Activation Errors: 50018 or 50040

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Summary

When attempting to activate your InstallShield license error 50018 or 50040 occurs

Symptoms

When attempting to activate your InstallShield license, one of the following activation errors occurs:

• Activation Error 50018: An unexpected error occurred.
• Activation Error 50040: An unexpected error occurred.

Cause

This error may occur when the automatic online activation attempt fails.

Resolution

If you do not have an internet connection or are unable to complete the activation process online due to a firewall or proxy, the activation wizard gives you the option to perform offline activation through email.

1. Click the Proceed with offline activation option. The Offline Activation dialog opens. The Request text box contains your request text. The request text starts with <?xml version, and it ends with </Request>.
2. Save the request text to a text file.
3. Click the Save button. The wizard lets you save the text as a .request file.
4. Attach the License.request file to your e-mail reply. Your License.request file should allow us to try to generate a License.response file, which should allow you to complete the activation process.
5. When you receive the email message from Flexera Software Support and you are ready to complete the activation process, launch InstallShield to open the activation wizard.
6. Proceed to the Offline Activation dialog, which should have a Response text box.
7. Copy the response text that is included in the email message from Flexera Software Support to your clipboard. The response text starts with <?xml version, and it ends with </Response>. In the wizard, click the Paste button.
Note: As an alternative for step 7, you can copy the response text and paste it into a text file. Change the name of the text file to License.response. In the Offline Activation dialog, click the Load button, and then select the License.response file.
8. Click the Activate button.

Additional Information

For information regarding other InstallShield activation-related errors, see Knowledge Base article Troubleshooting InstallShield 2010 and Later Activation Issues.

For more information regarding the InstallShield activation process, see Knowledge Base article Licensing Info of InstallShield 2010 and Later.

If you have tried all of the aforementioned suggestions and the verification process for InstallShield is still unsuccessful, contact Flexera Software Support.