Users must accept the End User License Agreement Every Time Office Apps are Launched
I got a call from a customer regarding two new Windows Vista machines that I had recently installed the previous day. I had installed all their usual applications on them including Office 2003 Basic Edition.
They reported that every time they opened Word or Excel (however not Outlook weirdly!?), it would present them with an End User License Agreement that they would have to approve. It would them function normally until the next time it was opened and it would do the same thing.
Now I had seen this problem once before also appear on Windows Vista, however couldn’t for the life of me remember how to fix it.
Some quick google’ing pointed me to a Microsoft knowledge base article that detailed the problem exacted complete with resolution and workarounds.
I first tried the resolution but for some reason the instructions didn’t gel. I then resorted to the workaround which involved changing some security settings on a registry key:
* For the 2007 Microsoft Office suites:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0
* For Microsoft Office 2003:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0
* For Microsoft Office 2002:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0
* For Microsoft Office 2000:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0
You have to basically change the permissions for the Users group to enable Full Control.
Once done, you launch each application and accept the End User license agreement, and then you’ll never see it again.
Funny thing is the Microsoft article mentions both Windows XP and Windows 2000 in the workaround section, however I have installed hundreds of installations of both of these and Microsoft Office versions and have never seen this behavior. I have only seen it on Windows Vista.
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Windows Vista, Windows XP, Microsoft Office
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