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Solved
Macbook MS Office installer missing
Posted on 2016-10-12
My kid's MacBook Pro Retina screen cracked so the insurer replaced a new unit
of MBP Retina for her : the local authorized Mac support used a native OSX tool
to clone everything over via the Thunderbolt ports of both the cracked & new MBP
Everything works on the new MBP except MS Office 2010 which can't launch at all :
this dealer that sells this MBP (thru the school-mandated programme) says we'll
need the MS Office 2010 installer to reinstall to fix it?
Somehow I can't recall if there's an installer CD given to us but I don't think so as
we never have an external CD/DVD reader to connect to this MBP. The MS Ofc
must have come preinstalled with the original broken MBP.
I guess there's sort of MS Ofc licence? What do I do from here?
of MBP Retina for her : the local authorized Mac support used a native OSX tool
to clone everything over via the Thunderbolt ports of both the cracked & new MBP
Everything works on the new MBP except MS Office 2010 which can't launch at all :
this dealer that sells this MBP (thru the school-mandated programme) says we'll
need the MS Office 2010 installer to reinstall to fix it?
Somehow I can't recall if there's an installer CD given to us but I don't think so as
we never have an external CD/DVD reader to connect to this MBP. The MS Ofc
must have come preinstalled with the original broken MBP.
I guess there's sort of MS Ofc licence? What do I do from here?
[X]
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11 Comments
Active today
I am not aware of any MS Office license that is just "out there" to be used, except perhaps for a school offered license for Office 365.
The best thing you can do is to speak with the school and ask them how to proceed.
The best thing you can do is to speak with the school and ask them how to proceed.
Active today
My teenage kid got nowhere bringing her new MacBook with this MS Ofc
issue to the school's tech support counter (where the dealer has a support
office based there permanently), thus I need to get help here
issue to the school's tech support counter (where the dealer has a support
office based there permanently), thus I need to get help here
Active today
I'm not sure what anyone here can do if indeed the installation is faulty and needs to be re-done. BTW, I take it you meant Office 2011? 2010 is for PCs only.
It could be that the apps are somehow damaged. Not likely but possible. A reload of those files might help.
It could also be that some of the basic preference files are either missing, damaged or no longer match up with what is expected. I am including both the app prefs as well as the license info in that assessment. Some are removable - which would allow the apps to regenerate those files but others such as license files are probably best left alone.
However, if a re-install is needed, then whoever is responsible for supplying the installer needs to be contacted again. If your daughter has some paperwork to that effect, then I would push it up the chain of command until you either get a better response or it's made clear that the license agreement does not include re-installs. A strange notion I agree but not much surprises me anymore.
Of course, you could just spend the money for a new license.
It could be that the apps are somehow damaged. Not likely but possible. A reload of those files might help.
It could also be that some of the basic preference files are either missing, damaged or no longer match up with what is expected. I am including both the app prefs as well as the license info in that assessment. Some are removable - which would allow the apps to regenerate those files but others such as license files are probably best left alone.
However, if a re-install is needed, then whoever is responsible for supplying the installer needs to be contacted again. If your daughter has some paperwork to that effect, then I would push it up the chain of command until you either get a better response or it's made clear that the license agreement does not include re-installs. A strange notion I agree but not much surprises me anymore.
Of course, you could just spend the money for a new license.
Active today
Try this test, if your daughter has admin rights on the Mac:
1) Create a new user account on the mac
2) Try to run one of the Office apps, e.g. Word.
What happens?
1) Create a new user account on the mac
2) Try to run one of the Office apps, e.g. Word.
What happens?
Active 1 day ago
Office 2011 just needed the license file and you should have had that. It should have worked for you already, unless the tech that copied the files for you didn't actually correctly image the disk the properly. https://cwl.cc/2012/02/easy-way-to-move-your-microsoft-office.html Older Office for Mac before that was even simpler and could be copied without worrying about a license file.
Newer Office has a coded license file that's tied to the System ID. Microsoft does that to prevent users from copying Office from one system to another. Just copying or imaging the disk to a new system breaks the Microsoft Office license key, because you now have a new serial number. You really do need the installer file and the original Product key to regenerate the license file.
If they had just swapped the screen or swapped the motherboard out to the new system, it would have been fine. Did the insurer take the old Macbook? If not, you can swap the screen or the motherboard between the 2 systems and your copy of office will work again. You'll basically have to resort to that if you don't have the official installer and product key to generate the license file.
If you have or know the original serial number, A work around would be to install OS X as a VM on the current Mac and change the serial number in the VM, then copy your Office products to that VM. http://www.virtuallyghetto.com/2015/04/quick-tip-how-to-change-serial-number-for-mac-os-x-vm.html Apple's license allows you to create an OS X VM on your current Mac.
Newer Office has a coded license file that's tied to the System ID. Microsoft does that to prevent users from copying Office from one system to another. Just copying or imaging the disk to a new system breaks the Microsoft Office license key, because you now have a new serial number. You really do need the installer file and the original Product key to regenerate the license file.
If they had just swapped the screen or swapped the motherboard out to the new system, it would have been fine. Did the insurer take the old Macbook? If not, you can swap the screen or the motherboard between the 2 systems and your copy of office will work again. You'll basically have to resort to that if you don't have the official installer and product key to generate the license file.
If you have or know the original serial number, A work around would be to install OS X as a VM on the current Mac and change the serial number in the VM, then copy your Office products to that VM. http://www.virtuallyghetto.com/2015/04/quick-tip-how-to-change-serial-number-for-mac-os-x-vm.html Apple's license allows you to create an OS X VM on your current Mac.
Active today
> Office 2011
Right, it's Ofc 2011
In the loan set, could login to Admin but not this new set.
The insurer took away the 'broken screen' unit: I can always ask
the insurer to return it to me. Which file(s) or folder to copy over?
Right, it's Ofc 2011
In the loan set, could login to Admin but not this new set.
The insurer took away the 'broken screen' unit: I can always ask
the insurer to return it to me. Which file(s) or folder to copy over?
Active today
Is there any way I can contact MS to get the licence key/serial# ?
I can't move the CPU board over as this new one has a faster clock speed CPU
with bigger flash storage
I can't move the CPU board over as this new one has a faster clock speed CPU
with bigger flash storage
Active today
The license files should include:
/Library/Preferences/com.m
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com
/Library/PrivilegedHelperT
/Library/Preferences/com.m
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com
/Library/PrivilegedHelperT
Active 1 day ago
The instructions are in that first link that I posted and Tim has listed them in his response. It looks like the tech that did it for you didn't know enough about Microsoft Office on Macs. He may have just dragged and dropped copied the files in /Applications/ and /Users/ and skipped the System Files.
He should have used a lightning cable and used Migration Assistant and included the System files. Most of the people I did that for took under 7 minutes. If you have a full 500 GB disk, it may take 30 minutes to an hour, depending on how new your SSD is. A full 500 GB spinning HD Migration will take up to 4 hours.
Unless you have some sort of registration with Microsoft, you're not likely to get help from them to recover your Product Key. Always save your Product Key in multiple safe places. Companies with site subscriptions or MSDN subscriptions will have online access to all their keys. Personal, home users generally don't have subscriptions.
He should have used a lightning cable and used Migration Assistant and included the System files. Most of the people I did that for took under 7 minutes. If you have a full 500 GB disk, it may take 30 minutes to an hour, depending on how new your SSD is. A full 500 GB spinning HD Migration will take up to 4 hours.
Unless you have some sort of registration with Microsoft, you're not likely to get help from them to recover your Product Key. Always save your Product Key in multiple safe places. Companies with site subscriptions or MSDN subscriptions will have online access to all their keys. Personal, home users generally don't have subscriptions.
Active today
/Library/Preferences/com.m
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com
/Library/PrivilegedHelperT
Above files were copied over by the Tech person. I guess it's detecting the system ID.
Lightning cable? The Tech used Thunderbolt cable
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com
/Library/PrivilegedHelperT
Above files were copied over by the Tech person. I guess it's detecting the system ID.
Lightning cable? The Tech used Thunderbolt cable
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