I'll hazard a guess that that's the case??

iI must have been around then, we bought a new PC, a new lap-top (SWMBO's for work) & a i-Pad (daughters)

Now my PC won't open MS Office, or run any (for sake of arguement...) any race entry from that may be layed out on it.

I just get a message in a pop-up box saying something along the lines of

MS Office is unlicensed. Please reinstall programme

Or some such bobbins??

Suggestions please

Sounds like whoever installed MS Office hasn't entered the product code or at least not the correct one, but I'm no expert.

Possible license conflict - how many licenses did it come with? Possible it was a single license installed on more than 1 computer.?

Either not right product code " illegal " or wrong one, or as above licensed to 1 unit and that's it ?

Did you buy office, or was this the trial version loaded on all machines?

As has been stated by one and all, sounds like a licencing issue, as in "your xxx free days has ran out, buy now for renewal!"

A quick solution would be to forego Microsoft and install OpenOffice, it's free and can read / write .doc format (which is the Microsoft format)

Either that or pay for a licence as we would not condone any illegal activities on this site...

Thanks guys!

Did you buy office, or was this the trial version loaded on all machines?

Could be??

Don't recall buying anything extra?

Think SWMBO has 'Office Pro'(??) in her.... office, will see when she comes back from Cardiff

When buying my current laptop, if I wanted the full office it was £60 extra on top of the laptop price.

As has been stated by one and all, sounds like a licencing issue, as in "your xxx free days has ran out, buy now for renewal!"

A quick solution would be to forego Microsoft and install OpenOffice, it's free and can read / write .doc format (which is the Microsoft format)

Either that or pay for a licence as we would not condone any illegal activities on this site...

Top tip that as it is a superb alternative nowadays.

If my parents (OAPs) can migrate from MS Office to OpenOffice then anyone can.

Edited 3 October, 201213 yr by Lemming

If you have kids in school you can purchase the student edition of Office. I have a feeling that doesn't come with Outlook though.

Open Office is good, but moribund, they havent issued a proper update in years; most of the coders behind O.O. left and produced a new version called "Libré Office" that works a LOT better and has regular updates and enhancements.

The advantage of EITHER of these programs is that they will open every M$ document type without needing extra downloaders or conversion tools, which means if someone sends you a letter written in M$ Works, or an older version of Office, you can actually read it!!

(Works used a weird file system that NO other M$ program could read).

Another vote for throwing MickeyShaft out of the computer and getting LO instead.

Libre Office is the better choice these days. Pretty much the same as Open Office but slightly more developed.

Student option is also open to you if you've a teacher in the family. We were able to get it for £6 for 2 installations since SWMBOs work had negotiated a special deal

If you have kids in school you can purchase the student edition of Office. I have a feeling that doesn't come with Outlook though.

Correct. "Home and Student" doesn't include Outlook as it's considered a "professional" piece of software.

Doesn't the student one exclude Access too? Bit of a fail IMO if it still does as I've needed to use it several times for coursework projects.

On the bright side Windows Live Mail seems to be pretty similar to Outlook from what I've seen, and is free.

Edited 4 October, 201213 yr by TriggerFish

Access is only part of the Pro versions.

Office 365 might be an option or have you considered Google Docs if you don't need to do anything very complex?

There is a trial you can get right now which will get you up and running right away.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/en/office-365-home-premium

You can get a basic version of Outlook via Hotmail/Live at www.outlook.com/

If you need a desktop based one you can use Evolution.

L.O and O.O are only a download away, are much more usable than Office 365 and dont need a permanent internet connection like Google Docs (plus your documents wont disappear if Google ever decide to ditch the service).

L.O and O.O are only a download away, are much more usable than Office 365 and dont need a permanent internet connection like Google Docs (plus your documents wont disappear if Google ever decide to ditch the service).

^ is a good point. You can and should still backup locally from these services but the requirement for a net connection to work is a PITA. Not so critical for email which you need a connection for full stop. If you have an alternative connection i.e. through a tethered mobile that'll give you your redundancy.

Possibly a bit OTT for home.

I always find when using LO or OO that they screw up formatting of Word docs. So you correct them, and then find they're messed up in Word.

Anyone can buy Home & Student, it's like £80 for 3 licenses, well worth paying for over the free, open source, but ultimately lacking alternatives.

I have found the open source stuff not totally compatible with all my work colleagues stuff, so bought MS Office. I can write it off against tax anyway, like the MacBook Pro I have installed it on.

I always find when using LO or OO that they screw up formatting of Word docs. So you correct them, and then find they're messed up in Word.

I havent had this problem, are you perhaps saving them in a different format?? odf, xml etc. Stuff I create using L O Writer and save as a .doc file opens with exactly the same formatting in my sisters copy of OfficeXP and my mothers copy of Office97; and I dont remember a problem when "testing" a copy of Office 2008(?).

It also might be worth checking you have the page formatting set the same in both programs as having US letter set on one and A4 set on the other WILL bugger up a lot of things.

If you have a student in the household you can get the full version of Office at a heavily discounted price at software4students. School pupils count as student. You are asked your learning institute when you register. I did this while attending a totally irrelevant night class and I have never heard of anyone getting checked up on.

Office 10 Professional (all progs. including Outlook) for £79.95. Strangely the cut down Home and version is more expensive

http://www.software4students.co.uk/

Edited 7 October, 201213 yr by slider

I havent had this problem, are you perhaps saving them in a different format?? odf, xml etc. Stuff I create using L O Writer and save as a .doc file opens with exactly the same formatting in my sisters copy of OfficeXP and my mothers copy of Office97; and I dont remember a problem when "testing" a copy of Office 2008(?).

It also might be worth checking you have the page formatting set the same in both programs as having US letter set on one and A4 set on the other WILL bugger up a lot of things.

Same computer, same printer margins, doc and docx have issues.

All I can say is "Weird", and start grasping at straws (font/font size - fixed/proportional spacing????)