How do I fix an “Invalid license data. Reinstall is required.” error in Visual C# 2010 Express?

Question

I\'ve tried to install Visual C# 2010 Express edition onto my PC, but whenever I try to run it, I get a error message.

Invalid license data. Reinstall

Answer 1

I have had this EXACT problem with VS2010 Professional Trial / Evaluation download. I can provide clear and concise steps to reproduce:

1. Set your system clock ahead by 1 day (oops!)
2. Install the trial software.
3. Set your system clock back to the correct date.
4. Start VS2010, you will receive the vague message indicating "Invalid license data. Reinstall is required."

In my case, the resolution was quite simple - set the clock back ahead to the wrong date. The next day, I was able to set the clock back to the correct date and continue using the product.

Based on other answers to this question, it would appear there are numerous reasons that you could receive this message. This specific issue is most likely to be encountered by someone with a "virgin" install of Windows since it is not so difficult to set the clock incorrectly when setting up a new computer and then fix it later (and if you fix the clock hours after installing the product, it might be hard to put it all together and realize what happened).

Hope this helps someone else.