MS Office 97 in Vista

Have checked the posts regarding this subject and googled it extensively but could not find any definitive answers. As I stated in some other post I got MS Office 97 Pro installed just fine and everything's working with no major problems; don't even have to use any compatability mode on Access, Excel and Binder (Powerpoint, Outlook are not installed) but must use WIN2000 compatability mode for Word or I can't use the Tools/Envelopes and Labels feature (popup-something about incorrect parameter).
The problem I have is with printing in Word. I can print just fine from the print icon on the toolbar in both regular view or print preview but when I try to use Print from within the File menu I get an error message like the one shown below. All other printing from any of those mentioned programs works just fine. I've been at this for some time now; uninstalled through Vista and MS Office Add/Remove and by also removing any readily identifiable instances of MS Office, reinstalled as an Administrator and not, in addition to using different compatability modes and the Print "problem" in Word persists. Reason I'm posting this here is because I saw some other users of MS Office 97 in this group and am hoping for some suggestions.


"winword.exe - Application Error
The instruction a 0x767582b8 referenced memory at 0x00000000. The memory could not be read. Click on OK to terminate the program."

You should upgrade to 2007. You can revert it from ribbons to the old menus.

Am a bit embarrassed to admit my problem has been solved. Although I'm on "automatic update" with HP I never received anything regarding their latest stand alone driver for HP Photosmart C5280 which I just downloaded and installed along with removing any compatibility mode in all office programs . Printing for all MS Office 97 applications works just fine now and from what it looks like MS Office 97 does work in Vista HP!

No need to be embarrassed - glad it is working now.

Well, I don't feel that embarrassed anymore. I had it, then lost it. The problem was not the driver but rather changing print settings from anything but normal in printer properties. You can make changes as you print in MS WORD but do not make any changes in "PRINTERS"; if you do, changing them back to normal will not accomplish anything; you will have to remove the printer and uninstall and reinstall the printer driver. I tried this three times! I realize that some may think this has nothing to do with VISTA but having used MS WORD before VISTA without any problems, I think all the "OUT OF THE STONE AGE" MS OFFICE 97 users will appreciate this information.

Well, that depends - it may be a combination of a changed Vista interface along with the old style interface that Office programs use to access system devices.

Still, at least for me, I can change printer settings to what I'd like to use within Word (temporarily) but if I start messing with the main settings in default printer properties, it's uninstall and reinstall to get it back to normal. By all means, do not use any compatibility settings, that's what brings on the winword error message.