Summary

When attempting to activate, one of the following errors occur: 20653, 20674

Symptoms

When attempting to activate, one of the following errors occur:

• 20653
• 20674

The serial number that you entered cannot be activated. It has been used more times than allowed.

Cause

This message is known to occur in InstallShield 11.x and 12.x. InstallShield product licenses that require activation are single-machine, single-user licenses according to the end-user license agreement.

Resolution

To resolve this error, try one of the following solutions:

• Uninstall InstallShield on the previous machine, while the machine is connected to the Internet, to deactivate and free up the license for use on another machine; uninstalling InstallShield, while the previous machine is connected to the Internet, should return your license to your account, allowing you to activate on a different machine.
• Contact your Flexera Software sales representative to purchase an additional InstallShield license.
• For InstallShield 11 users, please make sure that InstallShield 11 Hotfix 4 is applied to your build machine before uninstalling and deactivating, preferrably immediately after activating.

Workaround

• InstallShield 11.x and 12.x are no longer support versions. It's recommended that you upgrade to the latest version of InstallShield .
• For frequently asked questions and answers about verification, see Activation FAQs.
• For more information regarding InstallShield activation, see Product Activation for InstallShield.

Additional Information

If you have tried all of the aforementioned suggestions and you still have not been able to perform the verification process for InstallShield, contact Flexera Software Support.