Jul 29 2018 02:14 PM
Greetings,
I have been happily using Office 365 (mostly Word) for many years, and I have never had any problems with any of the products. This morning when I loaded Word I was confronted by a pop-up message called "The fine print" asking me to accept terms of use in order to continue. I have been using Word for several years on this computer and I have never seen anything like this, I just want to confirm that this pop-up message is in fact legitimate and not some form of spyware or adware impersonating Microsoft.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated,
Glenn
Here is a screenshot of the pop-up:
Jul 31 2018 04:36 PM
Jul 31 2018 04:43 PM
Hi Wim and all
There may be a registry issue with your customers computer where they don't have the permissions to make it stick. Maybe try this link and see if it helps?
In terms of the pop up, when you install office (and other products) they do ask you to accept the terms of use or the licensing agreement to use the software (e.g. to indemnify them in case of damage, etc). We all accept the conditions and most people don't read them.
From the look of the image and from what you are all experiencing, it appears that Microsoft may have made some changes to the licence agreement where they need you to accept the new terms.
If you want to use the software, you will have to accept the agreement and the problem should go away.
Just my thoughts! Best of luck friends.
Cheers
Damien
Jul 31 2018 05:43 PM
Glenn and folks troubled with Office 365,
I am very disappointed with Office 365 and will be looking for alternatives and compensation.
Before I leave I did further investigating and ended up reinstalling Office 365, a product I already paid for. The steps I took under Windows 10 were as follows....(please backup your computer and track down your account/password info before trying the following).
1. Open "Apps & Features". Easiest way is to find this is type "Apps" in the search box next to the Windows start button/start menu
2. Scroll down to find "Microsoft Office 365" in the right hand side of Apps & Features and click it. This should open up a couple buttons (modify & uninstall). Click the "modify" button.
3. After clicking the modify button you should be presented with options on how to repair Office.
Sadly the quick repair option didn't work so I selected "Online Repair" then clicked the "Repair" button.
Best of luck.
Jul 31 2018 05:55 PM
To further clarify, when I repaired Office 365 I had one additional step to "activate" it by simply opening an Office application and activating it with an email and password for the account. The good news was when I reinstalled Office 365 and opened Outlook I did not loose any emails. This sure wasted a lot of time, business, and sanity though.
Hope Microsoft gets this under control soon.
Jul 31 2018 05:58 PM
I can understand that Microsoft Office 365 is "Software as a Service" so they can change the licensing agreement from time to time, but I have never subscribed to that. We have always bought our Office software with the understanding that we own it. It costs more upfront, but we own it and don't have to "renew our lease" every year. We are still using Office 2010 on some of our machines and it works fine.
After we paid more to buy our Office Suites, it seems unfair for Microsoft to foist new licensing agreements on us and hold our already paid for software hostage until we accept their new terms.
Jul 31 2018 06:29 PM
What I'm not understanding is why a 'so-called' legitimate company is holding subscribers hostage unless they accept "the fine print"!!!! The product was working fine and now I cannot use it unless I accept. That's the same as me coming to your house and telling you how and when to clean it.
If you're going to hold subscribers hostage unless they accept your terms, you owe us full reimbursement for subscribing. I don't think anyone who posted their disgust with this 'accept our bloated update' expected to NOT BE ABLE TO USE A PRODUCT THAT THEY PAID TO HAVE ACCESS TO FOR A YEAR! As it currently stands I am unable to work at home. Why not give us an option to either accept or not....We paid for it!
Jul 31 2018 06:34 PM
Jul 31 2018 06:41 PM
Jul 31 2018 06:46 PM
@ annachu
There's no \/ in the top right corner of the window. There's 2 options 'X' to close or "Accept and start" the MS app I'm attempting to launch
Jul 31 2018 06:49 PM
Today would really be a very nice option for a fix to be applied. MS, stop holding your customers hostage!!!!
Jul 31 2018 06:53 PM
Hi Helene
If you are on Office 365, I would equate it more to you renting a house and your landlord adjusting the terms of your rental per your rental contact.
The Microsoft End User Licensing Agreement (EULA) would specify clearly the right to do updates to their service as needed where users must accept the EULA to continue to use the Office 365 subscription. Of course no one ever reads the EULA and if you want to see some hilarious examples of EULA, take a look here: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-ridiculous-eula-clauses-agreed/.
When you stop using Office 365, your data will eventually be deleted and the apps you use will become read only (not sure if they cease to work after a while or not as it's never happened to me).
Per the post I made just after yours, if you shift to Office 2016 you will have control over your software and will only receive security updates (and possibly service packs with new features) to maintain your product.
This sort of thing happening is common and will continue as more software shifts to Software as a Service (SaaS). Adobe does the same thing as an example.
Hope it all goes well and best wishes to you!
Cheers
Damien
P.S. Having just seen your other post in relation to something I said earlier. If you are using Office 2016, you may have had auto update give you an update that could have triggered the EULA prompt. It's hard to tell as I don't use Office 2016 but I wouldn't discount the option.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4340798/july-2018-updates-for-microsoft-office
Jul 31 2018 07:03 PM
Thanks Damien....I understand that MS has the rights to change/update EULA. However, we all know that not every user applies every win update, etc. My major concern is that as a subscriber, I have the same right, to update or not. Also, I should (I say this loosely), have the right to use the product 'as is' and if it fails to perform as intended it's on me.
Most importantly, my major concern is that no one seems to know whether or not this is legit. Also, not getting any response from MS doesn't alleviate my concerns either. This whole situation is eerily similar to what happens with ransom ware and I really, don't want to blow up my unit on a lark.
Jul 31 2018 07:07 PM
I agree with you about Microsoft responding to help clarify the situation. I've sent a private message to @Eric Starker suggesting the samething a short time ago.
Hopefully this will get cleared up from the source!
Cheers
Damien
Jul 31 2018 07:09 PM
Thanks, I really appreciate it. I've got work to do and deadlines to meet :)
Jul 31 2018 07:12 PM
Our team is aware of this thread and have reached out for further response.
Unfortunately, I'm not a subject matter expert on this topic myself, but please be patient while we reach out. Thank you.
Jul 31 2018 07:14 PM
Jul 31 2018 07:22 PM
Damien,
I don't think you are following me. I DID opt to buy Microsoft Office 2016 instead of Office 365 for exactly this reason! I paid extra so that I would not be subject to the changing licensing. I paid full price to own this office suite and now am being denied access to it.
The worst part is the doctor in our office who uses outlook to manage email. She has now lost access to all her correspondence! One colleague in Japan went ahead and hit accept and was aghast when his computer began downloading something.
I imagine that tomorrow, there will be widespread outrage.
Jul 31 2018 07:30 PM
Jul 31 2018 08:31 PM
Aug 01 2018 03:31 AM
Thanks Damien,
I clicked "accept" with no adverse results.