I have a valid copy of Creator 9 Suite installed on my system (32-bit Vista) but when I download the update to make it Vista compatible
and install it it always comes up and ask me to enter the Serial Number of the product. It has a Serial Number in the boxes but it sure doesn't match
the serial number for my copy. Why is it asking for the serial number since I have a valid copy? What am I suppose to enter? My product number won't fit in the boxes they have.

Check your installation key here - also make sure you don't colfuse a O with a 0 or a l with a 1

http://www.roxio.com/REGISTRATION/login.as...%2fDefault.aspx

The number required is the one you see when you run the Home application, and click on Help > About this software, like this.
Click to view attachment

My serial is blanked, of course, but it's in the form xx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx two characters, followed by three groups of 5 characters.

The reason you're asked for a serial number is because the update is not really an updater. It's a full version 9.1 installer wrapped in a program which checks your serial for validity [so as not to give the software away willy-nilly] then uninstalls version 9.0, and then (hopefully) installs version 9.1

There are two updates - one for the Suite, and one for Deluxe, so you need to be sure you have the right one to match your existing 9.0.

Regards,
Brendon

I have no idea what it's doing. I followed the instructions for a clean install and removed what was on there. (My computer came with a basic version but I bought Creator 9 Suite because it has more features). After I removed everything I installed my software (product key TP-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX...Xs represent rest of product key) and it shows on Roxio that I've registered that product. I then downloaded the update to make it more compatible with Vista and installed that. When I install the update it comes up and ask me for a product key again. It already has a product key in the fields in the format XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX which is completely different from my product key and since it's a different format (4 characters per box in 4 boxes rather than the 4 boxes with 2 characters in the first box and 5 characters in the other 3 like my product key). Since I couldn't enter my product key I didn't alter what they had in the boxes and installed it. Now if I go look at the "About This Software" it says the product key is K6-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX and if I look on Roxio is says I have register this software and it's Easy Media Creator 9 Suite ASP which is not what I loaded originally (Roxio Creator 9 Suite).

I've not heard of a product "Roxio Creator 9 Suite", although anything is possible with the way the company seems to be dicing and slicing their product nowadays. "Easy Media Creator 9" is the software we're familiar with.

I doubt the update would have installed at all if you didn't have the right software to start with - that's something they are very careful about. Can you tell me the name of the update file and its size in bytes, please? You may need to right-click on it and look at 'properties' to get the byte size.

Having a product number embedded is a bit odd, but I guess the installer would have already checked your system for a valid key before it uninstalled your earlier version. I'd go with the embedded key and register it if it will let you. It should now be version 9.1 I think. Would you please go to Help > About and tell me your version and build number shown just above the serial number?

Thanks,
Brendon

First, it is Easy Media Creator 9 Suite. I had just copied and pasted what Roxio had on their site for that product number so I looked on the CD holder box to get what it really is.
The file size is 671,411,970 bytes. I downloaded the standard version on this and not the deluxe version. I can burn CDs, make labels etc but there are certain functions (like making a video of slides with music) where it wants to activate the module and it says Invalid Key when I try to activate it.

I don't understand why the product key is different after installation and wonder if somehow I got a bogus copy. I can't remember where I bought it but I know it was off the internet.

Here's the build version and build information....
Version 9.1.075
Build 910B75K, RU3




serial removed by Brendon

Edit the image to get rid of the serial number.
Are you being askd for "Activation" rather than a Cd key? See this section of the forum and especially the manual activation.

Okay, you have the right updater and it looks all right for size. I just checked with mine again, and the updater when run comes up with a 4-group serial, 4-4-4-5 characters. I don't know if the serial is embedded in the updater or calculated from your system, but I have recorded the one shown on mine and we could compare them in private messages [click on my name at the left of this post to send me a message] if you recorded yours. I suspect it will be a unique serial, calculated by the updater.

I wasn't able to check if the final serial was the same as the one the updater shows, because the updater blew up my system and left it unbootable again like it did the other 4 or 5 times I've tried to install it.

I think you can be confident that your original 9.0 is not bogus because the updater wouldn't have worked otherwise. The update process works the same except yours completes. Hopefully all you'll have left are the activation problems Steve Knis has pointed you towards.

Regards,
Brendon

If you bought the retail box version, then the serial number for EMC 9 Suite should be on the program installation CD (mine is there). It should be 17 characters total. The TSID# should also be on that same label.

Dave,

Thanks for trying to help, but read the thread please. We are way past the point of trying to find the serial number. Especially read post #4 and it will put you on the right track.

Regards,
Brendon

Brendon,

From what I see on the posts, the OP still isn't using the right number for the serial number.

The number he installed under [from the box] was TP-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX (where the Xes are placeholders).
The number which appeared when he ran the updater was in the form XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXX.
Both these numbers worked. The first for the 9.0 install, the second for the 9.1 update.

The number which showed in 'Help > About this software' after the update was K6-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX

What number do you suggest he uses, and where should he use it?
What effect would that have?

Regards,
Brendon

Brendon,

The number on the sleeve of my retail program disk is printed as : KF-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx. The OP has a later build level compared to mine and it appears that he did in fact download 9.1. I don't think that the clean install procedure he used remove all of the previous version. Roxio does keep some entries "hidden" in the registery. There are different cleaner programs that will find the "hidden" entries.

So,

What number do you suggest he uses, and where should he use it?
What effect would that have?

Brendon

The OP should call Roxio and ask for help with the serial number issue. The response stated from his updater is two characters longer than expected.

Dave,

Both of them are 17 characters.

Brendon,

I am puzzled why the OP indicated: xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxx verses xx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx. Can you explain the differences? Might it be a difference in product keys?

Dave

My, Serial Numbers Version 9, xx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx and Version 10, xx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx.

cd

Dave,

If you read the posts the OP made, his 9.1 Suite updater came with its own 17 character code embedded already. [The number is actually embedded in the updater program, and is the same for all users.]

The updater installed correctly for him, but since the regular programs use a 17 character box in a 2-5-5-5 format while the updater uses a 4-4-4-5 character format, and the updater uses a different serial number, he was worried that he might have got a bogus copy.

He has some activation problems, which are a different topic, but he has been reassured that his program isn't bogus.

Regards,
Brendon