Have you ever entered a pirated code in Microsoft Office? It can sometimes disable receiving critical updates, and Microsoft's support. The product key is a key based on specific software. It is used to identify that the copy of the program is original. Product keys consist of a series of numbers or letters. This sequence is typically entered by the user during software installation, and is then passed on to a program verification function. If you want to purchase a licensed copy of Microsoft Office, you need to change the product key to a genuine one.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Office 2003
Step 1. Click the Start menu, then Run
Step 2. Type regedit and click OK
Step 3. Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE> SOFTWARE> Microsoft> Office> 11.0> Registration
Step 4. Click on the string consisting of a series of numbers and letters
Step 5. Hold Ctrl on your keyboard and click on DigitalProductID and ProductID
Step 6. Press Delete and click Yes
Method 2 of 3: Office 2007
Step 1. Click the Start menu, then Run
Step 2. Type regedit and click OK
Step 3. Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE> SOFTWARE> Microsoft> Office> 12.0> Registration
Step 4. Click on the string consisting of a series of numbers and letters
Step 5. Hold Ctrl on your keyboard and click on DigitalProductID and ProductID
Step 6. Press Delete and click Yes
Method 3 of 3: Office XP
Step 1. Click the Start menu, then Run
Step 2. Type regedit and click OK
Step 3. Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE> SOFTWARE> Microsoft> Office> 10.0> Registration
Step 4. Click on the string consisting of a series of numbers and letters
Step 5. Hold Ctrl on your keyboard and click on DigitalProductID and ProductID
Step 6. Press Delete and click Yes
Advice
- Create a restore point before performing this operation. If anything goes wrong, you can reset your PC.
- RegEdit allows you to customize your PC and make it easier to use.
- Consider Open Source Alternatives: OpenOffice.org is comparable to the PRO version of Microsoft Office, but it's free.
- Returning to step 4, right-click the letters and numbers key and choose Export. Name the file and keep it handy. Double clicking on the file in the future will bring them back to the registry. This is faster than a full computer reset. Also, you can edit this file in Notepad and remove the two keys you deleted in step five, so you have a file that with a double click restores the keys in the registry. You can double click this file multiple times, it will only add them if they are missing, it will not add them multiple times.
- Write down the initial keys. You may need it later to restore the registry as it was.
Warnings
- Do not delete other registry items. Make a backup before editing the registry.
- Some associations in the registry, if removed, could block some programs or the entire Windows.
- Avoid using programs to change the product key, they could be viruses.