MS Office 2003 keyfinder?

[nineball9]

My apartment building has several PC's available for general use. One of them has MS Office 2003 Pro installed on it and it's legit - I went through the numerous Microsoft Validation routines to check, and the suite is valid. However, no one seems to know who installed Office on the PC nor where the install disc is. (They are old IBM ThinkCentre systems!)

The PC is full of clutter and I'd like to restore it to it's factory installation, but doing so will obviously delete MS Office.

I personally own a retail copy of MS Office 2003 Pro, installed on my own system, and I'm certainly not going to install it on the building's public computer. But I was wondering if it's possible to use the original install key with my copy of Office to reinstall it.

My questions are:
1) Is there a way to find the original install key for Office 2003 Pro on the building's PC?

2) If I can find the original key, can I use it to install my copy of Office 2003 (without making a duplicate install of my personal copy)?

3) Is this legit? If not, I'll wait until more malware accumulates and then just restore the system, deleting Office in the process.

UPDATE:
Using Magic Jelly Bean's software, I pulled the keys off the computer with MS office on it. To ensure the product was reliable, I checked the reported Windows XP Pro key with the COA on the side of machine and they were the same. After reverting the machine to its factory install (plus MS updates), I tried installing my copy of Office on the machine using the key Magic Jelly Bean found. Didn't work: I got the "Use the key that came with the box..." invalid key message. I tried this several times and even had a friend read back the key I had typed to ensure it was correct. So I was unable to install Office.

Poking around the web later, I learned how to change the key of an existing Office install (delete ProductID, DigitalID in the registry and launch one of the suite products which will then prompt for a valid key). I tried this today by installing my Office copy with its key and then tried to change the key to the one Magic Jelly Bean found. I didn't really expect this to work and unfortunately, it didn't.

I had checked Word and Excel which both reported "Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003". Magic Jelly Bean said the same, and it's exactly what I have. I purchased my retail copy of Office new from Amazon (IIRC) so it's not a pirated, black market or OEM copy.

So I don't know what happened. Magic Jelly Bean also pulled the key for Visio Professional which I didn't even know was installed. Perhaps the machine had a student copy or some other packaging of Office that MS created, but I'm guessing.
Anyway, my thanks to all who helped.

 

[mechBgon]

I know it doesn't answer your question, but you can make the systems extremely resistant to malware if you want. This routine is how I normally do that. Using Windows SteadyState (free download from Microsoft.com) is another option to look into.

If the system is XP Pro or XP MCE, then by all means add the Software Restriction Policy, it's awesome

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

Keyfinder

http://magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/

Yes you can use that CD key for your own CD.

 

[nineball9]

Thanks Mech. I have intentionally stayed away from managing these systems as most of the residents in the building are not computer literate and I don't want to be the only tech support person, though I suppose I am anyway. 5 PC's, locked up in a room with an alarm system, and I don't have the keys or the alarm code (don't really want them). No one "manages" the systems or even knows how to do so, so I help out on occasion.

I'm an old sysprog and know Windows and Intel (x86) hardware pretty well (not at your level though) and I thought about implementing group policies (the systems are running XP Pro) as well as some other items, including many of those in your list I have not already done. (Good guide Mech; I've read it before and just reread some of it, though I've developed my own management & security routines.) I'm the type who buys and reads a 1000-page book with each new OS or Office version I get. I now own a lot of books; the first PC I owned ran DOS 4.01. As a tech support guru working for a Fortune 500 company, I had access to many personal computers - the original IBM PC and subsequent XT's, AT's etc, Trash 80's (!), various Apples (had a MAC II, a PC or two and two 3270 clones in my office all at the same time), various office systems and mainframes. That's history; my home computers are tweaked and clean.

To give you an idea what I'm dealing with: the person who until last month controlled access to the computer room has never owned a computer. He learned how to use Yahoo from his now 7-year old nephew, and made residents sign up a day in advance to gain access to the room from about 10 am to 3 pm only. Last week I showed him how to change his home page on IE. Also last week, he informed me that one of the PC's was broken because he "couldn't get to Yahoo" (his words). I ripped his "out of order" sign off the monitor, turned on the PC and saw a "LAN cable is disconnected..." balloon in the systray. Turning the PC around, I discovered someone had disconnected the Ethernet cable. I plugged the cable back in, restoring internet access. He had no idea what I was doing; 4 wires - mouse, keyboard, ethernet and power but he doesn't know what any of them do. Besides Yahoo, the only other thing he knows is Notepad which he uses to write memos for the building's bulletin boards. He won't try MS Word which is too bad as he's a terrible speller and Notepad does not have a spell checker.

The person who now controls access to the room has her own PC; It's a Gateway P2 running Windows 98se! I know this because I rebuilt the system for her using a drive and other parts scavenged from a defunct IBM P2, a copy of Win98, Win98se upgrade, and the drivers I downloaded from Gateway's site. She does not have internet access; she uses it to play solitaire, play some old board games, and to make calendars for the residents. Otherwise, she is clueless about computers.

The systems had NAV 2004 which expired in 2005 and no one will pay to for antivirus updates. I removed NAV and installed AVG-free on them last week - weak, but free and not 3 years out of date. About 3 years ago, I visited the room, curious to see what condition the computers were in. Aghast, I discovered everyone had ignored the "updates are ready to install" balloon, so I installed several years worth of updates including Windows XP SP2. Last week, I discovered much the same and installed many updates including SP3 and IE7, and turned on the automatic install option of Automatic Updates.

I'm ranting. Sorry! Some day I may take steps to secure these PC's if I can get in to the room, but for now, I just focusing on the one PC with MS Office on it.

 

[nineball9]

Originally posted by: ChAoTiCpInOy
Keyfinder

http://magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/

Yes you can use that CD key for your own CD.

Thanks, um, ChAo!
From previous AT posts, I knew there was a freeware product which could retrieve the various Windows OS keys, but have never used it and forgot its name. Your link juggled my memory, but I didn't know it worked for MS Office as well.

I'll try it tomorrow, er, later today; playing night owl tonight. Thanks again.

 

[mechBgon]

Those computers sound scary! :Q