I'm using Windows live ID and rights management to protect Excel files. I'm geting the error message "account certification service not available" Hence, can't open my files. someone please help.

regards,

FA

Hi,

Besad on my research.

This problem occurs because, as of May 18, 2012, the Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI) service that provides service discovery locations for the IRM trial service is no longer available.

You may start the FixMe from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2711170

Or you  may try to do follow these steps, and then exit Registry Editor:

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK. 
2. Locate and then click the following registry key, depending on the version of Office.
   
   For Office 2003: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Common\DRM For 2007 Office system: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Common\DRM For Office 2010: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Common\DRM For 32-bit editions of Office 2010 running on 64-bit versions of Windows: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Common\DRM
3. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click String value.
4. Type CloudCertificationServer, and then press ENTER.
5. On the Edit menu, click Modify.
6. Type https://certification.drm.microsoft.com/certification, and then click OK.

I hope it's helps.

Hi,

Besad on my research.

This problem occurs because, as of May 18, 2012, the Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI) service that provides service discovery locations for the IRM trial service is no longer available <snip>

Look at the date on the OP's message. It's August 1 2013. He's obviously been using the service to protect his Excel files successfully up until recently. 

The FixIt you are quoting from is outdated and irrelevant. It certainly didn't work for me.

This is a new problem, it seems to have occurred around the end of July or the beginning of August 2013. I first noticed it on 4 August 2013. It looks like Microsoft has stuffed something up again. Last time this happened, it turned out that they forgot to update a certificate on their IRM servers, or something like that. Surely they couldn't have done it again --- ?

Hi,
I notice your encounter the issue in end of July or the beginning of August 2013.
So I have some puzzle. Whats your Excel version?
Did you update some patchs in these times?
I recommend you to open the file with your Windows live ID in different computer.
If its fine, the issue may be caused by Windows live ID or your computer.
If it does  not work fine, the issue may be caused by digital certificate missing or damaged.
I am not sureand you may restore computer in an early point.
Please refer to the following link:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/system-restore-frequently-asked-questions/

• Proposed as answer by George.Zhao CHNMicrosoft contingent staff, Moderator Tuesday, August 13, 2013 3:29 AM

Hi,
I notice your encounter the issue in end of July or the beginning of August 2013.
So I have some puzzle. Whats your Excel version?
Did you update some patchs in these times?
I recommend you to open the file with your Windows live ID in different computer.
If its fine, the issue may be caused by Windows live ID or your computer.
If it does  not work fine, the issue may be caused by digital certificate missing or damaged.
I am not sureand you may restore computer in an early point.
Please refer to the following link:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/system-restore-frequently-asked-questions/

I'm using Windows live ID and rights management to protect Excel files. I'm geting the error message "account certification service not available" Hence, can't open my files. someone please help.

regards,

FA

It looks like Microsoft have fixed their servers. Maybe somebody had forgotten to pay the electricity bill? Sometime today I started to be able to open my protected documents again. Others have reported the same thing. Hopefully you can now open your Excel doc too.

Hope you didn't go restoring your computer to an earlier point in time or anything like that. When people all around the world start experiencing IRM problems at the same time it seems pretty obvious that the problem is in the central Microsoft IRM mechanism.

hi,

The exactly same issue happened again at almost the same time of the year! I notice this issue since yesterday 8/5/2015. Did anyone know how to report this issue to MC team who manages the IRM certification service?

I really need to access my file!! Please help!!!
Carolyn Wang from Paramount Pictures!

When you have the error message, there is a link below called "Service Agreement". See section 2.2:
http://certification.drm.microsoft.com/passcb/help/en/policy.htm

Official statement from Microsoft dated August 5, 2015:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/rms/archive/2015/08/05/legacy-rms-for-microsoft-account-service-end-of-life.aspx

1) "The service will be restored to functional status as soon as possible"

2) "this service, originally introduced with Office 2000 as a trial is reaching its end of service life. It will be decommissioned on November 28th"

3) "You should decrypt any files you have protected with this legacy service and re-encrypt it using Azure RMS for Individuals using a business account. You can sign up for Azure RMS for individuals"