• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Free Technet Subscriptions

B

batteriesnotincluded

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jan 9, 2007
Messages
1,195
I just got this in my email from the Survey group:

Technet said:
Hello,

Our records show that you were referred by friend or colleague for a pilot program on the Microsoft TechNet Plus program. We are sorry to inform you that the referrals are only good for those technical support professionals living and working in the United Kingdom. Unfortunately we’ve noticed that many individuals living outside the UK were sent the link anyway.

Thank you for your interest but unfortunately the study at this point is only open to those living and working in the UK. If by some chance you actually are living and working in the UK, you should expect to receive a different communication soon.

Thank you for your valuable time and again, we apologize.

If you would like to see if you qualify to become a member in the IT Advisory Council you are more than welcome to follow this link to take the survey. The IT Advisory Council is a community of IT Professionals and Developers focused on participating in research projects like this one. Membership is exclusive but if you qualify there will surely be other interesting opportunities for you in the future.

Kind regards,

The TechNet Plus pilot program team
Click to expand...


So far, I still have access to Technet, and after the comments yesterday, went ahead and downloaded everything I could (27 or 28GB worth of downloads) and licenses in case they revoked things, but I was honestly looking forward to giving feedback and participating in it. I took part in the Windows Feedback Program last year, and certainly enjoyed my pair of Vista Ultimate copies.

While I'm sure many of us are getting the same email, I'm curious if and/or when we'll see our Technet subscriptions revoked. I was looking forward to having it when Windows 7 came out, and am crossing my fingers they let us keep the subscriptions, but I seriously have my doubts now.
 
batteriesnotincluded said:
I just got this in my email from the Survey group:


So far, I still have access to Technet, and after the comments yesterday, went ahead and downloaded everything I could (27 or 28GB worth of downloads) and licenses in case they revoked things, but I was honestly looking forward to giving feedback and participating in it. I took part in the Windows Feedback Program last year, and certainly enjoyed my pair of Vista Ultimate copies.

While I'm sure many of us are getting the same email, I'm curious if and/or when we'll see our Technet subscriptions revoked. I was looking forward to having it when Windows 7 came out, and am crossing my fingers they let us keep the subscriptions, but I seriously have my doubts now.
Click to expand...

Same... :(
 
Interesting.

On my system I'm running Firefox, I still see download links.

On my VM system I've running IE on (and did all my downloading), the keys and downloads links are greyed out.
 
Signed up for it like 3 hours ago. free one year ftw. Only Microsoft had it listed at a price of 00.00.
 
I still haven't got the email from Intrepid to login and continue the survey. Kind of scared I'm going to lose the deal. Has anyone received it?
 
leezard said:
sign out and back in again
Click to expand...

That did it.

Had me scared for a few minutes.



I bought the $100 subscription last year, then canceled it when I remembered that I had it through the school already (although much more limited). Now that I'm not in school, I certainly want to keep a subscription, and was looking forward to another $100 special.


Is there a way to check your account information?
 
batteriesnotincluded said:
I just got this in my email from the Survey group:
So far, I still have access to Technet, and after the comments yesterday, went ahead and downloaded everything I could (27 or 28GB worth of downloads) and licenses in case they revoked things, but I was honestly looking forward to giving feedback and participating in it. I took part in the Windows Feedback Program last year, and certainly enjoyed my pair of Vista Ultimate copies.

While I'm sure many of us are getting the same email, I'm curious if and/or when we'll see our Technet subscriptions revoked. I was looking forward to having it when Windows 7 came out, and am crossing my fingers they let us keep the subscriptions, but I seriously have my doubts now.
Click to expand...

I got the same email, and like you, started downloading ISO's and keys like crazy just in case. If for some reason only the survey portion get screwed I'll be happy, but I was going to fully participate too. For now, I can still get in, but who knows how long that will last?
I Used to live in England for a few years......can't that count?;)
 
Got it. I'm wondering if MS will invalidate any keys requested already. I'm not going to cry if they do as I only grabbed WHS.
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
I got the same email here. My thoughts are that the survey website is not directly linked in with technet and as such it may pose some difficulty when it comes time to cancel the subscriptions. It seems to me that once the technet subscription was activated then we should be good to go. In this case only time will tell...I got my fingers crossed. If it falls through then I'll probably plunk down the 250$ for an actual subscription.
 
We're all in the same boat now, sink or swim... and the survey site is not directly linked, as the actual signup process for the free Technet sub was done completely on Microsoft domains - at least that much of it was totally legit, even if most of us hopped on that UK one as first posted.

We'll see what happens, I suppose...
 
I wonder if those who typed in real UK addresses (even if it wasn't theirs) got this e-mail.
 
I didn't think to use a false addy because I chose US in the beginning. My account should be easy to deactivate because the email I used in the survey is my live ID which I also used for my subscription. I was under the impressions that this was legit, so I didn't put on the scamming hat.
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
SubscriptionType: Retail
Subscription Status: Active
Expiration Date: 1/1/1900

That's what my account status is.
 
i agree with everything said, but one positive thing is the direct link is still working. if anyone hasn't signed up for free technet yet, they still can, in firefox. this fact alone makes me wonder... microsoft must know its there, and there would be no reason they cannot turn it off... so they must want people to continue to sign up?
 
Last edited:
delvryboy said:
I didn't think to use a false addy because I chose US in the beginning. My account should be easy to deactivate because the email I used in the survey is my live ID which I also used for my subscription. I was under the impressions that this was legit, so I didn't put on the scamming hat.
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
Click to expand...

yup same here
 
spacetrader said:
microsoft must know its there, and there would be no reason they cannot turn it off... so they must want people to continue to sign up?
Click to expand...

I've heard it jokingly considered as a drug. Give you a cheap initial use of TechNet, and then they get you hooked to keep your subscription active. It would certainly work on me, as I haven't paid for a copy (retail) of Windows or Office in years. I got Vista Business and Office 2007 through TechNet, and XP and Vista (all the other versions) from the OEMs that built my laptops. If I didn't have a copy of Office 2007 Enterprise I got for free, I'd still be running on OpenOffice.

They'd certainly get more money from me annually by maintaining a subscription than from retail purchases. I was looking into a Technet subscription vs. buying 3 or more copies of Windows 7 upon release, so getting this for free is a great for me, as it gives me that much more money to put towards a Nehalem based Thinkpad upon release.
 
randomdean100 said:
SubscriptionType: Retail
Subscription Status: Active
Expiration Date: 1/1/1900

That's what my account status is.
Click to expand...

When i purchased my Technet subscription mine said that for a day or so. I was talking with a friend about this, and we came to the conclusion that someone at microsoft manually reviews and activates the Technet accounts and that your account isnt truely active untill this date changes. Something tells me that with the influx of subscriptions it might be a few days, but i would be shocked if these accounts dont get deactivated.

On the other hand i hope they keep those who filled out the survey's account active as a good will jesture, and those who just skipped to the still "active" registration link are the accounts that they end up deactivating.
 
Well I signed in and signed back out and it is still working just fine.

I only grabbed 5 keys though since I want to try out some of the server software.

I actually tried out the online concierge service and asked if my subscription was still active and they confirmed that it was good for one year. I even asked if they had another link to the survey and they told me it was not required to fill out the survey. All in all I am not sure if the deal will stay on the up and up, but it was worth a try.
 
spacetrader said:
i agree with everything said, but one positive thing is the direct link is still working. if anyone hasn't signed up for free technet yet, they still can. this fact alone makes me wonder... microsoft must know its there, and there would be no reason they cannot turn it off... so they must want people to continue to sign up?
Click to expand...

Just tried it and got pointed to a page that says You must enable cookies to view this page then gives a link to tech net subscriptions

I even went so far as to disable cookie handleing all together and add microsoft to trusted sites. :( So unless i am compeltely noobing out and missing something i think that link is dead.
 
Got the same email too and I also can still download off technet. How could they invalidate the keys? Are they special keys or are they retail keys?
 
techie81 said:
Got the same email too and I also can still download off technet. How could they invalidate the keys? Are they special keys or are they retail keys?
Click to expand...

The keys themselves would probably still work, but activation would fail.
 
my last link still works with firefox...not ie.. which is weird... all i know is my copy of office 07 is validated and genuine right now, so i guess if i never update it theres no way they can disable it :D
 
gtg465x said:
The keys themselves would probably still work, but activation would fail.
Click to expand...

Has anyone tried to activate a copy of anything since the email went out? I was going to play around with some Vista and other installs on spare computers but don't want to bother if the activation won't work :)
 
rhouck said:
Has anyone tried to activate a copy of anything since the email went out? I was going to play around with some Vista and other installs on spare computers but don't want to bother if the activation won't work :)
Click to expand...

Activated a copy of XP x64 this evening no problem.
 
spacetrader said:
my last link still works with firefox...not ie.. which is weird... all i know is my copy of office 07 is validated and genuine right now, so i guess if i never update it theres no way they can disable it :D
Click to expand...

Just tried it with Firefox and same result. Even made an exception for https://om2.one.microsoft.com to accept all cookies.

dammit. I hate not being stumped on simple stuff.
 
batteriesnotincluded said:
I've heard it jokingly considered as a drug. Give you a cheap initial use of TechNet, and then they get you hooked to keep your subscription active. It would certainly work on me, as I haven't paid for a copy (retail) of Windows or Office in years. I got Vista Business and Office 2007 through TechNet, and XP and Vista (all the other versions) from the OEMs that built my laptops. If I didn't have a copy of Office 2007 Enterprise I got for free, I'd still be running on OpenOffice.

They'd certainly get more money from me annually by maintaining a subscription than from retail purchases. I was looking into a Technet subscription vs. buying 3 or more copies of Windows 7 upon release, so getting this for free is a great for me, as it gives me that much more money to put towards a Nehalem based Thinkpad upon release.
Click to expand...

as an actual IT pro who is primarily self taught (my degrees are multimedia/game design, and history/archaeology) the wealth of knowledge in technet + the concierge is worth the price of admission, if they can this i'll grab a coupon and hit it up. Also would make me not have to do the search and sign up to nab a free win 7.

would be nice if these stay active though,.
 
So what's the trick to get this to work, or is it just dead now?

Just says:

Code: 
In order to use this site, you must have Cookies Enabled on your browser.

Even when enabling and adding exceptions for cookies.
 
Manaknight said:
as an actual IT pro who is primarily self taught (my degrees are multimedia/game design, and history/archaeology) the wealth of knowledge in technet + the concierge is worth the price of admission, if they can this i'll grab a coupon and hit it up. Also would make me not have to do the search and sign up to nab a free win 7.

would be nice if these stay active though,.
Click to expand...

that's one of the things I was looking forward to testing out for the survey: their support. I certainly don't need all of the hundred plus keys I've pulled. Although it was nice to get updated Server 2008 and Server 2003 installs, I already had licenses from my previous MSDN-AA subscription.

Then again, I can't tell you the last time I've worked on a computer where the OS was at fault (other than the easy to fix Code 37 or whatever for optical drives that's a quick registry tweak and reboot away from fixing). Usually it's malware or some other user-created issue, and occasionally hardware.
 
Do the signup with IE, as everyone should. If you're getting that issue even with IE, then something is amiss on your machines...
 
shyboi said:
I got the same email here. My thoughts are that the survey website is not directly linked in with technet and as such it may pose some difficulty when it comes time to cancel the subscriptions. It seems to me that once the technet subscription was activated then we should be good to go. In this case only time will tell...I got my fingers crossed. If it falls through then I'll probably plunk down the 250$ for an actual subscription.
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing. This email came from the company making doing the survey, not MS directly.

BTW, even from the beginning I was doing ALL the Technet stuff in IE, just to be safe. More or less all its going to get used for for as long as I have this subscription.
 
I tried in IE8 and firefox, both loads to an error page saying "In order to use this site, you must have Cookies Enabled on your browser."

Adding exceptions and still nothing. I even turned the security level on everything in IE to lowest and selected "accept all cookies", same deal.

I don't get it.
 
What's the technet license restriction? The only reason I would want one is it would be cheaper than buying a copy of WHS + 2 copies of XP for my older computers (still running Win2K), and use the latest office (since I haven't upgraded office since I got Office 2K quite a few years ago).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top