Product Key for Microsoft Office 2003 Small Business Edition

Dan,

I apologize for the tenor of my post.  I have seen so many requests for hacks and cracks that I have become very
suspicious, even of legitimate requests.

It seems to me that a call to Dell or Microsoft is in order.  Good luck getting everything set back up the way it was.

Regards,

Patrick

I agree with Patrick here. You must be right but we don't know. I have seen many cases where they have lost the excel file passwords and they want to get a software to crack the passwords. But we don't know whether it is a genuine request or not.

Good Luck!

First read this
http://www.microsoft.com/rus/mpa/english/howto/

Now my bit

Does asking for the Product key mean its illegal? You still need the serial number and not sure but do you also need to activate this version? I thought this was the case for all 2003 versions.
Therefore an invalid Product Key/Serial number combination will fail activation.

Product key is merely a registry entry, I just checked the web how illegal it can be - this article explains a bit more  http://pcsupport.about.com/cs/pctutorials/a/lostkey_2.htm
If this is for installation on another computer, I think u need to buy a new licence.

There are other similar requests here in EE which have been answered, so Im not so sure if this is a hack or not. Also, the MS website mentions how to get it - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/824433

With regards to the tools, perhaps SBS stores a different key/encryption registry entry therefore the 2 tools u used don't work.
http://sniptools.com/toolsreviews/find-lost-product-key-for-microsoft-office-and-microsoft-windows
http://www.skaro.net/cd-keyreader/

If would recommend you contacting Microsoft (http://support.microsoft.com/), like matthewspatrick says if you have no luck with the other tools mentioned in the links
The support website has contact details also

< My next move was to try and call Microsoft since the software has been registered to me previously I am wondering if they can help me retrieve it.>

*never registers anything out of laziness/something*

hmmm, good coming out of registration.  who'd a thunk it...

Sorry to read of your problem.

I have a similar issue a few years ago when my laptop hard drive failed.

I had to contact Microsoft & explain the problem.  They were very understanding & relayed that they allowed customers to obtain the Product Key & go through the registration process * twice * before further questions were asked & proof was required.  They did not ask for any further evidence of ownership.

So... sometimes they do listen & do appear human after all, hence my suggestion is also to try Microsoft first.

Dell may also be able to help if you still have your original purchase invoice/paperwork to refer to.

BFN,

fp.