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Uninstalling and reinstalling MS Office - any "gotchas"?

Doctor Q

Doctor Q

Administrator
Original poster
Staff member
Sep 19, 2002
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9,399
Los Angeles
Being a software developer myself, I avoid bootleg software and I like to stay in compliance with the license terms of software I buy. (Yes, I know that many people don't care about such things.)

I own two copies of MS Office:
  1. MS Office 2008 for Mac, Home & Student Edition. It allow three installations, plus one more on a laptop used by the primary user. It is not to be used for commercial work.
  2. MS Office 2008 for Mac, Special Media edition, just purchased. It allows one installation, plus one more on a laptop used by the primary user, and it can be used for commercial work. (Actually, I'm assuming it shares a license with MS Office 2008 for Mac Professional since the Media Edition came with no license statement in the box or on the disc.)
Here's the status of my 4 Macs:
  1. Desktop Mac 1: installed copy of Office H&S Edition, used for personal work
  2. Desktop Mac 2: installed copy of Office H&S Edition, used for personal work
  3. Desktop Mac 3: installed copy of Office H&S Edition, used for personal work
  4. Laptop Mac 4: no installed copy of Office yet
The issue is that I want to start doing commercial work on Mac 3 and on the laptop, and that's why I bought the copy of Office Media Edition. Perhaps I could simply consider my purchase of Media Edition to have authorized my commercial use on Mac 3 and Mac 4, but to do things properly I should change the license on Mac 3 from the H&S Edition to the Media Edition.

Is there a way to re-register an installed copy with another key, or do I need to run the H&S Edition uninstaller and then the Media Edition installer on Mac 3? In either case, I'll run the Media Edition installer on Mac 4.

Is there any "gotcha" I need to watch out for when changing versions of Office this way?
 
Would not Media Edition, be considered an upgrade compared to home edition? Meaning, like Vista Home basic, Home pro, Vista Ultimate?

If it is, I can't see an issue of upgrading from home to Media edition. Of course, if Nadyne can pop in, she could offer Microsoft advice point of view, as she works for them.

Note - When I bought home and student, I did have to delete the trial version that came with my macbook. It asks you too, and after the install, it looks for other versions to delete.
 
iMac-Knight said:
Would not Media Edition, be considered an upgrade compared to home edition? Meaning, like Vista Home basic, Home pro, Vista Ultimate?

If it is, I can't see an issue of upgrading from home to Media edition. Of course, if Nadyne can pop in, she could offer Microsoft advice point of view, as she works for them.

Note - When I bought home and student, I did have to delete the trial version that came with my macbook. It asks you too, and after the install, it looks for other versions to delete.
Click to expand...
I didn't buy the Media Edition as an upgrade, but as a brand new copy, so I have the licenses it gives me plus the original licenses from the H&S Edition.
 
I was referring an upgrade as in more features. A change from what you currently have. The alternative would be to have both version on one computer.
 
I see what you mean now. Technically, I'll get more features, but I don't take advantage of them. I need only Word and Excel, so I don't even install all the components.
 
Here are the relevant parts of the EULA for the two products, for those who are interested.

MICROSOFT SOFTWARE LICENSE TERMS
MICROSOFT OFFICE 2008 FOR MAC HOME & STUDENT EDITION
2. INSTALLATION AND USE RIGHTS.

a. Licensed Device. The licensed device is the device on which you use the software. You may install and use up to three copies of the software on the licensed device(s).

b. Portable Device. You may install another copy on a portable device for use by the single primary user of the licensed device.

c. Network Device. You may also install one copy on a network device. You may only use that copy as described in the Remote Access section below.

d. Separation of Components. The components of the software are licensed as a single unit. You may not separate the components and install them on different devices.

e. Font Components. While the software is running, you may use its fonts to display and print content. ...

f. Limitations on Use. The software is not licensed for use in any commercial, non-profit or revenue-generating business activities.​
MICROSOFT SOFTWARE LICENSE TERMS
MICROSOFT OFFICE 2008 FOR MAC (including Special Media Edition)
2. INSTALLATION AND USE RIGHTS.

a. Licensed Device. The licensed device is the device on which you use the software. You may install and use one copy of the software on the licensed device.

b. Portable Device. You may install another copy on a portable device for use by the single primary user of the licensed device.

c. Network Device. You may also install one copy on a network device. You may only use that copy as described in the Remote Access section below.

d. Separation of Components. The components of the software are licensed as a single unit. You may not separate the components and install them on different devices.​
 
Simply run the installer for the Media edition on Mac #3, and it will ask to remove other installations of Microsoft Office towards the end of the process. It should identify and remove the other installation, and you will then have the Media Edition installed with it's license key being represented (you'll of course have been prompted to enter that during installation). Should be as easy as that.

jW
 
I did something similar. I ran the uninstaller from the H&S Edition disc, emptied the trash, then installed Office from the Media Edition disc. It gave me a Product ID but never asked for my key! :confused: Now I don't know what kind of license it thinks I have. That's the kind of "gotcha" I was thinking of when I started this whole effort.

It also had an interesting side effect. While it was installing, web pages I was looking at starting having text display problems, which I attribute to the Office installer changing my fonts. To be fair, it suggested that I quit all applications while it was running. A restart fixed that issue, but I had some pretty odd looking web displays in the meantime!

Example:
Office-glitch.jpg​

Once Office was finally installed, it found a huge service pack, downloaded and installed it, found another large service pack, downloaded and installed it, and found a third, small service pack, downloaded and installed it.

I can now launch the Office Apps, and I guess my license is now "sort of clean", but it's unclear if I accomplished my mission. I wonder if there are files I need to delete from my library, e.g., preferences/com.microsoft.office.plist or preferences/com.microsoft.setupassistant and how I get it to ask for my license key.
 
The Entourage MVPs have instructions for removing the PID on their install or update Entourage page. To quote from there:
Delete these two files on one of the machines:
~:Library:preferences:Microsoft:Office 2008:Microsoft Office 2008 Settings.plist
where ~ is your home folder, and
HD:Applications:Microsoft Office 2008:Office:OfficePID.plist
When you start an Office app, you'll be asked for a CD Key
Click to expand...

Regards,
Nadyne.
 
Now we now, for future reference, that to remove an Office 2008 license key you remove files
/Users/(username)/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/Office 2008/Microsoft Office 2008 Settings.plist

/Applications/Microsoft Office 2008/Office/OfficePID.plist​
and I confirm that it worked for me.
 
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