Office 2013 installation problem

Question

Dear Staff,

I have purchased Microsoft office 2013 for Windows 8 this February and had no problem using it until yesterday.

My computer crashed yesterday and I cannot find Microsoft offcie 2013 (including Work, Excel and Outlook) dissappeared!

I had the 25 charaters code and have been trying to re-install office 2013 from www.office.com/myaccount/.

Whenever I proceed with the installation, this error message comes out : " The Office cannot carry out this operation, because the product is carrying out another task. Please wait until it finishes and try once again."

I dont know what other task Office is carrying out at the moment.

I have waited but nothing changes.

Please kindly advice as soon as possible.

Please do not send me the support link, because i have tryied everything.

Please kindly advice STEP by STEP.

Thank you very much in advance for you help!

anna

Answer 1

In theory you don't have to uninstall 2010 to make 2013/365 work.

You should answer the same question, do you have Office 365 ??? or Office 2013 ???. It is important to your question.

In practice here is documentation on a couple of techniques for uninstalling 2010.  Start by using the "Programs and Features" method. That will allow you to carry over most of your customizations of 2010 into 2013. If you are still having problems with the 2013 install you may want to use the "Fix It" to do a full uninstall of 2010.

KB 290301 Uninstall Office 2010

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301  2010 If you have 64-bit windows, download the tools to your HD before running them(make copy of your NORMAL.DOTM, EXCEL.XLSM, and for 2010 QAT: Excel.officeui and Word.officeui if you have done any customization). 

NOTE: 2 people have said that the Fix It in method 2 would not run in Windows 8.

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Method 2 in this tip does a more thorough job that the "normal" uninstall via Programs and Features (aka Method 1 in the tip). The Normal uninstall is designed with the assumption that you will be re-installing Office. It does NOT delete everything. It leaves configuration files like NORMAL.DOTM and other templates etc. and it also leaves configuration Registry entries.

• Method 1: Uninstall from Control Panel
• Method 2: Uninstall using Fix it 9737366
• Method 3: Uninstall with the Program Install and Uninstall troubleshooter
• Method 4: Remove manually

Answer 2

How is the 2010 version uninstalled so the 2013 will work ...

Answer 3

I'm having the same problem right now. I just purchased the product last week, installed it succesfully on my 1st laptop. Yet now I cannot download & install w/ another laptop. I don't have a product key because I purchased it online.

I've spent hours reading links & articles but it still  won't work.

PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE!

I already uninstalled my previous 2010 version, so i badly need to install a new office to proceed with my work.

Video: Activate / Deactivate your Office 365 installs

http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/videos/video-managing-your-office-installs-VA103985959.aspx

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Install Office on more than one computer

http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/support/install-office-on-more-than-one-computer-HA102901468.aspx

You can install your Office 365 2013 Home premium license on up to 5 devices. On each of those devices, multiple family members can have Windows accounts to access the Office apps you installed. You can install Office 365 Home Premium on up to five Mac or PC computers. You can even install it on a family member’s computer. Before you start, check the system requirements to make sure your computer can run Office.

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FAQ- How can I reinstall Office? / I purchased Office 365 Home Premium. How do I install Office on another computer?

https://officesetup.getmicrosoftkey.com/OfficeSetup/Home/SupportFAQ

If you purchased Office 365 Home Premium, you can reinstall Office at any time at office.com/myaccount by signing in with your Microsoft account. You do not need your Product Key to reinstall or install Office on additional computers.

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Here are some links with general information about neat features of 365 that you may not be aware of

Video: Adding family members to your Office 365 2013 5 installations

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/videos/video-adding-family-members-to-office-VA103985961.aspx - right at the end of this video it says after the admin sets up the Office 365 access, other user accounts on the computer can access the skydrive space. I (Rohn007) have not tested this myself.

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Video: Get the most out of your Office 365 subscription

http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/videos/video-get-the-most-out-of-your-office-subscription-VA103983580.aspx

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Office 2013 Video Guides

http://officeignitelabs.cloudguides.com/Office%20Labs.htm

This page has 6 video guides. The first one is a 20 minute intro to 2013 specific features. The other videos are more about deploying 2013.

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Video: Use Office anywhere with Office on Demand

http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/videos/video-use-office-anywhere-with-office-on-demand-VA103984836.aspx

Go to Office.com. Log in with you account ID. Open any file from skydrive and a full copy of the App will run.

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Office on Demand

http://www.winsupersite.com/article/office-2013-beta2/office-2013-feature-focus-office-demand-144117

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Using Office on Demand in Office 2013

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj733592.aspx

Turn on the “Roaming” addon

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Install Office 365 Home Premium on a Mac

http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/access-help/install-office-365-home-premium-on-a-mac-HA102919748.aspx?CTT=1

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2013 07 16- OWA (Office Web Apps) for iPhone and iPad

http://blogs.office.com/b/office365tech/archive/2013/07/16/owa-for-iphone-and-owa-for-ipad.aspx

requires Office 365 license that includes Exchange Online, ie Office 365 Small Business; Office 365 Small Business Premium; Office 365 Midsize Business; Office 365 Enterprise E1, E3 and E4; Office 365 Kiosk K1 and K2; Office 365 Education A2, A3 and A4; and any Exchange Online plan. There are also Office 365 government plans that include OWA for iPhone and OWA for iPad.

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2013 06 14- Office “Mobile” (365) on iPhone

http://winsupersite.com/office-365/office-mobile-iphone-review

You need any Office 365 license to use this version. Office Mobile for iPhone does not count against your five PCs/Macs limit because it’s a mobile offering. So now there is a new category of mobile devices, where each Office 365 subscriber can also attach up to 5 Office Mobile installs to their account.

Includes Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Mobile, but not OneNote Mobile, which is available as a separate free download. 

No Office for iPad yet, but I understand that (free) Office Web Apps work reasonably well in the Safari browser.

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2013 07 08- Will My Subscription Support Office Mobile?

http://www.indezine.com/products/powerpoint/learn/mobile/ios/what-office-365-subscriptions-include-office-mobile.html

As I understand it in addition to the limit of PC/Mac installations all plans allow you to use Mobile on the same number of additional devices, ie mobile on up to 5 other devices. Office 365 University is the exception, it allows only 2 PC/Macs and 2 mobile devices.

Plans that do Include Mobile: Home Premium, Enterprise E3 E4, Education A3 A4, Midsize Business, Pro Plus, Small Business Premium, University, Government.

Plans that do NOT include Mobile: Education, Small Business, Enterprise E1

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2013 06 14- Microsoft rolls out Office Mobile for iPhone

http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-rolls-out-office-mobile-for-iphone-7000016846/

http://office-watch.com/t/n.aspx?a=1864 Office Mobile for iPhone

http://office-watch.com/t/n.aspx?a=1866 Who can really get Office Mobile for iPhone

http://office-watch.com/t/n.aspx?a=1865 saving documents - only to skydrive

Here’s the real qualification rules, buried down in an FAQ.

“Any Office 365 subscription plan that includes the full Office desktop applications also include Office Mobile. Specifically, these plans are: Office 365 Home Premium, Office 365 Small Business Premium, Office 365 Midsize Business, Office 365 Enterprise E3 and E4, Office 365 Education A3 and A4, Office 365 ProPlus, and Office 365 University. There are also Office 365 government plans that include Office Mobile. You will need to sign in to your Office 365 subscription on first run to activate Office Mobile. “

We could not find any way to save a document to the iPhone’s local storage. Nor can you save a document to the device via iTunes via Device | Apps | File Sharing because Office Mobile for iPhone isn’t one of the apps listed there.

Documents received by email can be opened in Office Mobile for iPhone. Send a document via email using the ‘Share’ option.

A document in Dropbox or other cloud storage can be opened via the ‘Open in …’ menu in iOS which shows a list of the compatible apps for that file type. However you can’t save back to the same cloud storage – any document you save goes to SkyDrive regardless of its original source.

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Why sign in? Your files and settings are always waiting for you with Office 365

http://blogs.office.com/b/office-next/archive/2013/01/31/why-sign-in-your-files-are-always-waiting-for-you-with-office-365.aspx

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2013 01 29- Microsoft's Office 365 Home Premium: What happens when subscriptions expire?

<snip http://www.zdnet.com/microsofts-office-365-home-premium-what-happens-when-subscriptions-expire-7000010498/   >

When I asked Microsoft officials this question in September 2012, here's what I was told:

In the case ofOffice 365 Home Premium and Small Business Premium, if you stop paying for those SKUs after a year, you'll havea grace period to figure out what to do with your stored information. In the case of Home Premium,users will be able to download their saved SkyDrive- and/or locally-saved data, open it with Office Web Apps and read/print it for some set period of time. (Microsoft isn't currently specifying how long that will be.) In the case of Small Business Premium, you'll have some kind of currently-unspecified grace period, as well, when you can access, read and print data stored in SharePoint Online.

For users with an Office 365 Home Premium subscription, as the expiration date of that subscription approaches, users will receive notifications inside the Office applications and via e-mail to remind/nag users about the approaching expiration date.

Once the subscription expires, the Office apps will enter a "read-only reduced functionality mode." This means users will be able to view or print documents, but won't be able to create any new documents or edit existing documents.

</snip>

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Answer 4

First, please clarify, did you buy "Office 365 ????" or "Office 2013 ????

It is important because they use different activation processes.

Office 365 uses the www.office.com/myaccount/  web page.  After entering the product key the first time you don't have to use it again.  At that point the product key has been associated with your email address.

Office 2013 does require the product key to "activate" it each time you install it.

The "... carrying out another task .." error is a common symptom of an Office 365 installation.

If you do have a 365 installation, here are some possible fixes for that type of error

…Office is Busy…

Looking at the replies reporting “fixes”, it appears that this message may be a symptom of more than one issue, making suggesting a specific fix impossible.  Here is a collection of fixes that have been reported in the forum:

<snip> I have been having this problem, as well.  While performing an installation repair operation has worked for me, it has taken a lot of time, and requires closing and re-opening all of my Office applications.  A post on another thread mentioned a better solution that has worked for me: Simply stop or restart the "Microsoft Office Service".

1.      You can do this by using the Control Panel >  Services applet.  Find the service name in the list

2.      Right click on the service name

3.      Select Properties

4.      Click on the stop button, wait to see a message that the service has been stopped

5.      Click on the start button

 It seems to have resolved the problem within seconds, and it is much less disruptive (though not nearly as nice as a real fix for the problem).  I hope this helps. </snip>

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Note: another person reported they had to turn the service on and off a few times before it worked.

 *****

Another way to get to the Service dialog,

1.      open "File Explorer",

2.      Right Click on "Computer",

3.      Click on "Manage".

4.      When Computer Management panel opens double click on "Services and Applications"

5.      then click "Services".

6.      scroll down until you find "Microsoft Office Service".

7.      Right click on it then click "Restart".

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Some people reported that doing an Office Repair helps: Http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2827031

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Some people report that doing an uninstall to clean out any "bits and Pieces" that may exist in the system using the Fix It in Method 1 and a re-install helps: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2739501

******

Another reported fix:

<snip> As it turned out, I used system restore to an earlier time (two days before the "we're sorry" message) and MS. Word came back just fine. Soon after, I was advised an update was available, so I clicked to allow. MS Word has been working perfectly ever since. 

</snip>

Answer 5

I'm having the same problem right now. I just purchased the product last week, installed it succesfully on my 1st laptop. Yet now I cannot download & install w/ another laptop. I don't have a product key because I purchased it online.

I've spent hours reading links & articles but it still  won't work.

PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE!

I already uninstalled my previous 2010 version, so i badly need to install a new office to proceed with my work.