Working with legacy Office deployments can sometimes lead to unexpected behavior, especially on newer operating systems.
In a recent lab experiment, I decided to take a closer look at how the MSI-based Office 2016 Volume License version behaves on Windows 11. The goal was simple: reproduce real-world issues and understand what’s actually happening under the hood.
The Problem
In the test environment, Office 2016 (MSI, KMS activated) was deployed on Windows 11 and used in a fairly typical scenario. Files were stored on network shares and accessed through Excel.
The issue appeared quickly. Excel would intermittently freeze when working with files over the network. Everything looked correct from a configuration standpoint, but the user experience told a different story.
Interestingly, a Click-to-Run based Office 2016 build in the same environment did not show the same behavior.
The Experiment
Instead of jumping to a full migration or switching licensing models, I decided to experiment within a controlled lab setup.
The idea was to test whether a modern Click-to-Run deployment could improve stability, while still keeping a Volume Licensing activation approach.
To make testing consistent, I used a custom script to handle the installation, configuration, and activation steps.
What Changed
The difference between MSI and Click-to-Run turned out to be more significant than expected.
MSI-based Office 2016 relies on older installation and update mechanisms, while Click-to-Run uses a more modern deployment model with ongoing updates and compatibility improvements.
In practice, this translated into noticeably better stability when working with network-based files.
Results
After switching to a Click-to-Run build in the lab environment, the freezing issues in Excel disappeared during testing.
The same files, same network conditions, and same system were used. The only difference was the deployment model.
From a practical standpoint, this suggests that the underlying installation technology can have a direct impact on application stability.
Takeaways
- Deployment model matters more than it seems
- MSI-based Office 2016 can struggle on modern systems
- Click-to-Run provides better compatibility and stability
- Lab testing can reveal issues that are hard to diagnose in production
Full Breakdown
I documented the full process, including the script and configuration used in this experiment:
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