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OEM keys are cheaper than buying retail Office suites, so manufacturers can supply Office with their computers without hiking up the price. Some OEM keys will even identify if you change the hardware on your machine and make the OEM invalid. If that is indeed what has happened, you will have to reinstall Office using your product. If that doesnt work, note that resetting the computer might mean that it was restored to state it was in before you first installed Office.
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You can't use an OEM key to install Office on multiple machines that's what the retail version is for.Īs such, if a computer with an OEM version of Office is stolen or fails, you can't re-use the key on a new computer. Right-click it and choose to pin it to the Start menu and/or the taskbar. If it returns an activation error code, the tool will display targeted solutions for known error codes.
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If you've ever bought a computer or a laptop that came with Office pre-installed, there's a good chance that it uses an OEM key.Ĭomputer manufacturers and builders purchase the OEM key and immediately install it onto a device. Download the Assistant This tool will try to activate Windows. OEM stands for " Original Equipment Manufacturer," and keys labeled as OEM are intended for computer builders. You should consider OEM keys when buying a license to avoid any future headaches. We briefly touched upon OEM keys above, so it's worth going into detail on what these are. They can then flip the Office keys on gray market websites for a lower price than retail, then direct the profits to their bank account. Criminals can steal credit and debit cards and then use the funds to purchase many Office keys. If they say no, you'll have to buy Office again.įinally, gray market stores are a goldmine for thieves. If that machine is lost or breaks down, you'll need to wrestle with Microsoft tech support to get a reactivation. These aren't as desirable as retail keys, as you can only install an OEM on one machine, and one time only. As such, scams can happen, to the point where some gray market stores ask for an additional cost to protect your purchase.Īlso, a seller may put a key up for a low price because it's an OEM key. Gray market stores will often work like eBay, where individual people and small companies list the products. A price cut like this doesn't come without a few downsides, after all.įirst, make sure you know who you're buying from. However, before you grab a key from a gray market store, consider why these keys are so cheap in the first place.
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While Microsoft sells Office 2019 for $149, Kinguin currently sells Office 2021 Home and Student Retail Keys for around $100-a saving of $50 over Microsoft.
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