PRB: Unable to Register Visual Studio Products Online

Article ID: Q197536

• Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0
• Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Editions, version 6.0
• Microsoft Visual Basic Learning, Professional, and Enterprise Editions for Windows, version 6.0
• Microsoft Visual InterDev, version 6.0
• Microsoft Visual J++, version 6.0
• Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, version 6.0

SYMPTOMS

After completing all the required fields on the product registration page that is on the Microsoft.com Web site, including the product ID field, the registration page rejects this information with the following message:

   The value entered is not a valid product ID.

CAUSE

Here are three possible reasons for the error:

• The customer is trying to register at the wrong page.

  -or-

• The customer is entering an invalid product ID (PID).

  -or-

• There is a problem with the registration page.

RESOLUTION

The following steps assist you in resolving this issue:

1. Get the PID from the customer. Finding the PID can be confusing. The Visual

   Studio products listed at the beginning of this article have the PID in the
   Help About dialog box. The following indicates how each product's Help About
   dialog box identifies the PID:

      Visual C++         Product ID

      Visual FoxPro      Product ID

      Visual Basic       Serial Number

      Visual InterDev    Not identified, follows product name in a list box
                         labeled "Installed Products"

      Visual J++         Not identified, follows product name in a list box
                         labeled "Installed Products"

   If the customer installed any of the preceding tools as part of Visual Studio,
   the PID is the same for all products installed through Visual Studio.

   Another point of confusion can be that the PID is not the same as the CD key,
   which typically appears on a label stuck to the CD case. The CD key is used
   during the installation process to generate a PID, but does not work as a PID
   itself.

   a specific product and/or version.

   page as follows:

   MSDN Universal Customers:

   Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) Universal customers should register the
   copy of Visual Studio Enterprise Edition that came with their subscription at
   the Visual Studio registration page:

   http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/register/vs6.asp

   Use the PID from the Help About dialog box in any of the Visual Tools
   installed through Visual Studio. See the Visual Studio section that follows
   for more details.

      Visual Studio Customers:

   When customers have installed a tool such as Visual Basic as part of the
   Visual Studio 6.0 product suite, it will have a Visual Studio PID not a
   Visual Basic PID. They need to register using the Visual Studio page, not the
   individual product page. For example, if someone purchased Visual Studio 6.0
   and installed Visual C++ 6.0, their PID will be for Visual Studio 6.0 and
   they need to register at the Visual Studio page located at:

   http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/register/vs6.asp

   If they installed Visual C++ 6.0 as a standalone product, they must register
   at the Visual C++ page. By registering using the Visual Studio page they have
   access to all of the on-line information, just as if they had registered each
   product individually.

   Standalone Product Customers:

   Customers who have installed a tool such as Visual Basic that was purchased as
   a standalone product must register at the individual page for that product.
   The pages for the standalone products listed in this article are:

   http://msdn.microsoft.com/vbasic/register/

   http://msdn.microsoft.com/visualc/register/

   http://msdn.microsoft.com/vfoxpro/register/

   http://msdn.microsoft.com/vinterdev/register/

   http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/register/vj6.asp

   page, using the correct PID, and registration still fails, escalate the issue
   to the same queue you would use for an issue regarding the installation of
   the product.

Keywords          : kbsetup kbVBp kbVBp600 kbVC600 kbVFp kbVFp600 kbVisID600 kbVJ600 kbVS600 
Version           : WINDOWS:6.0; winnt:6.0
Platform          : WINDOWS winnt
Issue type        : kbprb