Technet Standard - downgraded subscription.

R

RoundArc

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Oct 13, 2009
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I recently renewed my Technet subscription and selected the standard instead of the proffesional membership (which I previously had). My understanding was that I would lose the 2 free support calls and some of the enterprise versions of MS software.

What I was not prepared for was the fact that on major current software packages (ie office10 and Windows7) you are limited to 2 keys now. Previously you could request up to 10 keys on most softwares. I had only been requesting keys as necessary and now I have renewed and in some cases am unable to obtain additional keys. If you had previously requested more than 2 keys you still have access to the additional keys - but you are over your key limit. This really sucks because I was starting to tinker with VM's.

I just wanted to put this out there for those considering a Technet subscription. I don't have enough posts to put this in hotdeals where most people go to look for a deal on technet - so if anyone wants to repost this info over there - ok.

-RA
 
Huh. They may be re-vamping things a bit.....I haven't been keeping up with Technet. I let my sub expire.

Here's another tid-bit for you though(not trying to threadjack). My sub expired, and I recently had to wipe a rig and re-install, and it failed validation. I went through all the options, and finally got an answer from MS when I called them - the keys are invalid because my sub expired.
I'm expecting good installs will be fine, but any re-installs will be failing.
 
Monkey34 said:
Huh. They may be re-vamping things a bit.....I haven't been keeping up with Technet. I let my sub expire.

Here's another tid-bit for you though(not trying to threadjack). My sub expired, and I recently had to wipe a rig and re-install, and it failed validation. I went through all the options, and finally got an answer from MS when I called them - the keys are invalid because my sub expired.
I'm expecting good installs will be fine, but any re-installs will be failing.
Click to expand...

Seriously? I thought technet licenses were perpetual, even after an expired subscription (that is, software keys remain valid). IIRC it was MSDN that invalidated software licenses once a subscription had expired.
 
GushpinBob said:
Seriously? I thought technet licenses were perpetual, even after an expired subscription (that is, software keys remain valid). IIRC it was MSDN that invalidated software licenses once a subscription had expired.
Click to expand...

I tried a couple different keys too. A different install still seems to be fine, but I'm not wiping it to check what happens.
 
I saw your post and I downgraded myself during my renewal because I too was under the assumption you lost some incident's and access to specific versions of software, but not the number of licenses.

I just checked and my Windows 7 used to say 10 - it now says 2.
 
You may want to move this thread into Networking and Security.....there's alot of IT that frequent there - and may want a heads-up on changes to Technet.
 
Monkey34 said:
Huh. They may be re-vamping things a bit.....I haven't been keeping up with Technet. I let my sub expire.

Here's another tid-bit for you though(not trying to threadjack). My sub expired, and I recently had to wipe a rig and re-install, and it failed validation. I went through all the options, and finally got an answer from MS when I called them - the keys are invalid because my sub expired.
I'm expecting good installs will be fine, but any re-installs will be failing.
Click to expand...

Technet never was, never has, and never will be intended for a replacement for purchasing software. Unfortunately people abused the fact that old keys never expired, and this is the expected end result.
 
I signed up for standard about a month ago. This was my first subscription. When I generate a key for software, says x/10 used. I am interested in the enterprise software you get with professional. I was sad to see that Visual Studio did not come with Technet but maybe it is just eh standard subscription it does not come with.
 
Staples said:
I signed up for standard about a month ago. This was my first subscription. When I generate a key for software, says x/10 used. I am interested in the enterprise software you get with professional. I was sad to see that Visual Studio did not come with Technet but maybe it is just eh standard subscription it does not come with.
Click to expand...

Only MSDN and Action Pack get Visual Studio, IIRC.
 
Staples said:
I signed up for standard about a month ago. This was my first subscription. When I generate a key for software, says x/10 used. I am interested in the enterprise software you get with professional. I was sad to see that Visual Studio did not come with Technet but maybe it is just eh standard subscription it does not come with.
Click to expand...

Do you have x/10 or x/2 used with Windows 7 and Office 10? My subscription still has x/10 available on most apps, however, it appears they have limited it to x/2 on the most popular apps. Some of mine say 3 used / 2 max, since switching to standard.

-RA
 
EvanH said:
Technet never was, never has, and never will be intended for a replacement for purchasing software. Unfortunately people abused the fact that old keys never expired, and this is the expected end result.
Click to expand...

I know that. It's not a rig that usually is even turned on.....I had tested some CAD software on it like a year ago, and then shelved it, and I just went back to it to check what version that had been (I need to document more) - and the thing was acting wonky. Did a reinstall, and left it connected online - so the updates got auto-downloaded. It failed after the restart.

It can stay failed anyway - it's going back on the shelf..............good info to be aware of though. If I need it, I can use it 60 days at a time.:rolleyes:
 
Monkey34 said:
Huh. They may be re-vamping things a bit.....I haven't been keeping up with Technet. I let my sub expire.

Here's another tid-bit for you though(not trying to threadjack). My sub expired, and I recently had to wipe a rig and re-install, and it failed validation. I went through all the options, and finally got an answer from MS when I called them - the keys are invalid because my sub expired.
I'm expecting good installs will be fine, but any re-installs will be failing.
Click to expand...

Did the same key and another key not validate?
My sub expired in February and I was able to install and validate a few Win7 and XP Home setups recently that I was testing. I used my keys that haven't been used yet. before my sub expired, I just grabbed all 10 keys for the OS's I test with.
 
Zepher said:
Did the same key and another key not validate?
My sub expired in February and I was able to install and validate a few Win7 and XP Home setups recently that I was testing. I used my keys that haven't been used yet. before my sub expired, I just grabbed all 10 keys for the OS's I test with.
Click to expand...
Yea, it was the one that it had been installed with, and another unused key....both failed.
 
There are going to be a lot of people out there that bought technet keys on ebay that are now effectively one-use and now expired. Hopefully they won't have to reinstall windows for any reason!
 
I don't know if they say it for Standard, but at least for professional it is stated in their FAQ section if you run out of licenses (IE the 10) you would just have to contact them for more.
 
Apparently this change took place last Wendseday as confirmed by this post in the Technet forum:

I'm sorry for the delay in our response here. This first change went through on the website a little bit sooner than the folks who were doing the messaging, and we finally have both nailed down. We will be updating the Subscriptions FAQ shortly to reflect this as well.

As of last Wednesday, the number of keys per product TechNet Standard customers is 2 keys. The new limit for TechNet Professional customesr is 5 keys .

If customers have previously claimed more than 2 or 5 keys for these products, those keys are still visible, and activations performed using these keys will still be valid.

Thanks,
Mike

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MSDN and TechNet Subscriptions Support
Click to expand...

Original Technet thread

-RA
 
Staples said:
The Win Supersite says this is just a web issues and the licenses per software still remain at 10.

http://community.winsupersite.com/b...spx?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Click to expand...

If you read the Technet thread in the post previous, after a CSR says it's a web issue, a Technet MOD comes on and says its a policy change.
Mike KinsmanMSFT, Moderator
Harry,

unfortunately Kevin didn't have the latest information when you and he were chatting. This is a policy change.

Thanks,
Mike
Click to expand...
 
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I love the fact that I can still request 10 Vista licenses for each edition. :rolleyes: (yes, XP has also been reduced down to 2 unique keys as well)
 
But it looks like you can still request additional keys via e-mail. Which is good when you are doing a couple of re-installs or something.
 
Dont fukin remind me, I renewed on Friday as that was when my pro expired, I renewed to standard on the 17th, sunday I find out I only got 5 keys, got told it was a website error, today I notice I am down to 2 keys, contacted the concierge and was told they were having website problems, then i find this

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/tnfeedback/thread/160411d7-c6f5-4ed8-81e8-4059ed0cddd3

Look for the moderator post, where he says its a new policy due to abuse.

and I cant even claim them as I already claimed them before I renewed.

Fucking pricks they are, no warning, no emails to tell us, oh but they could find time to harrass me with about 100 phonecalls and emails begging me to renew, when I do, a day later they take 4 5ths of my account usage away.

Refundo Mundo coming up.

And to all you fucking dicks out there who were abusing technet, FUCK YOU.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
still make me wonder why they downgraded the technet subscriptions

i just check mine (as it is due to expire soon) i now can not request any more keys
is still had about 4 keys which i never claimed on windows 7

obviously they were giving us too much :rolleyes:
which is fine, i certainly will not be giving them anymore of my money :D

- as per the above post, an email advising of the proposed changes would have being nice
 
While I agree it wasn't the best implementation of the change, I'm not really surprised at it. It way easier for them to do it this way than chase all the dopes on ebay and craigslist who were selling keys.
 
It had to happen sooner or later, but a better idea would of been to email everyone and inform them of the changes, and let the changes start upon account renewal.

That way, all those dicks wouldnt renew, so MS would get ridof them all within 1 year.

I am furious this has happened, as I paid my monies for renewal and gets raped the next day.

They could of did it a little more tactfully.

However, that being said, Technet software is NOT a replacement for proper software, it is only meant for testing and whatnot, so nobody should be using it as a regular OS, thus the change shouldnt have too much effect on legitimate technet users, albeit the inconvience of paying for something thats been cut by four fiths.
 
Well, atleast technet refund ok, called them today and they asked why I wanted a refund, after explaining the reason, because they stoled ma shit, they had no problem refunding.

So thats a good thing, I still have access to the keys I already have, so I am not complaining.

I guess they will have many people complaining and asking for a refund now that its all over the net.

However that being said, I will use my refund to take out another technet pro account, as atleast I will start from scratch again, instead of renewing something that wouldnt let me get anymore keys
 
GushpinBob said:
Seriously? I thought technet licenses were perpetual, even after an expired subscription (that is, software keys remain valid). IIRC it was MSDN that invalidated software licenses once a subscription had expired.
Click to expand...

I had to wipe my system a few months ago. I tried to put on my TechNet copy of XP. Couldn't get it to activate. Called up MS, and they told me that I could only activate it a total of 10 times now. Granted this was after years of wipe/reinstalls. So, I'm guessing that they changed the rules after my last re-install.
 
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