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    I purchased Windows Live One Care at office depot, installed the disk but the product key will not be accepted to activate.  It returns incorrect product key every time.  I have a previous ID and signed in but it just won't accept the key.  What am I doing wrong or what do I need to do?

    Tuesday, July 29, 2008 12:10 PM

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    The following section of this reply is no longer valid:

    I contacted the OneCare team on the fact that there have been 3 posts for the same issue today and the common point seems to be Office Depot.

    I've been asked if you would be able to provide the product key for them to research.

    **DO NOT POST IT HERE**

    Either send an email to me at sboots@mvps.org or send it to wloc@live.com with a subject line of "OneCare Office Depot Product Key Invalid" and include the key within the message body.

    Thanks and I hope we can determine if it is a problem with some keys not being entered into the system on the Microsoft side.

    -steve

     

    I received confirmation that the problem was identified and corrected on the activation servers for some retail keys being returned as invalid. I did receive one example key per the request I posted yesterday and that person confirmed that the key worked after the fix was made.

    I'm sorry for the confusion that this caused and hope that whatever the cause of the problem server side can be prevented in the future.

    -steve

    Tuesday, July 29, 2008 9:00 PM
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    Hi, bluffschristina.

    If you are getting an error about the key being invalid, you are mistaking at least one character or you have a misprinted key. The latter is very rare, though it can happen.

    I hate the font that they use for the key - some characters are miserable to discern. J and I look all too much alike, as do O and 0.

    I recommend that you use a magnifying glass to check the characters closely - I find that I need to do this. If you are still encountering a problem with activation, you have about 2 weeks to get activated, so I'd go ahead and open an email request to support, explaining the problem. See the FAQ and use the Trial user option to start the email request. If you can provide a digital image - scan or photo - of the key to the tech that responds, they can validate the key for you.

    How to reach support (FAQ) - http://forums.microsoft.com/WindowsOneCare/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=2421771&SiteID=2

    -steve

     

    UPDATE: The above was posted before a server side problem was found and fixed with the activation servers that caused some retail keys to be rejected.

    Tuesday, July 29, 2008 12:45 PM
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    Just this Sunday I purchased a copy of onecare from Office Depot too for a client of mine.  I am having apparently the same issue with activation.  I have used a magnifying glass to make sure that B,8,Q,O,0, etc are correct.  I had deleted off the expired Onecare and used the same hotmail.com account that was used before.  I then made a live.com account and that didn't help.

     

    The only strange thing I saw was that of the many onecare boxes that I have installed, this one did not have the plastic seal around the side edge (the one that has "Peel" written on it.)  The circular plastic seal on the top edge appeared intact and the red tab at the top also appeared intact.

     

    What steps would you suggest for me to take at this time.

     

    Thanks for your help.

     

    Tuesday, July 29, 2008 12:59 PM
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    Thanks you Steve, I'll give it a try.

    Tom

    Tuesday, July 29, 2008 12:59 PM
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     msandin wrote:

    Just this Sunday I purchased a copy of onecare from Office Depot too for a client of mine.  I am having apparently the same issue with activation.  I have used a magnifying glass to make sure that B,8,Q,O,0, etc are correct.  I had deleted off the expired Onecare and used the same hotmail.com account that was used before.  I then made a live.com account and that didn't help.

     

    The only strange thing I saw was that of the many onecare boxes that I have installed, this one did not have the plastic seal around the side edge (the one that has "Peel" written on it.)  The circular plastic seal on the top edge appeared intact and the red tab at the top also appeared intact.

     

    What steps would you suggest for me to take at this time.

     

    Thanks for your help.

     

    If it reports that the key is invalid, then it would appear to be a problem deciphering the key or a rare mis-printed label. If the broken or missing seal indicated that the key had been used, you'd be getting a different error - it would report that they key was already in use.

    So, the above advice applies - contact support for help in deciphering/confirming the key code or exchange the package at the retail location for another.

    Good luck,

    -steve 

    Tuesday, July 29, 2008 1:20 PM
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    Help!!! nothing is working. I bought windows live care yesterday from office depot and product key will not validate. I tried getting support and it keeps rejecting me because it cannot validate. I just want to validate my product key and move on!!
    Tuesday, July 29, 2008 6:10 PM
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    What's up with OneCare?  I purchased a new version of OneCare yesterday at an office supply store and tried to install it today.  It has been nothing but frustrating... the product key won't work and it is Microsoft's standard sticker with the 25-character product key!  There doesn't seem to be any way to get help directly either - you would think that with a security product we would be able to chat directly with Tech Support!  Help!

    Tuesday, July 29, 2008 6:42 PM
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    Yours is the second post today regarding a problem with a key from Office Depot, so it may not be you, but you may have a bad key. I'll paste the standard reply below, but you may want to consider exchanging your copy for another at Office Depot.

    If you are getting an error about the key being invalid, you are mistaking at least one character or you have a misprinted key. The latter is very rare, though it can happen.

    I hate the font that they use for the key - some characters are miserable to discern. J and I look all too much alike, as do O and 0.

    I recommend that you use a magnifying glass to check the characters closely - I find that I need to do this. If you are still encountering a problem with activation, you have about 2 weeks to get activated, so I'd go ahead and open an email request to support, explaining the problem. See the FAQ and use the Trial user option to start the email request. If you can provide a digital image - scan or photo - of the key to the tech that responds, they can validate the key for you.

    How to reach support (FAQ) - http://forums.microsoft.com/WindowsOneCare/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=2421771&SiteID=2

    -steve

     

    UPDATE: The above was posted before a server side problem was found and fixed with the activation servers that caused some retail keys to be rejected.

    Tuesday, July 29, 2008 7:10 PM
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    Did you purchase from Office Depot?

    If so, your post is number 3 for this problem today and that may mean a batch of bad keys in the distribution chain. I'll be contacting the OneCare team, but you may want to consider exchanging your copy for another at the store. I'll paste the standard response below anyway.

    If you are getting an error about the key being invalid, you are mistaking at least one character or you have a misprinted key. The latter is very rare, though it can happen.

    I hate the font that they use for the key - some characters are miserable to discern. J and I look all too much alike, as do O and 0.

    I recommend that you use a magnifying glass to check the characters closely - I find that I need to do this. If you are still encountering a problem with activation, you have about 2 weeks to get activated, so I'd go ahead and open an email request to support, explaining the problem. See the FAQ and use the Trial user option to start the email request. If you can provide a digital image - scan or photo - of the key to the tech that responds, they can validate the key for you.

    How to reach support (FAQ) - http://forums.microsoft.com/WindowsOneCare/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=2421771&SiteID=2

    -steve

    UPDATE: The above was posted before a server side problem was found and fixed with the activation servers that caused some retail keys to be rejected.

    Tuesday, July 29, 2008 7:12 PM
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    The following section of this reply is no longer valid:

    I contacted the OneCare team on the fact that there have been 3 posts for the same issue today and the common point seems to be Office Depot.

    I've been asked if you would be able to provide the product key for them to research.

    **DO NOT POST IT HERE**

    Either send an email to me at sboots@mvps.org or send it to wloc@live.com with a subject line of "OneCare Office Depot Product Key Invalid" and include the key within the message body.

    Thanks and I hope we can determine if it is a problem with some keys not being entered into the system on the Microsoft side.

    -steve

     

    I received confirmation that the problem was identified and corrected on the activation servers for some retail keys being returned as invalid. I did receive one example key per the request I posted yesterday and that person confirmed that the key worked after the fix was made.

    I'm sorry for the confusion that this caused and hope that whatever the cause of the problem server side can be prevented in the future.

    -steve

    Tuesday, July 29, 2008 9:00 PM
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    Excuse me, but not everyone has vision issues, as much as I appreciate the fact that the Product Keys are sometimes hard to read... I have rechecked and triple-checked my product key on my OneCare box, and I am indeed inputting it correctly.  Now what?  Is there not someone with whom I can communicate with and forward the key I have via e-mail to verify it prior to having to go back to Office Depot for a new product?  Our company policy requires that we dismantle the software packaging so that no one can use it again, so I don't have the packaging in its original condition now (it's broken down with the product key cut out and taped into the manual, with the other paperwork stapled to same).  I did scan in the Product Key as a jpg file so I can forward it to y'all for your review.  Please advise... this is taking way too much of my time to deal with this and making me wonder why I even thought about switching from McAfee!

    Wednesday, July 30, 2008 2:09 PM
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    Have you read my latest reply from this morning, Jon? Yesterday evening I contact the OneCare team and they were able to find and correct a problem with the activation server. Please try to activate again this morning with the original key. If that key still fails to work, please email me per the instructions in my last reply in this thread so that I can have your key checked by the OneCare team.

     

    -steve

     

    Wednesday, July 30, 2008 2:43 PM
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    Thank you Steve, no I hadn't read that in your reply, or rather my mistake, I misunderstood your reply in that I thought you were repeating the same points about reading the Product Key with a magnifyer.  I will try to install today and get back with you on the success or failure of same.

     

    Wednesday, July 30, 2008 2:46 PM
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    My reply yesterday to all three who reported the problem was indeed my boilerplate text for using the magnifying glass, along with a suggestion to possibly exchange the product based on a suspicion that there was a bad batch of keys. I'll edit that reply right now (I deleted 2 duplicates when I merged the posts into a single thread) That suspicion was confirmed last night, though it doesn't mean that the keys are bad, it means that there was something that needed to be done on the server side to identify the keys as valid for activation. In other words, the keys were printed and placed in the retail package, but whatever process is supposed to add a block of keys to the servers to make them valid for use didn't happen or didn't happen correctly. That was fixed yesterday evening at some point. I am hopeful that it is 100% fixed, hence my request for confirmation that you can now activate.

     

    -steve
    Wednesday, July 30, 2008 2:54 PM
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    Steve >>> I followed your last direction, and lo & behold, the program actually installed, accepting my Product Key, thank you.  Now, not to seem too ungrateful, but I remember why I didn't immediately take advantage of acquiring the program from the trial... who do I chat with about the issues with the program itself?  This same challenge came up in the trial, although I thought then that it might be happening because it was a trial: when there is a problem detected by OneCare, the "fix" button becomes available... okay, I click on that button which directs me to a blank page whose address is >

    "...\Microsoft Windows OneCare Live\GTOneCare\HTML\GTAgent\html\index.htm".

    As said, this is a blank page with no where to go... I gather that this is supposed to have information on it to fix whatever problem the program detected.

     

    Okay, now that you've read this, can you direct me to whichever area of online help or forum that can respond, please?  Thanks again for your help with the installation issues.

    JON (jonclp)  Smile

    Wednesday, July 30, 2008 3:48 PM
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    Glad to read that the activation was successful.

    If Fix It doesn't work - try the database reset tool - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4bc2594b-95ab-4235-b5b8-41656b38480f&DisplayLang=en

     

    When you click Fix-It, when a problem was detected by OneCare, it is supposed to run a script to repair whatever problem is has detected and has the capability of repairing. Since you are seeing that blank page, the script is either corrupt or blocked, but I'll assume the former as people have reported that the database reset tool usually fixes the problem.

     

    If it doesn't you should contact OneCare support.

    How to reach support (FAQ) - http://forums.microsoft.com/WindowsOneCare/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=2421771&SiteID=2

     

    -steve

    Wednesday, July 30, 2008 4:17 PM
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    Thanks so much.  I went back to the client and re-tried the registration and all is well.  Thnaks Microsoft for listening and addressing an issue so quickly.

     

    This is why I use Microsoft products.  They are great. I wrote my first program with FORTRAN in 1963.  I don't want to go back to the "good old days".  Give me today where I can install and congure a new computer on a network in almost nothing flat!

     

    Miles Sandin

    Bridgewater Virginia

     

     

     

    Wednesday, August 13, 2008 9:30 PM
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    I purchased windows live one care and tried to activate the product key but it says its already in use. I need a different product key.

    Thursday, August 14, 2008 1:43 PM
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     27jerry@live.com wrote:

    I purchased windows live one care and tried to activate the product key but it says its already in use. I need a different product key.

    If you have never used the key before, then please exchange the retail copy at the store from which you purchased it. If you already activated on one PC and you are now trying to activate on a second PC, use the same LiveID to activate - the key can only be used once.

    -steve

    Thursday, August 14, 2008 4:54 PM
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    Steve, this resaponse is rediculous!

     

    I am haviong the exact same problem and the "easy to use" one care is pure junk!!!

     

    How do I speak to a live person to get my issues resolved?

     

    Thursday, August 14, 2008 11:53 PM
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    I Purchased a windows live one care cd on line after having the service which is about to expire in 20 days.
    i tried to install the new key 6 times and it says that it has already been used.
    Should I mention where I bought it or call them and demand a new key?
    Steve G
    Friday, August 15, 2008 6:40 AM
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     Hankxr wrote:

    Steve, this resaponse is rediculous!

     

    I am haviong the exact same problem and the "easy to use" one care is pure junk!!!

     

    How do I speak to a live person to get my issues resolved?

     

    How is this response ridiculous? If you are trying to use a key from a sealed retail package and have never used it before and the activation process reports that the key has already been used, then you need to exchange the package since it cannot be used again. The package was either returned and resealed to look like it was never opened or it was a mistake at manufacturing and a duplicate key was printed. Calling someone isn't going to resolve that.

     

    If you already activated OneCare on another PC with that retail key, you now have a subscription and need to activate the second and 3rd PC and any reinstalls using the same LiveID as your subscription as they key cannot be used again.

     

    -steve

    Friday, August 15, 2008 1:25 PM
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     Snapper1960 wrote:
    I Purchased a windows live one care cd on line after having the service which is about to expire in 20 days.
    i tried to install the new key 6 times and it says that it has already been used.
    Should I mention where I bought it or call them and demand a new key?
    Steve G

    You can mention where you purchased it, but the same answer as above applies to you. If *you* never activated a subscription with that key and got the error on the initial use, indicating that the key was already in use, you were given a used or duplicate key and should get it exchanged.

    -steve

    Friday, August 15, 2008 1:38 PM
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