Convert License problems

[Jim Dalley]

I really appreciate the copy of Office 2003 which
Microsoft gave me at the Launch. I would not have
installed it if it were just a trial version, but it came
with a certificate to get a real version. I installed
the trial version and immediately requested the full
version.

I am unable to upgrade my license. When I run Setup from
the license upgrade CD, I receive the following message:

Microsoft Office 2003 Setup
This option is not available for the product you
currently have
installed. Click OK to return to the Maintenance Mode
Options dialog
and make a different selection. Note that you may need to
uninstall
the current product before installing a different one.

Digging through the Microsoft web site, I finally found
an article which seems to apply.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-
us;831023
This article seems to apply, but still does not solve my
problem:

Post-activation: Expiration Reminders
After you activate the Trial version product, when the
Activation Wizard Expiration reminders appear, you will
have the option to convert to the full retail perpetual
license for the product. On the Activation Wizard
Expiration reminder, you can click Convert to start the
conversion to the full retail perpetual license for the
product. You can open the Activation Wizard reminder
whenever you want. To do so, on the Help menu, click
Activate Product.

Tried this. On Outlook 2003, I selected Help than
Activate Product. I received the following message which
included only the Close option, so it did not allow me to
activate the product:

Activation Wizard
Thank you for installing the Microsoft Professional
Edition 2003 trial. This copy of the trial will expire on
Wednesday, March 31, 2004.

Okay, try the next section of the Microsoft article:
Maintenance Mode Conversion
When you insert an Office 2003 Trial version product CD
in your CD-ROM or DVD drive, the CD explorer window
appears. Click Setup. This starts the Trial version
product Setup program in Maintenance mode. To convert the
Trial version product, click Convert License, and then
click Next.

Note You can also reach Maintenance mode by using Add
Remove Programs in Control Panel.

Note If the Trial version is installed with a product ID
code that does not permit conversion, the Convert License
option still appears in Maintenance mode. However, if you
select that option and then click Next, you receive an
error message that lets you know that the option is not
valid for the currently installed product. When you close
this error message, you return to Maintenance mode.

So, the trial copy of Office 2003 has a product ID code
that does not permit conversion? I am definitely
confused. Does this mean that Microsoft messed up when
they gave me the trial version of CDs and a certificate
to get the real version? I ordered the real version, as
directed by Microsoft and received this 2 CD set. Now it
does not appear to work to upgrade, which was the point
of Microsoft giving me the certificate.

Can anyone give me some help here?
--Jim Dalley
937-429-9571

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi Jim,

If you receive the error message in maintenance mode then
the full product of MS Office 2003 with the Product installation
key that you received does not support a conversion from
trial to production status. As stated in the error message
you cited you may need to uninstall the trial first.

Backup your files, uninstall the trial version, restart the
PC and then install the copy of Office 2003.

============
I really appreciate the copy of Office 2003 which
Microsoft gave me at the Launch. I would not have
installed it if it were just a trial version, but it came
with a certificate to get a real version. I installed
the trial version and immediately requested the full
version.

I am unable to upgrade my license. When I run Setup from
the license upgrade CD, I receive the following message:

Microsoft Office 2003 Setup
This option is not available for the product you
currently have
installed. Click OK to return to the Maintenance Mode
Options dialog
and make a different selection. Note that you may need to
uninstall
the current product before installing a different one. >>
--
Hope that helps,

Bob Buckland ? MS Office Products family MVP
*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*

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