Arrrgh!! Why, why, why, why??

[Pixelated]

Okay, so thanks to all the futzing around I've been doing on my computer, I've managed to lock myself out of my Microsoft Word program. I have no clue what the original PIN was. It might be somewhere in my file cabinet, but I wouldn't want to bet the rent money on that.

A couple of people recommended Open Office and Libre Office as substitutes.

I've downloaded both of them ... but can't open either. I've installed both in my Applications folder, but each time I try to open one of them, I get a message telling me ... to drag and instal the program into my Applications folder.

My computer is a Mac Mini, with 2GB of memory, and it's about 7 years old.

Is this an exercise in futility? Should I just stick with TextEdit (a really basic word processing program) until such time as I can replace this dinosaur?

[prjkt]

try Pages? works pretty well for me, and if you have an iCloud subscription you can actually use the web browser based version in the meantime (that's how I use it now I've basically given up on OS X)

[RealUnimportant]

Silly question, but have you tried doing what it's telling you? Sounds like you've downloaded the .dmg and put that in your Applications, rather than opening it and dragging the enclosed .app to your Applicatuons folder.

[Zeddi]

What Version of Mac OS-X are you running?

You could also try to use the "Online" Office-Solutions like Google-Docs.

[Ironclad Alibi]

Should I just stick with TextEdit (a really basic word processing program) until such time as I can replace this dinosaur?

Have you tried edlin?

[EricKei]

Dangit. If you weren't using a Mac, I would have suggested Notepad++ without hesitation. Any Macinfolks out there know of an equivalent she can use?

PS I do love my OpenOffice, tho ^__^ Different tools for different tasks.

[Naaman]

When you say PIN - do you mean the Word key?

On a Windows install (sorry, no Mac experience) there are two numbers you may need, the key that came on the sticker or card with the software or software bundle. You should be able to recover this with Magic Jelly Bean.
The other number was one supplied by MS, you phoned them read off your key and they gave you a code to activate your software. I remember the phone number being on the message so have a check for that.

If it's something else entirely then apologies and I'll sit in the corner

[Pixelated]

So in the process of shovelling out my desk ... I found my Microsoft PIN number.

I tried to open Word and when I got to the Setup window, I entered the number.

And got an error message saying the number isn't valid.

I tried entering it twice, squinting carefully and typing slowly to make sure I got it right.

I did call Microsoft Tech Help (the real ones, LOL), but my computer wouldn't let them connect to it so they could work on it remotely to find out WTF is the problem; it kept dropping the connection.

To her credit the tech tried to telephone me to work through the situation, but my phone isn't in the computer room ... and I didn't feel like running back and forth, trying this and that.

One of her suggestions was to reboot the computer. Oddly, one of the last times I rebooted the thing is when this whole problem surfaced but ... I tried it again. No luck. (Unless, perhaps, I need to turn it off and LEAVE it off for some time. I know that can work for some problems.)

So apparently that's it for my Microsoft Office program, alas.

Next step: replace the computer.

[Deserted]

I'm a bit late to this party, but... assuming it hasn't magically fixed itelf, do this:

Get to the point where it's asking for your pin. Take a screenshot of that window. (Shift-Command-4, space bar, click the window. This page at Apple.com tells you other methods.) Post the picture here so I can see what it's doing. I'll see if I can figure out what to do from there.

And in case it matters, what version of Word, and what version of OSX?

Do NOT replace your computer just because Word isn't working. If I did that, I'd be buying a new computer every month or two...

[Pixelated]

Deserted, sorry for the delay. Here's the information you were asking about.

[IMG][/IMG]

It's Microsoft's Office Home and Student 2007 program (is it possible it has just expired? I'm not seeing anything on the bits of paper still in the container about an expiry date, but ...)

I have Mac OSSierra (version 10)

BUT I have a computer that's at least seven years old, possibly a year or two older. I've already been told I should not have uploaded Sierra onto this machine, but of course it's too late to do much about that now. I'm wondering if that has screwed up some of the programs on the machine?

[Deserted]

Deserted, sorry for the delay. Here's the information you were asking about.

Ok, just to clarify terminology, it's not asking for a PIN, it's asking for the product key. (I was a bit confused; that's why I had you do the screenshot.) I'm guessing that the file that holds the registration information got corrupted somehow, and so Office has decided that it needs to be reactivated.

So, unfortunately, yeah, you're going to have to dig the original product key out, cuz that's what it wants. It'll be a 25-character thing, mix of letters and numbers, printed on something that looks like a tiny certificate.

Heck, I can't even give you one of my old keys, because I don't have that specific version, and the "pro" keys won't work for the "home and student" versions.

You can try calling Office support: https://support.office.com/home/contact -- but I've never had to do so, so I don't know whether or not they can help.

It's Microsoft's Office Home and Student 2007 program (is it possible it has just expired? I'm not seeing anything on the bits of paper still in the container about an expiry date, but ...)

In general, purchased versions of MS Office don't expire. There is a subscription version, Office 365 (which is what I use for biz purposes), but if you let that expire it just drops into read-only mode. You'll notice that the screen gives you that option at the very bottom.

I have Mac OSSierra (version 10)

BUT I have a computer that's at least seven years old, possibly a year or two older. I've already been told I should not have uploaded Sierra onto this machine, but of course it's too late to do much about that now. I'm wondering if that has screwed up some of the programs on the machine?

All that a newer version of the OS is going to do is slow stuff down; it won't really do anything bad; certainly it wouldn't cause this problem. My iMac is about that old too, and it's still running Snow Leopard (10.6.8), partly because I don't want to slow anything down, but also because that's the last version of the OS that'll still run old PowerPC apps.

(And strictly speaking, every version of OSX is version 10. Sierra is 10.12.)


For the record, I don't recommend switching to Office 365 (the subscription version) on an older computer, because you always get the newest, bulkiest, slowest version available.

[Pixelated]

Sorry, Deserted, that was my bad terminology. I did find the 25-digit product key and that's what it's telling me is invalid. That's why I wondered if the program had expired. I also have the disc with the program on it ... I'm wondering if I should try to delete what's on there now and re-install it?

I did try calling Microsoft but the phone (a landline) is not in the computer room; there really wasn't any way to deal with their instructions without running back and forth.

However, it looks as though I might have to try that again. I'm wishing now I hadn't disposed of my 25-foot phone cord!

I'm glad to hear the new OS hasn't actually damaged the computer. It's surely a PITA, though.

Thanks for the heads-up on Office 365.

LOL, you can see my lack of knowledge of terminology by my referral to the OS as "Version 10" ...

[Pixelated]

*snip*

Do NOT replace your computer just because Word isn't working. If I did that, I'd be buying a new computer every month or two...

Oh, believe me, there are many other reasons to replace this computer. Among other things, it runs slower than I do ... and that's saying something.

[Deserted]

Well, now, that's an equine of a non-identical hue.

Just like Windows, macOS will slowly gather a surprising amount of clutter, especially if you've added and removed lots of programs and/or other... uh... "junk" over the past several years. There are some things you can do about that, though. It used to be that rebuilding the desktop would resolve many speed issues, but that stopped being a thing since OSX was unleashed upon an unsuspecting world.

Hmmmm.... I'd make a terrible Mac tech. Google suggests you might try running Disk Utility (Applications -> Utilities -> Disk Utility). Select your hard drive (of which you likely only have one, probably called something like "Mac HD" or similar) and run First Aid on it. When it's done, restart the Mac, and then try Office again. I doubt it'll magically fix anything, but you never know. It won't hurt anything to run it anyway.

I imagine there are other things that you could do, but we're already reaching the limits of my Mac tech knowledge. (My next step would be to reinstall the operating system, but that's not really a task to undertake lightly.)


Oh hey, I just found Microsoft's Troubleshoot activation errors for Office for Mac 2011 page. Worth a read. (The previous stuff was all about speeding the computer up in general, not Office in any way. )

And as far as the phone not being next to the computer, you could ask someone with a cell phone (which I'm assuming you don't have) if you could borrow theirs for the call.

[Pixelated]

I'll take a look at that page, Deserted. And thanks.

Wellnow ... I do have a cellphone ... but my "program" is pay-as-you-go and I usually don't have more than $25 on it ... mostly because I very rarely use it. I'm not sure how far $25 would get me in terms of a Microsoft tech call ...