Installed office 2021from on-line download. Computer crash can't re-install

Hi Al, I get how stressful that can be after just setting everything up. The issue is that Office 2021 is tied to the product key and your Microsoft account, not the old hard drive. When the drive crashed, the installation was lost, but your license should still be valid. First, sign in to the same Microsoft account you used when you bought Office and go to account.microsoft.com/services. Do you see Office 2021 listed there? If yes, you can download and reinstall it from that page. If it’s not showing, do you still have your product key or purchase confirmation email? Also, are you installing on the same computer or a different one? Let me know what you find.

Got it, Al. If it’s asking you to uninstall from the old hard drive, that usually means the license is still linked to that previous installation. Since the drive is gone, you can’t uninstall it, but there’s a workaround. Go back to your Microsoft account and check if there’s an option to “Deactivate” or “Remove” the old device under your Office installs. That will free up the license for your current setup. If you don’t see that option, we might need to use the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant tool to reset the activation. Do you still have your product key handy, or was it a digital purchase tied only to your account?