MS Office is trying to screw me – HELP!!!

MisterEd said:

Is Microsoft finally cracking down on shady keys now?

They told me that message typically means the key has been used too many times. In my case, that is possible (I can't remember though I didn't think I'd exceeded 3) but moving it from 1 PC to another is a valid extension - which their system no longer allows - apparently. In ye olden days (search hits previously mentioned going back years) this used to be a 5-minute or less call/no problem.

Now, I JUST got this to activate... EBay copy arrived today. I tried to change key thru control panel; it said "this is not an Office 2010 product key" so I contacted seller and he said try uninstalling it and installing from the disc (how this is different from my old disc that appears the same, I have no idea) but on this install it didn't ask for LK on the way in, and going to File -> Help and entering key there did activate it. "Shrug."

MisterEd said:

I could have tried to call Microsoft tech support but felt that might be a waste of time...I wish Adobe was as cooperative as Microsoft

Huge and the guy on chat was cooperative as heck, tried all kinds of stuff...didn't work, respectively.

And yeah, the Adobe stuff - many horror stories....

Don't know if this would be helpful, but did you know you can install Microsoft Works 9 on Window7, 10 and 11? I know it's not Office, but v.9, which is the last one, is pretty impressive. You download it as an iso, open it up and run the installer. And no activation necessary. It may not be sufficient for your needs, but certainly for casual use it more than suffices.

TimC2024 said:

They told me that message typically means the key has been used too many times. In my case, that is possible (I can't remember though I didn't think I'd exceeded 3) but moving it from 1 PC to another is a valid extension - which their system no longer allows - apparently. In ye olden days (search hits previously mentioned going back years) this used to be a 5-minute or less call/no problem.
Huge and the guy on chat was cooperative as heck, tried all kinds of stuff...didn't work, respectively.

Office Professional Plus unlike Office Professional is not a consumer product so we should expect eventual activation problems.

Office Professional Plus is a special volume license version of Office. It is normally only available for computer professionals and commercial use. It differs from other volume licenses in that it uses a retail license. Years ago when I worked as a computer professional I could have signed of for a MSDN subscription from Microsoft. With that I would have been given special retail licenses for a number of Microsoft products. Unlike normal retails keys these keys could be used for more than one installation. The purpose of these installations was to test Microsoft products. One of these products is Office Professional Plus. I think the limit may have been something like 100. For example, if I had this subscription I could have installed Office Professional Plus 2010 legally on 50 computers. According to Microsoft if I exceeded the limit (100?) all I had to do was contact them and they would increase the limit. BTW, the keys a person is given with a MSDN subscription is only to be used by the subscriber. They are not supposed to be given away or sold.

I have no definitive information but I think people around the world are getting these special retail keys and selling them online. Smart sellers limit the number of times they sell the same key to prevent exceeding the limit before activation no longer works. I have heard of people buying one of these keys and it doesn't work the first time they try to use it. Usually the seller will then just send them a new key. That is why some sellers will tell you that you must install and activate Office within 30 days. After that if the key doesn't work you are out of luck.

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michael diemer said:

Don't know if this would be helpful, but did you know you can install Microsoft Works 9 on Window7, 10 and 11? I know it's not Office, but v.9, which is the last one, is pretty impressive. You download it as an iso, open it up and run the installer. And no activation necessary. It may not be sufficient for your needs, but certainly for casual use it more than suffices.

Back in 1995 I was going to school and needed to buy Word 95. The cheapest way to first buy Works 3.0. After that I was given a discount for Word 95. I was really annoyed because Word 95 couldn't even open the Work 3.0 document files that it had created.

Maybe a year ago out of curiosity I downloaded and installed Works 9.0. I was surprised it actually worked. Unfortunately, it is a little dated. I prefer something a little more modern so is worth it for me to buy Office for my main computers.

Currently the only way I can afford Office is to buy one of these "gray" versions which cost a fraction of the normal retail price. They cost less than $100. The downside is that I have to accept that some day they may no longer activate.

For a couple computers I have FreeOffice installed. A lot of people recommend LibreOffice but I prefer FreeOffice to it. FreeOffice like LibreOffice is totally free to use.

FreeOffice
Download

FreeOffice consists of three programs: TextMaker, PlanMaker, and Presentations. They are comparable to MS Office Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

FreeOffice 2024 - TextMaker



FreeOffice 2024 - PlanMaker



FreeOffice 2024 - Presentations

MisterEd said:

Office Professional Plus is a special volume license version of Office. It is normally only available for computer professionals and commercial use.

The nutso part is even though this (both my old original copy) and the new Ebay copy (that I eventually got to register*, with the LK on the card) are retail-packaged 3-license DVDs yet identified as "Plus" in both Help/About and Programs/Features.

*I had to uninstall/reinstall and do the LK thru Help/About - changing key from P&F didn't work - had bogus error that it was not an Office 2010 key when I did that.

(Edit: One cool thing is the uninstall/reinstall kept all settings, so clearly those are in registry and not removed on uninstall. Which I suppose could be something people should be aware of, even though presumably - ?! - stuff like Outlook passwords are encrypted....)

I recently discovered this tool, which allows you to backup your Windows or Office activation. I used it to activate Vista and Office on the same machine, but a different drive. So nothing illegal.

Advanced Tokens Manager: Backup Windows & Office Activation Tokens

There is a a link for the download. Obviously, you need to have a running and activated Windows and/or Office. Otherwise there is no activation file to save and restore.

Re: Vista, don't worry, I'm keeping it offline.

The Office activation license is saved in Microsoft server too (right like Windows 10/11 activation, digital license).
hence if same computer, re-install same Office copy (i.e same install key), when computer goes online, it will be automatically activated.
even Office 2010 activates this way. I didn't test lower Office version (2003 ? ).
Office97 no need of online activation (install key is enough).

however, if staying offline, your method can be a solution.

michael diemer said:

I recently discovered this tool, which allows you to backup your Windows or Office activation. I used it to activate Vista and Office on the same machine, but a different drive. So nothing illegal.

Advanced Tokens Manager: Backup Windows & Office Activation Tokens

There is a a link for the download. Obviously, you need to have a running and activated Windows and/or Office. Otherwise there is no activation file to save and restore.

Re: Vista, don't worry, I'm keeping it offline.