Microsoft KB Archive/836178

= You receive an &quot;invalid product key&quot; error message when you start an Office 2003 program after you install Office Professional Edition 2003 =

Article ID: 836178

Article Last Modified on 9/4/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Office Excel 2003
 * Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003
 * Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003
 * Microsoft Office Word 2003
 * Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
 * Microsoft Office Access 2003
 * Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003
 * Microsoft Office Publisher 2003
 * Microsoft Office Visio Professional 2003
 * Microsoft Office Visio Standard 2003
 * Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003
 * Microsoft Office Student and Teacher Edition 2003
 * Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2003
 * Microsoft Office Basic Edition 2003

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For a Microsoft Office 2000 and Microsoft Office XP version of this article, see 321346.



SUMMARY
This article describes a problem in which you receive an &quot;invalid product key&quot; error message when you try to start a Microsoft Office 2003 program after you install a Microsoft Office 2003 suite. To work around this problem, remove the previously installed Office 2003 suite or individual programs. Then, install the Office 2003 suite version that you want on the computer.

This article is intended for a beginning to intermediate computer user.

You may find it easier to follow the steps if you print this article first.



Symptoms of the problem
When you try to start an Office 2003 program after you install an Office 2003 suite, you are prompted to provide a product key. After providing the product key, you may receive the following error message:

You have not entered a valid product key.

Please check the number located on the sticker on the back of the CD case or on your Certificate of Authenticity.

Alternatively, you may experience the following symptom. Office 2003 appears to install correctly. When you try to activate Office 2003 over the Internet, the activation process stops responding (hangs). In this case, the following message is displayed:

Please wait while activation wizard initializes



Cause of the problem
This problem may occur if the following conditions are true:
 * You have another Office 2003 suite or individual program preinstalled on the computer.
 * You have not started any one of these Office 2003 programs before.



Steps to resolve the problem
To work around this problem, uninstall any unnecessary Office 2003 suites and individual programs. This includes the Office 2003 suite that you most recently installed.

Step 1: Start Add or Remove Programs
 Click Start, and then click Run. In the Open box, type appwiz.cpl . Click OK.

Step 2: Remove Office 2003 suites or individual programs
 In the Currently installed programs list, locate and then click either the previously installed Office 2003 suite or the individual Office 2003 program.</li> Click Remove.</li> Click Yes when you are prompted to confirm that you want to remove the Office 2003 suite or individual program.</li></ol>

Step 3: Reinstall Office 2003
 Put the Office 2003 CD in the CD drive or DVD drive for the version of Office 2003 that you want to install.</li> In the Add or Remove Programs dialog box, click Add New Programs.</li> Click CD or Floppy.</li> In the Install Program From Floppy Disk or CD-ROM dialog box, make sure that the Office 2003 CD is in the CD drive or DVD drive, and then click Next.</li> Click Finish, and then follow the instructions that appear on the screen to complete the installation of Office 2003.</li> Click OK when the Office 2003 Setup has completed.</li> Remove your Office 2003 CD from the CD drive or DVD drive.</li></ol>

Keywords: kberrmsg kbtshoot kbsetup kbprb kbexpertisebeginner kbceip KB836178

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