Quick Links
1. Introduction
Faculty and eligible staff are entitled the right to download and install Office 365 ProPlus on up to 5 personal machines (PC or Mac) and Office apps on up to 5 tablets (including Android, iPad, and Windows tablets) and 5 phones per user without additional cost. They can use Microsoft’s online cloud storage OneDrive for Business.
2. Comparison between Office Professional and Office 365 ProPlus
(* Both products can’t co-exist which will cause different kinds of compatibility issue. Please uninstall all trial or prior version of MS Office before installation of either product below.)
| Office Professional | Office 365 ProPlus | |
|---|---|---|
| Applicability | For work-related purposes on PCs owned or leased by departments subscribing to EES. One copy of each licensed product can be installed on a home PC owned or leased by staff solely for work-related purposes. | For work-related purposes or personal use on staff’s personal PCs/Macs/mobile devices. |
| Installation | Install on user’s local computer. This is a traditional Office installation that is tied to the computers it is installed on and is available through volume licensing only. | Install on user’s local computer (Office 365 ProPlus is not a web-based version of Office). This is a user-based service and is available as a subscription. |
| Functionality | It includes Access, Excel, InfoPath, OneNote, Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher, and Word | Office 365 ProPlus is a full version of Office and has the same features and functionality as other versions of Office |
| Distribution | Available for download via the arrangement of ITS (contact itssw@hku.hk) | Download using HKU Portal UID and PIN via Microsoft Online Login page |
| License key | License key available via the arrangement of ITS (contact itssw@hku.hk) | No license key is required |
| Update | Version update is done by users themselves through another installation | Always running the most current version, updates are driven by the Microsoft Online Services Team Office 365 uses Click-to-Run technology and is configured to automatically install updates from the Office 365 service |
| Deployment | Can be used on shared and multiple machines as long as they are owned or leased by the department | Not recommend for use on shared machines and mass PC deployment, can be installed on up to 5 PCs/Macs for each faculty/staff |
| Internet access | No need to connect to the Internet | Need to connect to the Internet for installation and connect to the Office Licensing Service for checking whether the Office 365 subscription is still active or if it has changed in any way (this connection needs to succeed at least once a month for Office 365 ProPlus to remain fully functional). If the connection fails within a month, the O365 will run in reduced functionality mode and users will see “product deactivated” messages when they try to use Office 365 ProPlus applications. In this mode, most commands are unavailable except view and print documents. |
| Expiry date | No expiry date | Use will be deactivated when staff leave or retire from the University. |
3. Register and check license assignment status
- HKU staff needs to access the products/ features from the M365 A3 suite to do their work can register for A3 license. You may register and check your license assignment status via https://hkuesd.hku.hk/uservice/servlet/RegisterM365License (HKU Portal login required).
4. Office 365 ProPlus Installation Guide
IMPORTANT: Before installation, please make sure you have uninstalled all trial or earlier versions of Microsoft Office on your personal devices. And before you uninstall an earlier version of Office, you may want to find the product key and installation media that came with it in case you would like to reinstall it at a later point.
If there are problems in installing/uninstalling Microsoft Office from a PC, please follow Microsoft’s guidelines:
4.1 Installation and Setup Procedures for Office 365 ProPlus
4.1.1 Installation and Setup Procedures for Office Mobile on Android Phone
4.1.2 Installation and Setup Procedures for Office Mobile on Android Tablet
4.1.3 Installation and Setup Procedures for Microsoft Office on iOS devices
4.1.4 Installation and Setup Procedures for Office 365 ProPlus on Macintosh
4.1.5 Installation and Setup Procedures for Office 365 ProPlus on Windows 10
4.2 Installation and Setup Procedures for One Drive
OneDrive for Business is a public cloud storage offered by Microsoft. Staff members are advised not to store or share any personal or sensitive data on OneDrive. Please read the “Guidelines on Electronic Communications and Storing Personal Data on Portable Storage Devices, Personally-owned Computers and Public Cloud Services” at Guidelines on Electronic Communications and Storage of Personal Data for the detailed requirements and advice on implementing appropriate security measures to protect the relevant data.
4.2.1 Installation and Setup Procedures for Microsoft OneDrive on Android Phone/Tablet
4.2.2 Installation and Setup Procedures for Microsoft OneDrive on iOS device
4.2.3 Setup Procedures for Microsoft OneDrive on Windows 8/Windows 10
5. Register the Computer and Activate Office 365 ProPlus
| Data | Description | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| OrgId user identity | The OrgId ticket generated when the user signs in to Office 365. | Used to authenticate the call with the Office Licensing Service. The user signs in to their subscription account to retrieve a license for Office 365. |
| Machine Key | The serial number of the Office 365 ProPlus product key for the computer. | Used to uniquely identify the Office 365 ProPlus product key used by the computer. |
| Machine Name | The friendly name of the computer, as set by the user in the operating system. For example, if the full name of a computer is “computer1.contoso.com,” only “computer1” is sent to Office 365. | This value is needed so users can identify which computers they have activated Office 365 ProPlus on when they sign in to the Office 365 portal. On the software page, they see a list of their computers and can manage their Office 365 ProPlus installations. |
| Machine ID | The hardware ID of the computer. | Used to uniquely identify that computer. |
6. Check the Status of Office 365 Subscription
| Data | Description | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Machine Key | The serial number of the Office 365 ProPlus product key for the computer. | Used to uniquely identify the Office 365 ProPlus product key used by the computer. |
7. Manage Product Keys for Office 365 ProPlus
Office 365 ProPlus uses a standard Microsoft technology called Activation & Validation Service to activate and validate keys. Since Office 365 product keys need to be renewed every month, communication with the Activation & Validation Service is necessary on a monthly basis.
For a description of the data sent, see the Activation section of the Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 Privacy Statement.
8. What is Reduced Functionality Mode?
In reduced functionality mode, Office 365 ProPlus remains installed on the computer but users can only view and print their documents. All features for editing or creating new documents are disabled, and the user will see a message like the following:
The user can then choose one of the available options to reactivate Office 365 ProPlus on that computer.
9. Product Deactivation
When a staff leave or retire from the University, ITS will update his/her leaving record with Microsoft. After the record is updated, staff will see a product deactivated message when they try using the Office 365 ProPlus. Staff may consider purchasing the Microsoft products if they wish to continue using them after leaving the University.
10. Video Tutorial
10.1 How to use Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus (for Windows)?
10.2 How to setup OneDrive for Business?
10.3 How to save documents under my HKU Microsoft OneDrive for Business account to my PC?
10.4 How to deactivate an Office 365 installation?
10.5 Incompatibility between locally installed products and Office 365 Pro Plus
10.6 Briefing session on Office 365 ProPlus (7 Oct 2015 (Cantonese))
10.7 Briefing session on Office 365 ProPlus (12 Oct 2015 (English))