How to stop MS Office from always asking you to accept its EULA

Reader Jean has a problem: she installed Office 2003 on her brand new Windows 7 system, and every single time she runs it, a pop-up forces her to accept Microsoft's End User License Agreement (EULA).

Dang it, Microsoft, she accepts already! She accepts!

Let's not focus on why this is happening. It's a Microsoft product, 'nuff said. Instead, let's fix it. Here's how:

1. Run Windows Explorer and navigate to the folder containing the Office executables (i.e. the actual programs, not their shortcuts). On my system that's C:, Program Files (x86), Microsoft Office, Office12. (Note: I use Office 2007. Your folder might be called Office11.)

2. Find the executable for any program that's exhibiting this problem. For this example, we'll use Outlook.

3. Right-click the Outlook icon and choose Run as administrator. The program will load, and the EULA will pop up as usual. Accept it--for what should be the last time.

4. Now close the program, wait a moment, and then run it again like you normally do (using the shortcut). Presto! No more EULA!

5. Repeat the process for any other offending Office programs.

If you're a Vista user encountering the same problem, this same fix should do the trick.

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