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When I bought my first Microsoft Office suite, it came on a series of CD-ROMs that I purchased at the local electronics store. A few years later, I was responsible for a small network running Microsoft Small Business Server. This product came with multiple user licenses for the Office suite and the programs were installed over the network. Most recently, I purchased Microsoft Office over the Internet. Each scenario involved a different delivery option for Microsoft Office.

What does this have to do with locating an Office product key? Everything! If I told you to go find your CD-ROMs and the jewel case they came in when you downloaded the suite, you’d look at me as if I were crazy. Sure, if you purchased Office in CD-ROM form, the jewel case would be the go-to location for finding the product key. But what if you downloaded Office rather than purchased it off the shelf?

First of all, you should have received an email confirmation from Microsoft when you initially placed your order. In my case, the email arrived with the subject line saying, “Microsoft Office - Order Confirmation - XXXXXXXX” (with the ‘X’ representing some sort of mysterious code). The body of the message thanked me for my order, gave me detailed information about how to lookup information surrounding my order, and “bingo!” listed my Microsoft Office Product Key. The product key is a 25 character alphanumeric number used to “unlock” the software and prove that you are a registered user.

Whenever I order products over the Internet, I save my confirmation emails in a specific folder aptly named “confirmations.” Even if you aren’t quite so organized, you may be able to get a new product key from Microsoft by calling 1-800-936-5700.

In Office 2000 and above, the product ID is unrelated to the product key though it is still useful  information that you may need from time to time. To find this information, go to the Help > About option in the menu bar. This usually displays the product ID. In Microsoft Office 2007, the product ID is verified when you activate the software. Once activated, you can find out the product ID by going into Microsoft Word (or Excel, PowerPoint, or Access) and clicking on the Microsoft Office Button. Next, click on Word (or Excel, PowerPoint, or Access) Options. Click on Resources followed by About. Here, you will see detailed information about the product along with licensing information and the product ID.

While the product key is easy to find when you remembered to save your original CD-ROMs and jewel boxes, it’s not quite so easy when you’ve ordered Microsoft Office over the Internet and have since lost the confirmation email. Search your inbox using the terms “Microsoft Office - Order Confirmation” and see if you can pull up the original email. If not, you may need to call Microsoft directly for help.

I’ve been through many incarnations of Microsoft Office starting way back in 1995 or so. During this time, the suite has gone through many changes - some for the better; some for the worse. If you’re like me, you just want to type, get those words onto the screen, make them look pretty, and either print the final document or email it to those who happen to care. While I’m talking about Microsoft Word here, the same is true of spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, Outlook e-mails, Access databases and so on.

While it seems easy - type and print - it’s not always the case. The programs in the Microsoft Office suites have become ever more complex and require ever more resources. This alone is reason enough to cause the occasional program error. Beyond this, other factors are at play including an increasingly malicious online world filled with computer viruses, spyware, and other threats. Even your trusted programs can interfere with Microsoft Office and cause everything to come crashing down. Before you know it, you can’t open Word (or Excel, Access, PowerPoint, etc.) or you get bizarre program errors when working within the Office suite.

I know this because it’s happened to me on several occasions. It was worse back when I ran Windows 95 and 98 before improving with Windows XP and 2007 as the operating systems became more stable. For example, did you know that when your computer shuts down unexpectedly, such as during a power failure, computer crash, or incorrect shutdown routine, that computer files can become corrupt? How many times have you seen the dreaded (drum roll) “blue screen of death”? Each crash slowly chips away at your system, program, and data files.

Fortunately, Microsoft Office program files can be restored fairly easily in 2000 and above. Simply use the Detect and Repair utility to scan you installation for corrupt program files. If any are found, the utility accesses your original installation disc and replaces them with clean copies. Detect and Repair is built right into Office. You can either access it through the Tools or Help menu.

When using Detect and Repair, your data is safe. This option looks for damaged and lost files and restores them from the installation disc so that you don’t have to perform a complete un-install and re-install of the Office suite. When using Detect and Repair, keep in mind that your shortcuts, customizations, and other settings may disappear. Pay attention to the prompts so that you fully understand what you are authorizing. While it may be annoying to lose custom toolbars and other settings, it’s far better than losing data.

Another thing to remember about Detect and Repair is that it must access your original Microsoft Office installation discs. This means that you must have these discs available and loaded into a CD-ROM drive. In addition, you must also have the CD-Key available.

In Microsoft Office 2007, Detect and Repair has given way to Microsoft Diagnostics which has more features yet is still capable of solving many Office program errors.

No doubt, Microsoft remains dominant when it comes to office productivity suites.However, with a $500 + price tag for the professional version of Microsoft Office, many of us are starting to look at alternatives.

Earlier, I mentioned that I opted for one of the less expensive Office packages (Home and Student version) because I didn’t really need Access and wasn’t willing to pay in excess of $500 just to get it.

What I didn’t mention was that I’ve been eyeing OpenOffice.org. Should I need to create a database, rather than forking over the big bucks for Access, I plan on downloading the free www.OpenOffice.org Base application.OpenOffice.org offers a free open-source office suite with programs that are compatible with the Microsoft Office applications.

The five applications (Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, and Base) cover all of the major functions you expect from an office suite. For example, Writer is the OpenOffice word processor, while Calc is the spreadsheet; Impress is the presentation application; Draw is the graphics and diagramming application; and Base is the database program. 

Another free alternative to Microsoft Office is also found online. Head on over to Google and search for Google Docs and Spreadsheets. This free mini-suite includes a word processor, spreadsheet program, and presentation program. It’s particularly handy for collaborating with others and sharing documents over the Internet. Plus, your documents are stored online where you can retrieve them from any computer.

Thinkfree Boundless is another suite that is compatible with Microsoft Office. This suite includes a word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation application as well as provides a full gigabyte of online document storage space. You can work with your documents offline and they will be synced automatically with the online version. In addition, if your mobile device is compatible, you can access your documents through your mobile device!

While I’m a longtime Microsoft Office user, I’m excited about the latest alternatives available, particularly the ones that make collaboration and file sharing simple. I’m not sure that I’ll be first in line the next time Microsoft rolls out a new Office version. Why pay hundreds of dollars when viable free alternatives exist?

I spend most of my time at work using the various Microsoft Office products including Word and Excel. And yes, I’ve had a few problems with them over the years. These programs are resource hogs. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to reboot computers after receiving an “out of memory” error.

The “out of memory” issue is one of the more common problems users encounter with Office but it’s not the only one.

Other issues involve the normal.dot template, start up issues, corrupt fonts, corrupt files, and low disk space.

Out of memory problems are often the result of having too many applications demanding resources at once - not just Microsoft Office programs. Have you checked your Startup items folder lately? How many programs are loading every time you start Windows? Are you using each of these programs? Probably not yet they are fully loaded and gobbling up your computer’s resources and memory. If you regularly receive “out of memory” messages when working with Microsoft Office, check your Startup items folder and disable unnecessary programs from launching automatically.

The normal.dot template occasionally goes bad. Whenever you open Microsoft Word, you are presented with a blank page. This is actually the normal.dot template. If you open Word and no blank page appears or a page filled with junk appears, the normal.dot file has been overwritten or compromised in some manner. Fortunately, this is an easy problem to solve. You will need to delete the compromised normal.dot file. This is a hidden file stored in the Documents and Settings>User Name>Application Data>Microsoft> Templates folder. Once deleted, Microsoft Word will automatically generate a new one the next time you open Word.

Sometimes your Office applications simply won’t start up or may be missing a required system file. Microsoft Office comes with a built-in repair utility that will scan your installation for corrupt system files and replace them with clean copies from your original installation discs. This utility is called Detect and Repair. In Office 2007, Microsoft Diagnostics performs a similar service.

Corrupt fonts can also cause problems within the Office suite. This usually happens with third party fonts that you’ve downloaded and installed. If you receive “font can’t load” uninstalling any new fonts you’ve added. In addition, try the Detect and Repair or Microsoft Diagnostics utility.

File corruption involving system files is generally taken care of through the Detect and Repair or Microsoft Diagnostics utility however these utilities do not address file corruption related to document files or device drivers unrelated to the software. In these cases, a registry cleaner or specialized 3^rd party software program designed to recover corrupt Office files or device drivers is your best bet.

Low disk space errors can also cause problems with Microsoft Office. When your computer runs low on disk space, it’s hard for the other applications to function as designed. Freeing up disk space solves the problem. Use the disk cleanup utility and the disk defragmenter utility found in the Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools folder to free up your disk of unnecessary temporary items. 

Many common Office problems can be avoided through regular computer maintenance and security updates. Make sure to keep your computer updated with the latest updates from Microsoft (for both the operating system as well as the Microsoft Office products) and run regular maintenance routines such as defragging and disk cleanup.

I don’t know about you but I spent a lot of money on my computer and Microsoft Office. I expect these products to work properly. For the most part, they do. In fact, I’ve had no problems with Vista or Office 2007 and I was one of the first ones in line to buy them. Being amongst the first, I knew going in that issues were bound to arise. Fortunately, Microsoft releases updates to both the operating system as well as other products including Office.

My computer is set up to automatically check for and download updates each night at 3:00AM. You can set yours up to do the same and always have the latest updates for your Microsoft Products.

Here’s an easy way to get started if you want to update Microsoft Office 2007. When in Word or Excel, go to the Office Button and click on Word Options (or Excel Options). Next, click on Resources. At the top of the list you will find “Get Updates” along with a button that says “Check for Updates.” Click the button. You can also access Windows Updates by going to the Start Button and choosing All Programs> Windows Update.

This takes you to the Microsoft Updates Web site and opens your Windows Update utility which is found in the Control Panel. From here, you can check for Microsoft updates for your operating system as well as Office 2007. You can also adjust your settings. You have several options under the Change Settings link including whether to automatically install updates at a specific time (recommended), whether to download updates and allow you to choose when to install them, whether to check for updates but let you choose to download them, or whether to never check for updates (not recommended). Make sure to place check marks in both option boxes while you’re at it.

Another way to update Office is to go to Microsoft’s Office Download page. This page features Office updates for other versions of Office including Office 2007, 2003, XP, 2000, and 97/98.

Why update Office? Not only does Microsoft address known issues when they release updates, they also improve the product. You may find new fonts, new features, expanded help files, or may even be able to open new file types. In addition, updates increase performance and address security concerns as changes are made to the software. For example, a recent update addresses a security vulnerability that exists in Office 2007 that allows an arbitrary code to run when a malicious file is opened. A simple 1K file fixes this vulnerability.

If you’re having trouble with Microsoft Office, you may be advised to remove it and reinstall it. Doing so often solves program errors. Before you go through the hassle of doing so, I suggest that you first run Microsoft Office Diagnostics. This tool comes with Microsoft Office 2007. It checks for known solutions, memory issues, compatibility, disk errors, and other common problems typically encountered by Office.

What’s neat about this utility is that it can repair many issues that previously required removing and reinstalling Office. I’ve run this utility several times just to see how it works though I can’t say I’ve had any problems with my Office suite thus far.

If you have Office 2007, you can access this tool from within Office by clicking the Office button and the program’s options (such as Word options or Excel options). Next, click Resources>Diagnose>Continue>Start Diagnostics. If you can’t open an Office application, you can launch the diagnostics tool by going to the Start Button, clicking All Programs>Microsoft Office> Microsoft Office Tools and finally clicking on Microsoft Office Diagnostics.

Earlier versions of Microsoft Office came with a utility called Detect and Repair. This utility scans your Microsoft Office programs for corruption within the program files. If corrupt program files are found, it replaces them with fresh copies off of your original installation disk. I have used this utility several times with excellent results.

If neither of these options works, remove Microsoft Office using the Uninstall a Program utility found in the Vista Control Panel (or the Add and Remove Programs utility found in earlier versions of Windows). If you own a third party uninstaller, you can use that application instead. Uninstalling applications using the built-in or a third party uninstaller is the only way to be sure that the program is uninstalled properly. You can’t simply delete folders and expect results. In fact, that’s a surefire way to make matters worse.

Occasionally, uninstalling using these tools fails. What’s left is a mess of partial registry entries and a program that hasn’t uninstalled properly. When this happens, you can follow the steps detailed in Microsoft’s Help and Support article (#928218) for manually removing Office 2007 and its related files, folders, and registry entries. I don’t recommend this method unless all else has failed and you are comfortable working in the registry. Even then, I’m warning you to backup the registry and use extreme care.