We receive a large amount of questions about the activation codes sold online and the differences between them, below we are going to explain the three common types of code sold.
Telephone Activation: This means that the code has been activated before (multiple buyers have been sold the same code) when Microsoft pick up that the code is being used incorrectly they will cancel the code and the software will cease to work.
ISO/Image file with product code: This means that the code sold is an MSDN code (for testing purposes in enterprise environments only) when Microsoft pick up that the code is being used incorrectly they will cancel the code and the software will cease to work.
Microsoft ‘Binded’ Code: This is the type of code we sell, this code is a retail code it can be entered on the Microsoft website and ‘binded’ to your own Microsoft account, when the code is entered on the site Microsoft adds the product to your Microsoft account as a ‘purchased’ product, these codes will always function as long as you don’t break the terms of the license eg installing on multiple systems if it’s a one system license.
If you buy a telephone activation or MSDN code when it’s deactivated you will see the following message:
At this point you can either purchase from Microsoft directly which is very expensive (£400+) or you will need to fully remove Office from your system and purchase again from another seller.