In this article

• How to activate your trial

• How to buy this product now

• Converting your trial to perpetual use

How to activate your trial

In order to start your trial period, you must activate the trial software. An Internet connection is required to activate your trial.

The trial works for a limited time, beginning when you activate the trial. During the activation process you'll be notified when the trial will expire. The trial period begins after you activate. You can launch the application for a total of 25 times before having to enter the Product Key and Activating the product.

The process for activating your trial software begins automatically when you open any 2007 Microsoft Office system product for the first time.

Follow these steps to activate the trial:

Step 1: Trial Product

Enter the 25-character Trial Product Key in the Setup dialog box. Then click Continue. The End User License Agreement will appear.

• If you download a trial, the Trial Product Key is in the e-mail that was sent to you after you registered for the download.
• If you receive a trial with a new PC, the Trial Product Key will either be provided with a new PC on a marketing card or generated from the trial icon.
• If you received an Evaluation CD kit, the Trial Product Key is inside the CD wallet.

Step 2: Microsoft Software License Terms (MSLT)

You must accept the terms of the Microsoft Software License Terms (MSLT) to use the trial. To accept it, select "I accept the terms in the License Agreement." Then, click Continue, and the Activation Wizard will open.

Step 3: Activation Wizard

In the Activation Wizard, Select "I want to activate the software over the Internet" and click Next. The wizard will lead you through the activation process. When this process is complete, you will receive a notice that activation has been successful. The notice will indicate the date when the trial will expire.

 Note   If the activation process is cancelled at any time by clicking cancel or by closing the screen, or if activation is interrupted for any other reason, you will still have the opportunity to go through the activation process until you have successfully activated the trial software.

How to buy this product now

You can convert from the trial software to a full-version either before or after your trial period ends.

Before the trial period ends:

You will start receiving expiration reminder messages indicating the date when the trial will expire. At this point, you can convert to the full product in two ways:

1. In any of the expiration reminder messages, click Convert, and then follow the steps in the conversion process, below.
2. At any time during the trial period (or even after the trial has expired), you can open any of the Microsoft Office System products, and in the Help menu, click "Activate your software."

After the trial period expires:

The software goes into reduced functionality mode. Some of the limitations of reduced functionality mode include the following:

• You can not create any new files.
• You can view existing files, but you can not modify them.
• You can print files, but you can not save them.

Converting your trial to perpetual use

Follow these steps to convert your Microsoft Office System trial product to perpetual use with no uninstall or reinstall necessary.

Step 1: Get perpetual product key and start conversion process

Obtain the Microsoft Office System product at any retailer or online to get a perpetual product key. After you have obtained your perpetual product you have two options to start the conversion process:

1. In any of the Microsoft Office trial expiration reminder messages, click Convert.
2. For Access, Excel, PowerPoint, or Word   click the Microsoft Office Button, click "Program Name" Options, click Resources, and click Activate.
   
   For InfoPath, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher, Project, or Visio   click the Help menu, click Activate Product, and follow the instructions in the Activation Wizard.

 Note   To avoid uninstalling the trial if you obtain the full product version at retail, the full product version should be the same version and language as the trial software. For example, if the trial software is 2007 Microsoft Office Home and Student English, the full product version should be 2007 Microsoft Office Home and Student English as well. If the full product version is a different language version, you will have to uninstall the trial and manually install the full product version.

Step 2: Convert your trial through set-up wizard

In the Setup dialog box, click Enter Product Key if you have purchased a perpetual product key from a retailer or click Buy Online Key if you do not have a perpetual product key and would like to purchase it online.

 Note   When converting to a full product, you are encouraged to compare prices between our authorized resellers both through retail and online. Prices may vary. If you choose to obtain the product online, you will be routed to the Microsoft Web site and the Microsoft eCommerce vendor to obtain a perpetual product key. You will then be returned to Office Setup.

Step 3: Enter the product key

Enter the product key shown on the packaging of the perpetual product obtained at retail, or the product key that you obtained online. Click Continue.

Step 4: Accept Microsoft Software License Terms to install

You will then see the Microsoft Software License Terms (MSLT). Accept this agreement to use the software by selecting "I accept the terms in the License Agreement" and click Next.

After you accept the MSLT, an alert window will open saying that your product is being updated. Another message will open once the software has been set up successfully.

After launching the full version for the first time:

You will be prompted to activate it. Unlike the trial activation, during activation of the full version, you will have the option to activate the software either over the Internet or by telephone. The default option is to activate the software over the Internet. Once that is done, the trial is converted to perpetual use with no uninstall or reinstall necessary.

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