Lost key for MS Office 2010..ideas?

Whs,

Out of interest why would it prompt me for a key (upon opening a spreadsheet it says I have 25 'uses' until I need one)?

Where would I be able to get this key - is there a specific one for Starter?

See, the starter edition can only either come preinstalled from the factory or if you did a factory restore. You said you had windows reinstalled, I'm not sure whether this was a regular clean install or a factory restore. Starter should not ask for any key. You can check the version- open Word or Excel, click File-Help, all the info is in the right pane.

You cant buy a product key for Starter, if you must buy it'll have to be a retail edition, one of the cheap ones available.

Hi Bill2,

It was a clean reinstall. I'll check tonight to see if it is Starter.

scamander said:

Whs,

Out of interest why would it prompt me for a key (upon opening a spreadsheet it says I have 25 'uses' until I need one)?

Where would I be able to get this key - is there a specific one for Starter?

If you are getting this prompt it means you have a trial version and once you've launched it 25 times, you'll need to buy a product key if you want to carry on using it.

Hi all,

The mystery is solved. Firstly I checked everywhere for the disc but couldn't find it, it was a prompt, but fir MS Office 2007 (not 2010).

My o/h is a teacher and so I'm looking at the sites mentioned earlier to see if she qualifies as able to get the discount. If not then I might buy Office 2010 outright, seems like a worthwhile investment.

Out of interest what will happen were I to install Office 2010 with regards to the earlier version? I imagine I'll have to uninstall it right?

Big thanks to everyone, PCs are pretty confusing at the best of times and what you guys consider everyday knowledge are often really helpful insights to those who aren't as fully learned.

another alternative is to stop using the expensive microsoft office altogether, and consider some free alternatives, such as open office or libreoffice.

these freebies don't have quite so many features, gloss, bells and whistles as ms ofice, but are perfectly fine for everyday use for 'average joes'. they can also open and save regular office documents too.

read here for more info.