How do I reactivate Microsoft Office?

Q

I recently replaced my Windows 7’s hard drive with a solid-state drive ( SSD). All appeared to go well and Windows and a few applications were working as expected, and I later did the upgrade to Windows 10. However, when I now try to launch my Office 2010 programs I’m told I’ve changed the hardware, so I must reactivate Office — but this fails. I bought a licence to run it on three PCS. The reactivation failed because Microsoft reported that the licence had already been activated three times, which is correct because it has also been installed on my spare PC and laptop. Is there any way I can persuade Microsoft Office that it is still running on the same PC? Would reverting to the old hard drive work, or would Office think it is now on yet another PC? John Cowley

A

There’s no need to revert to your old hard drive, but to sort this out you will need to resort to good old-fashioned human interaction — meaning you’ll need to call Microsoft and explain the situation. Assuming you can convince the company that you’re telling the truth, it’ll release one of the licences associated with your Office product key, and you’ll then be able to activate the software.

To do this, first launch any Office application, click the File tab, followed by Help, then Activate Product Key. In the Activation Wizard box, select the ‘I want to activate the software by telephone’ radio button, then click Next (see screenshot). Now select your country and then dial the displayed number. For the UK this will be the freephone number 0800 0 188 354. Now just work your way through the voice menu system to reach a human, and then explain your plight.