The new "This copy of Microsoft Office is not activated" problem (and hassle).

Of course these new problems "coincidentally" pop up only after Microsoft has just done one of their 3:00 in the morning upgrades behind my back.  In this case, I'm dealing with "You have 27 days left to activate.  Ensure you are connected to your corporate network to enable automatic activation.  Your system administrator can help."  So now I've got a ticking time bomb to deal with too.  (See fist image below.)

Here's the situation.  In 2011, I bought my laptop at Best Buy and the cheap Home/Student Use MS Office for about $100.  I don't even get a CD for the money.  Best Buy downloads the software there in the store.  It was registered and activated, but  I can't remember if I registered it or whatever; that was back over two years ago.  Since then, I haven't had a problem with Office; it's been working perfectly fine.  There is no corporate network or system administrator; just me in my underwear at my desk with my laptop writing letters after work.  And I only use Office for Word and Excel.  And then just the other day (11/26/2013), I get this activation nonsense message below.  Now what is weird is that the Activation Wizard shows "Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010" which I never bought.  And then what is even more weird is that in my programs, sure enough it shows that very software install on 5/28/2013.  I have no idea where that program came from.  The last time I bought Office software was back in 2011 like I said.  I never even noticed it until I just now checked on why it is even talking about Professional Plus.

I also tried contacting customer support but it tells you to first get the phone number by clicking on the "Activate" icon, but there is no such icon to click on.  (See second image below.)

All I want is to use my Word and Excel like I was doing for the past two years until just a day or so ago.

Hi David,

I will help you with the issue.

Let us verify which Office 2010 suite is installed on the computer.

Click Start, go to Control Panel, open Programs and double click Programs and Features to check which Office 2010 suite is installed on the computer.

If multiple versions present, then you may right click on Office Professional Plus 2010 and then click Uninstall.

And then repair the other version by following the steps from the link below:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint-help/repair-office-programs-HA010357402.aspx

Hope the suggestions provided is helpful.

Pro Plus is a volume licence version only available to qualifying persons, often via an employer or University, it is not available to the general public to purchase.

It wouldn't have been installed by BestBuy

Does anyone else have access to your PC?

Unless you have the Office Key or physical receipt for your purchase you have probably lost it

http://www.7tutorials.com/how-recover-your-lost-windows-7-or-windows-8-product-key

You can use any of the following tools to extract the Product Key from you computer. These tools report on many installed programs on your computer, not just Office.

PS: you should keep a copy (printed and/or file copies on external storage devices) of the report(s) generated by these tools so you have all of your product keys / registration numbers available for future re-installs

FYI: I (Rohn) have not tested these tools in Windows 8 (just haven’t had an excuse to make/waste the time), but I don’t expect any problem. The underlying mechanics of Windows 8 are essentially the same as Windows 7 if you ignore the Metro User Interface. Think of metro as “lipstick on a pig”. The pig is not changed by adding a little paint on the surface.

Normally you have several resources to find your Retail Product Key.

o Your original package or purchase confirmation e-mail

o Online download account

o You can extract the Product Key from the machine itself

o Image copy backups of system with Office installed

o Activation backup utilities

From what I’ve read, MS uses a file called TOKENS.DAT to store encrypted product activation keys:

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\OfficeSoftwareProtectionPlatform\Tokens.DAT

C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\NetworkService\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\SoftwareLicensing\Tokens.data

C:\Windows.Old\ProgramData\Microsoft\OfficeSoftwareProtectionPlatform\Tokens.DAT (if you did an in-place Windows Upgrade)

NOTE: Do not expect the Windows.OLD folder to be there until you delete it. Many people have complained that windows 8 and 8.1 automatically delete it WITHOUT WARNING  http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-files/windows-8-has-deleted-my-windowsoldprogramfiles/dbdf75c0-09d9-4992-b8eb-d9fac3efe9b8?page=2

After you extract the Product Key, make sure to write it down and keep it in a safe place. Burning a copy of the installation file to a CD would also be a good idea if you don’t have the installation disk.

NOTE: OEM (factory install and activated) licenses use a different key than the one reported.  Only the factory can use the PK from the original factory activation. You would have been provided with a separate piece of paper with a Product key for reactivation.

I have tried the first 6 in this list with various degrees of success:

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html  - not only does Belarc extract product keys, it reports on a WHOLE BUNCH of other stuff you want to know. Printing the report, or saving it is probably a good idea.
Win 95-Win8,  V8.3b

http://www.magicaljellybean.com/  Magical Jelly Bean is free, supports 300+ programs V 2.0.8- Office 2003 OK, 2007 OK, 2010 na, Win Vista Wrong). They also have a paid Recovery Keys, support 4500+ programs
V 2.0.9.8

http://sourceforge.net/projects/keyfinder / - Enchanted Keyfinder Beta Portable- Win (9X, ME, NT/2K/XP, Vista, Win7), MS Office (97, XP, 2003, 2007, 2010), Recover key for 484 other software and counting

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html  Nirsoft ProduKey V1.45- Office 2003 OK, 2007, 2010, Win Vista)
V1.62 Win 98 to Win 8.  Office 2003-2010

ProduKey may be able to extract product key information from a registry file saved externally. This is useful if you’re trying to get the key details from the backup of a now defunct machine. Try the /Regfile option.

After installing on my system, I ran the program --> AS ADMINISTRATOR <-- and then clicked on File --> Select Source. Once in this menu it may appear a little overwhelming, don’t worry it’s not that complicated and your not going to break anything else. Select the circle next to “Load the product keys from external Software Registry hive”. Now from here you may have to browse to a slightly different location depending on where your windows.old folder is located, but you want to basically browse to the following and open this file:

C:\Windows.old\Windows\System32\config\RegBack\SOFTWARE

After opening this file select ok; you may have to wait a few minutes for it to load the hive and give you your keys, but if they’re there you should see them and be able to fresh install your MS Office.

Please note that this did work for my Office 2007, it also gave me my Vista Home & Personal Key, and Internet Explorer... lol! I hope this helps someone else too! And remember backup before you do any upgrading/downgrading/or destruction to you PC.

http://www.winkeyfinder.com/download.php  (Office 2003 , 2007 , 2010 , Win Vista )
V 1.73 final Win 98 to Win 7 (and more?) 32bit, Win XP to Win 7 64bit Office 2000 to 2010 32&64 bit

http://www.technibble.com/license-crawler-find-product-keys-in-the-registry/  License Crawler V1.2 B98 (Office 2003, 2007 , 2010 , Win Vista )
V1.30.359, Win 95 to Win8,

http://www.sterjosoft.com/list/ - SterJo Software Key Finder. Confirmed to work on XP through Win8, Office XP/2002 through 2010
V 1.6 Win XP to Win 8, Office XP to 2013.

Abelssoft MyKeyFinder - http://www.abelssoft.net/mykeyfinder.php - found all Office keys correctly
MyKeyFinder 2013

Product Key Explorer http://download.cnet.com/Product-Key-Explorer/3000-2094_4-10646145.html V3.4.6 Win XP to Win 8, Office 2003 to 2010

This site has direct download links to Digital River for most Office 2010 installation file, Office bundles and standalone programs. You may have to scroll down to find your language.  Office 2010 Professional Plus / Office 2010 Language Pack / Project 2010 Professional / Visio 2010 Professional http://www.heidoc.net/joomla/technology-science/microsoft/18-office-2010-direct-download-links

NOTE: if you do not have the installation file on an “official” MS installation disk, download and save it to your HD. Then you should burn it to one or more DVDs for future use. And at the same time, write down the product key on the DVD. You need both items for future installations, say after your computer crashes and you have re-installed windows. At that point you won’t be able to extract it from the registry and won’t remember where the online account is.

Note: If you buy an Online Download you have 30 days support from MS to get the download working

Note: if you buy an Online Download from MS or an authorized reseller, Digital River or a proxy linking to DR, the Product Key and download link are saved in an “Online Account” using on your e-mail address as the log in ID.  The Product key is only kept in the account for 5 years!

Office 2010 / 2007 Download locations - http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_2010-office_install/here-are-the-download-locations-for-office-2010/ac67aa2f-dc1c-46f4-8b1d-ca00b3f02a18

https://office.microsoft.com/en-us/buy/using-the-product-key-card-FX101853163.aspx?CTT=5&origin=HA101847520 - Download 2010 using Product Key card PKC

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/microsoft-office-2010-backup-FX101853122.aspx - Download Backup Buy Backup disk 2010 using Product Key – FPP

http://www.office.com/backup  - Download Office 2010 Installation Backup. You will need your original Product Key, such as one from a Product Key Card .

https://office.microsoft.com/en-us/buy/netbook-FX101850729.aspx - Download Office for Netbooks (H&S, H&B, PRO, Standalone Apps)

Direct downloads from Digital River of Trials (you need to have the Product Key already)

http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X17-75058.exe   Office 2010 Home and Student x86 (English)

http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X17-22376.exe Microsoft Office Home and Student 2010 English 32-bit (x86):