Determining what version of MSOffice from files??

So I have a HP DV7 [AMD] laptop of a lady who in frustration did a "Recovery", obliterating her former windows install, after saving her personal docs [that's the good part]. She didn't know or think to save Product Key info. The MSO installation must have been subsequent to leaving HP, as it does not appear to have been in the Recovery image. I'm using Recuva to surface deleted files so my answer may be in there, but...


Is there a way to look at files created in her MSO installation ; docs, ppts, spreadsheets, and from the hidden detail figure out which version of MSO was used to originate those? It woudn't help me find the product key but it might narrow down the list of versions.


Secondly, is there a way to point one of the several "key finder" 'wares to the old hive and pull the product keys? If I could get that it would be a snap to go to microsoft and get the install files using the key


The system has always run Windows 7 Pro x64

Hello zap22,

You should be able to tell by the folder name as to which version of Office is installed.
Look in \Program Files <x86>\Microsoft Office\
The next folder off this directory will be called something like "Office11", "Office12", "Office14", etc, according to which version is installed.

If "Office14" is installed than you have Office 2010, if "Office15" is installed then you have Office 2013, etc.

To find lost Product Key from an offline HDD, use NirSoft's ProduKey, and use File > Select Source to point to the old computer's HDD.

However, if your friend has Office 2013, or after, then that Product Key is already linked to her Microsoft Account. Then she should be able to re-install Office from her MS Account.

Hope that helps.

it looks like Office 12 AND Office 14 is the norm for either MSO 2007 or 2010, though I am not sure about the many permutations of each. Apparently when either is updated as of now, things get installed that have their roots in one or the other so if one [i am one] has installed originally Office 2007 Enterprise, pretty soon I have Office 14 appearing, and of course, to get the product key matched up, we have to know exactly what source the original came from, what sub-edition it was.


This would all be a piece of cake if I could get a blasted older Belarc Advisor page to display properly!! I found in old Backup Files of this system a Belarc Profile which would include the product keys for Windows 7 [which I have for the system in question] AND MSO. Bingo. Problem is, the file appears to be undamaged, recovered with the Excellent Minitools recovery package, but using a current-version of Belarc, when I pull it up it is a mass of hex code.


Additionally, I was able to recover pretty much the whole MSO installation, just not the installers, or I am ignorant [likely] of what to look for. The entire MSO Cache for instance is recovered intact. The entire Program Files, Program Data, Program files (x86) folders and contents. I assume the entire *.reg file can be recovered but I know of no utility that can reach in there and recover the product key for the MSO installation.

Got the bright idea of pulling up the old Belarc Profile in Word, in Edit mode - it showed that a needed Style Sheet was missing but was able to open and read it anyway, just with strange formatting and there was my answer.
an old install of MSO 2007 Enterprise with the product key and the product code.