MS Office 2010 will no longer activate

roytom2

I have two licences for MS Office 2010 and it's only being used on one laptop. I'm perfectly happy with this version of office and don't feel the need to upgrade.
But it won't install on a new desktop pc on the basis that it has been used the maximum number of times under the licence - this is untrue. I thought I could use their telephone activation support but it no longer is available for my product.
Any suggestions?
TIA

km1500

maybe unactivating it on the other machine will allow activation on the new machine

Alternatively look for a 2007 version for peanuts on ebay

John_Gray

km1500 said:

Alternatively look for a 2007 version for peanuts on ebay

Or maybe a second 2010 version!

km1500

Yes that would also work, although 2007 doesn't require activation

[Deleted User]

Please don't use unsupported Office versions that are riddled with security vulnerabilities. If you value your data, privacy and financial security, don't use them.

Office 2016 and 2019 is supported until later this year so ok for the short term but not worth buying.

You can use Office online for free, and Libre Office for free and these are much better options if you don't want to spend a penny.

victor2

roytom2 said:

I have two licences for MS Office 2010 and it's only being used on one laptop. I'm perfectly happy with this version of office and don't feel the need to upgrade.
But it won't install on a new desktop pc on the basis that it has been used the maximum number of times under the licence - this is untrue. I thought I could use their telephone activation support but it no longer is available for my product.
Any suggestions?
TIA

Apparently it is still possible to activate Office 2010 by phone. See
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/-telephone-activation-is-no-longer-supported-for-your-product-error-when-activating-office-9b016cd2-0811-4cb3-b896-5a6a13177713

Grey_Critic

I use 2010 but also have the 2000 version which works fine.

km1500

[Deleted User] said:

Please don't use unsupported Office versions that are riddled with security vulnerabilities. If you value your data, privacy and financial security, don't use them.

Office 2016 and 2019 is supported until later this year so ok for the short term but not worth buying.

You can use Office online for free, and Libre Office for free and these are much better options if you don't want to spend a penny.

I have used 2007 for my Excel spreadsheets since - well 2007 - with no problems

Obviously I don't open unknown spreadsheets from the internet !

[Deleted User]

km1500 said:

[Deleted User] said:

Please don't use unsupported Office versions that are riddled with security vulnerabilities. If you value your data, privacy and financial security, don't use them.

Office 2016 and 2019 is supported until later this year so ok for the short term but not worth buying.

You can use Office online for free, and Libre Office for free and these are much better options if you don't want to spend a penny.

I have used 2007 for my Excel spreadsheets since - well 2007 - with no problems

Obviously I don't open unknown spreadsheets from the internet !

Unfortunately opening an unknown spreadsheet from the internet isn't the only attack vector for an insecure version of MS Office.

For example, it is entirely possible to interact with Office outside of a standard office file with a client-side script, whether that be a visual basic script embedded in an executable, or client-side JavaScript running in your browser from that misspelled hyperlink you unintentionally opened.

Using unsupported software is ok if you know exactly what the risks are, but from what I see on these forums, the people using out-of-date software have no clue about the technical risks.

Typically users of outdated software couldn't care less about patching vulnerabilities as was seen with CVE-2017-11882 affecting all Office versions from 2000 onwards. It has only been patched in 2007-2016 versions, any older ones are still vulnerable.

It was discovered in 2017 yet was still the most exploited route for installing malware in 2019:
https://threatpost.com/microsoft-arbitrary-code-execution-old-bug/145527/
https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/cybersecurity-advisories/aa20-133a

And still in 2020, it accounted for nearly 87% of all used exploits despite the patch being around for 3 years now:
https://know.netenrich.com/blog/cve-2017-11882-do-you-know-this-vulnerability/

In 2021 national security agents from UK, AU & USA are still issuing warnings to people who can't be bothered securing their software because it is in the top 30 most used exploits:
https://www.zdnet.com/article/get-patching-us-uk-and-australia-issue-joint-advisory-on-top-30-exploited-vulnerabilities/

And even in 2022 it was still being used - 5 years after Microsoft released a patch that clearly people didn't want to use:
https://www.securin.io/securins-threat-intelligence-august-08-2022-august-12-2022/

This wasn't just some theoretical exploit, it was actively used to deliver dozens of different types of ransomware and keyloggers etc.

But you as you said "no problems", just like my uncle that never locked the back door since 1950's, no problems. Well until the day there was a problem.