I'm trying to access my file in TT 2019. Every time I try I get we must activate TT.
I did that when I installed used it to file me federal & state 2019 taxes.
I don't have the original box-cd that came with TT 2019 inside.
Is there a way to get around this?
Turbo Tax asks for the License Code each time you start
I have never had to reenter my activation code before. I have been using turbotax for more than 30 years
@Bubba1481 wrote:
I have never had to reenter my activation code before. I have been using turbotax for more than 30 years
Because it is new this year since so many computers do not have CD drives anymore and customers want downloads instead.
Fix the **bleep** software. I am not going to buy the product if we need to activate it each time we get on. Then the solutions suggested are also very annoying. I don't have to do any of this to do with any other software. Life is hard enough. Don't add to it Intuit.
Now ir=t seems I have used the activation too many times. I have exceeded the allowable activations? NOW WHAT? And your 4 or 5 step fix is not only annoying it doesn't work on my computer. Turbotax 202 is fine. It is 2019 I am having trouble with
Please follow these instructions to contact a specialist that can send you a push installation download.
You will need to fill out some information first.
I don't see a way to contact the specialist for the push fix you mentioned. How do I contact them?
Thanks, Doug
@Lancair To contact TurboTax Customer Support for assistance with your download issue, please see What is the TurboTax phone number?
This happens to me ONLY when I have an external drive attached to my computer. When I disconnect the external drive, I don't have the problem. If you have any external drives connect, you can try removing them while you boot TurboTax. Good luck!
Removing ALL external drives while starting program works for me, thanks! This included thumb drives.
Removing the external hard drive was EXACTLY the fix! Thank you! Would be nice for TurboTax to fix this bug. I purposely keep my tax files backed up to the external drive, but I do have the main copy on my PC that didn't move. I have TurboTax 2020 (cd version from Costco) this happened on. I also have used TurboTax CD version for 15+ years without this issue ever happening before.
I found the people who monitor TurboTax Facebook page much more responsive. They will message you back fairly quickly.
I installed TT Deluxe 2020 (from a CD) about a month ago. Since then, I've used (open/close) it numerous times with no issues. Today, I started TT and had to reenter the 16-character license code!! Fortunately, I saved the package materials.
Same thing happened last year, but lost license code and I spent an hour on the phone with TT support getting this resolved.
Other users having same problem with TT 2020 Deluxe. Needs a fix ASAP!!!
That was the best answer - I removed the sd card and TT opened!
Turbo Tax - Please add that little tidbit as the FIRST instruction for troubleshooting!
My connected 'drive' was a USB-connected Canon color printer that I turned on to print a Quicken Tax Summary for plugging in numbers on my tax return! Turned the printer back off and got into TT with no problem. Learn something new every day....
Removing both my external drives worked for me too. I agree that TT and Intuit need to fix this ASAP.
Thanks for the great solution. That was exactly the issue. The configuration has to be exactly the same as install.
This is really a dangerous situation - what if, we need to get into TT Deluxe 2020 in 2-3 years and have a new build. The software will most likely not activate (it'll have the same issue - i.e., activation code used on more than 5 computers). What happens then? Will there even be an option to buy a new code?
Intuit just needs to fix this issue ASAP. Even if it means disabling this broken activation process.
I agree. This was such a bad programming decision. I have been dealing with it repeatedly this tax season. Turbotax deactivates every time I plug in or unplug an external drive. I have worked with numerous design teams at a Fortune 100 company for twenty years, and if anyone had slipped such shoddy code into one of our products, they would have been working round the clock to fix it as soon as possible (out of embarrassment, if nothing else). One can only assume that none of the programmers have ever actually used the product themselves, nor did anyone do much testing. No one should have ever authorized the product for release and sale with such a major bug.
Exactly. External drives are added and removed from systems all the time. That's what they are designed to do. No team of professional developers would use ephemeral external devices as part of the system fingerprint for software activation, so that speaks volumes about the lack of professionalism with this product. It makes me very concerned that I have been relying on their tax calculations when they can't/won't even fix a major bug that keeps deactivating valid installations. Based on various comments in other threads, it appears that no one has bothered to fix the problem in more than a year.
Keep the TT disc, and the activation code, for 7+ years - the typical limit on IRS audits. A new build computer would require re-installing all software from disc anyway - OS, Office, Quickbooks, TurboTax, etc.
Had a client who needed to amend back 4 years - we still have about 20+ years of TTax software in a box in the basement! Load each year on the current pc and good-to-go!!