My Microsoft Word has been 'deactivated'. What can I do?

[NowNow]

13 minutes ago, siftasam said:

Many thanks again everybody. I'll certainly look into all the options you suggest.

 

If I uninstall my Office Professional Plus 2019 and if I also change to Windows 11, will I lose any or all of the photos and document files I have? My most important ones are on Desktop and I have copied them to USB

 

You can choose to keep your data when upgrading to Windows 11. It's not just what you do, but the way that you do it...

[NanLaew]

18 hours ago, Encore said:

I have used the free version of WPS Office for many years without any problem

 

 

Earlier this year, I was using a Chinese client's workstation that had free WPS instead of MS Office. Mostly it did the business, but it did corrupt a couple of my macro-driven Excel workbooks inasmuch as they were unusable after being saved and then trying to access them via a licensed version of Office on my laptop. The macros and VBA coding stopped working, and the graphing was also screwed up.

Edited October 26 by NanLaew

[VBF]

20 hours ago, Celsius said:

 

The best way is to buy a "license" from shoppe for next to nothing.

 

Personally no Thai guy is touching my pron and bookmarks.

Couldn't agree more!!! Even without the items you mention, nobody  gets near the settings on my computers / devices except me....full stop!!!

 

One can buy a "licence" on eBay or Amazon, or search around the torrent sites for some active keys.  

 

EDIT

I see that some MORON posted a "sad" emoji.

Now you fool, what is sad about my comment - be brave and actually reply to it!

Edited October 26 by VBF

[shdmn]

Old habits die hard.  I ditched Office/Word/Excel/Outlook long ago.  Most people don't need to use them anymore.  Alternatives may work even better depending what you are doing. 

Edited October 26 by shdmn

[NowNow]

5 minutes ago, shdmn said:

Old habits die hard.  I ditched Office/Word/Excel/Outlook long ago.  Most people don't need to use them anymore.  Alternatives may work even better depending what you are doing. 

 

Perhaps you can give some examples for the novices here @NanLaew has already posted some of his.

[VBF]

5 minutes ago, NowNow said:

 

Perhaps you can give some examples for the novices here @NanLaew has already posted some of his.

Put the following into a search engine  e.g.  Google    office alternatives free

One response was https://www.techradar.com/news/best-microsoft-office-alternative

I would be inclined to trust "Techradar" as a knowledgeable site

[OJAS]

21 hours ago, steven100 said:

Don't care how or where he gets it from,  you just want it working. 

 

Provided that he doesn't unknowingly to the OP install counterfeit software, though. If he does then this might work OK for about 6 months, after which the OP could find himself back at square 1.

 

Can vouch for this happening to me a couple of times before I switched to the free version of WPS Office, which does the job just fine for me these days. 

 

[NowNow]

27 minutes ago, VBF said:

Put the following into a search engine  e.g.  Google    office alternatives free

One response was https://www.techradar.com/news/best-microsoft-office-alternative

I would be inclined to trust "Techradar" as a knowledgeable site

 

What on earth has that to do with my request to @shdmn? 😊

[NowNow]

12 minutes ago, OJAS said:

 

Provided that he doesn't unknowingly to the OP install counterfeit software, though. If he does then this might work OK for about 6 months, after which the OP could find himself back at square 1.

 

Can vouch for this happening to me a couple of times before I switched to the free version of WPS Office, which does the job just fine for me these days. 

 

 

It wasn't counterfeit. You just didn't know that you could just reactivate it.

[shdmn]

1 hour ago, NowNow said:

 

Perhaps you can give some examples for the novices here @NanLaew has already posted some of his.

You  need examples what word processors, spreadsheets, and email clients are used for? 🤔

[NowNow]

5 minutes ago, shdmn said:

You  need examples what word processors, spreadsheets, and email clients are used for? 🤔

 

No.

 

1 hour ago, NowNow said:

I ditched Office/Word/Excel/Outlook long ago.  Most people don't need to use them anymore.  Alternatives may work even better depending what you are doing.

 

[Pdavies99]

I'm a little surprised nobody uses "Free Libre Office" it works great and is fully compatible with MS Office.

[shdmn]

27 minutes ago, NowNow said:

I ditched Office/Word/Excel/Outlook long ago.  Most people don't need to use them anymore.  Alternatives may work even better depending what you are doing.

 

You need someone to tell you what your requirements are?

Edited October 26 by shdmn

[Lazybones]

7 hours ago, Hamus Yaigh said:

Whilst other Office software packages can open, edit and save MS Office documents the formatting might not always look the same. This is a disadvantage when working in a business environment or elsewhere when consistency is essential. Beside that additional tools such as macros and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) code are powerful tools in Microsoft Office, data analysis tools particularly in Excel, that allow users to automate tasks and customize their workflow. However, support for macros and VBA may be limited or nonexistent in some alternative suites, which could be a deal-breaker for power users who rely on these features.

Coupled with MS Access, which is included and very powerful, it is worth paying the money for the real deal. 

[lungbing]

4 hours ago, Pdavies99 said:

I'm a little surprised nobody uses "Free Libre Office" it works great and is fully compatible with MS Office.

I used to use that until I found the hyphenation rules for the Zulu language in their folder when I had installed English as my language.  Heaven only knows what else what there.

 

I now use SoftMaker  Free Office and it's great.

[Digitalbanana]

5 hours ago, Pdavies99 said:

I'm a little surprised nobody uses "Free Libre Office" it works great and is fully compatible with MS Office.

Perhaps because its not "fully" compatible as others have already alluded to on this thread.

[steven100]

18 hours ago, OJAS said:

 

Provided that he doesn't unknowingly to the OP install counterfeit software, though. If he does then this might work OK for about 6 months, after which the OP could find himself back at square 1.

 

Can vouch for this happening to me a couple of times before I switched to the free version of WPS Office, which does the job just fine for me these days. 

 

 

yes, I use WPS also.   It's free and works ok. 

[siftasam]

Now I have a messages from Adobe urging me to buy Adobe software to replace  the 'unlicensed App'.

[Henryford]

Use free LibreOffice, better than Word or Excel

[NowNow]

1 hour ago, siftasam said:

Now I have a messages from Adobe urging me to buy Adobe software to replace  the 'unlicensed App'.

 

Did you follow the guide to 'rearm' Office or are you just wasting our time here?

This isn't the place to come to fix your pirated software problems.

[billd766]

1 hour ago, Henryford said:

Use free LibreOffice, better than Word or Excel

I am slowly converting my files from MS to Libre Office which I used to use before my old pc died, The pc I use now came with MS already installed.

[Celsius]

Just watched on YouTube today HP deactivating printers full of ink because of expired subscription.

[billd766]

1 hour ago, Henryford said:

Use free LibreOffice, better than Word or Excel

I have just started with LibreOffice again, and I am trying to remember how to do it after a 4 or 5 year break.

[connda]

My Microsoft Word has been 'deactivated'. What can I do?

 

Learn to use Libre Office and never look back.

[connda]

42 minutes ago, Celsius said:

Just watched on YouTube today HP deactivating printers full of ink because of expired subscription.

Laser printers.  I bought one and never looked back.  I don't buy anything from HP anymore.  They price gouged their customers, including me, for years.  Not anymore.  If you need to purchase a subscription to run your hardware, don't buy that brand of hardware. 

[VBF]

On 10/26/2024 at 9:02 AM, NowNow said:

 

What on earth has that to do with my request to @shdmn? 😊

You asked for some examples for the novices - I posted  where to get a comparison of alternatives to MS Office and gave my opinion that the source I quoted with reviews of said alternatives was reliable.   That's all.

Edited October 27 by VBF

[NowNow]

On 10/26/2024 at 8:18 AM, shdmn said:

Old habits die hard.  I ditched Office/Word/Excel/Outlook long ago.  Most people don't need to use them anymore.  Alternatives may work even better depending what you are doing. 

 

17 minutes ago, VBF said:

You asked for some examples for the novices - I posted  where to get a comparison of alternatives to MS Office and gave my opinion that the source I quoted with reviews of said alternatives was reliable.   That's all.

 

Examples of alternatives that work better than Microsoft.

@shdmn was not able to come up with any scenarios of an alternative working better than Microsoft. Odd, since you would expect they had something specific in mind when making the statement.

[Pdavies99]

On 10/26/2024 at 3:29 PM, Digitalbanana said:

Perhaps because its not "fully" compatible as others have already alluded to on this thread.

Latest updates resolved any compatibility issues, I have not seen any issues at all.

[Digitalbanana]

1. File Format Compatibility

    LibreOffice can open and save in Microsoft formats (DOCX, XLSX), but sometimes complex formatting may not transfer perfectly. For example, heavily formatted DOCX files might display differently in LibreOffice Writer.
    For the most consistent results, save files in ODT (Writer) and ODS (Calc) if only using LibreOffice. However, if you need to exchange files with Microsoft Office users, continue using DOCX and XLSX, but test them for formatting.

2. Macros and Scripts

    LibreOffice supports macros, but VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) scripts from Excel or Word don’t always work in LibreOffice, especially if they're complex. LibreOffice uses a different macro language (LibreOffice Basic), so some rewriting may be necessary.
    For simpler macros, they might work with minor tweaks, but for advanced functionality, expect to do some rewriting.

3. Advanced Excel Features

    Pivot Tables: Basic pivot tables usually transfer fine, but complex pivot tables may lose certain functionalities or layouts in Calc.
    Conditional Formatting: Basic conditional formatting will work, but advanced conditions or more than 3 rules may have display issues or require adjustments.
    Data Validation: LibreOffice Calc supports data validation, but some complex validation rules in Excel may not be fully compatible.
    Dynamic Arrays: Excel’s new functions like FILTER, UNIQUE, and SORT aren’t fully supported in LibreOffice Calc, so those specific formulas may not work as expected.

4. Fonts and Formatting

    LibreOffice might not have some proprietary Microsoft fonts (like Calibri or Cambria), which could slightly change text flow or layout.
    Header/Footer Layouts: While basic layouts work well, complex header/footer designs can shift.
    Text Boxes and Shapes: Basic shapes and text boxes transfer, but positioning might shift. Embedded objects (like SmartArt or complex shapes) may not render perfectly.

5. Embedded Media and Links

    Images and Charts: Charts generally work, but complex charts may need minor reformatting.
    Linked Content: Embedded media (e.g., audio or video files) and linked data from external sources (e.g., an Excel file linked to a Word doc) may not work correctly without adjustments.

6. Collaborative Tools

    LibreOffice doesn’t currently support co-authoring, so if you often collaborate in real-time with others on Office Online, you may find this functionality missing.
 

[shdmn]

99

2 hours ago, Digitalbanana said:

1. File Format Compatibility

    LibreOffice can open and save in Microsoft formats (DOCX, XLSX), but sometimes complex formatting may not transfer perfectly. For example, heavily formatted DOCX files might display differently in LibreOffice Writer.
    For the most consistent results, save files in ODT (Writer) and ODS (Calc) if only using LibreOffice. However, if you need to exchange files with Microsoft Office users, continue using DOCX and XLSX, but test them for formatting.

2. Macros and Scripts

    LibreOffice supports macros, but VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) scripts from Excel or Word don’t always work in LibreOffice, especially if they're complex. LibreOffice uses a different macro language (LibreOffice Basic), so some rewriting may be necessary.
    For simpler macros, they might work with minor tweaks, but for advanced functionality, expect to do some rewriting.

3. Advanced Excel Features

    Pivot Tables: Basic pivot tables usually transfer fine, but complex pivot tables may lose certain functionalities or layouts in Calc.
    Conditional Formatting: Basic conditional formatting will work, but advanced conditions or more than 3 rules may have display issues or require adjustments.
    Data Validation: LibreOffice Calc supports data validation, but some complex validation rules in Excel may not be fully compatible.
    Dynamic Arrays: Excel’s new functions like FILTER, UNIQUE, and SORT aren’t fully supported in LibreOffice Calc, so those specific formulas may not work as expected.

4. Fonts and Formatting

    LibreOffice might not have some proprietary Microsoft fonts (like Calibri or Cambria), which could slightly change text flow or layout.
    Header/Footer Layouts: While basic layouts work well, complex header/footer designs can shift.
    Text Boxes and Shapes: Basic shapes and text boxes transfer, but positioning might shift. Embedded objects (like SmartArt or complex shapes) may not render perfectly.

5. Embedded Media and Links

    Images and Charts: Charts generally work, but complex charts may need minor reformatting.
    Linked Content: Embedded media (e.g., audio or video files) and linked data from external sources (e.g., an Excel file linked to a Word doc) may not work correctly without adjustments.

6. Collaborative Tools

    LibreOffice doesn’t currently support co-authoring, so if you often collaborate in real-time with others on Office Online, you may find this functionality missing.
 

Average users will probably never run into any limitations.  Google Docs/Sheets works pretty well too and keeps getting better.  I am a power user of Sheets and can do what I need to better with Sheets than I can with Excel using things like Apps Scripts.

Edited October 28 by shdmn