Word Product Key (Sort of an emergency)

[JonHimself]

So I had downloaded a not-so-legal copy of Office for my mac for the use until I could actually make it down to Yorkdale. I went last week and picked up my legitimate copy but had not got around to installing it. I'm at my school working on an essay and doing research and I guess someone on the network also has the same not-so-legal copy that I have and I cannot use it on the network. I'm using the internet to do some research and its a pain to disconnect just to work on the essay. I have the product key written down and was wondering if there was a way to just change it in Office. I dont' want to go home to get the CD (to just reinstall) and then come back and was hoping there was a way around this. If there is please let me know and I can get this solved before I go home that'd be great... if not then I guess I've learned my lesson about not paying for software...

 

[pdpfilms]

So I had downloaded a not-so-legal copy of Office for my mac for the use until I could actually make it down to Yorkdale. I went last week and picked up my legitimate copy but had not got around to installing it. I'm at my school working on an essay and doing research and I guess someone on the network also has the same not-so-legal copy that I have and I cannot use it on the network. I'm using the internet to do some research and its a pain to disconnect just to work on the essay. I have the product key written down and was wondering if there was a way to just change it in Office. I dont' want to go home to get the CD (to just reinstall) and then come back and was hoping there was a way around this. If there is please let me know and I can get this solved before I go home that'd be great... if not then I guess I've learned my lesson about not paying for software...

I am going to appologize in advance for any posters that tell you that they're not going to help you because of piracy and all that crap.

I don't believe there's any way to change the CD code within the application, without reinstalling. There may be a way to open up the preference file that contains the code and change it, but that's going beyond my knowledge.

 

[JonHimself]

Ok thanks that's fine. I'm just going to reinstall it with the CD and one the keys when I get home. And yeah, definitely expected to get flamed and whatnot but thanks for your help!

 

[highres]

You have to do a reinstall with the correct serial #. Also if two machines have the same serial on a network once one copy is open the other can't.

PS - I won't open up the illegal pirated software can of worms since you have already acknowledged it.

 

[topgunn]

Microsoft does not allow you to change your product code. Can you think of any legitimate reason this would need to be done? Me neither.

Also, I am not 100% sure that uninstalling will remove the old key.

 

[mkrishnan]

Also, I am not 100% sure that uninstalling will remove the old key.

I also remember this having been mentioned before, for some reason I can't remember now.

 

[WinterMute]

This is a problem we've encountered at work when people have accidentally entered the wrong key from a list in a 10-unit pack, it does require a full install of Office and you'll need to trash the preferences as well.

Asking for keys on the open forums for whatever purpose tends to lead to a rash of n00bs assuming we're warez central, most regulars know it's not too cool.

Obviously MacRumors does not condone the piracy of keys blah, blah, blah....

 

[efoto]

Also, I am not 100% sure that uninstalling will remove the old key.

I also remember this having been mentioned before, for some reason I can't remember now.

I believe if you uninstall the entire suite, delete the preferences and any other files pertaining to M$ Office, you should be fine. You might have to go into KeyChain as well....but I'm not sure if it was for Office or something else. I know someone *ahem* that did the same thing with downloading and then purchasing. The retail works now....sorry to say I don't remember the exact steps to getting it to go though, sorry

Obviously MacRumors does not condone the piracy of keys blah, blah, blah....

Right. If you do it's your choice, but don't expect troubleshooting help from anyone here for you illegal stuff. I know it's tempting sometimes, especially M$ stuff , but it's not worth it overall.

 

[Moof1904]

I had a similar situation at work one time when a miscommunication caused two of us to install the same exact copy of Office. I called M$ to ask if there was a way to re-serialize the currently installed version without a complete reinstall and they told me that the only way to reserialize is to run the uninstaller app that ships with Office and reinstall Office with the correct version.

The woman on the phone said this type of erroneous duplicate install happens frequently in an office (lower case intentional!) environment.