Windows 7 and Microsoft Officer Starter 2010

Microsoft Windows 7 is an operating system, and doesn't come with a Microsoft Office (doh!). However, the laptop was preloaded with Microsoft Office Starter 2010, which offers limited functionality of the Word and Excel version... with advertisements at the lower right corner.

I tried to use it and got a message: "Microsoft Word Starter cannot be opened. Try again or repair product in control panel". How do I repair it on control panel? I Googled for the answer, and followed the instructions (social.answers.microsoft.com):

• Click on Start menu
• Click on Control panel
• Click on Programs item and select Uninstall item
• Select Microsoft Office 2010
• Click on Change
• When a window pops, click on Repair

So far so good. I opened it again, and a window pops out: "Downloading Microsoft Word Starter 2010 (99%)". I waited for ages (more than 1 hour), even though it's 99% complete, so decided to cancel it. I restarted the computer, and it seemed to be working for a while, until I installed recommended updates from MS. Now the problem is back! I tried to repair it numerous time, but it still couldn't work... I'm getting the same old message to repair it.

During this waiting in agony time, I came upon this site called openoffice.org (sponsored by Oracle). You can download this open-source office software suite for FREE for word processing, spreadsheets, databases, graphics, and more. I gave it a try. I've downloaded the latest version OpenOffice3.0, and started to use it.

What happened to the MS Word and Excel? Forget about them (too frustrating)!!! I'll miss the insert cover page though :(