Licensing and Activation Problems with Expression Web 3 or 4

Some customers have experienced problems when entering a product key or when activating Expression Web 3 or 4. This problem may have one of the following symptoms.

  • You see an error that says “The licensing didn’t start properly (c004E01E).”
  • A valid product key is not accepted by the installation or by the software.
  • A fully licensed product reverts to a trial version at random.
  • Licensing errors occur during install or activation.

If you are experiencing the error in the first bullet, you should run the Fix It in KB article 960480. This issue is due to an invalid Registry key, and the Fix It in the article will resolve the issue. Note that you must reboot your computer after running the Fix It.

If you are experiencing any one of the other symptoms, or if you are seeing a licensing or activation error not outlined here, you may have a corrupt license store. In these cases, you will need Microsoft support to resolve the problem for you. You can do that by browsing to https://support.microsoft.com and clicking the link at the bottom of the page that says "Contact a Support Professional by Email, Online or Phone."

There is no charge for cases related to licensing errors and activation errors. You will have to provide a credit card number to open a case, but no charges will be applied to that card.

If you can uninstall all Expression products prior to calling in for support, it will save time during the support call.