Purchased MS Office Student & Teacher Edition 2003 way back when and loaded it onto my PC -- only because for those occasions when needing to access a Word doc (I use WordPerfect) received from someone; have used PowerPoint a couple of times, but that's the extent of it.

Just upgraded my hard drive and reloaded everything; now Microsoft in its infinite wisdom presents me with:

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Microsoft Office 2003 Activation Wizard


Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003
Thank you for installing Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003. You must activate your installation to fully enable all of the features. The wizard will guide you through the activation process.

How do you want to activate your copy of the software?
 I want to activate the software over the Internet (Recommended)
I want to activate the software by telephone

If you choose not to activate at this time, you may run the software 48 more times before many of the features become unavailable. Click Helpfor more information.

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FOLLOWED BY:
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Microsoft Office 2003 Activation Wizard
Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003
Your installation cannot be activated because you have activated up to the limit for your Product Key. For details about the maximum allowed number of product activations, close the wizard and review the End User License Agreement, available via the Help menu of the application.

If you believe that you are getting this message in error, click Back and choose the telephone option. The telephone activation system will provide you the opportunity to speak with a support representative about all activation issues.

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SO I GO TO THE ALTERNATIVE:
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Microsoft Office 2003 Activation Wizard
Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003
Thank you for installing Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003. You must activate your installation to fully enable all of the features. The wizard will guide you through the activation process.

How do you want to activate your copy of the software?
I want to activate the software over the Internet (Recommended)
 I want to activate the software by telephone

================
FOLLOWED BY:
================

Microsoft Office 2003 Activation Wizard
Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003
Follow these steps to activate your software over the telephone.
Step 1: Select the country/region you are calling from and call the Product Activation Center using any of the telephone numbers provided
United States
Telephone activation is no longer supported for this product.
Step 2: When prompted, provide this Installation ID:
053743-893355-883236-445890-100680-366700-882166-832590-291376
Step 3: Enter your Confirmation ID here:
A B C D E F G

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Sooooo ... what I have here is:

1. I purchase a bonafide copy of MS Office way back when
2. I initially load it on my PC and have a successful activation with MS
3. I use it rarely
4. I get a new hard drive
5. I reload MS Office
6. I'm presented with the option to activate by Internet, resulting in my being informed that "installation cannot be activated because [i] have activated up to the limit for [my] Product Key."
7. Next, I attempt to activate by telephone, resulting in being informed that "Telephone activation is no longer supported for this product."
8. So, I've helped Mr. Gates maintain his billionaire lifestyle while he has decided that since I'm unwilling to continually purchase the Next Newest Greatest Microsoft Thing I'm going to be prohibited from the full and free use of my duly-purchased product. Go figure.

This has all the brilliance of Chevrolet selling me a car in 2003, then because I won't purchase a new Chevy every other year being informed that I have only 48 more trips available and then my 2003 car will be useless ....

QUESTION: Is there some way to bypass this now-useless activation business so I can have full use of what I have purchased?

Many thanks.

I ran into this same problem installing Office Professional 2003 on a computer in mid January 2014 but solved it. You need to call the activation number (888) 652-2342. It will ask you if you are installing windows xp, say no, it asks about another software, say no. It then asks for your installation id code and you just follow directions from there... Mine is activated.

I had the same problem. I recently purchased a new computer with Windows 8. I re-loaded MS Office 2003 (was working in my old Win7 computer) and couldn't re-activate it thru the Internet. I read your solution and called the activation phone number you listed, and Wala!! I now have a fully operational Office 2003!!!! Thanks a million for your advice.

Thanks for this I was angry with microsoft telling I couldn't activate by phone called the number you posted and voila activated! Like the saying goes "Never take no for an answer" I bought and paid for this software I should be able to install on one computer as many times as I want Microsoft.

Thanks, texxytoe! Like Hikermann, I trustingly took Microsoft at their word when they said "telephone activation is no longer supported", but all I had to do was call (888) 652-2342 and play "numbers station" (q.g.) with the robodude.

IT WORKED.

Just an update 3/19/2015. This method STILL WORKS! My software is now activated.

THANK YOU!

Chuck

Update 7/31/2015. This method STILL WORKS! My software is now activated.

Thank You!

Hi there, I too have the same problem trying to install Office 2003 on a Laptop running Win10. I get the option to activate over the Internet, am then told this option is no longer supported and I should acivate by phone. I click on this option to be told that this option is no longer supported.
I contacted Microsoft by way of "Microsoft Answer Tech", spent an hour explaing the problem, got the impression I was the first to have this problem and nobody knew how to resolve it. The person dealing with me said she had passed it up to her managers and they would contact me shortly with their response.
Needless to say I am still waiting and have resorted to you good people to help me out.
I am in the UK and the toll free number given in this post does not work.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I rang the UK number 08000188354 and went through the activation process only to be told I could only put Office onto one PC. I understood I could put it onto 3 PCs. I must start searching for alternative software that is not from Microsoft.

The number of PCs you can install any given edition of an Office version onto depends on that edition's EULA. IIRC, all editions of Office 2003 allowed installation on at least one PC and one laptop. That said, since Office 2003 is no longer supported, doesn't have the functionality of Office 2007 & later, and isn't compatible with Windows 10, for example, you might want to consider upgrading.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Thanks Paul,
I rang the UK activation line 08000188354, and after a few automated failures I managed to speak to a real live person. This woman was able to sort out the problem in less than 5 minutes and gave me an activation code which works well enough on Windows 10.
There is an error code when running updates, but I can live with that.
I just don't understand how Microsoft can try to block you installing software which you bought and paid for. Its fine that they no longer support it but don't block users from reloading the software.
Thanks again Paul, problem solved.

This is only partly true. Office 2003 runs fine with Windows 10. the only issues I saw was with Powerpoint. If you click on shapes they will slightly move. This is especially bad if you hold CTRL and click because then your shapes will duplicate. I am actually running 2003 on a VM because it is a great version for what I use it for. other than that Excel, Word, Outlook, Access and everything else was fine. You can also run applications in compatibility mode if needed but Office 2003 didn't need that.

We replaced my computer in the office with a newer (though used) computer. When my boss's son set it up for me he installed Office 2010 on it. In the process of finishing transferring everything over to the new computer, something went wrong and it wound up with the continual black screen on start-up. I wound up having to start from scratch and reinstall windows 7. When I went to reinstall Office 2010 again, it was then I got the message that the activation code had been used the maximum number of times. I found this forum and called that number. I proceeded to use the "phone call" option for activation and shortly into the automated phone call, it gave me the option of having the link sent to my cell via text to complete the process. I got the text, thus was able to end the phone call and completed the process via the smartphone option, which was simple and straightforward!

I did have to enter the number of times this license had been activated and I honestly didn't know what the answer was since I was not the one who purchased or installed it on anything until this point. I knew that it had at least been activated on this same computer, the first time the guy had set it up for me, so I just entered a "1" for the answer.

Hi rsssnooker,

A colleague of mine was unable to activate his genuine copy of MS Office XP 2002 (bought on-line, May last year), he'd even contacted an on-line rep via the chat feature, only to be told that the product was no longer supported. The rep then suggested he try Office 365 (there's a free 30 day trial available). My colleague decided not to take up this"kind" offer and gave up.

I found your post and the 08000188354 number then I visited my colleague and phoned the number; there are options for Windows Office and Other MS Product. I selected "Office" entered the Installation ID on the computer's screen- nine blocks of six numbers.

A recorded voice said: "One moment please, while I check that out."

(Baited breath while we waited for the outcome).....

Verified!!!

Then had to enter seven blocks of six numbers (as gordonflemming suggested I wrote down the all the seven blocks of numbers of the Confirmation ID labelled A to G - after you click "Next" you won't be able to hear it again) - keeping a record of it means you can use it again in the future if you need to.

So now he has Office XP activated on his computer. Thanks to all who contributed to this. I have to admit I'm surprised that I was able to sort this out especially as it's March 2018!!! And to think he was going to throw the discs in the dustbin.

-Sam

Microsoft isn't blocking anything except an apparent exceeding of the number of CPUs on which your licence allows you to run the software. Evidently, over time you've installed it on more CPUs than were allowed. Once you exceed that limit, telephone activation is required. That requirement has been documented for nearly two decades now.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]