Out of "activations" on Visio Std 2003: how can I get around this?

I have a perfectly good copy of Visio Standard 2003. Unfortunately, between getting new PCs and replacing hard drives, I'm now out of activations.

I don't really want to upgrade because I don't like the ribbon and, at 64, I don't want to spend the money. However, I use Visio at home fairly regularly, and haven't seen anything else that quite does the job. I would not be opposed to buying other reasonably priced software, if it works like Visio, reads Visio files, and has menus instead of ribbons.

I'd pay for a new Product key, or a new full copy if the price were reasonable, but I've spoken to MS three times now and they don't sell either, nor will they extend the number of activations on my key.

I don't know where to, safely, look to buy a legitimate activation key that will be good for more than one activation on one PC. We upgrade hardware every few years. I've seen full products, but they are still over $100, and I find that high for old software.

I don't really want to hack the app, but I'm clearly not getting anything like help from MS.

Has anyone any suggestions for getting around this issue?

This makes me sad, as I still have a copy of Visio 1.0 on 3.5" floppies. 16-bit and doesn't work on any machine I currently own, but still ...

I'll read your links, carwiz, thank you, but I don't have much hope if it involves contacting MS. I did that three times already and always got the same answer: no. Not supported; we don't extend activations' you will have to buy a product or product key; we can't tell you where to get either one; we can't even tell you how to tell a legitimate source of a product key from a scam.

Ah. Yes, that would work for a copy of current software, but Visio 2003 is past its support period. I believe that ended in April of this year. When I tell the support site what I have, it dumps me to a page that basically says, "you have no support options but the user forum." I posted there and got a phone number, but that's where I was told "no" 3 different times.

Thanks anyway.

Technically, carwiz, that is correct. However, doesn't that really apply to "owning" the copyright? Which, of course, the software buyer does not own, any more than a reader owns the copyright to a book just because he bought a copy of the book instead of borrowing it from the library. If I bought a copy of The Hobbit, and a new printing came out, I think it unlikely that Unwin would require me to purchase a new copy. If they printed books that spontaneously disintegrated after 10 years, people would be up in arms. If GM told me that I had to stop driving my car because it was over 10 years old and I had moved, therefor garaging it in a new location, the lawyers would have a field day. Hmm. Perhaps GM is not a good example just now, but you get the idea.

I understand that no software company wants to have to provide tech support to any given version of an app in perpetuity. It would be absurd. I started my computing days in an office with Word 1.0 on 5¼" floppies; the spell check was on a seperate floppy and it had an anagram program. If I still had a copy of that version, I wouldn't want to still use it even if I had a machine to run it on. Most upgrades are great, but not all. I'll bet everyone on this forum has had at least one upgrade of something that he didn't like as well as the earlier version. And I'm not asking for tech support, just the ability to install the application and have it run fully and completely.

I'm going to keep looking for an alternative, I think. Much as I like and am used to Visio and the rest of the MS Office suite, I, as a retired individual, not working in an office environment or needing the latest and greatest to keep up with other businesses, am not willing to pay the significant amount of money that Microsoft wants for new software. I learned about shareware in 1981. I've been a supporter of the "try before you buy" concept ever since, and have bought and paid for dozens of such offerings over the years. I know that Apache office draw doesn't do what I want, but there must be something out there that won't leave all my existing Visio files in limbo.

Hello Liz27 - Send me a PM on this forum. Regards, GEWB

You asked about similar programs - I've used iGrafx Flowcharter but it is very pricey ($599 USD per seat latest version).

Regards,
GEWB