Office 2k bug strikes DO NOT POST

The Register has received reports that Windows 2000 PCs running a specific version of Office 2000 have been hit by sudden, unexpected requests to register the software with Microsoft. The glitch could leave thousands of Office users unable to continue using their software.

The problem appears to centre on the Select - ie. non-academic volume licence - version of the Office 2000 Service Release 1 (SR-1) running on Win2k. The Office 2000 Product Registration Wizard appears when any Office app is launched and invites the user to register. There's no way to get rid of the Wizard other than filling in all the details each time or clicking Register Later.

Unfortunately, clicking Register Later more than 50 times renders Office unusable. The Office Registration Wizard was introduced with SR-1 as an anti-piracy measure. Designed to be "simple and unobtrusive while protecting customer privacy", the Wizard requires you to register the product and obtain an eight-character activation code from Microsoft. The Wizard lets you use Office up to 50 times without registering, after which you must register in order to continue using Office apps.

Unfortunately (again), because of a documented bug in the Wizard, launching Office SR-1 after the fiftieth click causes the Wizard to Unexpectedly Quit. Microsoft has a solution for this particular problem, but it's a 23-step process involving editing Windows' Registry, a perilous process at the best of times. Even Microsoft warns uses that they "use Registry Editor at your own risk".

If you're brave enough to tackle the task, you can get the Wizard to operate, but until you register, you won't be able to use Office.

The irony is that that's what Select customers have already done. Corporates buy large volume licences to avoid registering each PC, which just keeps IT staff away from solving real problems.

Select customers have little choice but to tell their users not to quit from Office apps or shut their PCs down. The Wizard began popping up on PCs yesterday. One corporate source told us many of its 70,000 Windows 2000 PCs have been affected. Microsoft support told our source that it has received notification of the same issue from a number of other major European organisations. The problem has been granted a Severity B rating.

Microsoft had yet to respond to our enquiries as we went to press. ®