MOVING OFFICE 2010 TO ANOTHER COMPUTER

Ask Leo: Can I move Office 2010 to another computer?

Moving Microsoft Office to a new computer is usually an easy process as long as you follow a few steps.

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Can I move Office 2010 to another computer? I’ve got it on one computer and I want to move it to another. If I uninstall from the first, can I just use the setup again and install in on another computer? I really don’t want to have to buy it again.

Most licenses allow you to do pretty much what you’ve described. You’re allowed to have Office installed on one computer at a time. You will need the original installation media that you used to install Office 2010 the first time.

I’ll walk you through it.

Installation

So, let’s assume that Office 2010 is on computer A and you want it on computer B. The steps are actually fairly simple. First, install Office on computer B using that original media.

You won’t uninstall Office from computer A just yet. You’ll see why in a moment.

Entering the product key

As part of that installation, you’ll have to enter the product key. That determines the ownership of the product.

If you don’t have the product key for your Office 2010 installation, you’ll need to use a program called Belarc Advisor on computer A.

Belarc actually does an inventory of programs on your computer, but it will also report the product keys for the versions of Office and even Windows that are on computer A. That way, you can grab the original Office 2010 product key.

Activate Office

Now, this is where things could get interesting. I really don’t know how complex the Microsoft Office activation really is. If it detects that you’re actually moving it to a new computer, they may have you call in. Typically, it’s an automated system, but don’t let it frighten you. Just do the activation.

Once you have things installed and activated on computer B, then run the uninstall program on computer A and you should be good to go.