1. Close all Microsoft Office applications.
2. Run Register Editor by clicking on Start -> Run, and then type “regedit” in the Open box and press Enter key.
Navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Registration
Note that inside the registry key, there should be another subkey that resembles the following:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Registration\{90120000-0030-0000-0000-0000000FF1CE
or
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Registration\{91120000-0011-0000-0000-0000000FF1CE
3. If there is more than one registry entries or subkeys that reference Microsoft 12.0 registration, open up each subkey, and then identify the product by the ProductName value data until you locate the subkey for the product which you want to remove the existing product license key.
For example:
ProductName=Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007ProductName=Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007
4. Once found the correct registry subkey, delete the following values:
DigitalProductIDProductID
5. Close Registry Editor.
Next, we want to delay the expiry.
1. In Windows Explorer, brose to the following folder:
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE12\Office Setup Controller\Proof.en\
Right click on Proof.XML file, select “Open With…” in the right click menu.
2. In the “Open With” window, select Notepad to be used to open the XML file. In Vista, if you can’t see the Notepad option, simply double click the “Other Programs” to unhide it.
Scroll down to the bottom of the Proof.XML to locate the following lines:
3. Change the AlwaysInsalled to neverInstalled so that the line looks like following:
4. Save the Proof.xml file. In Windows Vista, you may need to take ownership and grant full access permission to yourself before able to modify the file.
5. You can now launch Microsoft Office 2007 application such as Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook and etc without prompting for activation.
However, I wish to stress that this is a delay technique only. You will still be missing updates, patches and other important features of Office 2007. However, this will give you enough time to quickly make the purchase and reactivate it to enjoy the full version.
