Help with "A licensing installation error has occurred. Please contact customer support for more assistance." I uninstalled attempted reinstall now it says my key in not invalid (same one on disk worked fine)

Question

Please help I have a new copy of Microsoft expression web 3 I got this message after using for a few weeks "A licensing installation error has occurred. Please contact customer support for more assistance." I uninstalled attempted reinstall now it says my key in not invalid (same one on disk worked fine the first time rechecked x 10 my entering correctly). I talked phone support they issued me new product key and that did not help. (I did have reformat my HD and uninstall / reinstall a few times.) However it was working fine this installation prior to failing. Thanks Terry

Answer 1

Hi Terry, Ron here. Yours is the only post on this subject that I found. I have WinXP with all Service Packs/updates. I purchased a retail EW3 from Amazon and have been using EW3 for a couple months with no problem. No install problems, but I had to put in a graphics card to get the required resolution. Tonight I made a change to a DWT and saved it and EW3 hung up. I had to reboot, and after the reboot EW3 would get this message on startup: "A licensing installation error has occurred. Please contact customer support for more assistance." The only option is to close, and it is permanent. After your post I'm scared to try uninstall/reinstall. Have you gotten around this problem, or got the reinstall to work? Where did you find the support number to get a new key?

Answer 2

This issue is caused by a corrupt license store. Unfortunately, it cannot be resolved via the forums. If you can contact us via support.microsoft.com, we can assist in troubleshooting and resolving the issue.

Jim

Answer 3

OK - I'm having the same issue.  As near as I can tell, at support.microsoft.com, the only way to get support is either for $99 or $249.  I just paid $450 for 3 copies of Expression Web last week.  Is there no other way to get help with this?

Answer 4

We're currently investigating a possible way for customers to resolve this kind of thing on their own. However, we're in the early stages of that so I can't share details. I'll post here as soon as I know something. In the meantime, the only way to resolve licensing issues is to contact us via a support incident.

Jim

Answer 5

Hi Ron,

This was message (chat) leading me there " Professional Support Team at 800-936-4900 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting             xx 800-936-4900xx      end_of_the_skype_highlighting. They are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They are the best team that can immediately help you in resolving this issue"  however the new key did not help me it called it invalid also. I have NOT  gotten it fixed yet.
Thanks Terry

Answer 6

Hi Jim Thanks sounds like a start. I am concerned I do a web page using this program and we have conf coming up I need to start posting a lot. I need a fix very soon. I got on the support.Microsoft.com site and did not find any help. My search for corrupt license store got 157 hits none of which was any help. How can I actually contact some to help fix this corrupt license store? Thanks Terry

Answer 7

Hi Jim this is the type of warning I get in event log

Product: Microsoft Expression Web. The application tried to modify a protected Windows registry key \Software\Classes\Interface\{F1F4C9D8-590A-4963-B3AE-1935671BB6F3}.

Answer 8

There could be several things going on here. It could be Registry permissions, a corrupt license store, or any number of other things. In order to best troubleshoot that, we would need to collect data from you.

Go to support.microsoft.com and look for the link at the bottom that says "Contact a Support Professional by Email, Online, or Phone." That link will take you where you need to go.

Jim

Answer 9

"Go to support.microsoft.com and look for the link at the bottom that says "Contact a Support Professional by Email, Online, or Phone." That link will take you where you need to go."

Jim,

Only if you want to spend $99 to get the answer. Try following that link.

Answer 10

Unfortunately, if your license store is invalid, it's not something you can fix on your own.

Jim

Answer 11

I believe I have narrow done the timing from working to not working. This occurred on 2/26 after this windows update:

Expression Web 3 Service Pack 1 (KB976594)

Installation date: ‎2/‎26/‎2010 10:22 PM

Installation status: Successful

Update type: Important

Microsoft Expression Web 3 Service Pack 1 (KB976594) contains significant fixes and improvements in publishing, SuperPreview, file management, extensibility, and other areas of the program.

More information:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/976594

Help and Support:
http://support.microsoft.com/ph/12105

This make no sense that I a should have to pay to fix something in my view MS broke with an update. I do not understand the lack of support of products. I buy the operating system/s, I buy the software do everything by the book and when a update stops the operation of the program it should be my expense to get the MS support to fix. This does not seem right. Terry

Answer 12

Please contact me at jamesche at microsoft dot com.

Thank you.

Jim

Answer 13

I have read this thread and all others that I could find on the licensing issue, to no avail. I have contacted Customer Support as suggested here and they referred me back to this forum. (A circular reference?)

Anyway, I have the same issue, where EW3 tells me that a licensing installation error has occurred. I have a valid product key (verified by Customer Support), but reinstallation tells me that the key is invalid.

In March, Jim Chesire indicated that he would look into this issue and report back. Has anything developed? I am now stuck with inoperative software that I've paid for and love, but it has gone AWOL.

Tom

Answer 14

Hi, I have the same issue too. When I rebooted 2 day's ago, My office 2007 asks for activation while it was already activated ( for a year). Now today I start Blend and I get the same error. Could those 2 be related?

I replaced my cpu 1 or 2 months ago and I updated my display driver last week.

 

thanks Subzero.

Answer 15

Making major changes in hardware may trigger a reactivation. just
activate again and you will be fine.

Regards Jens Peter Karlsen.
On Wed, 28 Jul 2010 08:53:39 +0000, djsubzero wrote:

Hi, I have the same issue too. When I rebooted 2 day's ago, My office 2007 asks for activation while it was already activated ( for a year). Now today I start Blend and I get the same error. Could those 2 be related?

I replaced my cpu 1 or 2 months ago and I updated my display driver last week.

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Regards Jens Peter Karlsen.

Answer 16

For ms office, i thought so yes, but because I have problems with Expression studio also, I thought they might be related.

Anyway, Windows update f*cked up my system, so I'll re-install windows.

 

Good moment to upgrade to 7 ;-)

 

Subzero

Answer 17

In March, Jim Chesire indicated that he would look into this issue and report back. Has anything developed? I am now stuck with inoperative software that I've paid for and love, but it has gone AWOL.

Tom, I would suggest contacting Jim directly at the e-mail address he provided in this thread.

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Paul Bartholomew, Microsoft Expression Web

Answer 18

We did investigate a way to allow customers to resolve this without assistance from us, but unfortunately, that's not possible.

Jim

 

Answer 19

Jim - I having the same type of problem with Exp Studio 2 & a corrupt license store.  Worked great for a while, did some updates and now the only module that works is Expression Web.  The other modules tell me I have a licensing issue and need to contact MS.  Attempted to back out the updates and but that got me no where.  Removed and reinstalled everything "except" Exp Web (because it worked and I really needed it) but no joy.  So for the past 2 years or so, I've only been using Web 2.  Since I "now" need the other modules because my needs have changed, I need to make some decisions:

1.  Pay some you or some other MS person to fix a problem of your own design.  Looks like that will cost me $100 based on some of the other post and if it worked, I would end the day still owning Exp Studio 2.

2.  Upgrade to Exp Studio 4.  Would that fix the problem?  Would the Upgrade Package accept the valid activation status of my Exp Web 2, or would it pick up the non-activated status of the other 4 modules?

3.  Would upgrading to Windows 7 fix the problem in it's current form?  I currently have Vista.

I have to call the ball on this issue shortly.  My firm is embarking on some new business endeavors and we need to decide whether to use this MS Suite of products or go to Adobe - which is building momentum at my firm.  I desire to stick with MS since I'm a loyal MS client but I'm extremely disappointed with this product because of how the updates ruined everything and now, no matter which direction I choose, I have to spend more money on a MS issue.  Aside from the frustration, if upgrading to Exp Studio would fix the problem, I would be more interested in doing that. 

Thoughts?

Answer 20

Mine sarted this morning after a bunch of upgrade were installed last nite. It seem that MS just can't get anything to run consistantly since W98se

Answer 21

Why doesn't ms devolpe a fix?

Answer 22

And who, exactly, are you asking that?  This is a EW user to user forum.

Answer 23

Kevin,

We absolutely agree that there are some issues with licensing that are a problem of our own design. If you are encountering a licensing issue, any case that you work with us will not be charged. You will likely have to give a credit card when you open the case, but nothing is charged until the case is actually closed, and all of our front-line engineers know that they should not decrement cases that are caused by licensing issues, so you won't be charged. You can verify that with your support engineer. Be assured that we are committed to doing the fair thing here. We're not going to charge customers to fix an issue caused by a problem in our license store.

Upgrading to Studio 4 will fix any Expression 2 licensing problems because version 2 and version 4 don't share the same license store.

Upgrading to Windows 7 would resolve the issue only if you reformat and reinstall. Doing so means that you start fresh and that will naturally resolve the issue you are having.

Finally, if you'd like to contact me directly, I can get a case created for you so that we can get your issue resolved. You can do that at jamesche at microsoft dot com.

Jim

Answer 24

Howdy Jim,

Perhaps you can help resolve this issue as I am having the exact same problem. Tried reinstalling multiple times with no luck.  EW2 works fine though as you mentioned since they have separate license stores. Will MSFT be releasing a fix for this anytime soon?

Answer 25

Read Jim's response.  He already told you what to do.

Answer 26

Rather than email me, it's best to just contact us via support.microsoft.com and get a case created. If the problem is a corrupt license store, you won't be charged for the case.

Jim

 

Answer 27

Thank you Mr. Cheshire. So nobody else has to go through the hours of tech torture I endured, here's what happened with Expression Web 3 and 4 on my newly installed Windows 7 partition:

I "successfully" installed Expression Web 4 (EW4). After making sure it worked and it was fully licensed, I uninstalled Expression Web 3 (EW3). That's when all ____ broke loose. Something in the uninstall corrupted the licensing for EW4, and surprisingly, for EW3 as well.

Once I uninstalled EW3, EW4 would start, but would not allow me to do anything. Instead it gave me a message that "A licensing error has occurred. Restart your Expression program and try again. If you continue to receive this error message, reinstall your Expression program to make sure that the license installs correctly."

I first tried to repair EW4. At the end of the repair, I got the message with the headline "Install failed."

The message read: "Setup failed to install Microsoft Expression Studio 4 Web Professional. Licensing installation failure. Proof-of-purchase was invalid." It told me to "resolve the issue and start Microsoft Expression Studio 4 Web Professional setup again." Every time I start Microsoft Expression Studio 4 Web Professional, I get the message I quoted two paragraphs above this one. I then uninstalled Microsoft Expression Studio 4 Web Professional and reinstalled it -- with the same result.

When I've tried to reinstall Expression Web 3 from my CD ROM, it rejects the product key. I've typed it correctly, but I get the message "Key is not valid. Verify and enter your product key again."

I obviously need your help. I've looked this up in the Expression Web forums and found a pertinent discussion at  http://social.expression.microsoft.com/forums/en-us/web/thread/52731A69-1358-41D7-A43E-DF22EEE99B55

The bottom line is that I had to visit http://support.microsoft.com and submit a request for assistance -- giving them a credit card, etc. However, as the forum moderator had explained, I was not charged for the technical support since "all of our front-line engineers know that they should not decrement cases that are caused by licensing issues, so you won't be charged" and "We're not going to charge customers to fix an issue caused by a problem in our license store."

The next day a tech support engineer called from India and spent an hour with me repairing the licenses. I had to totally uninstall all versions of Expression Web from the computer. He downloaded a 10 MB license repair file to my computer and had to take over the computer for a bit to run it. I had to download a new copy of EW4 and install it. So far it's running great. The support engineer told me not to uninstall EW3, saying that EW4 might be dependent on EW3. I highly doubt that, but given that the last time I uninstalled EW3 it corrupted the license for EW4, I guess I'll need to leave both versions on the computer. Seems pretty bizarre to me.

I was NOT charged for the tech support.

Anyway, I hope this helps others avoid the problems I ran into. I will say it's pretty darned kind of Microsoft to give a free upgrade to EW4. And thanks to Mr. Cheshire for the tip.

Answer 28

Just as an aside, with data storage costing about $100 per terabyte (10¢ per GB) these days, I see no reason whatsoever to uninstall software unless specifically directed to before upgrading (which usually involves beta software).

In the two-and-a-half years I've been a regular here, I can recall more problems caused by uninstalls than by initial installs, by far. It seems to me that while an installation program knows exactly what it needs to install for the program to work, perhaps the uninstall program has no way of knowing that a critical dll, license file, registry tree, whatever, that it's about to remove or restore is needed by a subsequent version of the program.

So, I leave 'em alone. They don't bother me, I don't bother them, and life goes on. In the unlikely event that I run short of space, more storage is dirt cheap, and I'll need it anyway, given the size of today's multi-megabyte and gigabyte data files. And I don't end up stepping on a perfectly good installation that was just sitting there, not hurtin' nobody. Just sayin'...

cheers,
scott

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Please remember to "Mark as Answer" the responses that resolved your issue. It is common courtesy to recognize those who have helped you, and it also makes it easier for visitors to find the resolution later.

Answer 29

"A licensing error has occured. Restart your Expression program and try again. If you continue to receive this error message, reinstall your Expression program to make sure that the license installs correctly."

I am having the same issue.  It worked for 2 weeks and then this error.  All of the programs in the suite will launch but error pops up immediatly and programs close.  I have tried uninstalling reinstalling and even deleting the Expression folders out of the registry.

PLEASE HELP

-Toddney

tburge68 at hotmail dot com

Answer 30

If you're having this problem, please open a case with us via support.microsoft.com. If you are encountering a licensing error not caused by something you've done, you will not be charged for the case.

Thank you.

 

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Jim Cheshire http://www.jimcobooks.com

Answer 31

"PLEASE HELP"

As you could tell if you had read this thread before posting, and read the "Before Posting post", we are not MS technical support and we can't do anything for a licensing error.   This is a user forum. You need to contact MS for that kind of support.  See Jim Cheshire's post.

Answer 32

I can happily report that this is the thing to do. I spent around an hour with Microsoft support yesterday on the phone and via Windows Live, and got the software installed finally. I asked, and he said that there is no charge for installation problems. But I did have to go through the process of signing up for support and giving my credit card info.

I have a question now. I installed EW3. Will it be safe to now install the free upgrade to EW4 on top of that, and not run the risk of new problems?

Thanks,

David

Answer 33

We can't possibly predict if you will have problems, since we have no idea why you had licensing error problems in the first place.  We can presume those are resolved now, but have no idea what else was going on to cause them.

All we can say is: try it.

Answer 34

You DO NOT install the EW4 upgrade ON TOP of EW3.

They run as two separate programs. You can have both installed, as I do (along with EW2). In fact, it's probably even a safer option if you had problems with EW3 install.

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What do you mean, "'twas brillig"?!?

Answer 35

Bill is correct that they install side-by-side.  EW3 won't be overwritten.  Asp.net 4 framework must also be installed, which should happen during the install.  They are connected by the licensing: the free upgrade is free only if it sees a correct version of EW3.

Answer 36

You are right. That is what happened. The installation went easily and smoothly.

Answer 37

Thanks for the suggestion. It amazes me that one has to go through all the grief of being threatened with $500.00 charge (on Sunday) when it's a known issue and the tech who worked with me knew immediately how to fix it. The tools he uploaded to my machine and used had to be erased and not left in the re-cycle bin. I guess he was afraid I might steal his tools and put them out at WikiLeak.

The problem was resolved in about ten minutes after me struggling with it for 6-8 hours yesterday and going to bed really pissed with MS.

There was no charge done to my credit card but I could get nobody to speak to me unless I gave them my Amex number.

This experience was less than fun.

Chris Cane

 

Answer 38

I too, here in Australia, have 'A licencing installation error has occured' start yesterday, after using my Exp Web 3 for about a year, but I cannot get past 'Go' with Microsoft.

I first tried the online option - and couldn't even get past the first part of the form because a) Microsoft couldn't automatically detect my product id number then b) it wouldn't accept any of the numbers from my DVD of the Program as the id number that I keyed in (I tried all 4 series of numbers on the DVD sticker, plus my Product Key. None worked.

So, the process then told me to ring for assistance, which I did today - and after a rather unsatisfactory conversation with the help line, the fellow on the other end told me I first had to pay $294 (or was it $394? Iwas in shock as he said it) to register for assistance.

My response was that I may as well throw the Expression Web 3 program out the window (it cost me a lot less than $294 to purchase in the first place). I explained everything that I'd read in this forum about nil charge for the licencing issue, but he just repeated the same option - or try technet.

Then 'Have a happy Christmas."

Would somebody suggest how I might open a case, without the upfront cost that they want to charge me, and through some other avenue, other than online or by phone?

Thanks. S

 

Answer 39

To quote Jim Cheshire (MSFT):

"If you're having this problem, please open a case with us via support.microsoft.com. If you are encountering a licensing error not caused by something you've done, you will not be charged for the case.

The support people WILL take your credit card details - and (repeat) "If you are encountering a licensing error not caused by something you've done, you will not be charged for the case."
 "through some other avenue, other than online or by phone?"
Do you mean a personal visit? :)

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Ron Symonds
Microsoft MVP (Expression Web)

www.rxs-enterprises.org/fp

Answer 40

Yes, you do have to provide a credit card number, but nothing is charged against your card for a licensing or activation issue caused by the product itself. Keep in mind, however, that today and tomorrow are Microsoft holidays. If you call in today, you won't be able to speak to someone until Monday unless you are willing to pay for after hours support.

 

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Jim Cheshire http://www.jimcobooks.com