• Registered: 2009-05-12
  • Posts: 4

Topic: Office XP Activation Wizard on a PC with a Universal Image

Hello,

Well, I've finally accomplished creating a universal image using VMware to get Windows XP SP2 and our base apps install on all models of PC we use at my work (hooray!).  Now I'm doing in the process of fixing a few bugs with the image.  One that sticks out is that now is that the first time I launch an Office XP app (MS Word, for example) it now prompts me to activate the product.  We have volume licensing for Office XP here.  The Activation Wizard pops up, I click next, it locates the source network drive where we have placed the Office installation files, and then it is fine.  Before when I was creating machine-specific images, I did not experience this.  I understand the cause is that when you install Office and activate it for the first time, it generates a hardware specific ID and ties it to that copy of Office.  Now that the software is moved to completely different hardware, that hardware ID no longer matches and thus I get prompted to activate.

What I'm wondering is if there is any way to either disable this prompt, or automate the activation process?

Have any of you had any experience with this issue?

Thanks,

Phil

  • OverFlow
  • DriverPacks Administrator & BASE Developer
  • Offline
  • From: Cincinnati
  • Registered: 2006-12-02
  • Posts: 6,730

Re: Office XP Activation Wizard on a PC with a Universal Image

you could use runonce to call a simple autoit script that will launch word then click next and then close word.

Discussions of how to circumvent WGA ect... are normaly against the rules.
since this is clearly a corporate deployment issue we will allow a limited amount of leeway as long as the discussion does not lead to circumventing WGA / Activation Wizard...

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  • Registered: 2009-05-12
  • Posts: 4

Re: Office XP Activation Wizard on a PC with a Universal Image

Sorry I'm definitely not trying to do something such as circumvent WGA, but was simply wondering what others have done.  Surely others have encountered this problem with the Office suite in their universal images.

Anyway, thanks for the tip OverFlow.  I'll look into your suggestion further.

  • Registered: 2010-06-17
  • Posts: 2

Re: Office XP Activation Wizard on a PC with a Universal Image

It is strange to have such a problem for the solution you need to specify a whole system hardware and software design you had prepared to get the idea about the problem and to get the perfect solution.

  • Registered: 2010-01-26
  • Posts: 32

Re: Office XP Activation Wizard on a PC with a Universal Image

Dude

Just register it before, then copy the profile you created the image to all users or default users, problem solved smile