Bumping to bitch about my current problem.
When Windows 8 came out I took advantage of the early upgrade price, and separately bought 3 licenses for my home --- main computer, laptop, home theater computer.
I was emailed each time with the keys and purchase information etc.. I didn't keep the emails, but cut and pasted them into word documents and then saved them on a separate home server.
Since 8.1 comes out, I upgrade just the main computer, though perhaps I should not have as I had the preview installed first and now after the fact I hear installing the real upgrade over the preview could cause issues.
Within a day I have a complete failure of the OS and I end up having to do a complete reinstall.
In the course of doing so, the OS won't activate saying my key is invalid.
I get on the phone with Microsoft tech support, and they connect to my computer to help, try to use my key, and say, yes, its invalid. Then they say there is nothing they can do.
So I get off the phone, and then try to use the key I bought for the laptop... apparently its also invalid!
I have never shared these keys. I have never been the victim of a knowing hack. The keys worked when I last installed the OSes.
Now I'm faced with several hours of tech support/account support demonstrating to Microsoft that I did in fact purchase their software to get new keys. Or I can use another method and activate the OS on my own in about 5 minutes.
Even more frustrating is that other companies from whom I've bought software are able to activate my purchased software very easily, verifying I bought it without having to go through a bunch of hoops. Examples include Stardock and Adobe (though Adobe's update prices are awful).
I'm not sure why I paid Microsoft in the first place at this point. Being legit has not provided me any benefit other than the knowledge I paid.
|