Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2019 September 14

= September 14 =

MS Office installation
If I have a version of the 1-time non-subscription office software, I can obviously install it on my PC.

If I later rebuild the PC (format and reload the operating system from the recovery information), are there any issues with reinstalling the office onto the SAME PC? -- SGBailey (talk) 10:11, 14 September 2019 (UTC)
 * If you are referring to a recent version of Office such as Microsoft Office 2019 or Microsoft Office 2016, I do not foresee any significant barriers to this. Office uses online electronic activation, so you will need to make absolutely sure that you have retained the product key code and the installation media, so that you can restore the software and re-activate it (which should be as simple as clicking through a wizard in the application itself.) If you have lost the product key, apparently there are applications which are capable of scouring the filesystem in search of it, but that only works if you haven't wiped the HDD first. Elizium23 (talk) 05:35, 15 September 2019 (UTC)
 * Thanks -- SGBailey (talk) 07:22, 15 September 2019 (UTC)
 * The same applies to old versions of Office, though I noticed that the lastest Windows upgrade asked me to accept their terms and conditions again. Dbfirs  22:39, 17 September 2019 (UTC)