Soon Microsoft are to release an update to the Office 2016 Volume License installer on VLSC.
This update is 15.17 & is the first that has a few changes that may affect the way you deploy Office 2016.
These changes are going to be later enforced in 15.20 & onwards. Below are some details on the changes, some of the why & how via the power of the MacAdmins.org Slack & the awesome @pbowden that some of us have had a sneak peek.
Office 2016 include applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. They’re available as a one-time purchase for use on a single PC. Microsoft 365 plans include premium versions of these applications plus other services that are enabled over the Internet, including online storage with OneDrive and Skype minutes for home use.
Contents
- 1 What’s Changing?
When you download the .iso from VLSC you’ll notice two packages within it:
Office 2016 Mac Update 2019
- This article was written by Travis Boylls.Travis Boylls is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. Travis has experience writing technology-related articles, providing software customer service, and in graphic design.
- If you would like to update Office but can't open any of your Office apps, try repairing your Office suite: Go to Control Panel Programs Uninstall a program. Find and select your version of Microsoft Office on your computer. In the bar above, click Change.
The change is the new second pkg: “Microsoft_Office_2016_VL_Serializer.pkg”
What’s that about?
Well, for a while now it’s been fairly common practice to deploy the Office license to Macs outside of the Office installers or updates.
This came about as on occasion an Office Update or Installer would delete the file.
However, whilst the deletion itself was a bug, the ability to use the license.plist across Macs was also a bug.
What is it & should I use it?
With Office 2016, Microsoft are moving to a device based serialisation method. Which means that deploying the plist /Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.office.licensingv2.plist will no longer work.
This device based serialisation is based around the generating a license on the Mac that is to be running Office 2016.
So if you employ monolithic imaging or deploy Office 2016 via a Composer snap shot etc, the serialisation will not work. (Please don’t deploy Office 2016 via a Composer snap shot, use the pkg).
Also, if you install Office 2016 whilst booted to another volume (as in when installing via a NetBoot or NetInstall volume or something like Target Mode Imaging), again the serialisation will not work.
To install Office 2016 from another volume & have the serialisation work, cache it locally on the Mac being imaged & install on first boot or if using Casper Imaging check “Install on boot drive after Imaging” for the PKG from within Casper Admin.
However, to enable Office 2016 to be correctly licensed in the multitude of deployment scenarios that we mac admins employ, @pbowden & his team have created the “Microsoft_Office_2016_VL_Serializer.pkg”
Running this will correctly serialise the Office 2016 suite, & should be run from the Mac that’s running the suite. So again, can be added post imaging & then the suite will be correctly serialised.
To be clear, this will only affect you if using the Volume Licensed version of Office 2016 & not the Office365 version.
What happens if I carry on copying the licensing.plist?
For now, not much.
15.17 is the first release with the “Microsoft_Office_2016_VL_Serializer.pkg”, from 15.20 (scheduled for Q1 2016) you will have to use the correct license.
How did people find this out?
Well a little over a month ago a gentleman with the nick @pbowden hopped into the #microsoft-office channel on the MacAdmins.org Slack, this was awesome as @pbowden is a: Software engineer for Office for Mac/iOS at Microsoft, a fellow Brit & nice guy.
It’s been a great few weeks with the community sharing feedback with @pbowden & some of us being able to test pre-release installers for Office.
I hope this warning has been as helpful to you, as it was when @pbowden shared it with us.
Microsoft Office 2016 Update – Learn how to disable automatic updates in Office 2016? Top 3 methods to disable automatic updates in Office 2016, Disable office 2016 update
We are all acquainted with the Microsoft Office updates which every time brings some really cool as well as easy to use features. Likewise, Office 2016 is the latest edition of Microsoft Office and needless to say that it is as awesome as its predecessors. With lots of different customization options, Microsoft Office 2016 has also overcome few glitches which you faced in its previous editions.
Not only this, you have always come across Windows as well as Office updates which are launched every time a bug is fixed! With each update, there are several bugs that get fixed and at times, it also works as a security solution. This is what makes it necessary for you to never ignore any of the Microsoft Office updates.
In the meanwhile, not all new updates are focused at bringing in new features and you may not always want to update your Microsoft Office package just like that! It is also possible that sometimes these updates can ruin your entire experience. Hence, you may find yourself in situations when you need to disable automatic updates! If you have also experienced this with Microsoft Office 2016 update, you are most likely looking for options to disable Office 2016 automatic updates.
Check For Updates Office 2016
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Top 3 Methods to Disable Automatic Updates in Office 2016
Before proceeding to try below-explained step by step methods, some of the most important things you need to know are that these methods are applicable for only to the Microsoft Office 2016 installed as part of Office 365 subscription as well as the one-time purchase of Office 2016 (either from the retail store or online).
So, if you are now ready to disable Office 2016 updates then here are 3 best ways using which you can disable automatic updates in Office 2016. Let’s know how to turn off automatic updates:
Method 1: Using In- Built Option of Windows
If you are using Windows 10 operating system on your PC, you can find the solution of how to disable auto update for Office 2016 very easily. This setting is available across the previous versions of Windows OS as well. In order to disable Microsoft Office 2016 automatic updates:
Step (1): First of all, press Win + I keys together and go to the option “Update and Security”.
Step (2): After this, expand the section of “Windows Update”.
Step (3): You will see “Advanced Options” button here, Click on it.
Step (4): Now you have to uncheck the option “Give me updates for other Microsoft products when I update Windows”.
Step (5): That’s it! You have successfully disabled the automatic updates.
By following the above steps, you have successfully disabled Office 2016 update and you are good to go now!! The next time when Windows will be searching for updates, it will ignore all the updates that are available for other Windows products.
And if you are using another version of Windows like Windows 8.1, Windows 8, and Windows 7 operating system etc. then the process of disabling automatic updates for Office 2016 is little different. For Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 versions, the method to find the same option is as follows:
Step (1): At first, go to the Control Panel → Open “Windows Update” settings.
Step (2): Go to “Change Settings” option on the left side.
Step (3): The next screen will have an option saying “Give me updates for other Microsoft products when I update Windows”. Simply, uncheck this check box to disable Office 2016 automatic updates.
Thus, you can see how simple is to disable automatic updates in Microsoft Office 2016.
Method 2: Using In-Built Option of Office 2016
Office 2016 update comes with several new features and there is ample scope for improvement as well. This is not a brand new option for blocking updates, but you can easily use it to disable automatic updates. In order to use this specific method of how to disable auto update in Office 2016, follow the below steps:
Step (1): Open any Microsoft Office product such as Word, Outlook, Excel, etc.
Step (2): Click on “File” button → Go to “Account” or “Office Account” section.
Step (3): You will see another option “Office Updates” here. By default, it is set to “Enable Updates”.
Step (4): Click on the “Update Options” button here and select “Disable Updates” from the drop- down menu.
Disabling auto-updates using the in-built option of Microsoft Office 2016 is also one of the most preferred ways, so if you are not happy with the first method then you can use this simplest method.
Method 3: Using DoNotSpy
DoNotSpy is a free software for Windows 10 using which you can disable automatic updates in Office 2016 without any difficulty. Using this software, you can disable all the things which Microsoft gathers from its users of Windows 10. You can disable your location, disable Microsoft Office 2016 update and also disable the password reveal button.
You can utilize this button further by downloading DoNotSpy software for your Windows 10 PC. After this, open the window of DoNotSpy app and look out for the option here that says “Disable Windows Update for Other Products”. Check the checkbox which is opposite to this option and then click on “Apply” button. Doing this will change the setting automatically and there is also no need to restart your PC afterwards.
Conclusion
So, these are the top 3 simplest ways using which you can disable automatic updates in Office 2016. All these methods will perfectly stop the automatic updates which you were getting in your Microsoft office 2016. Try out these methods to disable automatic updates Office 2016 and share your experience with us!
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