When Office products are downloaded from the Volume License Service Center they come down as .ISO files. .ISO is not a file format that Windows can open natively.

An ISO file is an image of a CD/DVD. Typically you would be able to use a burning program like Nero, or ImgBurn, to then burn that ISO file directly to a disk.

How do I use .ISO files?

Once you have downloaded an .ISO file, there are several possible options you can use to install the software:

1. Use .ISO image file software to download and save the .ISO image file to a CD-R or a DVD-R.
   If you are planning to install an Operating System on a PC or install software across multiple machines, this is one of your best options. A CD/DVD gives you the flexibility to make clean installs and to be used as a “boot CD.”
   If you are using a PC with Windows 7, you don’t need any additional software to burn a CD-R or DVD-R. Simply double click on the .ISO file you downloaded, and then follow the steps in the Image Burner Wizard.
   If you are using any other Operating System, you may need additional software. If your computer is equipped with a CD/DVD burner, this software is probably already loaded on your PC. Most CD-R/DVD-R writing software enables disk creation from an image file. Select a menu item such as Copy Image to CD or Burn Image to access this feature. For detailed instructions, see the software’s Help documentation.
2. Virtually mount and access ISO files as a virtual device.
   If you don’t have a CD/DVD burner installed on your machine or you don’t have media available to you (a blank CD-R/DVD-R), you can “mount” the ISO file as a virtual drive. With this method, your machine will believe that the file is a real disk drive, and you will be able to read files from this “virtual disk.” This approach is advisable only for installation of applications (such as Office) or minor system upgrades. You will not be able to install an Operating System using this approach, because the virtual drive would disappear at some point during the installation.
   There are several software options for the virtual drive approach. Though they have not been tested and are not supported by the VLSC team, customers report that Daemon Tools and Pismo File Mount offer such capability as well as Microsoft Virtual CD Control Tool.
3. Extract the .ISO files to your hard drive.
   Contents of .ISO image files can be accessed directly using third-party tools that allow file extraction from the file to a temporary folder on your hard drive (similar to .zip files). As with the virtual drive, this approach is advisable to install application software or system upgrades. An example of this approach is the creation of an installation thumb drive to install software on netbooks or other devices with no optical drive.
   The following tools offer .ISO file support:
   • IsoBuster
   • CDmage
   • Daemon Tools
   • Winrar
   
   Note: While other products may work to manipulate .ISO files, they have not been tested and are not recommended by Microsoft.

The purpose of this blog will be to demonstrate the usage of my favorite third party freeware program that can be used to “mount” the ISO file and allow the extraction of the contents. 

As you can see there are many programs that we could use to extract the contents from ISO files, but there are few reasons that I prefer Pismo File mount.

- Free
- Easy to use
- Non invasive

Let me demonstrate how I use Pismo File Mount to extract the contents from an Office ProPlus 2010 ISO I downloaded from the VLSC.

1. Downloaded and ran the installer for Pismo File Mount Audit Package.
2. After the installation, I right click on the ISO file that I had downloaded and choose “Mount Image”

3. After mounting the image you will notice that the icon for the ISO has changed and how looks like this:

We can now double click on this and it will open like so:

Now we will want to select all and copy the contents to another local folder on the machine.

4. After I have copied the contents to another folder on the machine, I will “unmount” the ISO so that it is no longer in use by Pismo File Mount.

Now that I have the contents extracted I can delete the ISO and copy the contents to a network share, burn to a disc, or copy to a thumbdrive for installation on other machines. At this point I uninstalled Pismo File Mount.

Note: While this blog article is written with ISO files in mind, it also pertains to .IMG files.

After installing Office 2010 Service Pack 2, you may receive the following error when attempting to Internet activate Office 2010:

This activation error is currently being investigated.  To activate Office 2010, please use one of the following workarounds:

1. Activate Office 2010 by using OSPP.VBS.

a. Open an administrative command-prompt
b. Run one of the following command-lines based on your Operating System:

x86
cscript "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\ospp.vbs" /act
x64
cscript "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14\ospp.vbs" /act

2. Open any Office 2010 program using Run as Administrator

a. Go to Start | All Programs | Microsoft Office
b. Hold down the 'Shift' key and right-click any Office 2010 Program (ex. Microsoft Word 2010) and select Run as administrator
c. Follow the prompts to internet activate

3. Change the UserOperations key under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\OfficeSoftwareProtectionPlatform to have a value of 1.  Can automate this by running the following from an elevated command prompt:

reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\officesoftwareprotectionplatform /v USEROPERATIONS /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

After running this command, open any Office 2010 program and follow the prompts to internet activate.

Note - Setting UserOperations to a value of 1 permits administrator-privileged license operations including Internet or telephone activation by standard users.

4. If using a volume license version of Office 2010, use KMS activation instead of MAK activation.  For further information on KMS activation in Office 2010, please refer to the following Microsoft articles:

Plan KMS activation of Office 2010
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff603508(v=office.14).aspx

Deploy volume activation of Office 2010
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee624357(v=office.14).aspx

ISSUE:

When attempting to activate Microsoft Office running on Windows 8.1 or Windows Server 2012 R2 clients using KMS activation, the activation fails with an error code 0xC004F074.

Running ospp.vbs /dstatus shows the following output:

LICENSE NAME: Office 15, OfficeProPlusVL_KMS_Client edition
LICENSE DESCRIPTION: Office 15,VOLUME_KMSCLIENT channel
LICENSE STATUS: ---OOB_GRACE---
ERROR CODE: 0x4004F00C
ERROR DESCRIPTION: The Software Licensing Service reported that the application is running within the valid grace period.
REMAINING GRACE: 29 days (43178 minute(s) before expiring)
Last 5 characters of installed product key: GVGXT

Running ospp.vbs /act shows the following output:

LICENSE NAME: Office 15, OfficeProPlusVL_KMS_Client edition
LICENSE DESCRIPTION: Office 15, VOLUME_KMSCLIENT channel
Last 5 characters of installed product key: GVGXT
ERROR CODE: 0xC004F074
ERROR DESCRIPTION: The Software Licensing Service reported that the product could not be activated. No Key Management Service (KMS) could be contacted. Please see the Application Event Log for additional information.

The application event log will show an event ID 12288 containing an error 0x8007000D.  You can also run the following command-line from an administrative command-prompt to determine the issue:
x86:
cscript "c:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15\ospp.vbs" /dhistorykms

x64
cscript "c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15\ospp.vbs" /dhistorykms

MORE INFORMATION:

This issue occurs due to a change made to the activation engine of Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 that prevents KMS host running on down-level operating systems from activating these clients.  Microsoft has published a hotfix to address this issue.  This hotfix has to be applied to all down-level operating systems that are running KMS Host.  No update to hosts running on Windows 8.1 or Windows Server 2012 R2 is needed.

RESOLUTION:

Download and install the appropriate hotfix from the Microsoft Knowledge Base Article:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2885698

While attempting to activate your Office 2010 clients in your environment you find that some of your machines fail to activate against KMS with the following ERROR CODE: 0x80070005.

If you run OSPP.VBS to attempt activation and you may receive an error similar to the following:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14>cscript ospp.vbs /act

---Processing--------------------------
---------------------------------------
Installed product key detected - attempting to activate the following product:
SKU ID: 6f327760-8c5c-417c-9b61-836a98287e0c
LICENSE NAME: Office 14, OfficeProPlus-KMS_Client edition
LICENSE DESCRIPTION: Office 14, VOLUME_KMSCLIENT channel
Last 5 characters of installed product key: PKJDS
ERROR CODE: 0x80070005
---------------------------------------
---------------------------------------
---Exiting-----------------------------


If you then run OSPP.VBS to check the dstatus and you receive an error similar to the following:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14>cscript ospp.vbs /dstatus

---Processing--------------------------
---------------------------------------
SKU ID: 6f327760-8c5c-417c-9b61-836a98287e0c
LICENSE NAME: Office 14, OfficeProPlus-KMS_Client edition
LICENSE DESCRIPTION: Office 14, VOLUME_KMSCLIENT channel
LICENSE STATUS:  ---NOTIFICATIONS---
ERROR CODE: 0xC004F056
ERROR DESCRIPTION: The Software Licensing Service reported that the computer cou
ld not be activated using the Key Management Service (KMS).
Last 5 characters of installed product key: PKJDS
---------------------------------------
---------------------------------------
---Exiting-----------------------------

These errors can indicate a permissions issue in the registry.

There are a few reasons this error can occur. Please review the following methods to resolve.

Method #1
Please attempt to reset security permissions to default as outlined in KB313222.

How do I restore security settings to the default settings?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/313222

Method #2
These errors can also indicate a permissions issue with the OfficeSoftwareProtectionPlatform folder. If the Network Service is missing permissions on this folder you can also receive ERROR CODE: 0x80070005.

To resolve, run the following command from an elevated command prompt:

In Vista/Win7/2008-
icacls C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\OfficeSoftwareProtectionPlatform /grant "Network Service:(OI)(CI)(R,W,D)" /t

In WinXp/2003-
cacls "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Microsoft\OfficeSoftwareProtectionPlatform" /t /e /p "Network Service":C

Method #3

This situation may be the result of applying a Plug and Play Group Policy object (GPO).

Computer Configuration / Policies / Windows Settings /Security Settings / System Services / Plug and Play (Startup Mode: Automatic)

If this policy is set, you can resolve this issue by either disabling this policy, or modifying the security settings for the Policy.

How to check the machine to see if that policy is being applied via a domain GPO. 
From the command prompt, run rsop.msc

Check for the the following:



If you see that Plug and Play is set to Automatic but permission is Not Defined, continue with the next steps to grant “service” rights

To check permissions for the Plug and Play service GPO via command line, run the following command:

sc sdshow plugplay

If all is configured as it should be, the output displayed when running this command will contain the following:

D:(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;BA)
(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;SY)
(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;IU)
(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;SU)
S:(AU;FA;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;WD)

If any of these permissions are missing, run the following command line to set the default permissions for the Plug and Play service:

sc sdset plugplay D:(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;BA)(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;SY)(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;IU)(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;SU)S:(AU;FA;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;WD)

Alternatively, the following steps can be used to edit the permissions of the Group Policy via a GUI interface:

1. Open the Group Policy that is identified in Method A, Step 1 above, and open the corresponding Group Policy setting. 
2. Click the Edit Security button, and then click the Advanced button.
3. In the Advanced Security Settings for Plug and Play window click Add and then add the SERVICE account. Then, click OK
4. Select the following permissions in the Allow section and then click OK:

Query template
Query status
Enumerate dependents
Interrogate
User-defined control
Read permissions

Note: The Previous rights are the minimum required permissions. 

5. Run gpupdate /force after you apply the previous permissions to the Group Policy setting.

Windows 7 displays "Windows is not Genuine" with an error code of 0x80070005  (Also applies to Office 2010)
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2008385

When launching Office 2010 applications, a message appears indicating that Office is not activated. Attempts to activate Office may result in the following error:

"Error 0xC004F074: The Software Licensing Service reported that the computer could not be activated. No Key Management Service (KMS) could be contacted. Please see the Application Event Log for additional information."

Error 0xC004F074 equates to, "The Key Management Server (KMS) is unavailable". This error occurs when volume license versions of Office 2010 are installed on client machines using the built-in, KMS client key and an Office KMS host is not available to activate installations of Office 2010.

The following is a partial Office Web Apps Setup product key, required for product installation on Microsoft SharePoint, rather than a product key that is specific to client installations of the Office 2010 suites:

FC7HF-CF42G-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

Attempting to enter this key via the File/Help and Change Product Key link will result in the error, "This is not a valid Office Product key. See above examples to learn more".

Attempting to input this key via the ospp.vbs script will result in the error, "0xc004f050 The Software Licensing service reported that the product key is invalid"

To resolve this issue, obtain a Multiple Activation Key (MAK) volume license product key for Office 2010, and then do one of the following:

1) Open an Office 2010 application (i.e., Microsoft Word), go to File/Help, and then click on the Change Product Key link. Enter the Office 2010 product key. After the process of installing the product key completes, close all open Office applications, open Microsoft Word, go to File/Help, and check to see if “Product Activated” is displayed.

—or—

2) From an elevated command prompt, run command lines similar to the following (if you are running 32-bit Office 2010 on a 64-bit operating system, the path should include Program Files (x86)):

%windir%\System32\cscript.exe "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\OSPP.VBS" /inpkey:xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx     (where xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx is your 25 digit MAK product key for Office 2010)

%windir%\System32\cscript.exe “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\ospp.vbs” /act

For most Microsoft products, there are two ways to obtain volume license product keys:

1)  Go to the Product Keys section of the Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC) for Open, Open Value, Select, Enterprise Agreements and the Services provider License Agreement (SPLA)  - https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/servicecenter/home.aspx

2) Call your Microsoft Activation Center - http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/existing-customers/activation-centers.aspx

Related links:

Frequently asked questions: Volume activation of Office 2010

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff678211.aspx

Volume activation quick start guide for Office 2010

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee624359.aspx

Microsoft Volume Licensing Product Activation and Key Information

http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/existing-customers/product-activation.aspx

Microsoft Volume Licensing Frequently Asked Questions About Volume License Keys

http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/existing-customers/product-activation-faq.aspx