A Saga of Fixing a Microsoft License Problem
After I boosted my primary computer's performance by replacing its HD with and an SSD, Three of the four components of Microsoft Expression Studio(Design, Web, Blend) stopped working very soon. They ask for activation, but they close immediately after the activation button is clicked, and it prompts a message boxing saying the product is already activated. The following is the journey to fix this issue:
- Obtained the phone number for activation by pulling the network cable before clicking the activation button.
- Called the number, but was told to call the technical support (1-800-936-5700) to resolve the issue.
- Called the technical support, but was told to call MSDN (1-800-759-5474) to resolve the issue.
- Called MSDN, but was told to call the professional service (1-800-936-4900) to resolve the issue.
- Called the professional service, but was told to call MSDN.
- Called MSDN the second time, but was told to call the technical support. Sensing a dead loop, I asked for an alternative to address the issue instead of looping the calls. I was told to get a slew of screen shots, and send to msubserv@microsoft.com, and they might get back in a few days.
- I found the email address of the Expression team member Christopher, and had numerous email exchanges. I followed all the instructions to diagnose the problem. Christopher, a friendly and competent person, seemed to find the culprit - replacing a drive is equivalent to installing Expression on another machine which is not allowed by the license. He referred this case to their technnical support team via email.
- Rob, a senior technical support engineer, responded by sending a tool (resetsldl.exe) to reset the license store. Hallelujah, problem was solved!
This saga went on for two weeks.
Expression Studio had the license issue again in July 2014. To solve the problem, the following steps suggested by parkfield:
- Disconnect your PC from the internet;
- Launch Expression Web. It will prompt you to activate it, but don't do it yet;
- Enter your product license key. It will complain that the license key is invalid, but that's OK - just dismiss the message;
- Now try to activate the product. After about 20 seconds it will realise you're not connected to the internet and will offer you Phone Activation;
- Follow the on-screen instructions for Phone Activation (call the number, go to the next screen to get the installation number - a number divided into 9 groups, enter the numbers).
It seems that replacing HD always causes this problem.