How can install Office 2003 without supplying the CD key?

You can configure Office 2003 (beta for now) to install without having to manually enter the CD key during the setup process।

First, you should copy your Office 2003 setup files from your CD to your hard drive.

Find a file called Setup.ini (which is found in the \FILES\SETUP subfolder). Right click the file, select Properties, and remove the Read-only checkmark. Now open the file to edit it.

Your setup.ini file should read something like this:

[Options] ; The option section is used for specifying individual Installer Properties. ;USERNAME=Customer ;COMPANYNAME=my company ;INSTALLLOCATION=C:\Program Files\MyApp

In the USERNAME section enter the registered owner's name, do so also for the COMPANYNAME value. Make sure you uncomment it by removing the ";" from the beginning of the lines.

Now, add a following line to the [Options] section:

PIDKEY=ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY

Lamer note: Use your own CD key, the above string is just an example (you wouldn't believe the number of e-mails people actually send me telling me that the tip doesn't work...)

(25 characters from your CD key, without the "-" seperation)

It should now read something like this:

[Options] ; The option section is used for specifying individual Installer Properties. USERNAME=Daniel Petri COMPANYNAME=Daniel Petri Ltd. ;INSTALLLOCATION=C:\Program Files\MyApp PIDKEY=ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY

Super lamer note: Again, use your own CD key, username and company info.

Save the file, burn the whole folder that contains the installation files to a CD.

That’s it! Now you can now install Office 2003 without needing to supply a CD key during the setup process!