Fix QuickBooks Desktop Activation Issue (The Incorrect Validation Code)

Managing your company or business’ financial accounting using QuickBooks accounting software is seamless and offers plenty of features that make your everyday tasks much easier to achieve. However, sometimes, things may suddenly go wrong and you may become clueless as to how you can deal with situations that occur, in this case, with your QuickBooks. So, if you are experiencing problems with your QB software and need help in getting the issue(s) resolved, then we are here to help.

In this article, you will get detailed knowledge on how to fix QB Desktop Activation Issue: Incorrect Validation Code Or Service Is Temporarily Unavailable. These are the two errors that many users have encountered while using this best accounting software product for their business or company.

Reasons, & Solutions for QuickBooks Activation Issue

Read the article, till the end to get the answer of why, and how.

Why QuickBooks Activation Not Working

You may happen to encounter errors such as validation code being incorrect or the service is temporarily not available right now during QuickBooks Desktop activation. Thus, if you were trying to activate the release of your QuickBooks Desktop accounting software over the Internet, you may end up getting errors like this one.

When activating your QuickBooks accounting software, users may encounter problems such as:

• The validation code you entered is incorrect.
• The server is temporarily unable to activate your QuickBooks Desktop due to some technical error.

Now, there can be various reasons as to what has caused the error that failed to process the QB Desktop activation operation on your computer. At some point in time, many users experience this type of issue with their release of QuickBooks Desktop financial accounting software.

Points to Verify Before Going for the Activation Issue Solution

In order to resolve the QuickBooks Desktop activation issue, you must first, ensure the following:

• See if your QuickBooks is already active.
• Verify that the license number and product code match with the ones that are given on the sticker of your QuickBooks product package.
• If you have downloaded QuickBooks online via Intuit’s server, check the confirmation email that you received from Intuit for the product. For QuickBooks Online Support, dial our QuickBooks support phone number now!
• If you purchased the QuickBooks CD from a store, see a brightly colored sticker on the original CD package.

After verifying these checks, ensure that you have the correct license number and product number for your version of QuickBooks accounting software. Then, enter the details carefully in order to activate your QuickBooks Desktop. This should fix the validation code is incorrect or the service is a temporarily unavailable error.

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How to Fix QuickBooks Desktop Activation Issue

Solution 1: Verify the system date and time are correct

It is important that the computer which you are using must show the correct date and time as per your geographic location. Although the server automatically syncs the date and time on your computer (when connected to the Internet), however, some applications or malicious programs on your computer can deliberately compromise the settings of your computer. Therefore, it is necessary that you keep the date and time in sync.

Follow the steps given below to set or correct the date and time on your computer:

• Close QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks company file.
• At the bottom right corner of the Taskbar, click on the time and click again on Adjust the Date/Time.
• On the Date and Time Properties window, make sure to select the current date, year and time.
• Once the necessary changes have been made, click the Apply button, then click the OK button to save and exit the changes you have made. If needed, restart your computer.
• Launch QuickBooks Desktop, then go to Help -> Activate QuickBooks -> Activate.

Solution 2: Close All the Running Program

Sometimes the background running programs create problems for the QuickBooks activation. So try this solution for the activation problem.

• For this, first you need to download QuickBooks tool hub.
• After the complete download process, go to the ‘Program Problems’ section, and run the quick fix my program.
• Wait for the complete process, it may take some time.
• Start QuickBooks Desktop, and try to activate it.

Solution 3: Run QuickBooks Install Diagnostic Tool

There is another method of fixing the QuickBooks error: validation code is incorrect or the service is temporarily unavailable. This can be achieved by using the QuickBooks Install Diagnostic Tool (also called QBInstall Tool), which can be downloaded online free of cost. the QuickBooks Install Diagnostic Tool is capable of resolving several issues like errors in MSXML, C++.

• Open the tool hub, and visit for the ‘Installation Issues’.
• There you can find the option of ‘QuickBooks install diagnostic tool’, just click on it, and let the tool to function.
• After the complete process, Restart your system, and open QuickBooks Desktop again.
• Try to activate it for once again.

Solution 4: Reset the “EntitlementDataStore.ecml” file

It may happen that you have an encrypted file and if the information is damaged or corrupt, QuickBooks will not be able to open the file and may produce errors on your desktop screen. Therefore, in such a situation, it is advised that you delete the EntitlementDataStore.ecml file and re-enter your QuickBooks license and product information in order to help resolve the problem.

• Close QuickBooks and ensure that no QuickBooks processes are not running in the background.
• You may use the Windows Task Manager to close the QuickBooks program and its related services via the Services tab.
• You need to open the Windows Task Manager and then go to the Process tab. To find Windows Task Manager, click the Start button (or press Win key) and type task manager in the Search box.
• In the Process tab, locate QBW32.EXE and click the Kill process tree button to quit the QuickBooks service.
• Click on the cross at the top-right corner of Windows Task Manager.
• Now, access your local directory on the hard drive, locate and open the EntitlementData folder of your QuickBooks.
• Next, press Win + R to launch the Run command box on your computer screen.
• Type or copy and paste C:\ProgramData\Intuit\Entitlement Client\v8(or v6). Click on OK button or tap Enter key. Note: The folder location is the same for all variants of QuickBooks Desktop App and QuickBooks Enterprise.
• In the folder, look for the EntitlementDataStore.ecml file and delete it. If you are asked to confirm the file delete operation, click Yes.
• Once done, close the window, open QuickBooks and follow the on-screen instructions to register your product.

Note: Enter the correct license and product code to activate your QuickBooks successfully.

Solution 5: Try to Reactivate the MSXML.DLL File

You can try this procedure to fix the activation issue in QuickBooks. Here, you go for the procedure to reactivate the MSXML file.

Procedure to reactivate MSXML for 64-bit computer:

• Go to the ‘Start’ button, and in the search bar box, type cmd.
• Right-click on the cmd, and select the ‘Run as Administrator’ option.
• Put cd\windows\syswow64, at the window, and press the enter key.
• Again put regsvr32 MSXML4.dll, and hit the enter key.
• Put regsvr32 MSXML6.dll, press the enter key.

Procedure to reactivate MSXML for 32-bit computer:

• Open the run window, and type cmd, and press the enter key.
• Put regsvr32 MSXML4.dll, and press the enter key.
• Again put regsvr32 MSXML6.dll, hit enter key from the keyboard.

Solution 6: Perform Clean Install for QuickBooks Desktop

Perform clean install for QuickBooks Desktop to fix the activation issue. It will not affect your data, and company file, so you can run it without having any tension.

Solution 7: Create a New Windows Admin Profile

• Create a new windows user with the rights of admin.
• Log out from the windows, and again login to the system with the new credential.
• Download, and install QuickBooks Desktop again.

Final Words

We hope, all of the above solutions will be effective for you. And now you are able to fix the QuickBooks Desktop activation issue. Follow all the steps carefully, these solutions will definitely help you to fix the problem. Still, if you have any doubt regarding this article or if you need help to fix the problem then, it will be good to hire a QuickBooks ProAdvisor. A QuickBooks ProAdvisor can help you in different situations to manage accounts with QuickBooks.