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How to activate a perpetual license of Visio

Article ID: 297247 - View products that this article applies to.

This article was previously published under Q297247

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SUMMARY

This article describes how to activate the perpetual license of Microsoft Office Visio.

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The perpetual license never expires. It is a perpetual license to use the Visio product.

When you start Visio for the first time after installation, the Microsoft Activation Wizard automatically runs. You are presented with two activation options, or you can choose to active at a later time:

Activate by using the Internet
Activate by using the telephone

If you select the Activate by using the Internet option, the Activation Wizard automatically contacts the Microsoft licensing servers through your Internet connection. If you are using a valid product key that has not been used previously, your product is activated immediately.

If you select the Activate by using the telephone option, call the telephone number that is provided in the Activation Wizard, and type the confirmation number that is provided by the customer service agent.

In either case, after you activate your product, you will have a license to use Visio that never expires.

You can run Visio up to 10 times without activating it. If you do not activate the product, it runs in a reduced-functionality mode. In reduced-functionality mode, you cannot save modifications to documents or create a new document, and additional functionality may be reduced.

No existing Visio files or drawings will be harmed, and you can easily change Visio out of reduced-functionality mode by following the instructions that are outlined in the screens presented. For more information, see the "Quit Reduced-Functionality Mode" section of this article.

Activation by Using the Internet

Activating Visio by using the Internet is the easier of the two activation methods. To activate your product by using the Internet, start Visio, and then follow these steps:

In the Activation Wizard, click Activate by using the Internet, and then click Next.
Read the Microsoft Office Privacy Policy page, and then click Next.
On the Customer Information page, type your personal information. The only information that you are required to complete is the Country/Region option. Select the appropriate country from the list, type any other information that you want, and then click Next.
On the Special Offers page, you have three choices for obtaining information and offers from Microsoft. None of these options is selected by default. If you want to receive the information or offers from Microsoft, select the options that you want, type your e-mail address, and then click Submit.

When you click Submit, your information is sent to the Microsoft licensing servers. When your information is validated, the Activation Complete page appears, and you can use the Office programs without having to activate Office in the future.
Click Finish.

Activation by Using the Telephone

If you do not have Internet connectivity, or you choose not to activate Visio by using the Internet, you can use the telephone to activate Visio. To activate your product this way, start Visio, and then follow these steps:

In the Activation Wizard, select the Activate by using the telephone option, and then click Next.
Read the Microsoft Office Privacy Policy page, and then click Next.
In the Select your location list, choose a country/region. Call the telephone number that is listed on line 2. The customer service agent will ask you for the installation ID and will give you a confirmation ID in return. Type the confirmation ID in the boxes provided.

NOTE: Make a note of the confirmation ID that is provided by the customer service agent. You may be able to reuse it on the same computer if you have to reformat your hard disk and reinstall Visio in the future. If the confirmation ID does not work at that time, call the customer service agent again, and request a new confirmation ID.
Click Next.
On the Activation Complete page, click Finish.

Skip Activation

If you do not want to activate your copy of Visio, you can click Activate Later on any page of the Activation Wizard. The wizard warns you that you have a specified number of times to run the product before you are required to activate it. Click Exit to close the wizard.

NOTE: If you decide to activate your license at a later time, the activation counter decrements each time that you start the Visio program. If the counter reaches zero, the Visio program begins running in reduced-functionality mode.

Quit Reduced-Functionality Mode

If you do not activate your Visio license, and the Visio programs start in reduced-functionality mode, you must activate your license to quit reduced-functionality mode. Because the Activation Wizard appears every time that you start the Visio program (running in reduced-functionality mode), you have an opportunity to activate your license each time you start a program. If you do not activate your license when you start Visio, you can also click Activate Product on the Help menu inside Visio. This starts the Activation Wizard.

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