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System Requirments on the box and Vista 64 bit support. RRS feed

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    Stephen,

     

    I purchased Windows Live OneCare for my laptop running 64 bit Vista. The box clearly says it supports Vista and in fact is the “perfect companion” it does not differentiate between the 32 and 64 bit versions; however, when I attempt to install it, I get an error saying I have an unsupported version of windows.

    A little research reveals that version in the box does not support 64 bit even though it fails to explain that under system requirements on the box. Now…what to do ?  It seems to me there are 2 possible options, now that the box has already been opened:

    1)      Receive a refund directly from Microsoft. They should take responsibility for their failure to fully list system requirement on the box.

    2)      Have Microsoft upgrade my copy to version 2.0 or better at no additional charge.

    How do I facilitate one of these options with Microsoft?

     

    Friday, March 21, 2008 4:54 AM

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    Allen,

     

    You're only having a problem because you are trying to force the installation using the CD, which doesn't support x64 since it's an older version.

     

    If you instead go to the online OneCare web site and install the 90 day trial, which is the latest version, it should work just fine. Then simply use the Product Key on the box you purchased to Activate your installed copy once you're sure everything is working.

     

    http://onecare.live.com/

     

    OneCareBear

    Friday, March 21, 2008 5:44 AM
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    Allen,

     

    You're only having a problem because you are trying to force the installation using the CD, which doesn't support x64 since it's an older version.

     

    If you instead go to the online OneCare web site and install the 90 day trial, which is the latest version, it should work just fine. Then simply use the Product Key on the box you purchased to Activate your installed copy once you're sure everything is working.

     

    http://onecare.live.com/

     

    OneCareBear

    Friday, March 21, 2008 5:44 AM
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    I’m not sure what you mean by “force” I simply purchased a retail product that said on the box it supported Vista and attempted to install w/o success.

     

    I have now read where your recommendation has been recommended to others and it makes sense, but are you sure it will work? I have not seen any follow-up where other folks have used that approach and 90 days later followed up saying they successfully used an old product key to activate a new product. Have you personally seen this approach succeed?

     

    Friday, March 21, 2008 1:33 PM
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    I answered this post earlier today before I noticed that OneCare bear had provided the answer, so I deleted my response.

    He is correct.

    The CD in your box is an older version. That box did not specify that only 32 bit Vista was supported - a big oversight at release that was discussed last year. Vista x64 is now supported.

    All CD installs *always* go to the OneCare servers to download the latest bits, but the installer performs a pre-check before doing so and your OS is not supported by it, so it fails.

    All installs of OneCare can be activated by using a retail key that has never been used to activate a subscription before.

    The retail key from your box will activate your subscription as long as it is an unused key. The retail key is version agnostic.

    My recommendation is to install the trial. Use it for up to 90 days and then activate your 12 month subscription. The subscription starts the day you activate with the key, so take advantage of the free trial period. If you already used the free trial before and uninstalled with the intention of installing from CD, you will only have 15 days in which to activate the reinstalled trial.

    -steve

     

    Friday, March 21, 2008 3:14 PM
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    I understand all that now....but please someone simply answer my question:

     

    Have you personnaly seen what is being recommending succeed (actually work)?

    Saturday, March 22, 2008 12:35 AM
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    I haven't had the situation occur, but many others have and we know that the Product Key from a box product can be used to enable a current subscription, no matter what the version.

     

    The reason is that you are NOT buying software at all, you are buying the right to a subscription to the service for a term of one year. So all that matters is that the Product Key has never been used by anyone else, which is why the key is sealed inside the box.

     

    The current OneCare 2.0 software supports Vista, both x86 and x64, so this will work as long as your PC works properly with OneCare. This is why we both told you to use the trial, since if you haven't already Activated the subscription using the Product Key the clock hasn't started and it might also be easier to return if there actually were a problem using it on your PC.

     

    OneCareBear

    Saturday, March 22, 2008 5:36 AM
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    Well....I hope you guys are correct as there is no way it can be returned.

    Saturday, March 22, 2008 1:56 PM
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     Allen Hall wrote:

    I understand all that now....but please someone simply answer my question:

     

    Have you personnaly seen what is being recommending succeed (actually work)?

    Absolutely.

    I have used the retail key from a box copy to activate several subscriptions to OneCare that were downloaded from http://onecare.live.com

    That is the way the process is designed.

    -steve

    Monday, March 24, 2008 12:31 AM
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    Last year I had the same issue before 2.0 was out.  I got Microsoft to issue a full refund after several phone calls. 

    Friday, March 28, 2008 8:06 PM