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When I opened up my laptop this morning (8/16/14) there was a pop-up on the screen telling me there was an update available for Microsoft Word Starter 2010 and asking me if I wanted to download it. It did not look like the typical Windows or Office update notification. I closed the pop-up and opened Windows update and ran it. There were some updates available, but none that said they were for Word Starter. IS there a new Update for Word Starter or is this someone trying to get me to download a virus?
***Office Product moved to Office 2010 by the Moderator.***
A family of Microsoft word processing software products for creating web, email, and print documents.
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
Microsoft has posted a Knowledge Base article describing and explaining this popup and providing a solution. Find it at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/3016799.
Hi everyone,
We heard back from the product group. The dialog is expected for a legitimate Office 2010 starter update. It appears for click to run scenarios where the path is missing a piece of information between the build that the user is running on and the latest available build.
The august update that was pulled is a Windows update, not an Office update.
Thanks!
DK - MSFT support
I've got news for you. Bill Gates stepped out of an active role in Microsoft long before the advent of the Office Starter. The only way that you could conceive of "all the department and staff working for Bill Gates" is that as a result of the work by "all the department and staff" Microsoft makes a profit and some of that goes to Bill Gates, along with all of the other shareholders, by way of dividend.
Office Starter 2010 was not a GIFT from Microsoft. Microsoft Office 2010 starter was supported by paid ad revenue -- sponsors paid Microsoft to endorse their products on the software. And, as you say, I paid for it when I made the initial PC purchase. Sure, the product has been discontinued as factory-installed software but this doesn't alter the fact that millions of users still rely on the software we bought. And millions of us don't deserved to be robbed of its utility--even if it has issues Microsoft is well aware of.
I don't need the full Office package-- the Starter is just fine for my needs. When I bought my desktop 3 years ago my purchased Office 2003 disc was not compatible. On my laptop, which is win 8.1, I downloaded Open Office, which I don't particularly like.
I must admit that when my PC developed problems after falling for the fake update I considered purchasing a $99 subscription for the year--but I knew I could get the Starter back for FREEif I was just patient enough to withstand the nuisance of bringing the factory-settings up to current standards and removing all the bloatware. The one advantage to complete restoration is that a lot of the unnecessary files that accumulate are removed. I was fortunate to have the laptop to use while all this was going on.
I don't know who is behind the fake update so I can't say if Microsoft is deliberately sabotaging its customers -- just don't fall for the fake pop-up. Obviously someone knows who has the Starter installed and these users are targeted specifically--who they are and what their purpose is, I am unable to say.
Just a note that I am getting this pop-up, and I don't have Starter installed. The company I bought my PC from installed Office 2010 Professional, not the Starter package. That's the chief reason I didn't bite on this update. I thought -- why would I want to update software I don't have? I was just trying to find out how to make it go away permanently, like some update notices I receive that have a "never run this update" option.