Finding out the number of remaining installs on a key

FWIW; Non profits can buy very cheap MS Licenses via Techsoup. My np has lots of ms sofware bought thru techsoup and delivered from MS.

Great for Non-Profits..
Rich

mike6623 said:

You just said "A Volume License Key cannot be moved " this is what you said before "If it's not a Volume license, then there are NO activations left." which to me means you can use it on multiple computers. And no, our IT director does not keep track of how many computers have office 2010 on it, when someone asks, they get it, with the same key. Simple really, the IT director does not keep count, I know this because he said, sometime within the next 3 monts we need to order another key. No need to be rude, I am just asking a question, sorry you know more than me...

It means nothing of the kind.
ALL Windows Keys, except Volume ones, are on a one Key, one install basis.
Volume Keys (and the Family Pack, now withdrawn( have as many installations as have been paid for.
ALL Volume Keys are Upgrade installs, and require a valid Professional license to be available on the machine which is being upgraded (e.g. Win XP Pro, Vista Business, Win 7 Pro)

If your IT director doesn't keep track, then he's a fool - and you can quote me on that.

If you want to change the track to Office, then the rules are different - but essentially similar - due to the possibility of installation of some editions on more than one machine... but ONLY where the two machines are used primarily by the same person.

The FACT remains - for anything other than Volume license, it's ONE KEY=ONE INSTALL.
For Volume Licenses, if you contact the vendor, they will be able to access the number of licenses available, and the number currently used. Your IT director should be doing this as a matter of course - or keeping track himself using the tools available from MS.

For the general user, there are no such tools available.

Basically the answer is, you need to keep track of it yourself.

If you bought 100 keys/lisences, you need to keep track of how many you've installed and which ones.

This tool may help for the future: Manage Product Keys Using Volume Activation Management Tool 2.0

If you horrendously overuse a single key you may find that key unceremoniously deactivated for ALL installs or worse you may get audited one day

mike6623 said:

Great, that was a little easier to understand, plus, after looking futher it is 2010 ProfessionalPlus VL so it is a volume license, so I guess that is why the same key can be used on multiple machines for upgrades. And since there is no way other than contacting vendor (which I do believe is tech soup) to find out the remainder of keys, that is what I will do.

TechSoup do seem to try - I've had minor dealings with them about their sale of KMS installs to one-machine offices previously (which were never resolved properly IMO), and at least they answer emails :)

Since you're dealing with TechSoup, I assume you're a non-profit of some kind? If so, then the reported attitude of your IT director would appear to verge on the criminally negligent - every license has to be paid for, and if he's buying new ones frqeuently, he should be finding out why it's necessary, and auditing the systems involved.