How can I uninstall Office 2007 and keep the license?

I have been reading threads on how to move 2007 to another computer

all over this site, but not of them seem to explain what is going on.

Alas many of the best threads have been closed.

Tony writes that we may need to "Explain the situation" Elsewhere someone

called Dan says that customers are "given the benefit of the doubt"

I don't want to be given "the benefit of the doubt." I want to deactivate.

If there is no deactivation, then what happens if I am a liar and

I phone up Microsoft and say "I am installing on another computer

because I uninsulated from one my other computers," when in fact I have

not uninstalled?

That should not concern me since I am not that

liar, but I am keen to differentiate myself from that liar. I want to

know how to uninstall and let Microsoft know that I have uninstalled

*securely* not simply by saying, "Oh yeah, and by the way, I have

uninstalled, honest."

Surely there must be something more going on, some way of

Microsoft knowing whether I have uninstalled or not. If that were not

the case many dishonest people would be installing into many computers.

(BTW Microsoft or perhaps some MS administrators have to my mind

an unfortunately policy of not continuing "old" threads,

even though these threads contain much of the information relevant to

the topic, so the same, or similar information gets spread out all over the

place causing much frustration. Perhaps this may be because the administrators

want to retain their power as advisor, and keep receiving gratitude for this

advice, rather be superseded by aggregates of historical information.

I might feel the same way, but having had to search through a lot of different

threads, many closed, I am posting here to this "old" thread because I

believe it would be immoral to post another thread, and thereby cause

further decentralisation of information forcing others to go through the

same painful process of reading a lot of different threads, as I just have. )

Rohn007

I see. Thank you very much.

So basically they let anyone re-install, but they will catch the liars who haven't unistalled when Office on one of the old machines phones home.

Okay, I will just uninstall then.

I see that office 2013 is linked to an account where I can see what software I have installed like with other software providers.

Thanks again,

Tim

"What happens to liars"?

Office is periodically "reactivated".  The activation center triggers a check of the status of activations recorded at the activation center. If it finds "too many" active at the same time they can simply "deactivate" the product key and none of your installations will work. This is what happens when MS learns that product keys from a volume license have been illegally bootlegged/resold to people on the internet. All of the keys on the license are deactivated.

MS did not build a use accessible "deactivation" process in the local installation licenses 2013 and earlier.  I am guessing that is because they assumed that user deactivation would not be used very frequently. They finally have included used controlled deactivation for Office 365 (2013) only. 

Here are some links about activation that may provide more specific information you are looking for:

General info about Activate 365 Home Premium / 2013 local install / Volume Licenses

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/support/activate-office-2013-programs-HA102819770.aspx

https://officesetup.getmicrosoftkey.com/?origin=HA103858759 - 365 Home user activation page

Lots of Good detailed info about 2010 Activation

http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads/21062-New-Office-2010-Repository 

Transfer an Installation, Phone Activate

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/wiki/officeversion_other-office_install/copy-move-or-transfer-an-office-installation-to/956244a0-385d-4e21-a21e-87b4179111d1?tm=1388767837238

Uninstall Office 2010 - http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel-help/repair-or-remove-office-2010-HA010357402.aspx?CTT=1

Description of Microsoft Product Activation

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/293151   Office 2002-2007

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302806/ OFFICE 2002-2007, WIN XP-VISTA

MS Product Activation FAQ

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/cu\_sc\_prodact\_master

**What is Microsoft Product Activation (MPA)?**Learn how product activation works and which Microsoft products include MPA.

**Contact a Microsoft Product Activation Center**Use this article to learn how to obtain the appropriate telephone number by running the Product Activation Wizard.

**Understanding Microsoft Product Activation**Learn how product activation works and when to activate a product. (Win Vista, Win XP, Office 2007, 2003, 2002)

**Learn how to identify, locate, or replace a Product Key**Help with finding or replacing your Product Key required for Product Activation.

**Learn how to change or update your Product Key**Steps to help you use the Change Product Key feature.

**Locate your Product Key sticker and learn its importance.******See examples of Certificate of Authority (COA) labels.

**What is the difference between Product Activation and Product Registration?**You must activate your Microsoft product but you are not required to register your product, learn more about the differences.

So you’re not personally identifying me, but you are still requiring information about the make and model of my PC.

To ensure the end user’s privacy, Microsoft uses a one-way mathematical algorithm to create the hardware hash used by Product Activation to create the Installation ID. Once created, the hash information cannot be calculated back to its original values. Hardware information is sent through the algorithm in the software on the PC-not at Microsoft-to create the hash. The raw hardware information is not known or sent to Microsoft. Ensuring end user privacy is a No. 1 design goal for Microsoft with Product Activation.

Win7 Activation Technologies: an unauthorized inside look

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/windows-activation-technologies-an-unauthorized-inside-look/1803?tag=rbxccnbzd1

-     activation is re-run every 90 days

-     uses HTTPS to connect to MS

According to Microsoft’s privacy policy, no personally identifiable information is exchanged and the IP address of the uploading machine is not associated with the validation upload and is discarded within 24 hours after validation completes. Microsoft’s privacy policy, which was last updated in February 2010, specifically lists the following items of information that are collected as part of the validation activity and may be included in the ID hashes shown in the screenshot above:

• Computer make and model
• Version information for the operating system and software
• Region and language settings
• A unique number assigned to your computer by the tools (Globally Unique Identifier or GUID)
• Product Key (hashed) and Product ID
• BIOS name, revision number, and revision date
• Hard drive volume serial number (hashed)
• Whether the installation was successful if one was performed
• The result of the validation check, including error codes and information about any activation exploits and any related malicious or unauthorized software found or disabled

If the validation check identifies an activation exploit, the following additional information is collected and will be transmitted to Microsoft’s servers

• The activation exploit’s identifier
• The activation exploit’s current state, such as cleaned or quarantined
• Original equipment manufacturer identification
• The activation exploit’s file name and hash of the file, as well as a hash of related software components that may indicate the presence of an activation exploit
• The name and a hash of the contents of the computer’s start-up instructions file (commonly called the boot file) to help [Microsoft] discover activation exploits that modify this file.

How product activation works

Product activation is a simple, straightforward process that is completely software based. In most cases, the only information that is needed to activate a product is an installation ID, which is created by the software itself. The information that is collected during activation will not be used to personally identify the user.