How to remove and replace a Microsoft Office package serial

On Windows machines, registry corruption could necessitate that you remove and reinstall a Microsoft Office package serial number.

The instructions below explain how to do this, but involve modifying the Windows Registry. If done incorrectly you could end up with a corrupt registry, so making a backup of the registry before you follow the instructions below is strongly recommended.

Please note that the instructions below are intended to be used on Microsoft Windows 7 Professional installations.

1. Close all Microsoft Office Applications.
    
2. Click on the Start button and move to the search programs and files.
    
3. Type “regedit” and press Enter.
    
4. This puts you in registry editor, Locate the following subkey:

    
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE  >> Software >> Microsoft >> Office >> 12.0 >> Registration You will find another subkey insde:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftOffice12.0Registration

    {30120000-0011-0000-0000-0000000FF1CE}

5. Under the subkey there are Globall Unique Identifiers (GUID) that contain a combination of alphanumeric characters. Each GUID is specific to a program that is installed on your PC. click to open each GUID subkey to view and identify the Microsoft Office product.
    
6. After you find the GUID subkey that contains your Microsoft Office product. Delete the registry entries by right clicking on the registry entry and clicking Delete.
    
7. Exit Registry Editor.
    
8. Open a Microsoft Office application such as Word or Outlook. Office 2007 will prompt you to enter a new character product key.
    
9. Type in the product key and then click Continue.