Solved MS Office 2016 Activation


bfunke

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When my daughter started college, the school allowed them to download and install Office 2016 on their computers. She installed a file called Office_Professional_Plus_2016_MAK_x64.exe on both a laptop and our home desktop. Both activated and have been updating just fine. I'm planning on giving a away the laptop and wanted to remove any personal data so I wiped the drive and did a clean install of Win10 which activated just fine. I then tried to reinstall Office 2016 using the installation file previously used and it now says my product key is invalid. I checked with the school and they said they no longer support Office 2016 and have switched to Office 365. Other than purchasing a new key is there any way to activate this old version of Office 2016?
 

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You are likely to get better responses by posting in the Office section of TenForums.

But I think the answer will be, "No.".


All the best,
Denis
 

My Computer

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  • OS
    Windows 11 Home x64 Version 23H2 Build 22631.3296
If you are giving the laptop away to somebody, don't put office back on there. It was licensed to your daughter as a student.
 

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    Windows 11 Pro
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    Beelink SEI8
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MAK copies of Office products use Volume Licensing, so it needs to be activated by the school's servers. As pparks1 noted, the school's license agreement is for her educational use and not to be redistributed.
 

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  • OS
    Windows 7
MAK copies of Office products use Volume Licensing, so it needs to be activated by the school's servers. As pparks1 noted, the school's license agreement is for her educational use and not to be redistributed.
That's not true. You're thinking of KMS keys. MAK keys like KMS keys are volume license keys. However, MAK keys are activated online through a Microsoft activation server. Unlike retail keys the same MAK key can update more than copy of the software. How many depends upon how many activations have been purchased from Microsoft.

When the school bought Office 2016 they probably bought a certain number of activations. They probably used up all of them years ago. If that is true then nobody will be able to install Office 2016 and activate it again. Of course the school could have purchased more activations but that would not make sense since Office 2016 is so old. Besides Microsoft probably stopped selling activations for Office 2016 years ago.

I know this for sure because I have used MAK keys. I support a 501(c)(3) non-profit. Ten years ago I purchased Windows 8 Pro and Office 2013 Pro Plus from a Microsoft Volume License Distributor. I logged onto the Microsoft Volume License Service Center and retrieved the MAK keys for the software. There were also KMS keys there but I couldn't use them because we did have a way to activate them.

BTW, even though Windows 8 Pro had a MAK key I was still able able to update it to Windows 8.1 Pro and then to Windows 10 Pro for free.

Below shows the information I documented after I logged into the Microsoft Volume License Service Center. You can see that I have MAK keys for Office 2010 Pro Plus and Office 2013 Pro Plus. I activated these copies of Office while sitting in my living room.

MAK keys.jpg
 
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    Windows 11 Pro 23H2
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    ASUS TUF Gaming A15 (2022)
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 6800H with Radeon 680M GPU (486MB RAM)
    Memory
    Micron DDR5-4800 (2400MHz) 16GB (2 x 8GB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA RTX 3060 Laptop (6GB RAM)
    Sound Card
    n/a
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6-inch
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 300Hz
    Hard Drives
    2 x Samsung 980 (1TB M.2 NVME SSD)
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    n/a
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    Wireless Mouse M510
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    1200Mbps/250Mbps
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    Firefox
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    Malwarebytes
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    Windows 11 Pro 23H2
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    PC/Desktop
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    Custom build
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    AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
    Motherboard
    ASUS PRIME X370-PRO
    Memory
    G.SKILL Flare X 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4
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    ASUS ROG-STRIX-RTX3060TI-08G-V2-GAMING (RTX 3060-Ti, 8GB RAM)
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    Samsung S23A300B (23-in LED)
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    1080p 60Hz
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Hi,
If you feel obligated to give it away with office you can monitor this thread for cheap licenses

Otherwise let the recipient know about the thread and they can purchase a key.
 

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Thanks all
 

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  • OS
    Win11
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    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    2023 HP Pavilion 15t-eg200
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i7-1255U
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-3200 SDRAM (2 x 8 GB); 512 GB PCIe® NVMe™ M.2 SSD
    Screen Resolution
    1910x1080
@MisterEd. Yes, MAK (multiple activation keys) are different than KMS keys. However, I think the volume license agreement states that it's for users of the organization or educational facility.

While I could give my mak key for work to friends, family and acquaintances, I'm pretty sure that would be in violation of the EULA.
 

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System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Beelink SEI8
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8279u
    Motherboard
    AZW SEI
    Memory
    32GB DDR4 2666Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Iris Plus 655
    Sound Card
    Intel SST
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus ProArt PA278QV
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    512GB NVMe
    PSU
    NA
    Case
    NA
    Cooling
    NA
    Keyboard
    NA
    Mouse
    NA
    Internet Speed
    500/50
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    Mini PC used for testing Windows 11.
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 5900x
    Motherboard
    Asus Rog Strix X570-E Gaming
    Memory
    64GB DDR4-3600
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA GeForce 3080 FT3 Ultra
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS TUF Gaming VG27AQ. ASUS ProArt Display PA278QV 27” WQHD
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    2TB WD SN850 PCI-E Gen 4 NVMe
    2TB Sandisk Ultra 2.5" SATA SSD
    PSU
    Seasonic Focus 850
    Case
    Fractal Meshify S2 in White
    Cooling
    Dark Rock Pro CPU cooler, 3 x 140mm case fans
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Keyboard
    Corsiar K65 RGB Lux
    Internet Speed
    500/50
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Defender.
@MisterEd. Yes, MAK (multiple activation keys) are different than KMS keys. However, I think the volume license agreement states that it's for users of the organization or educational facility.

While I could give my mak key for work to friends, family and acquaintances, I'm pretty sure that would be in violation of the EULA.
The keys I obtained were for a computer owned by the 501(c)(3) organization I belong to. We went through an organization called TechSoup.org to buy the keys. We had to prove to TechSoup that we were an educational 501(c)(3) organization before they would allow us to buy anything. One of our members wanted me to obtain software for their personal computer. I declined saying that was not a legitimate use. Any volume license software we purchased could only be used by computers owned by the nonprofit.

You can only use the same MAK key to install the same software on more than one computer if you purchased multiple activations for the software. I.E., if you bought 10 activations then you could use the same MAK key to install the software on up to 10 computers. Microsoft starts you with a 50 activation limit to cover when the software has to be reinstalled later. Microsoft will if asked increase that limit.

I suppose that I could have have given away the MAK key to someone else to use for themselves testing the maximum activation limit. However, since I was a board member I had a duty not do something unethical like that.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS TUF Gaming A15 (2022)
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 6800H with Radeon 680M GPU (486MB RAM)
    Memory
    Micron DDR5-4800 (2400MHz) 16GB (2 x 8GB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA RTX 3060 Laptop (6GB RAM)
    Sound Card
    n/a
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6-inch
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 300Hz
    Hard Drives
    2 x Samsung 980 (1TB M.2 NVME SSD)
    PSU
    n/a
    Mouse
    Wireless Mouse M510
    Internet Speed
    1200Mbps/250Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom build
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
    Motherboard
    ASUS PRIME X370-PRO
    Memory
    G.SKILL Flare X 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4
    Graphics card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-RTX3060TI-08G-V2-GAMING (RTX 3060-Ti, 8GB RAM)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung S23A300B (23-in LED)
    Screen Resolution
    1080p 60Hz
    Hard Drives
    2TB XPG SX8200 Pro (M2. PCIe SSD) || 2TB Intel 660P (M2. PCIe SSD) ||
    PSU
    Corsair RM750x (750 watts)
    Case
    Cooler Master MasterCase 5
    Cooling
    Corsair H60 AIO water cooler
    Mouse
    Logitech K350 (wireless)
    Keyboard
    Logitech M510 (wireless)
    Internet Speed
    1200 Mbps down / 200 Mbps up
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge, Chrome
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes (Premium)
    Other Info
    ASUS Blu-ray Burner BW-16D1HT (SATA) || Western Digital Elements 12TB USB 3.0 external hard drive used with Acronis True Image backup software || HP OfficeJet Pro 6975 Printer/Scanner

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