hah, i had same exact issue yesterday after doing memory upgrade to my laptop from 4 to 8GB. i had to ping support, didnt get a reply yet. but for fastest fix you should call their support line.

i am also planning to dupe the HD to a SSD, so i wonder if i will run into this issue again...?


update: support has to issue a special code using the request code as displayed, which means you have to leave that window parked on that screen, send support (or call) that request code, and then support will send special activation code. after entering the special code you can re-enter your original activation code.

a messy process indeed, but this is what support says......

if you have not contacted them before via email then you need to call. for some odd reason they like to initiate the email communications.

although they told me the code they give to fix the issue was to clear the error, and they i would need to re-enter my original code from my purchase receipt, i did not have to re-enter my code from my receipt, the fix they gave me simply fixed the issue, now my VC starts just fine.

as for the "fingerprint" bit, dunno, i suspect its from a change of RAM. swapping over to a SSD didnt affect VC9.