Problem Activating Office 2019

Unfortunately, as a normal, not-technical-genius who just bought a couple keys for a Microsoft product that seemed like a good idea at the time, I've got two systems that work and one that you're saying isn't valid.

I don't have a clue what msdn subscriptions or anything else are, and don't WANT to know. I just want the product I bought to go on the laptop and work. Just like it has for the last TWO+ YEARS.

And having had those conversations in the past with the phone answerers at Microsoft I can't imagine that they're interested in deviating from their script to take care of some consumer who thought he was purchasing a valid license from a valid seller.

Again, I'll worry about it in 2 weeks...

sygnus21 said:

@MisterEd,

If the key is invalid it's not going to take. If it's not going to take you're not getting the download.

Been there done that. I have a copy of both Office 2019 Visio and Office 2019 Project Pro. For some odd reason the PID reads as invalid for both programs even though I got the items from Microsoft's than DreamSpark Program, and they worked as late as last year before I did a clean install on my system.

Ironically my 2016 versions (from the same source) still work and I can do what you posted with your instructions.

Anyway, my point is if the PID is invalid or problematic your suggestion won't work

Do you know if your DreamSpark keys have a maximum number of activations? Are they retail keys or MAK keys?

sygnus21 said:

It doesn't. At least my 2016 versions don't. Anyway, I have my school IT department looking into. They're just as baffled as I am. And there is no "software expires when student is no longer active" provision.

They did give me access to Azure (replaced DreamSpark) to redownload the software; unfortunately since I'm already in someone's system Azure sees I've already downloaded those programs so I still get the same keys DreamSpark gave.

Are they MAK or retail, I'm not sure, I do know there is no expiration or restrictions. In fact I just installed my 2016 copy of Project on my laptop in testing your instructions without issue. Both my 2019 copies Visio and Project won't take though.

The issue is rather baffling

DreamSpark Retail Key = These retail keys are for DreamSpark and allow one activation. DreamSpark Retail keys are issued in batches and are primarily intended for student consumption.

I have read that some products do have a limited to the number of activation. The IT department may be able to contact Microsoft and get more activations if that is what the problem is.

I keep up with a laptop for a non-profit I work with. When I downloaded the install file file from the Microsoft Volume Center. I also obtained the MAK keys there. I noticed an activation limit for both Windows and Office. Microsoft told me this was a place holder. There was enough activations so that reinstalls shouldn't exceed the limit. However, if I did I could probably call them and increase the activation limit if needed.

Back from being gone...

Macboatmaster, I don't know what MSDN is, and I've never used it.

I have THREE licenses, on THREE computers. ALL of them have been working since they were purchased. I had to re-install Windows on one of the laptops, and NOW Office won't activate....

As FAR AS I KNOW, the licenses are valid - they have been working for at least 2 years. If these licenses WERE NOT valid - why have they been active and WORKING for years? The two arguments are not consistent. Either they ALL should have failed ages ago, or they should all be working. Period.

From my perspective, I gave Microsoft money, and this whole - "Oh, yes, its a license but its not the RIGHT kind of license, and yeah, it's been working, but oops, now it's NOT going to work" is total cattle droppings.

"you cannot legitimately but those MSDN keys on Amazon or elsewhere."
But APPARENTLY you CAN... 'Cause you're telling me that's what I HAVE...

FWIW, MisterEd, doing what you recommended gets me this:
------------------------------------------------------------------
If your product key is for Microsoft 365 Business or other business products, redeem it at office.com/setupkey.

If your product key is for Office 2010, Office 2007, or Office for Mac 2011, you can redeem it and download Office at microsoft.com/software-download/office.

Otherwise, try microsoft.com/redeem.

Error code: TOKEN_NOT_FOUND

Correlation ID: 917aa39f-adbd-411b-a840-dd76c3f30cbb

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Which is absolutely meaningless to me.

SO, does anybody have anything useful as far as getting this POS software working?

The MSDN keys are legitimate retail ones but are meant for software developers. There are never supposed to be resold.

You will see that they are MSDN keys by running this script: cscript ospp.vbs /dstatus
You will get something like this:

LICENSE NAME: Office 19, Office19ProPlus2019MSDNR_Retail edition
LICENSE DESCRIPTION: Office 19, RETAIL channel
LICENSE STATUS: ---LICENSED---

Read the following and you will see that through their employment people can get Microsoft Office Professional Plus for free. There is no limit on the number of devices they can be installed on. This loophole apparently has led some people to sell their keys to sellers online. This can work out fine as long as a keys is not activated too many times. If that happens Microsoft's activation servers will flag these keys as potential abuse and block them.

Do you have one of these MSDN keys?

MSDN Visual Studio Enterprise

Consider this your upgrade to Business Class. A standard Visual Studio Enterprise subscription with MSDN costs $5,999 for the first year and $2,569 annually for renewals. VL customers get a discount, of course. An annual cloud subscription (with non-perpetual license) is a flat $2,999 per year.

With that jumbo price tag, you get $150 a month in Azure credits, for a total of $1,800 annually. That's not quite enough to offset the total cost, but it will let you accomplish a lot. This level also includes Microsoft Office Professional Plus (with full use rights), an Office 365 Developer subscription, and a passel of other software (Exchange, SharePoint, and Power BI Pro, among others) not included at the Professional level.

A quick guide to choosing the right MSDN subscription
A quick guide to choosing the right MSDN subscription - TechRepublic

MSDN subscriptions are licensed on a per-user basis. One person can use the software to design, develop, test, or demonstrate his or her programs on any number of devices. ... That's right, the MSDN that you company bought you entitles you to run Windows, Office & Visual Studio in production at home.

Do you have MSDN at work? Use Visual Studio Ultimate for free at home?
Do you have MSDN at work? Use Visual Studio for free at home?

GracieAllen said:

Back from being gone...

Macboatmaster, I don't know what MSDN is, and I've never used it.

I have THREE licenses, on THREE computers. ALL of them have been working since they were purchased. I had to re-install Windows on one of the laptops, and NOW Office won't activate....

As FAR AS I KNOW, the licenses are valid - they have been working for at least 2 years. If these licenses WERE NOT valid - why have they been active and WORKING for years? The two arguments are not consistent. Either they ALL should have failed ages ago, or they should all be working. Period.

From my perspective, I gave Microsoft money, and this whole - "Oh, yes, its a license but its not the RIGHT kind of license, and yeah, it's been working, but oops, now it's NOT going to work" is total cattle droppings.

"you cannot legitimately but those MSDN keys on Amazon or elsewhere."
But APPARENTLY you CAN... 'Cause you're telling me that's what I HAVE...

FWIW, MisterEd, doing what you recommended gets me this:
------------------------------------------------------------------
If your product key is for Microsoft 365 Business or other business products, redeem it at office.com/setupkey.

If your product key is for Office 2010, Office 2007, or Office for Mac 2011, you can redeem it and download Office at microsoft.com/software-download/office.

Otherwise, try microsoft.com/redeem.

Error code: TOKEN_NOT_FOUND

Correlation ID: 917aa39f-adbd-411b-a840-dd76c3f30cbb

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Which is absolutely meaningless to me.

SO, does anybody have anything useful as far as getting this POS software working?

Hi there
For the moment just use the script posted in a few posts back in this thread

If you've forgotten it then here it is again : (Thanks to poster who detailed it).

run this cmd (as administrator)

cd "\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ClickToRun"
Enter :
OfficeC2rclient.exe /update user updatetoversion=16.0.13801.20266


Wait till office completes its thing and then disable updates.

This will get round the problem temporarily until Ms gets its house in order -- by skipping a few updates you won't lose anything even remotely worth while and will stop the nag screen appearing

Cheers
jimbo

MisterEd, thanks for all the information about MSDN.

BUT, if it actually ISN'T available for mere mortals, WHY has the software been working for 2+ YEARS? And CONTINUING to work on the OTHER two computers? Since it HAS, it can't be some bizarre version.

I'm not sure the seller exists any more - they definitely don't respond to repeated emails.

And as far as the "update office to make it stop complaining" thing - no. It churns for a while and says it's downloading updates, but when it's done it STILL wants the software activated.

SO, same question I keep asking - HOW do I get this software, which has WORKED for over 2 YEARS, to work AGAIN? It's a purchased license - one of three - and the OTHER TWO still work perfectly.