Can't activate Visio 2013 MSDN

Question

I have an MSDN subscription and I've installed Visio 2013. I am not able to activate the product and it has reduced to a read-only state.

Any attempts to activate or "Switch Account" are met with "Sorry, we are having some temporary server issues." I've found a few posts referencing removing an office-related key from the registry but this has not helped.

At one point I believe I'd also heard that our network might be blocking activation, but don't have a handle on how that would be coming into play exactly (if at all).

Have others encountered and (hopefully) found a fix to this issue?

Crissie

Theoretically one can call the activation center at 888.571.2048. Good luck if you don't know which ID that is apparently 9 sets of 6 digits--if I heard correctly before being disconnected. – Crissie

I fixed mine. I prematurely removed the CD, but I guess it wasn't done installing. Put it back in, entered product code, and it activated. – Stalkinghorse

Answer 1

Go to Control Panel -> Programs and Features -> Microsoft Visio Professional 2013

Right click on Microsoft Visio Professional 2013 and click on "Change"

Then select "Enter a Product Key" and supply your 25 digit licence key to activate.

Rotation

omg thank you. This is one of the most ridiculous non-IE bugs I have ever seen. Entering an email and clicking next or clicking 'enter product key' did squat.. c'mon MS.. – Pettway

I had to get another product key from my MSDN subscription but once I did that it all worked a treat. This should be marked as correct. – Stablish

This worked for me. I had the issue where Visio prompted me to Sign In using a User ID to activate but it didn't recognize my account. The password reset took me to passwordreset.microsoftonline.com and that said "The user ID you entered does not exist", all the while I was able to log into account.microsoft.com and msdn.microsoft.com with the same details. – Charry

This issue happened to me when trying to install Visio 2013 on a machine with Office 2016 Pro Plus already installed. Visio kept trying to register with the Office 2016 key and failing (it wouldn't prompt me for it's own Key). Using the technique described here finally allowed me to enter the proper Visio key and everything worked perfectly after that. Thanks! 👍 – Folse

Answer 2

Here is a little more detail on the Control Panel/Programs and Features method for entering product codes.

This worked with Office 2010 previously installed and then a later Visio 2013 Pro installation that didn't provide the activation dialog.

In Programs and Features Right click Microsoft Visio Professional 2013 You'll see Uninstall (default) and Change. Select Change You'll get a dialog with these options

• Add or Remove Features
• Repair
• Remove
• Enter a Product Key (voila!)

Select Product Key and the rest goes as expected.

Footnote: I spend 45 minutes in six conversations with four different Microsoft support teams trying to fix this. None knew how to address the issue.

Palacios

@Thronk Only 15 minutes? I wasted hours trying to get through to Microsoft support. Does anyone even know what account Visio is requesting if it's not an MSDN account? – Moises

login.live.com user - doesn't have to be an MSDN user, but does need to be registered with Microsoft. This will give you free space on OneDrive among other things. – Amygdalate

Answer 3

I had the same problem. To activate I had to go to "Control Panel\Programs and Features\Microsoft Visio Professional 2013" and choose the "repair" option; you will be asked to insert your product key. Now my Visio is activated and I can create new diagrams, but I continue having problems using online options.

Nitride

Answer 4

If your system is an offline computer, you will need to call the MS Support Center and give them your code which shows on your screen. Then in return enter the long string of digits they give you back.

Branny