I have office 97 but cant get the Key code to work since it is 4 numbers a dash - then 7 numbers any idea who to call?

You don't. MS stopped providing ANY support for Office 97 several years ago.  This is the only place you will get any support at all for 97.

That is entirely the wrong format for a product key, MS always writes it a 5 groups of 5 char separated by dashes, so I suspect you are looking in the wrong location for the product key.

If you still have a computer that the program has been installed and activated on, then you can use one of these programs to extract the key from the computer.

Tools to Extract Product Key

http://www.7tutorials.com/how-recover-your-lost-windows-7-or-windows-8-product-key

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http://pcsupport.about.com/od/productkeysactivation/tp/topkeyfinder.htm 2015 10 01 - Review 22 Free Tools

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You can use any of the following tools to extract the Product Key from you computer. These tools report on many installed programs on your computer, not just Office.

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PS: you should keep a copy (printed and/or file copies on external storage devices) of the report(s) generated by these tools so you have all of your product keys / registration numbers available for future re-installs

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FYI: I (Rohn) have not tested these tools in Windows 8 (just haven’t had an excuse to make/waste the time), but I don’t expect any problem. The underlying mechanics of Windows 8 are essentially the same as Windows 7 if you ignore the Metro User Interface. Think of metro as “lipstick on a pig”. The pig is not changed by adding a little paint on the surface.

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Normally you have several resources to find your Retail Product Key.

O  Your original package or purchase confirmation e-mail

o  Online download account

o  You can extract the Product Key from the machine itself

o  Image copy backups of system with Office installed

o  Activation backup utilities From what I’ve read, MS uses a file called TOKENS.DAT to store encrypted product activation keys:

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\OfficeSoftwareProtectionPlatform*Tokens.DAT*

C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\NetworkService\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\SoftwareLicensing*Tokens.data*

C:\Windows.Old\ProgramData\Microsoft\OfficeSoftwareProtectionPlatform*Tokens.DAT* (if you did an in-place Windows Upgrade)

NOTE: Do not expect the Windows.OLD folder to be there until you delete it. Many people have complained that windows 8 and 8.1 automatically delete it WITHOUT WARNING  http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-files/windows-8-has-deleted-my-windowsoldprogramfiles/dbdf75c0-09d9-4992-b8eb-d9fac3efe9b8?page=2

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After you extract the Product Key, make sure to write it down and keep it in a safe place. Burning a copy of the installation file to a CD would also be a good idea if you don’t have the installation disk.

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NOTE: OEM (factory install and activated) licenses use a different key than the one reported.  Only the factory can use the PK from the original factory activation. You would have been provided with a separate piece of paper with a Product key for reactivation.

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http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product\_cd\_key\_viewer.html  Nirsoft ProduKey V1.45- Office 2003 OK, 2007, 2010, Win Vista)

V1.62 Win 98 to Win 8.  Office 2003-2010

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ProduKey may be able to extract product key information from a file saved externally. This is useful if you’re trying to get the key details from the backup of a now defunct machine. Try the /Regfile option.

<snip>

After installing on my system, I ran the program à AS ADMINISTRATOR ß and then clicked on File à Select Source. Once in this menu it may appear a little overwhelming, don’t worry it’s not that complicated and your not going to break anything else. Select the circle next to “Load the product keys from external Software Registry hive”. Now from here you may have to browse to a slightly different location depending on where your windows.old folder is located, but you want to basically browse to the following and open this file:

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C:\Windows.old\Windows\System32\config\RegBack\SOFTWARE

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After opening this file select ok; you may have to wait a few minutes for it to load the hive and give you your keys, but if they’re there you should see them and be able to fresh install your MS Office.

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Please note that this did work for my Office 2007, it also gave me my Vista Home & Personal Key, and Internet Explorer... lol! I hope this helps someone else too! And remember backup before you do any upgrading/downgrading/or destruction to you PC.

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</snip>

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Belarchttp://www.belarc.com/free\_download.html 

• not only does Belarcextract product keys, it reports on a WHOLE BUNCH of other stuff you want to know. Printing the report, or saving it is probably a good idea.

Win 95-Win8,  V8.4

NOTE: I tested version 8.4 on Windows 8.0. It reported my Office 2003 2007 2010 product keys correctly. BUT for Office 2013 Pro Plus (local install) it did NOT report the key! Gosh Darn!  It reported: 00215-95000-26121-AA381 (Key: ends with G8YGX)^f,g^  (the “ends with” is correct)

Superscripts f and g say:

f. The full product key is not stored on this computer. However, the characters shown uniquely identify your product key.

g. You can have Windows save the full product key using the procedure at http://www.belarc.com/msproductkeys.html.

NOTE: The process described in the link in “g” is good for Office 365, and MAYBE (I can’t confirm) online purchases of Office 2013. It does NOT work for Office 2013 Pro Plus! (which I have <grin>)

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License Crawler  http://www.technibble.com/**license-crawler**-find-product-keys-in-the-registry/  98 (Office 2003, 2007 , 2010 , Win Vista)

I tested V1.37.463 on Win 8.0 it reported Office 2010 correctly, did not report 2007 or 2003. 

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The “serial number” aka Product Key reported for Office 2013 Pro Plus (local install) did NOT agree with my documentation of key used!

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SterJo Software Key Finder. http://www.sterjosoft.com/list/ - Confirmed to work on XP through Win8, Office XP/2002 through 2010

Win XP to Win 8, Office XP to 2010.

I tested V 1.7 on Windows 8.0. It reported my Office 2003 2007 2010 product keys correctly.

The “serial number” aka Product Key reported for Office 2013 Pro Plus (local install) did NOT agree with my documentation of key used!

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Abelssoft MyKeyFinder- http://www.abelssoft.net/mykeyfinder.php -

I tested MyKeyFinder 2014 Free on Windows 8.0. It reported my Office 2003 2007 2010 product keys correctly.

The “serial number” aka Product Key reported for Office 2013 Pro Plus (local install) did NOT agree with my documentation of key used!

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Sorry, I have not had opportunity (aka need) to test Win8 and Office 2013 on these various tools:

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Magical Jelly Bean http://www.**magicaljellybean**.com/  is free, supports 300+ programs V 2.0.8- Office 2003 OK, 2007 OK, 2010 na, Win Vista Wrong). They also have a paid Recovery Keys, support 4500+ programs

V 2.0.9.8

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http://sourceforge.net/projects/keyfinder / - Enchanted Keyfinder Beta Portable- Win (9X, ME, NT/2K/XP, Vista, Win7), MS Office (97, XP, 2003, 2007, 2010), Recover key for 484 other software and counting

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http://www.**winkeyfinder**.com/download.php  (Office 2003 , 2007 , 2010 , Win Vista )

V 1.73 final Win 98 to Win 7 (and more?) 32bit, Win XP to Win 7 64bit Office 2000 to 2010 32&64-bit

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http://www.recoverlostpassword.com/products/productkeyrecovery.html (trial)  Product Key Recovery 2007 2010 2013

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NSAuditor Product Key Explorer http://www.nsauditor.com/product_key_finder.html  Win XP to Win 8.1, Office 2003 to 2013

V3.6.3 Must buy to run. Free trial only shows partial key

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PS:

I have to say this, and I assume you have heard it before. 

It is not a "safe computing" practice to continue to use a program as out of date as Office 97 on a computer connected to the internet.

The security "holes" in it are so well known that a computer running Office 97 is considered "low hanging fruit". It can be attacked by any idiot with a computer, so called "script kiddies" (the lowest level of hacker) who only know enough to download prepared "attack scripts" and run them.

Sorry, I forgot you are using Office 97.

I don't know/remember what product key format they used back then. I was assuming it was the same one, but it could be something else.  On the newer versions, 2003-2010 the product key has been on an orange tag.

Well, run one of the key extractors and see what they say.

Thanks I have this all printed out and will give it a try. On the back of the plastic CD case for Office 97 it says "Don't lose this number! you must use it evey time you install this software.  Then taped above it is a label that says CD KEY: 8078-XXXXXXX (X are numbers)  a second tag says 269-XXX-XXX.  one tag is orange the other is white. I was hoping this was the code I would use, but the number sequence isnt acceptable. Will give your instructions a go. I do have this on an old computer windows 95 and on an ancient but newer one too.  I only need it on this computer to open emails with files. I have no intention of saving them so hopefully will be safe. Other computers are not hooked up to the internet.