How can I activate the shared computer functionality using MS business premium?

Question

I bought an MS business premium license, then once installed, it does not allow shared computer activation.

Error Message:

"Account Issue

The product we found in your account cannot be used to activate Office in shared computer scenarios.

Error Code: 0x80004005

Correlation Od: BF7Dxxxx-0CB0-4EE3-8727-B995799xxxx"

I tried the following options but still, have the problem:

Option #1: I used Registry Editor to enable shared computer activation: add a String value (Reg_SZ) of SharedComputerLicensing with a setting of 1 under HEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\Configuration.

Option #2: I used the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant to enable shared computer activation

Once the above options are executed, the system does not activate the shared computer functionality and does not recognize the MS product license. As a result, the applications appear as an Unlicensed Products.

Answer 1

Dear Lizandra,

Greetings! Thank you for posting in Microsoft forum.

The error you mentioned means that you don't have an Office 365 (or Microsoft 365) plan that includes Microsoft 365 Apps and that supports shared computer activation. Therefore, you can't use shared computer activation.

But based on your post, I understand you have Microsoft 365 Business Premium plan which includes Microsoft 365 Apps for business, and it includes support for shared computer activation.

• Note*: The Microsoft 365 Business Premium plan is the only business plan that includes support for shared computer activation. There are other business plans, such as Microsoft 365 Business Standard, that include Microsoft 365 Apps for business, but those business plans don't include support for shared computer activation.*

Make sure you assign each user a license for Microsoft 365 Apps and that users sign in the shared computer with their own user account.

There are three options to enable Shared computer activation. I noticed you have tried two options (1) using Registry Editor (2) using the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant. May I suggest the third option, using group policy? Reference: Use Group Policy to enable shared computer activation

Further, you can also consider enabling shared computer activation during the initial installation of Microsoft 365 Apps, you can instruct the Office Deployment Tool to do so during installation. When you're using the Office Customization

Tool at config.office.com or the wizard built into Microsoft Configuration Manager, make sure that you enable the option Shared Computer in the Product activation section.

If my understanding above is not consistent with yours, you can also post back and point that out.

Your understanding and patience will be highly appreciated. I hope that you are keeping safe and well!

Sincerely,

Neha | Microsoft Community Moderator

Answer 2

Dear Neha,

Thank you very much for your support. I've been trying to understand how to configure the setting you sent: Group Policy and the Office Deployment Tool, but I can't figure it out.

1- I don't know how to create the Group Policy you mention.

2- For the second option, I created a new the Deployment Configuration and set the Product Activation to Shared Computer as you mentioned. What should I do next?

I will appreciate your response, Have an excellent day.

Answer 3

Hello Lizandra,

Thanks for replying.

As for the second option i.e., enabling shared computer activation using Office Deployment Tool, after installing, users need to sign in with their valid Microsoft 365 Business Premium credentials. Once users sign into Microsoft 365 product, apps will be activated, and they can edit and create documents normally.

Here's what happens after Microsoft 365 Apps is installed on a computer that has shared computer activation enabled.

1. A user signs in the computer with their account.
2. The user starts an Office program, such as Word.
3. Microsoft 365 Apps contacts the Office Licensing Service on the internet to obtain a licensing token for the user.

Here are two ways that you can check whether shared computer activation is enabled on the computer that has Microsoft 365 Apps installed.

• Open any Office program, such as Word. Go to File > Account > About Word (or whatever the name of the app is). On the second line from the top, underneath the MSO version number, you should see Shared Computer Activation, instead of a Product ID, like in the following screenshot.
• Use Registry Editor and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\Configuration. There should be a value for SharedComputerLicensing with a setting of 1.

If you still face any difficulty, let me know, I will be happy to assist.

Sincerely,

Neha | Microsoft Community Moderator

Answer 4

Dear Neha,

Thanks for your support

The MS installation using the Office Deployment Tool was completed without errors on my computer. But once finished, the MS applications did not appear installed on my computer; they did not appear once I clicked the Start button nor in the "All apps" section. I also restarted my computer to see the changes, but nothing happened. In addition, when I checked the Registry Editor, the shared computer functionality was active, (SharedComputerLicensing, with a setting of 1).

The same happened any time that the Shared Computer Licensing is set to 1 on my computer with all the options that I tried:

Option #1 - Registry Editor

Option #2 - Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant

Option #3 - Office Deployment Tool

I will appreciate your assistance to solve this issue.

Answer 5

Hi Lizandra,

This is very strange that Office apps don’t appear in Start menu even after installing successfully. Please note, in Windows 10, if you have more than 512 apps in your All apps*, you may not see your app shortcuts in that list, on the* Start menu, or when you search.

***Important:***You won’t find Office applications by searching for “Office”, so search for each application by name.

To confirm whether Office apps are installed successfully or not, go to Control Panel (Control Panel\Programs\Programs and Features) in the list of available apps check if Microsoft 365 appears.

If the apps are visible in Control Panel, try opening them from File Explorer:

1. Open a File Explorer.
2. Go to the Office 16 folder:

• For 32-bit Office, go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16.
• For 64-bit Office, go to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16.

1. Find the Office program that you want open: WINWORD, EXCEL, POWERPNT, ONENOTE, OUTLOOK, MSPUB, or MSACCESS, double click on it, see if it opens.

Let me know how it goes.

Sincerely,

Neha | Microsoft Community Moderator