Reinstalling Word

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mike
  • Start date Start date
M

Mike

I am planning on doing a system reinstall
(Clearing the entire hard drive and starting
over) and was wondering if anyone knows if
Word is going to say that my product key is
still in use and there is some way to
unregister it or if the program will know
that I do infact own the disk and just fully
reinstalled. I would like to see if anyone
knows before I find out the hard way.
Thanks
 
Do you have the 25 character product key? You will need it.

If you don't have it, BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING, go to
http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml where you will find a
utility that will allow you to determine the product key for the CD from
which the software was installed. You will need to have that exact same CD
for the re-installation.

--
Please respond to the Newsgroup for the benefit of others who may be
interested. Questions sent directly to me will only be answered on a paid
consulting basis.

Hope this helps,
Doug Robbins - Word MVP
 
Yeah I still have my key. I just don't know
after I erase the the hard drive if microsofts
automated service will say "this key is in use"
since I registered it before the erase.
 
You should have no problem especially if you erase the drive rather than
re-format it. If the HD is re-formatted, it will be given a different serial
number. That, in turn, might cause the machine to be considered a different
machine that the one on which the first install was done. Even that is
unlikely if there have been no other changes (new video card, for example).

At worst, you might have to call a Microsoft rep and do an activation of the
re-install by phone.

Tom
MSMVP-DTS
 
You don't have to reregister. You just reinstall. If this is Word 2002 or
2003, you will also have to reactivate. Provided the hardware has not
changed, this should not be a problem, but if online activation fails, you
can use phone activation.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.
 
Re-installation will not be a problem with the original key. You will need
to run the Office updates also. What may cause a minor hiccup with the
latest versions will be re-activating the product, but if all you have done
is reformatted the harrd drive, that should not be any more problematical
than it was last time, and if the automatic activation fails - then as
Suzanne says, you can activate by telephone.

Incidentally Doug mentioned one tool for obtaining Word keys (I don't think
it works with Word 2000). There's another product called Belarc Advisor
(linked from the favourites page of my web site) which will tell you more
about what is installed on your PC than you thought you needed to know. It
would be worth running it before you start as a reference for later.

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com

<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
 
Mike

If you mean on line activation - no you won't as it will be recognised as
the same computer.

--
Terry Farrell - Word MVP
http://word.mvps.org/

:I am planning on doing a system reinstall
: (Clearing the entire hard drive and starting
: over) and was wondering if anyone knows if
: Word is going to say that my product key is
: still in use and there is some way to
: unregister it or if the program will know
: that I do infact own the disk and just fully
: reinstalled. I would like to see if anyone
: knows before I find out the hard way.
: Thanks
 
You should have no problem especially if you erase the drive rather than
re-format it. If the HD is re-formatted, it will be given a different serial
number. That, in turn, might cause the machine to be considered a different
machine that the one on which the first install was done. Even that is
unlikely if there have been no other changes (new video card, for example).
Click to expand...

How do you erase vs. reformat? Delete everything?


:)
 
Yes. Basically. :-)

Use Windows explorer or Mt Computer, select every folder (except any you
might want to keep) and delete.

Or use a disk utility such as PowerQuest's Partition Magic to delete the
partition on the drive then create a new one.

If you wanted to format the dive, use Windows Explorer or My Computer to
select the drive, right click and select Format from the context menu.

I don't know why you are considering a complete re-install of your software
but perhaps it might be worth considering repair installs instead. Both
Windows XP and Office offer the options on their install menus to do such a
repair if the install routine is run and a copy of the program is found to
be already on the HD.

Tom
MSMVP-DTS
 
Yes. Basically. :-)

Use Windows explorer or Mt Computer, select every folder (except any you
might want to keep) and delete.

Or use a disk utility such as PowerQuest's Partition Magic to delete the
partition on the drive then create a new one.

If you wanted to format the dive, use Windows Explorer or My Computer to
select the drive, right click and select Format from the context menu.
Click to expand...

thanks for the info!
I don't know why you are considering a complete re-install of your software
but perhaps it might be worth considering repair installs instead. Both
Windows XP and Office offer the options on their install menus to do such a
repair if the install routine is run and a copy of the program is found to
be already on the HD.
Click to expand...
I've been told that I should reformat every now and then as
a general house cleaning measure. My computer is 6 or 7
years old and has never had a major makeover. So I was
curious because I've never heard of erasing a drive that
wasn't the equivalent of reformatting.

What happens to the registry when you erase? I thought the
big deal with reformatting is that you rid your registry of
leftovers from long gone programs.

TIA



:)
 
Sorry to be so long replying.

Normally, I would not format a HD unless there were known problems on the
drive that a formatting might fix.

Other circumstances that make formatting and re-install worth considering
include use of the machine as a test bed for hardware or software or other
circumstance that necessitates frequent additions and removals of devices or
software.

However, in the end, one chooses what is needed for the task based on
effectiveness and convenience.

Good luck.

Tom
MSMVP-DTS
 
Back
Top