After each update Tubotax Application keeps asking for License code to be activated

[DaveT-SD]

@VolvoGirl  Thank you!  Amazingly, removing a thumb drive resolved the problem.  I am deeply indebted to you for the suggestion!

This still does not reflect well on Intuit.  I'm an R&D developer and have never run software of any kind that required a "return to original PC configuration" to work.

But that's not to distract from my main message to you:  Thank you!!!  Thank you!!!  Thank you!!!

[reygcarolina]

This is not a solution. Many desktop systems evolve! I have since added more memory and different module size; have upgraded to a faster NVidia graphics card; have upgraded the iCore-7 CPU; have upgraded to a larger and faster SSD hard drive; have upgraded to a new MF laser printer... inter alia. None of the upgrades I did caused any issue with any of my licensed software except TurboTax!!! So, this is a major problem with TurboTax code. 

[DaveT-SD]

@reygcarolinaI think that's a little harsh.  The suggestion @VolvoGirl provided actually worked perfectly for me.   I think it would have been more diplomatic and accurate to say that the suggested solution is not a fully robust solution, or does not cover all cases.  I do fully agree TurboTax is in a pathetic league of their own on this issue, and needs to provide a fully robust code fix given that it renders their product completely unusable.

[gom]

Hello dm2,

As a longtime TT  desktop user - this license key problem that seems to have developed over the past 2 years in both annoying and disturbing.   Thanks for the suggestion!  I hate to spilt hairs but the 'solution' is not a solution, it is in fact a work around or a kludge - it doesn't fix the underlying issue.  After a career in IT, I'll readily admit to having given end uses many a work around (or kludge) to get them up and running while I or someone else addressed the underlying issue(s).  The question remains - when will Turdo Tax fix the underlying problem?

[Toredown]

FYI, this unbelievable problem is now continuing with TurboTax (Deluxe) 2022.  However, I was just now able to get mine to launch, after a full day of trying and cussing, without an activation request, by doing two of the things I more-or-less read earlier in this thread:

1) I turned off a running external drive which I have plugged into an e-SATA port on the back of my desktop, and

2) I right-clicked the TurboTax 2022 icon, then clicked 'Run as Administrator'.

It fired right up, dontchaknow?!  So now it's time for a cold one!!

[gom]

Hello Toredown,

Glad you're up and running and that the forum suggestions helped out.  While I like TT and am comfortable using it, I am seriously considering switching next year (after using TT for more that a dozen years.)  Why?  If they can't get the licensing to work seamlessly what else isn't working right?  This one very obvious flaw undermines confidence it TT's overall quality. 

Management must have their heads up their...  Seriously.  You get one chance to make a 1st impression, what do you suppose new users to think?  (Maybe something along the lines of quality is lacking...)  If I owned INTUIT stock I be giving the board an earful because it sure seems like management is dropping the ball.

But enough of that.  Getting back to the specifics of your post - you spent an entire day trying to get to TT work the way the way it should!  Wow, I applaud your determination and trouble shooting.  I also wonder what is your time worth?  Personally, having retired from a career IT, if I pick a one off to help with a conversion or short time project management my rate is in excess of $100/hr.   What do you think - if users started billing Intuit for their time in excess of normal installation, would pay up and fix things?   

(Now, if they only would add a way for users to import worksheet details from excel....)

[Toredown]

Well, unlike you, I'm a retired geoenvironmental consultant, and being that I am retired from a fact-based world of ever-changing information to have to accommodate, my time remains unconditionally my own.  My philosophy has always been that every such problem creates a good learning opportunity which I'm more than happy to absorb, and regardless of how long it might take, a victory over IT is almost always worth my effort.

[pneame]

Yes, this has been an issue for 3 years. I now unmount, turnoff and unplug all external drives before opening TT. A pain indeed. Microsoft do something similar in Windows apparently but in a far more intelligent way (i.e external drives are not part of the computer's "personality" 

[cmg1]

"If they can't get the licensing to work seamlessly what else isn't working right? "

What's more disturbing is after I have filed my taxes and I go back into TTax days or years later, they have to do UPDATES! My taxes are done. Are they now wrong. Do we have to file ammended returns? 

Been with TTax since 1987.

[Jasper43000]

Why do all of my previous versions now ask for a license code.  Even if I have them and enter them they are not accepted.  This is ridiculous.

[Toredown]

OMG, Jasper (the name of my last 'very special' cousin) -  Have you not read this entire [profanity removed] thread???

[DaveT-SD]

Hi Jasper,  Here's what worked for me:  Removing a thumb drive that was not present when I did the initial install of TT.   Apparently, the issue that's the topic of this thread can be avoided by returning your PC to the same configuration it was in when you installed the prior year of TT.  HTH.

[bbertolino]

I have the same problem. I'm prompted for a license code for each version of TurboTax I've installed over the years. I don't have any of the cases or media at this point. Am I out of luck?

[VolvoGirl]

The License Code started with the 2019 program.  

Make sure your computer is the same way when you originally installed it.  Like with no flash drives plugged in or plugged in if one was.  It asked me to activate again so I just closed the program and took out a flash drive that was plugged in and tried again.  It worked.  Or you may need to connect a flash drive or printer or something that was connected when you originally installed the program.  One person found to disable his virus scanner and firewall first and then it opened.

You need a 14 digit (for 2019) or 16 digit (for 2020) License Code to activate the Desktop program.

Where is the License Code?

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/tax-topics/help/i-can-t-find-my-license-code/01/852973

Or you need to call in and get a new License Code.

[Toredown]

Given all that's gone before, this all seems like such a needlessly-profound revelation.