'm dreading that.

What do you think? The goal was to make it as comprehensive as possible, so if anyone wants to do this in the future, nothing is left to guesswork and it's all laid out. Hopefully, more people will be able to use Windows 2000 then, especially as people are led to believe they need to stop using Windows 7 soon.

Edited December 6, 2019 by Dylan Cruz

[win32]

OK, I made an encrypted document in Word 2016 and got the same message as you did when I tried to open it in 2007. I think it has to do with the fact that encryption methods change with almost every Office version.

WPS Office 2016 did open that file though.

And on another note @Dylan Cruz, you don't need to download USP 5.1, as you can obtain a good copy of riched20.dll from the slipstreamed install media.

Installing the extended kernel twice with DX10 option unchecked (with it checked, it was only necessary to install once) will (usually) allow for the "Windows 2000 Power Pack" start menu folder to appear with fcwin2k, NNN4NT5 etc.

Apparently if it's installed thrice it will eliminate riched20.dll's VC++ 2008 dependency issue, but I've yet to test it.

Edited December 6, 2019 by win32

[InterLinked]

2 minutes ago, win32 said:

OK, I made an encrypted document in Word 2016 and got the same message as you did when I tried to open it in 2007. I think it has to do with the fact that encryption methods change with almost every Office version.

Can't be. I've used this same Word document since 2012. It's successfully openable on Word 2010, Word 2013, Word 2016, Word 2019, and Office 365 Word (basically Word 2019).

I also want to say I could open it when I tried this on XP, but I'm not positive. Maybe I didn't try it.

But it seems it did change between 2007 and 2007 SP3 or 2010, but not since then.

Any idea where to get the encryption pack (High Encryption Pack)? When I look it up, the first result is "Windows 2000 High Encryption Pack - Free download" from cnet, but that looks sketchy.

This site also confused things by saying I already have it, which also doesn't make sense: https://www.petri.com/download_w2k_high_encryption_pack

2 minutes ago, win32 said:

WPS Office 2016 did open that file though.

And on another note @Dylan Cruz, you don't need to download USP 5.1, as you can obtain a good copy of riched20.dll from the slipstreamed install media.

Wait, you mean the good copy of riched20.dll from the original ISO files or the HFSLIP files?

So basically, KernelEx replaces the good DLL with a bad DLL, and it has to be changed back? Odd that it does that... The broken DLL is a lot larger than the good one, too.

Also, can you play MKV files in your W2K? VLC always gave me some kind of error, is a codec needed?

[win32]

33 minutes ago, Dylan Cruz said:

Can't be. I've used this same Word document since 2012. It's successfully openable on Word 2010, Word 2013, Word 2016, Word 2019, and Office 365 Word (basically Word 2019).

Any idea where to get the encryption pack (High Encryption Pack)? When I look it up, the first result is "Windows 2000 High Encryption Pack - Free download" from cnet, but that looks sketchy.

This site also confused things by saying I already have it, which also doesn't make sense: https://www.petri.com/download_w2k_high_encryption_pack

Wait, you mean the good copy of riched20.dll from the original ISO files or the HFSLIP files?

So basically, KernelEx replaces the good DLL with a bad DLL, and it has to be changed back? Odd that it does that... The broken DLL is a lot larger than the good one, too.

Also, can you play MKV files in your W2K? VLC always gave me some kind of error, is a codec needed?

You probably saved the document in Word 2010 or newer, which effectively made the encrypted document incompatible with 2007. Installing all updates to EOS for Office 2007 may help though. I think Microsoft Update still works and if not, there is WSUS Offline Update.

The high encryption pack is integrated into the OS with SP2 and above. Before that, it was supplied on a floppy disk separate from the OS due to the U.S. cryptography export laws.

The HFSLIP files. I believe that the new version can work, with one of the conditions I mentioned above, but otherwise it's a little ropey.

I don't have any mkv files to test though, but I remember doing so in VLC 3.0.x at one time. Have you tried the K-Lite Codec Pack 13.8.5? That claims to better support MKV than VLC, and it works with WMP on W2K.

Edited December 6, 2019 by win32

[InterLinked]

2 minutes ago, win32 said:

You probably saved the document in Word 2010 or newer, which effectively made the encrypted document incompatible with 2007. Installing all updates to EOS for Office 2007 may help though. I think Microsoft Update still works and if not, there is WSUS Offline Update.

I've never been able to get Windows Update to work. I can finally load a page, but it just redirects to something saying your browser is not supported, all wonky formatting and everything.

2 minutes ago, win32 said:

The high encryption pack is integrated into the OS with SP2 and above. Before that, it was supplied on a floppy disk separate from the OS due to the U.S. cryptography export laws.

Well, I ought to have it then and it ought to work, but it doesn't. Weird.

2 minutes ago, win32 said:

The HFSLIP files. I believe that the new version can work, with one of the conditions I mentioned above, but otherwise it's a little ropey.

 

2 minutes ago, win32 said:

I don't have any mkv files to test though, but I remember doing so in VLC 3.0.x at one time. Have you tried the K-Lite Codec Pack 13.8.5? That claims to better support MKV than VLC, and it works with WMP on W2K.

I've tried a number of codec packs, including that one. None of them worked, and they all turned out to be more like bloatware/adware/crapware/malware than legitimate software. In fact, one of them screwed things up so badly I had to completely restore Windows. Terrible experience!

VLC 3? Wow. I only tried 1.1 on vanilla W2K and it didn't work.

These are the latest versions for vanilla W2K:

Adobe Reader 9.5

7Zip 16.04

PuTTY 0.67

FileZilla 3.0.11.1

VideoLan VLC 1.1

So VLC can be upgraded past 1.1 with KernelEx, even all the way to the very latest release (3.0.8)?

What would really be nice is a newer FileZilla. 3.0.11.1 lacks support for synchronized browsing, which makes server transfers a real pain.

Ditto for PuTTY, since KiTTY was forked off a version of PuTTY that had dropped W2K support.

[win32]

@Dylan Cruz

Try WSUS Offline Update ESR version (http://download.wsusoffline.net/) to download/install your Office updates.

The Windows 2000 High Encryption Pack provides 128-bit encryption to Internet Explorer and similar MS applications I believe; necessary for online banking. It doesn't have any bearing on the encryption techniques used in newer versions of Office; especially since WPS doesn't mind opening it.

The "high encryption pack" for Office mentioned in that error message doesn't seem to exist, or it was probably only released to certain corporate customers.

VLC 3.0.6 and up are broken on win2k presently (can't play videos), but 3.0.0 and maybe a few newer than that are functional.

And this basically says that FileZilla 3.25.1 works, and maybe even a newer release since that was posted 2.5 years ago.

7zip 19 continues to work on vanilla win2k.

I just realized that we steered badly off-topic, then went back on-topic for a bit, just to derail it again.

Edited December 7, 2019 by win32

[InterLinked]

9 minutes ago, win32 said:

@Dylan Cruz

Try WSUS Offline Update ESR version (http://download.wsusoffline.net/) to download/install your Office updates.

Doesn't work. Office tab is only 2013 and 2016 and "legacy Office" only has 2010. 2007 does not appear anywhere.

I guess I need all the updates from SP3, hence the tool? An unofficial SP4 for Office 2007 might be nice. Come to think of it, a service pack released from MSFT right whenever extended support ends, for all those continuing to use the OS.

9 minutes ago, win32 said:

VLC 3.0.6 and up are broken on win2k presently (can't play videos), but 3.0.0 and maybe a few newer than that are functional.

Okay, I'll give that a try and see if MKVs work. I think 1.1 just didn't have MKV support.

9 minutes ago, win32 said:

And this basically says that FileZilla 3.25.1 works, and maybe even a newer release since that was posted 2.5 years ago.

The link on the page says it didn't work though (from MSFN). I'm not sure if I have those checkboxes specified enabled, probably not if that's not the default.

9 minutes ago, win32 said:

7zip 19 continues to work on vanilla win2k.

I tried it and it didn't work. By tried, I mean I tested each of the portable installs down and down until one worked, and then I installed the full software. I did that for a few different programs, including 7Zip. They claimed to still support 2K but it didn't seem like the very latest one did.

9 minutes ago, win32 said:

I just realized that we steered badly off-topic, then went back on-topic for a bit, just to derail it again.

Oops, well as long as it's about W2K! I do need to fix the encryption issues though. Any thoughts on what I should try now, esp. since WSUS offline doesn't work?

In theory, since there are no more updates to O2K7, all the updates are somewhere and could be manually downloaded. At least the relevant ones, but I'm not sure where. MSFT is pretty good at hiding and deleting stuff once they no longer like it.

[win32]

8 minutes ago, Dylan Cruz said:

Doesn't work. Office tab is only 2013 and 2016 and "legacy Office" only has 2010. 2007 does not appear anywhere.

The link on the page says it didn't work though (from MSFN). I'm not sure if I have those checkboxes specified enabled, probably not if that's not the default.

I tried it and it didn't work. By tried, I mean I tested each of the portable installs down and down until one worked, and then I installed the full software. I did that for a few different programs, including 7Zip. They claimed to still support 2K but it didn't seem like the very latest one did.

Did you download from the "version 9.2.6" or "version 11.8.3" link? Download version 9.2.6. It will give you options for Office 2007 and 2003.

Yeah, probably not. That version doesn't even work natively on XP - it targets Vista and up. 3.8.0 is the last XP compatible version; maybe that could work with the APIs you do have.

And I'm actually not sure if I had 7zip 19 installed before extended kernel. But v16 isn't radically different.

[InterLinked]

1 hour ago, win32 said:

@Dylan Cruz

Try WSUS Offline Update ESR version (http://download.wsusoffline.net/) to download/install your Office updates.

VLC 3.0.6 and up are broken on win2k presently (can't play videos), but 3.0.0 and maybe a few newer than that are functional.

I had to use NNN4NT5 again to spoof as XP before either would install. Otherwise they whined I needed XP SP2.

I just tried 3.0.5. It worked as much as 1.1 did. Music is fine, and most videos are fine... EXCEPT MKV, once again!

Nothing seems broken, apart from MKV. Unlike vanilla 2K with 1.1, there's no error, after a few seconds, audio just stops and a second later the picture is gone.

So it's no more or less functional really than 1.1, which is a shame.

When I opened up 3.0.5 it offered to update to 3.0.8, which is the latest for Windows 10 right now I think. I clicked No, of course. I wonder what broke VLC between 3.0.5 and 3.0.6. Either way, there's not any functional difference between 1.1 and 3.0.5 as far as I can tell. Of course, no reason to not use the newer one, I guess, as it probably has some security updates that aren't obvious.

I also installed 3.0.0, same thing. Both 3.0.0 and 3.0.5 play AVI videos fine, just not MKV.

Considering that I'm 99.9% sure that 3.0.5 on a newer version of Windows would play MKV fine, it seems like it's inability to play MKV files is not part of VLC, but rather part of Windows. W2K fundamentally can't play MKV files. Ideas?

Also, when trying to uninstall VLC, well, you can't. A command window opens and flashes briefly, then closes. I suspect most uninstallers of XP only programs are probably broken. Not a real issue, since there's no reason to uninstall the last known working version of common software like VLC, but good to know.

I restored and just to see, I tried 3.0.8, the very latest VLC.

Exact same as 3.0.5 and 3.0.0! It plays WAV music and AVI videos just fine! Still no MKV! And since 3.0.8 on Windows 10 plays MKV, that confirms it's the OS at fault, not VLC.

Why do you say VLC 3.0.8 doesn't play video? It just did for me.

UPDATE: Aha, 3.0.8 does not play MP4 videos. Did not try that until just now.

Ditto for 3.0.5. I can confirm that both can play AVI videos, though, interesting.

And ditto for 3.0.0. Even 3.0.0 is "broken" in the sense that it cannot play MP4 files. On 3.0.0 only, I tested mp3, and mp3 works.

Also, 1.1 on vanilla W2K can't play MP4 videos, so 3.0.8 is not any worse off. But, neither is it better in terms of functionality. Only security, probably.

Quote

And this basically says that FileZilla 3.25.1 works, and maybe even a newer release since that was posted 2.5 years ago.

3.25.0 says it requires Vista or newer to run, let alone XP. So I don't know what's up there.

3.22.2.2 also said it requires Vista but at least offered the option to continue installing it even though it was unsupported.

I get the same error I think, the procedure entry point InitalizeConditionVariable could not be located in the dynamic link library KERNEL32.dll

The uninstaller for FileZilla DID work though, nice improvement over VLC.

The same warning happened up all the way back through 3.8.1, which all said they required Vista or newer.

3.8.0 is the first one that just opened.

I installed 3.8 and I didn't do any actual SFTPing but I went around the interface and it seems to work. So 3.8.0 is the last working with KernelEx. Still good enough for me, since 3.8.0 has synchronized browsing and 3.0.11 does not.

I tried 2.2.8 and this time one of the MP4s gave me VLC could not read the file. (Bad file descriptor).

Conclusion: 2.2.8, 3.0.0, 3.0.5, and 3.0.8 (latest) are all basically equal broken/working. It's possible though that the issue is not VLC but rather missing codecs - in which case, it's likely 3.0.8 might "work".

So, what can 3.0.0 do that 3.0.8 can't?

Quote

7zip 19 continues to work on vanilla win2k.

When I try installing 19.02 alpha, I just get ERROR.

Ditto for 19.00.

16.04, which works in vanilla W2K, obviously works with KernelEx. So no difference between with the Kernel and w/o for 7Zip.

Quote

I just realized that we steered badly off-topic, then went back on-topic for a bit, just to derail it again.

 

Edited December 7, 2019 by Dylan Cruz

[InterLinked]

23 minutes ago, win32 said:

Did you download from the "version 9.2.6" or "version 11.8.3" link? Download version 9.2.6. It will give you options for Office 2007 and 2003.

Not available, but 9.2.5 is.

23 minutes ago, win32 said:

Yeah, probably not. That version doesn't even work natively on XP - it targets Vista and up. 3.8.0 is the last XP compatible version; maybe that could work with the APIs you do have.

Yup, in my testing, this was the first one that "worked". I didn't bother testing the inbetween ones that said they needed Vista. Not worth it to me.

23 minutes ago, win32 said:

And I'm actually not sure if I had 7zip 19 installed before extended kernel. But v16 isn't radically different.

Right, 7Zip is one of those things where it matters whether it works or not and that's about it. VLC and FileZilla are different.

Also, FWIW, VLC 1.1 on vanilla W2K can't play MP4 files, either, failing with "Could not read file". So, 3.0.8 on W2K with KernelEx is essentially the same in terms of ability as 1.1 without it.

[win32]

@Dylan Cruz

On the right sidebar of the WSUS site, below the "ESR version" heading, version 9.2.6 is listed. It won't load unless it thinks it's on XP though.

The mp4 thing is still odd, considering that I just played an mp4 file in MPC-HC 1.7.5, VLC 3.0.0 and WMP 9 with the K-Lite Codec Pack (if you want the safe, crap-free download I used, go here: http://www.codecguide.com/download_kl_old.htm#xp_last_version)

I don't exactly know if an option exists in VLC setup, but if there was one for codecs, did you select it?

And I was also able to run the VLC uninstaller.

Edited December 7, 2019 by win32

[InterLinked]

18 minutes ago, win32 said:

@Dylan Cruz

On the right sidebar of the WSUS site, below the "ESR version" heading, version 9.2.6 is listed. It won't load unless it thinks it's on XP though.

That's still odd, considering that I just played an mp4 file in MPC-HC 1.7.5, VLC 3.0.0 and WMP 9 with the K-Lite Codec Pack (if you want the safe, crap-free download I used, go here: http://www.codecguide.com/download_kl_old.htm#xp_last_version)

I don't exactly know if an option exists in VLC setup, but if there was one for codecs, did you select it?

The only thing I unchecked were the Firefox/some other browser plugins. The only thing unchecked by default besides that was Reset default preferences. I installed everything else.

18 minutes ago, win32 said:

And I was also able to run the VLC uninstaller.

Odd! Your W2K definitely likes you more than mine likes me...

I also had a Chromium4WIN2K file sitting around. It did actually install Chrome! Or Chromium, rather. I have Chromium version 52, so slightly beyond Chrome 49, I suppose.

No HTTPS sites work. Only HTTP. I guess this isn't fixable? I followed the instructions on a video and installed the 201709 roots update but that didn't do it, either.

I then installed FF ESR 52.9. Works like a charm, even YouTube videos play! Honestly, I would settle for this, but I don't like the look. It's just too modern for W2K, if that makes any sense, I want something that looks a little bit older. But good to have regardless, just in case.

Going to try Serpent and New Moon next.

Also, about WSUS offline. It took an hour and a half to actually do its thing, and then when I try running the client:

ERROR: Unsupported Operating System (w2k).

Ending WSUS Offline Update at 21:28:33.73...

So much for that...

[win32]

@Dylan Cruz

I found a possible solution for WSUS. In the "cmd" folder, open DoUpdate.cmd in notepad then find and delete the following lines:

rem *** Check Operating System ***
if "%OS_NAME%"=="" goto UnsupOS
if "%OS_NAME%"=="w2k" goto UnsupOS
for %%i in (x86 x64) do (if /i "%OS_ARCH%"=="%%i" goto ValidArch)
goto UnsupArch
:ValidArch

Never heard of that Chromium version, but I'd be quite shocked that it can't do HTTPS.

New Moon will give you that 2000s browser look for sure.

Edited December 7, 2019 by win32

[InterLinked]

51 minutes ago, win32 said:

@Dylan Cruz

On the right sidebar of the WSUS site, below the "ESR version" heading, version 9.2.6 is listed. It won't load unless it thinks it's on XP though.

That's still odd, considering that I just played an mp4 file in MPC-HC 1.7.5, VLC 3.0.0 and WMP 9 with the K-Lite Codec Pack (if you want the safe, crap-free download I used, go here: http://www.codecguide.com/download_kl_old.htm#xp_last_version)

Apparently, the installer says it has no effect on VLC, which uses its own *private* codec packs. It does enhance WMP's ability, though.

I don't find anything when I look up VLC codec pack, though.

Also, regardless of whether I choose WMP or VLC as default, I get Unable to register DLL/OCX: RegSrv32 failed with exit code 0x3. This was for IcarosThumbnailProvider. I clicked Ignore and that was it, setup finished. And "The path 1385 does not exist or is not a directory".

When I try using WMP to play really anything, I just get WMP encountered an unexpected error.

I tried again setting the K-Lite thing as the default player, and it still can't play anything! Neither WMP nor this Media Player can play *anything* when installed. At least, VLC could play some things. Not many, but some things.

Anyways, media playback and compatibility is still quite poor.

Also, I noticed the cool animations in WMP9 don't play. Do they on yours, or is that just an inevitable incompatibility?

51 minutes ago, win32 said:

I don't exactly know if an option exists in VLC setup, but if there was one for codecs, did you select it?

And I was also able to run the VLC uninstaller.

The Notepad++ uninstaller also does not work. However, it seems about 60% or 70% of uninstallers do work. I was able to uninstall Audacity 2.0.6 and load 2.1.1 onto it.

7-Zip uninstaller works. version 16.04 does not require a reboot but 9.2 (2010) does.