How to reactivate my Word copy without paying $50 to support?

[mc3031]

I recently had to re-install my system from the original
distribuiton disks. I re-installed

Microsoft Office XP Small Business
Microsoft Office XP
2002 version

which I purchased with the system.

But when I tried to activate it I got the message:
According to our records, this copy of Micosoft Office XP Small Business
has already been activated on another computer. If you believe
you have received this message in error, please contact a Customer
Support Representative by clicking OK and following the instructions.

but clicking OK would just let me make another futile attempt


The only option I see is to pay $50 to microsoft to make a support
e-mail contact, but it doesn't seem fair or reasonable to pay $50 to
Microsoft to allow me to use a product I have already bought.

Is there a better option?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

You can activate by phone without paying for a support call. Use Help |
Activate Product and choose the phone activation option. Explain to the
operator what the situation is.

Actually, if you're reinstalling on the same system with the same hardware,
it should be recognized as being the original hardware on which it was
activated.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org