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Activation error when you install the Office 2010 Proofing Tools Kit

Article ID: 2463130 - View products that this article applies to.

SYMPTOMS

Note This issue does not affect clients who use MAK or retail keys to activate Microsoft Office 2010.

Volume license customers who downloaded and installed the version of Office 2010 Proofing Tools Kit that is dated November 5, 2010 (or an earlier version) may experience an issue when they try to activate Office 2010.

Any customer who installed the Proofing Tools Kit by using the default Config.xml file that was included with the kit sets the KMS host value on their client computers to a KMS host that is internal to Microsoft. This overwrites the value in the Config.xml file that existed before the Proofing Tools Kit was installed. This new value breaks automatic discovery of KMS hosts for every client on which the Proofing Tools Kit is installed. This issue then prevents Office applications from activating against the KMS host or hosts that were specified in the Office 2010 Config.xml file beffore the Proofing Tools Kit was installed.

Customers may not be aware of this issue for between 30 and 180 days:

Client computers that were successfully activated before the Proofing Tools Kit was installed may not try to contact the KMS server again for up to 180 days. When the client computer tries to contact the incorrect KMS server that is listed in the Config.xml file, the user receives the following error message:

"0x8007232B" = "DNS name not found" or "C004F074" = "No Key Management Service (KMS) host could be contacted"
Client computers that were not successfully activated before the Proofing Tools Kit was installed will have up to 30 days before Office enters notification mode. The user will receive notification messages that alert them that they have to activate the product. If the user tries to activate the product, they will receive this error message.
Customers who edited the Proofing Tools Kit Config.xml file and replaced the <Setting Id= “KMSSERVICENAME” Value=”host_name”> entry with a value that is specific to their organization do not receive this this error message.

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CAUSE

This issue occurs because both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Office 2010 Proofing Tools Kit that (dated November 5, 2010 or earlier) have the following setting enabled in the Config.xml file:

Setting Id="KMSSERVICENAME" Value="oa-o14kms-02.redmond.corp.microsoft.com" />

Because the Config.xml element is shared across Office 2010, and installation of the Proofing Tools Kit overwrites the value that is listed above, activation for all Office 2010 client applications is affected.

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RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, customers who obtained a Proofing Tools Kit for Office 2010 on or before November 5, 2010 must determine whether they have deployed the Proofing Tools Kit to the client with the default Config.xml that was included in the kit or with a Config.xml file that they edited.

If the Proofing Tools Kit was deployed with an edited Config.xml file

Customers who obtained the Proofing Tools Kit on or before November 5, 2010 and deployed it with a Config.xml file where they edited the <Setting Id= “KMSSERVICENAME” Value=” ” /> setting to include the KMS host addresses or addresses that are specific to their organization do not have to take any action.

If the Proofing Tools Kit was deployed without an edited Config.xml file

Customers who obtained the Proofing Tools Kit on or before November 5, 2010 and deployed it to client computers without editing the Config.xml file can use either of the following methods to resolve the issue.

Method 1

Delete the following registry subkey:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\OfficeSoftwareProtectionPlatform\KeyManagementServiceName

Method 2

Remove the value that is set by the Proofing Tools Kit Config.xml file. To do this:
1. Open an elevated CMD line on the affected client.
2. Move to the folder that contains the Ospp.vbs script, which is located in the %installdir%\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14 folder.
  
  If you are running a 32-bit version of Office 2010 on a 64-bit operating system, the script is located in the %installdir%\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14 folder.
3. Run the cscript ospp.vbs /sethst:value command.
Reset the KMS host address by running the cscript ospp.vbs /remhst command.

After the KMS host name is reset, activation will continue as usual.

If you obtained the Proofing Tools Kit on or before November 5, 2010 but have not yet deployed it

Customers who obtained the Proofing Tools Kit on or before November 5, 2010 but have not yet deployed it to clients, have two options:

Remove the Proofing Tools Kit from your deployment and wait for an updated, corrected Proofing Tools Kit to be released.
Remove remove the value that is specified in the following element in the Config.xml file:
<Setting Id="KMSSERVICENAME" Value="oa-o14kms-02.redmond.corp.microsoft.com" />

After they have removed this value, they may install the Proofing Tools Kit as usual. Any value that was previously specified in the Config.xml for KMS SERVICENAME will be retained, and activation will continue as usual.

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