Office 2010 activation fails after SP2 with error 0x80070190

Anonymous
2013-07-23T21:05:23+00:00

Windows 7 Pro, Office 2010 Pro Plus

I put Office 2010 SP2 on three identically configured machines this morning.  Two of them had previously had Office 2010 activated, the third had not yet been activated.  After SP2 was installed, the two machines with previously-activated versions of Office 2010 continue to work correctly;  the third machine demands that I activate Office - the process appears to run, but then fails with error code 0x80070190.

An initial call to Support yielded a request for me to install Hotfix for Windows KB947821.  That installed correctly, but did not fix the problem.  Before I call back, I thought I would put something out here to see if others have come across this problem.

A Google search on the error code keeps coming up with information implying that this may be related to a Beta status in Office 2010.  Is it possible that today's release of SP2 was not final code?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Install, redeem, activate | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2013-07-25T16:07:34+00:00

Aha!

I tried using the cscript cmd line process described elsewhere in this thread, and got a new error:

Last 5 characters of installed product key: XXXXX (they matched my MAK key, so the correct product key is already in place)

ERROR CODE: 0xC004F025

ERROR DESCRIPTION: The Software Licensing Service reported that the action requires administrator privilege.

So apparently UAC is getting in the way. 

I found this thread:

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/en-US/8f2a5c3e-4e33-4fdb-8eb2-760dbeca0713/error0xc004f025-access-denied-the-requested-action-requires-elevated-priviliges

which led me to this post:

http://www.blogsdna.com/2168/windows-7-how-to-open-elevated-command-prompt-with-administrator-privileges.htm

Which FIXED THE PROBLEM!

The remaining question is, Why is UAC suddenly putting itself in charge of activation *after* SP2 when it did not appear to get involved previously?  I made no changes to UAC on any of the machines where SP2 was installed;  I try to avoid touching UAC as much as possible.

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-08-06T14:34:46+00:00

    I had normal activation not working with error code 0x80070190, I ran word as admin even though the user was an admin and then activation worked.

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-08-11T19:38:44+00:00

    I also work in a school and am having the same issues with the new installs.

    I have found something else that will allow activation.  If you Run the Office 2010 setup again (as if you were starting a new install), a new option is added to the list of functions.  It now looks like this:

         Add or Remove Features

         Repair

         Remove

         Enter a Product Key

    Select Enter a Product Key and hit Continue.  It then goes to the GUI Product Key screen.  Enter your product key as normal.  The next time you open up any of the Office programs, they are now activated.

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-08-12T07:22:57+00:00

    Same thing happening here.

    I have an Office 2010 deployment with SP2 updates copied into the Updates folder.

    On a new install, if the Activation Wizard appears, it will not activate, not matter what MAK key I use (we have a few to choose from)

    However I was able to activate it using the administrative command prompt, running the ospp.vbs file in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14

    cscript ospp.vbs /act

    or C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14 if you have a 64 bit system with 32bit office

    The software activated no problem using the MAK provided by the Office Customisation Tool

    Thank you, this solved the very same problem (that is: MAK activation fails through GUI if you do not activate Office 2010 before installing SP2) for me too.

    • starting elevated command prompt
    • running "cscript ospp.vbs /act" in "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14"

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-08-21T10:36:39+00:00

    Aha!

    I tried using the cscript cmd line process described elsewhere in this thread, and got a new error:

    Last 5 characters of installed product key: XXXXX (they matched my MAK key, so the correct product key is already in place)

    ERROR CODE: 0xC004F025

    ERROR DESCRIPTION: The Software Licensing Service reported that the action requires administrator privilege.

    So apparently UAC is getting in the way. 

    I found this thread:

    http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/en-US/8f2a5c3e-4e33-4fdb-8eb2-760dbeca0713/error0xc004f025-access-denied-the-requested-action-requires-elevated-priviliges

    which led me to this post:

    http://www.blogsdna.com/2168/windows-7-how-to-open-elevated-command-prompt-with-administrator-privileges.htm

    Which FIXED THE PROBLEM!

    The remaining question is, Why is UAC suddenly putting itself in charge of activation *after* SP2 when it did not appear to get involved previously?  I made no changes to UAC on any of the machines where SP2 was installed;  I try to avoid touching UAC as much as possible.

    After reading this the answer is easy, shift+right click on one of the office shortcuts (which brings up a menu). & choose run as administrator, after which you will be able to activate with no problems.

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