Article ID: 919895 - Last Review: December 9, 2011 - Revision: 15.0

How to troubleshoot problems that you may experience when you try to activate a 2007 Office suite

View products that this article applies to.
System TipThis article applies to a different operating system than the one you are using. Article content that may not be relevant to you is disabled.

On This Page

Expand all | Collapse all
For a Office 2003 and Microsoft Office XP version of this article, see 903275  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/903275/ ) .
Back to the top

SUMMARY

This article describes how to troubleshoot problems that you may experience when you try to activate a 2007 Microsoft Office application. Additionally, this article contains several methods that you can use to troubleshoot activation issues.

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

SYMPTOMS

You may experience the problems in the following scenarios:

Back to the top

Scenario 1


When you try to activate a Microsoft 2007 Office suite, you may experience one of the following symptoms:
  • You receive the following error message:
    Your software cannot be activated because the product key you installed with is not valid. Please uninstall the software and reinstall it using a valid product key.
  • The activation process fails. Additionally, you receive a message that states that you have reached the limit on the number of computers on which you can activate the 2007 Office suite.
Back to the top

Scenario 2


When you successfully started a 2007 Office application and all functions worked correctly for you in the past, you receive an error message. The error message indicates that significant changes were made to the configuration of the computer. In addition to this error message, you may also experience any of the following symptoms:
  • When you try to activate the 2007 Office suite, the Activation Wizard disappears.
  • When you try to to activate the 2007 Office suite over the Internet, you receive a communications-related error.
  • When you try to activate a 2007 Office suite , the Activation Wizard does not start. Additionally, you receive no error messages.
Back to the top

Scenario 3


You try to activate the 2007 Office suite over the phone. However, after you enter the confirmation ID that the support staff supplied to you, you receive an error message. The error message states that the confirmation ID is invalid.

Back to the top

Scenario 4


When you successfully started a 2007 Office application and all functions worked correctly for you in the past, the 2007 Office application now runs in a reduced functionality mode.

Back to the top

Scenario 5


When you start a 2007 Office Trial version for the first time after you complete License Activation, the 2007 Office Trial version runs in a reduced functionality mode, and the Office Activation Wizard is displayed. Additionally, the following text is displayed:

2007 Office system is expired. In this expired state, many features of the version are unavailable until you convert to the full product. Click Convert to begin the conversion process.

Note This activation problem indicates that the Opa12.dat file is corrupt for the 2007 Office application.
Back to the top

Scenario 6


When you try to obtain an activation key for a trial version of the 2007 Microsoft Office system over the Internet, you receive the following error message:
The Microsoft Activation Assistant was unable to request your trial activation key

This issue is temporary until the updated version of Try Microsoft Office 2007 is available. Microsoft is in the process of updating Try Microsoft Office 2007 based on the January 2010 update for Office Word. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
978951 Description of the January 2010 update for Office Word
Back to the top

Troubleshooting Methods

Note If you are trying to install an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) version of a 2007 Office suite on another computer in addition to your own computer, be aware that you can install the OEM version on only a single computer. You must purchase a retail version of 2007 Office for a different computer.
Back to the top

Method 1: Delete the Opa12.dat file

Some activation problems indicate that the license file is corrupted. If the license file is corrupted, you cannot resolve the problem by removing and then reinstalling the Office suite. The license file is not removed when you remove the Office suite. Additionally, the license file is not overwritten when you reinstall the Office suite.If the license file is corrupted, use one of the following methods to delete the license file.

Fix it for me

To delete the corrupted license file automatically, click the Fix it button or link. Click Run in the File Download dialog box, and then follow the steps in the Fix it Wizard.

Fix this problem
Microsoft Fix it 50302


Note This wizard may be in English only. However, the automatic fix also works for other language versions of Windows.

Note If you are not on the computer that has the problem, you can save the automatic fix to a flash drive or to a CD, and then you can run the fix on the computer that has the problem.
Was this information helpful? Please send us your feedback

Let me Fix it myself

Click here to view or hide detailed information

Note When you uninstall the 2007 Office suite, the license file is not removed. Additionally, the license file is not overwritten when you reinstall the 2007 Office suite. By deleting the Opa12.dat file, you force the license file to be recreated.
Back to the top

Method 2: Verify that the time and date settings are correct

Click here to view or hide detailed information
Back to the top

Method 3: Determine you are not running a trial version of 2007 Office

Click here to view or hide detailed information
Back to the top

Method 4: Check the Internet connection

Click here to view or hide detailed information
Back to the top

Similar solutions and problems

For more information about communication errors that may occur when you activate an Office product, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
822519  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822519/ ) When you try to activate Office programs over the Internet, you receive an error message
Back to the top

REFERENCES

References that are not specific to an Office application

Enter the Product Key for your 2007 Office system program
Description of the Office Activation Wizard
Description of Microsoft product activation
Activation Wizard does not start
Activation and registration of a Microsoft product
Back to the top

References that are specific to Visio 2007

Reduced functionality, missing menu commands, and unavailable features in Visio
Information about the Microsoft Activation Wizard privacy policy for Visio
Back to the top
APPLIES TO
  • Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007
  • Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007
  • Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007
  • Microsoft Office Professional 2007
  • Microsoft Office Standard 2007
  • Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007
  • Microsoft Office Basic 2007
  • Microsoft Office Access 2007
  • Microsoft Office Excel 2007
  • Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007
  • Microsoft Office OneNote 2007
  • Microsoft Office Outlook 2007
  • Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007
  • Microsoft Office Publisher 2007
  • Microsoft Office Word 2007
  • Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007
  • Microsoft Office Project Professional 2007
  • Microsoft Office Project Standard 2007
  • Microsoft Office Visio Professional 2007
  • Microsoft Office Visio Standard 2007
Back to the top
Keywords: 
kbfixme kbmsifixme kbprb kbexpertiseinter kbceip kbtshoot kbactivation kblicensing kbwizard kbcip KB919895
Back to the top