How to Renew a Subscription to Windows Live OneCare (Updated October09)

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 12:19:59 Z

Update October 2009
Note that subscription renewals are no longer allowed. If you are holding a retail key, you may be eligible for a refund.
See here: http://onecare.live.com/standard/en-us/support/ocfaq.htm
For more information regarding OneCare End of Life Guidance see here:
http://onecare.live.com/standard/en-us/activation/oc_eol_guidance.htm

UPDATE June 2009:
Note that subscription renewals with a product key are no longer allowed. If you are holding a retail key, you can create a new susbcription with a new LiveID when your current subscription expires. We anticipate that new subscriptions will be allowed through the end of 2009 or sooner, based on the availability of Morro.

Subscriptions currently expiring as of about mid-May 2009 are being automatically extended for 6 months. There will be no charge to your credit card if you have one on file in your Billing account.

Open OneCare, click on Help/About... Note the subscription ID shown

Open your browser and sign in at http://billing.microsoft.com with the LiveID shown as the subscription ID in OneCare.

Select the OneCare subscription shown.

Click "renew this service."

You should see a page with the following (as of 2/26/08 verified with a US paid account):

Plan Description

To renew your subscription with a Product Key or prepaid PIN, click here.

To renew your subscription with a credit card, direct debit, or other payment method, click Next.

Select the option you prefer and provide the requested information. Note that renewal takes effect on the date that your current subscription expires and that it can take up to 24 hours for the subscription status to be updated in OneCare if you are renewing within 30 days of expiration and 5 days if renewal was performed between 90 and 30 days before expiration.

If you encounter an error, "Unable to complete request" 2002, when following the renewal link from within OneCare (when OneCare advises you to renew your subscription as an action to take) this means that you have signed in with an incorrect LiveID, that is, not the LiveID associated with your current subscription. You will need to retry your sign-in with the correct LiveID which can be located in Help/About OneCare... in the main OneCare program interface.

Incorrect Country in the Payment Form

If you selected the option to renew with a credit card, direct debit, or other payment method, and the form does not allow you to select the correct country for your location:

Open IE and in Tools/Internet Options, verify that your language setting is correct for your country.

If it is not, click "Add" to select your language and country combination from the list.

Make that selection the default. It should appear at the top of the list.

Remove or demote other entries that are not appropriate for your country.