Sounds like the installation hasn't been activated with Microsoft.
According to the EULA you are only alowed to install each retail copy of
Project on one computer only. When you finish the install, you're asked to
activate it. When you do, it surveys your hardware and then goes to the MS
site to see if that CD has been installed before. If not, it registers it
to that hardware and sends back an activation key. If it has been
installed, it checks to see if the hardware profile matches the one
previously registered. If it does, it knows it's a reinstall on the same
box and reissues the key. But if they don't match, it knows youre
installing on a 2nd box which is prohibited by the license and refuses to
issue the key. When that happens, or if you don't run the activation at
all, after a few program starts it goes into a "reduced functionality" mode
and among other things won't let you create new files or edit existing ones.
The fix is to have the workstation connected to the internet, run Project,
and in the Help menu run the activation option. If you don't have an
internet connection, there's a phone number on the activation screen you can
call that will allow you to obtain the key to input manually. Note the
phone option is only available to retail copies - the eval version also
requires activation (for some bizarre reason) but it can only be done
online.
