tigernut, I'm not sure that I understand your issue or issues.
1. If you used a key to renew or start a subscription previously, then you will not be charged for renewal. If you are charged for renewal, contact support for a refund. And, yes, they are likely to be overseas.
2. If you have not yet used the key, then you need to start a new subscription in order to renew with that key. You should not need to do that, though, as all currently expiring subscriptions are being extended for 6 months for free.
3. If both PCs are running OneCare with the same subscription, and printer sharing within OneCare is not working, it is possible that your Vista PC is 64 bit, which will not allow OneCare's printer sharing feature to work. You would need to share it manually from the Vista machine and install the XP driver on the XP machine. Contact the printer manufacturer for the driver, if needed.
If the firewall is preventing printer sharing from working, do the following:
Open OneCare on each of the computers.
Click Change Settings
On the firewall tab, click configure firewall
If the network is shown as Public, click Change Location to change it to "Home or Work."
Click the Advanced Settings button
Click Network connections tab.
If there are multiple active connections shown, you may need to disable the extras in your Windows network connections settings. (Network and Sharing Center, manage connections, in Vista; Right click My Network Places and select Properties on the Start menu in XP)
On the Ports and Protocols tab, add a check mark next to File and Printer Sharing - for subnet and Internet if the first setting alone (after all of the above are verified) does not allow Sharing to work.
If all of the above fail, please contact support.
How to reach support (FAQ) - http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/onecareinstallandactivate/thread/30400b52-7f26-4ba0-bc18-17e305329d90
-steve
Microsoft MVP Windows Live / Windows Live OneCare, Live Mesh, & MS Security Essentials Forums Moderator
