I have had the same laptop with Office since about 2012.  It came preloaded from Staples.  As of today I noticed I cannot open any of my word docs.   Is this normal? I tried the code on the sticker that is on the bottom, it was 25 numbers and thought that was the product code key, it was not.  I am certain I did not maintain packaging from 2011/2012.  What are the  options here?  Starting a class this week

Hi,

Based on the description, the issue is that your Office 2010 became inactive suddenly.

The first suggestion I can provide is to run the "sfc /scannow" command to scan all protected system files and replace the incorrect versions with the correct Microsoft versions. I've seen some of such issues were fixed by this step:

For a Windows 7 PC

1. Click Start > All Programs > Accessories, and then right-click Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator.
2. In the command prompt, type sfc /scannow and press Enter.
3. When the system scan is complete, try to install Office again.

For a Windows 8 PC

1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search.
   (If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then click Search.)
2. Enter command prompt in the search box.
3. In the list of results, swipe down on or right-click Command Prompt, and then tap or click Run as administrator.
4. In the Administrator: Command Prompt window, type sfc /scannow press Enter.
5. When the system scan is complete, try to install Office again.

In addition, what's the exact error message or error code you get when Office says it's not active? This may help me determine the cause.

Regards,

Melon Chen
TechNet Community Su