Microsoft KB Archive/895456

Knowledge Base

How to change the product key for Office XP, for Office 2003, and for the 2007 Office system

Article ID: 895456

Article Last Modified on 12/4/2007

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APPLIES TO

• Microsoft Office Basic 2007
• Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007
• Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007
• Microsoft Office Professional 2007
• Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007
• Microsoft Office Standard 2007
• Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007
• Microsoft Office Basic Edition 2003
• Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2003
• Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003
• Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003
• Microsoft Office Student and Teacher Edition 2003
• Microsoft Office XP Developer Edition
• Microsoft Office XP Professional Edition
• Microsoft Office XP Small Business Edition
• Microsoft Office XP Standard Edition
• Microsoft Office XP Standard Edition for Students and Teachers
• Microsoft Office Access 2007
• Microsoft Office Access 2003
• Microsoft Access 2002 Standard Edition
• Microsoft Office Excel 2007
• Microsoft Office Excel 2003
• Microsoft Excel 2002 Standard Edition
• Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003
• Microsoft FrontPage 2002 Standard Edition
• Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007
• Microsoft Office OneNote 2007
• Microsoft Office Outlook 2007
• Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
• Microsoft Outlook 2002 Standard Edition
• Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007
• Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003
• Microsoft PowerPoint 2002 Standard Edition
• Microsoft Office Project Professional 2007
• Microsoft Office Project Standard 2007
• Microsoft Office Publisher 2007
• Microsoft Office Publisher 2003
• Microsoft Publisher 2002 Standard Edition
• Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007
• Microsoft Office Visio Professional 2007
• Microsoft Office Visio Standard 2007
• Microsoft Office Word 2007
• Microsoft Office Word 2003
• Microsoft Word 2002 Standard Edition

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Important This article contains information about how to modify the registry. Make sure that you back up the registry before you modify it. Make sure that you know how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up, restore, and modify the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322756 How to back up and restore the registry in Windows XP and Windows Vista

SYMPTOMS

You cannot change the product key for Microsoft Office XP, for Microsoft Office 2003, or for the 2007 Microsoft Office system without first removing and then reinstalling Microsoft Office.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, follow the steps in this section.

Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall the operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.

Note If you try to open any Office programs after you complete the steps, you receive a message that prompts you for a valid product key. Make sure that you have a valid product key before you start these steps.

1. Close all Office programs.
2. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. Locate and then click the following subkey, depending on your version of Windows and of Office:
   
   32-bit versions

   2007 Office system
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Registration
   
   Office 2003
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Registration
   
   Office XP
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Registration

   64-bit versions

   2007 Office system
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Registration
   
   Office 2003
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Registration
   
   Office XP
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Registration

4. Export the Registration subkey.
   
   You can make a backup of the values under the Registration subkey if the new product key does not work. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Right-click the Registration subkey, and then click Export.
   2. In the Save in list, select a location to save the registration entries.
   3. In the File name box, type a name for the .reg file that you want to export, and then click Save.

   
   

   Note In steps 4a through 4c, you created a backup of the Registration subkey. You can restore the Registry settings of the Registration subkey by double-clicking the .reg file that you saved in step 4c. The contents of the .reg file are automatically exported to the Registry.
5. Under the Registration subkey, there may be several Globally Unique Identifiers (GUID) that contain a combination of alphanumeric characters. Each GUID is specific to a program that is installed on your computer.
   
   Click a GUID. Then, view the version of Office that is listed in the right pane for the Productname registry entry. After you find the GUID that contains the version of your Office program, follow these steps:
   1. Right-click the DigitalProductID registry entry, click Delete, and then click Yes.
   2. Right-click the ProductID registry entry, click Delete, and then click Yes.
      
      For more information about how to identify the correct GUID for the version of the Office suite or program that you have installed on your computer, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

      928516 Description of the numbering scheme for product code GUIDs in 2007 Office suites and programs

      832672 Description of numbering scheme for product code GUIDs in Office 2003

      302663 Description of the numbering scheme for product code GUIDs for Office XP programs

6. Close Registry Editor.
7. Open an Office program, such as Microsoft Word. When you receive a message that prompts you for the product key, type the correct product key, and then click OK.

Additional query words: PID PIDKey OFF2007

Keywords: kbhowto kbtshoot kbregistry KB895456

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