Hey everyone! I've recently joined a small company for my first job and ran into a bit of a pickle with their Microsoft Office licenses. They're using Microsoft Office Home and Business 2016 (Retail). Here's the situation: they originally purchased physical copies (with a CD and license key card), but now the CDs and license key cards are missing. They didn't set up any Microsoft Accounts for activation, so the software was likely activated offline. I suggested they consider switching to Microsoft 365 Business Standard for better management, but they weren't interested. The previous IT provider they hired was supposed to help recover their licenses but didn't leave any documentation or give them any license keys. Plus, that provider is unreachable now. My questions are: 1. Is there any way to recover those license keys from the current Office installations? 2. Does the recovery fee of about $200 sound right, or do you think they got scammed? 3. What should I do next if we can't recover the keys? I really want to make sure we're doing everything right and not risking access or wasting money.
2 Answers
Honestly, at this point, it might be better to just switch to Microsoft 365. Office 2016 support is ending soon, and running unsupported software can leave you vulnerable. I'd bring this up to management, especially if there could be compliance issues in your industry.
The fee for recovery sounds a bit fishy to me. If they didn’t get any keys or documentation, that just seems off. It may be a good idea to get a new license instead of trying to track down what they paid for before.
Right? Sounds like they got taken for a ride there. Time for a fresh start!
Totally! It’s hard to justify sticking with something that’s about to be obsolete. Better safe than sorry, right?