Suddenly, after around 8 years of trouble-free use, I'm getting an error message when opening a document in Word 2003: "you must activate your Microsoft Office 2003 installation". It is ONLY happening when the internet is down.

This is a real problem as I can no longer edit ANY word document. A spot of letter, poetry, or diary writing is what I typically do when not browsing.



I haven't changed anything about the machine; it's just my home admin PC, vintage 2007. Nothing new at all.

Does anyone have any clues about why this is happening and/or how to fix it? Thanks!