Activating software after computer crash

[wrwcan]

I purchased MS Office and installed it on my Desktop and Laptop. I understood I was licensed to use it on 3 computers. My motherboard on my desktop melted and purchased a new desktop and installed MS Office on it. That was my 3rd installation. Then my hard drive crashed on my laptop. I wanted to activate my MS Office on my new laptop but Microsoft would not allow it. If successful in activating MS Office on my laptop I would only be using Office on 2 computers, the first 2 are toast. Do I have to purchase Office again just to have it on my desktop and laptop? I have tried to get to a person at Microsoft but have been unsuccessful. I am a student and need Word 07 on my desktop and laptop desperately but do not want to spend 100 plus $$ to get it when I just upgraded from Office 03 to Office 07 last November. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[ale52]

Try calling M$ and explain the situation.  They may or may not give you grace, depending on what side of the bed that person got up on that morning.

Alan <>< 

[truenorth]

Or alternatively could you not network the 2 latest computers that you are using and use the one you have "office" on to create your work then transfer the result to the other computer--if ale52's suggestion does not bear fruit? You sure seem to be having a bad string of luck with your computers.truenorth

[soybean]

Or alternatively could you not network the 2 latest computers that you are using and use the one you have "office" on to create your work then transfer the result to the other computer--

What would be the point of that?  He would not be able to open those files on the "other computer", since it would not have Office installed on it. 

I'll mention OpenOffice as an option for one computer if MS Office can not be registered on it.  OpenOffice will recognize Word and Excel files.  However, I think you may be able to resolve this by calling MS, as ale52 suggested.

[Geek-9pm]

This may be a very little help, but perhaps an idea worth considering.   

Would it be possible for you to find an exact replacement for the motherboard that got burnt? If so, you should be able to restore your complete system, including the Microsoft office programs, from your backup.

Also, in a home office environment where software tools are very powerful and important parts of your productivity, a total backup plan is needed. Because of the policy Microsoft has about how many computers you can use for installations, you need to consider having "clone" computers. That is to say, every computer must be a duplicate of the other even down to small hardware details such as the type of video cards used.

Why? Because in that case you could reduce the number of new installations by simply making a clone of your hard drive. Save one or two of your installations for a new system,  if and when that is needed.

 Although the above  may seem to violate the letter of the law, it is not really a violation of law. You are entitled to have a backup system. The policy Microsoft has adopted is rather oppressive and some other terrible word I can't remember right now.   

[truenorth]

Along the line of Geek -9pm's suggestion i was wondering at the time i wrote my above post as to another alternative (i suspect too late in this case). But what if at the time of installation of the software for "office" it had been installed on an external HDD? Could that have made it portable to any other computer that that HDD was attached to? Or has Microsoft prevented it being installed on anything but "C" drive? truenorth
P.S. As soybean has stated there are alternatives out there (that are free) and apparently do as good a job as "office" if that becomes the only alternative.

[patio]

There's more to this tale of woe than illustrated...
A MBoard swap would not trigger the activation issue in and of itself...
A HDD swap...well see above again.

Fill in the rest of the blanks...

All that being said Alan's advice above would be the place to start...

[BaRR]

While this obviously won't resolve your issue with the License, there is an alternative. If you cannot get your Microsoft Word re-licensed, I'd suggest using OpenOffice.org. It's basically a productivity suite like Microsoft Office, but completely free. It has many of the same functions and will both read AND save Microsoft Office files, so you can send them to your professors as .doc files.

You can download it here: OpenOffice.org

This is just one more option, in the case you are unable to solve the licensing problem.

Edit: Just noticed someone else already mentioned this, I apologize.

[2x3i5x]

Google Docs would be another usable option, you can save to .doc format, so it'll be compatible with MS Word.