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Microsoft Excel Product Activation Failed: Learn How to Restore All Features of Office



How to fix product activation failed error in Microsoft Office 2019, 2016, etc.? This post provides some possible solutions. A professional free data recovery program from MiniTool is also provided to help you recover deleted or lost Office files like Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint files, etc.




Microsoft Excel Product Activation Failed




If the time and date on your computer are not correct, then you may encounter the Microsoft Office product activation failed issue. Follow the steps below to make sure the time and date of your computer are correct.


Since Microsoft has moved from a product key model to a license model, the corresponding errors now mention the absence of a working license. Rather than talking about product activation, users now get these types of messages instead:


This is the most direct cause of Microsoft product activation failed notifications, affecting users who have multiple Microsoft user accounts, especially if they signed into both versions on their PC.


Sometimes, the Microsoft Office app might be unable to properly run its activation verifier which can prevent the product activation from being confirmed. Therefore, in this solution, we have provided you with ways in which we can run this manually. For that:


As unfortunate as that may be, you will usually get an activation failed error. The best solution, in this case, is to repair the office files, update your Microsoft Office application, or completely reinstall the program if nothing works. More on this in the next section.


After you receive the phone number, call the number, and talk to a customer service representative. After confirming your subscription, the representative will provide you with the 25-character product activation key.


While you are at it, also check out how to enable auto-update in PowerPoint. This will ensure that your Microsoft PowerPoint is always up-to-date and you eliminate this one reason from the activation failed issue.


If your computer has been infected with a virus recently and is the main reason for the product activation failure error, then you want to make sure that you carry out a complete uninstallation of Microsoft Office from your computer!


First of all, in this example, you see that Microsoft contacts multiple websites during the activation process. If all would have gone well, the HTTP return codes should have been 200 (this is the standard response for successful HTTP requests).In this case, Fiddler detected multiple HTTP 407 results. The return code 407 means Proxy Authentication Required. In short, the activation failed because the required websites could not be reached due to missing proxy access rights. For the full list of HTTP status codes see the article List of HTTP status codes on Wikipedia.


For me, no steps were helpful but I had to recreate the user system logon profile and then was able to sign in to office applications to activate the Office app. After re-creating system logon profile, the user was able to sign in to the excel file and was able to open it without issue. Before that user was getting Error page and was unable to activate the product.


You can find tools on the web that allow you to convert a retail edition to a volume edition. The most prominent one is probably the Microsoft Toolkit. Contrary to its name, this toolset is NOT from Microsoft. I always advise against using such tools. Even if they work (and some do), you never know what else they are doing to your computers. Extending your activation period, or even using Office for an unlimited time without paying for it, is not worth the risk. You not only commit a theft but you also risk doing your company severe harm. In the most harmless case, the hacking tool might just steal your product key, or your machines might end up in a botnet; in the worst case, you become the victim of a ransom attack.


This technology is also used in Microsoft Office products during activation. To activate volume-licensed versions of Office, including Project and Visio, one must have a Key Management Service (KMS) host computer. One can configure a Windows Server computer to be a KMS host computer[4] by installing the Volume Activation Services role and then running the Volume Activation Tools wizard.


When installing a retail copy of Windows or Office, the user is asked to input a unique product key supplied on a certificate of authenticity included with the program, which is later verified during activation.[1] Immediate activation is not required following installation, but the program must be activated within a specific period of time in order to continue to function properly. Throughout this grace period, the user will be periodically reminded to activate the program, with warnings becoming more frequent over time.[5]


Certain versions of Windows and Office are available under a volume license, where a single product key is used for multiple installations. Programs purchased under this license must still be activated, with the exception of Windows XP and all versions of Office released prior to Office 2010.[6][7][8][9] Businesses using this licensing system have the option of using Microsoft's activation servers or creating and managing their own.[10]


If Windows is pre-installed on a computer by an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), the operating system is automatically activated without the need for interaction from the user.[11] In this case, the copy of Windows installed does not use the product key listed on the certificate of authenticity, but rather a master product key issued to OEMs called a System Locked Pre-installation (SLP) key. On each boot, Windows confirms the presence of specific information stored in the BIOS by the manufacturer, ensuring the activation only remains valid on that computer, even if the product key is used on another machine.[6]


Certain retail copies of Windows and Office sold in certain countries classified as emerging markets have geographical activation restrictions, which only allow the user to activate the product within the indicated region.[28]


The following tables illustrate the usage of product activation throughout Microsoft software, specifying whether the programs can be equipped with retail or volume licensing activation as well as geographical activation restrictions.


While Microsoft says that product activation benefits consumers by allowing Microsoft to produce higher quality software,[1] it has nevertheless received much criticism regarding its design and implementation, effectiveness at stopping piracy and respect of privacy rights. For instance, during the development of Windows XP, beta testers strongly criticized the introduction of product activation, particularly because a change in computer hardware required re-activation.[33] Ken Fischer at Ars Technica questioned whether activation would ultimately be effective in stopping piracy, stating that while casual computer users would be affected, he would "be a fool to think that someone out there won't find a way to break this whole thing."[34] Dave Wilson, a technology columnist at the Los Angeles Times, describes activation as "just another example of a rapacious monopolist abusing computer users who are helpless to do anything about it." He too believed that the system would not have "any significant effect on professional pirates."[35] Fred Langa at InformationWeek, with reference to the transmission of hardware information during activation, stated that "many users are incensed at this level of monitoring, intrusion, and control by Microsoft."[2] Finally, Dr. Cyrus Peikari and Seth Fogie, security consultants, considered product activation to be "hostile both to privacy and to human dignity."[36]


Others defend Microsoft's use of product activation. The Harrison Group, a market research firm, conducted a study sponsored by Microsoft in 2011 illustrating that computers running activated versions of Windows software were on average 50% faster than their pirated counterparts. The group concluded by stating that users of genuine Microsoft products ultimately receive superior performance while counterfeit users are susceptible to security issues and lost productivity.[37] Fully Licensed GmbH, a developer of digital rights management technology, while criticizing Microsoft for being vague about the nature of information sent from a given computer during activation, nevertheless concluded that activation is not particularly intrusive and does not significantly violate privacy.[38]


Microsoft Product Activation has also been criticized on multiple occasions for violating patent law. In 2006, Microsoft was required to pay $142 million to z4 Technologies for infringing on a product activation patent,[39] while in 2009 Microsoft was ordered to pay $388 million to Uniloc for patent infringement in product activation in Windows XP, Office XP and Windows Server 2003.[40]


Microsoft Product Activation has been cracked or circumvented on numerous occasions since it was introduced in 2001. In 2001, a UK security company called Bit Arts successfully managed to bypass product activation on Windows XP,[41] while in 2003, volume license keys for Windows XP were leaked to the public, allowing users who had not purchased a volume license to the operating system to bypass activation.[42] In 2009, several security flaws in Windows 7 were used by hackers to circumvent activation.[3][43]


Since the introduction of Windows Vista, most attempts at circumvention of product activation have focused on using leaked SLP product keys and BIOS information used by OEMs to preactivate Windows. In 2007, a circumvention measure was developed for Windows Vista by warez-group Paradox that simulates the BIOS, allowing leaked SLP information to be fed to the operating system, bypassing activation.[44] In 2009, SLP product keys and certificate information for Windows 7 were leaked to the public, allowing the BIOS to be reconfigured to bypass activation.[45] 2ff7e9595c


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