Activating Visio
Many people may not realize that since Visio version 2002 the activation (and setup) is the same as any other Office suite or standalone application. In support we hear a lot of activation and licensing questions on Visio, and some don't realize that Visio is part of the Office family, hence you get the same Office Shared Features (Clip Art, Spell Check, etc...) and Office Tools (Picture Manager, etc...) . However, Visio is not "bundled" in any suite, it's a "standalone" application with the Office branding.
Understanding this similar functionality makes things easy(ier) when troubleshooting Visio activation. The same basics in troubleshooting Office activation apply. The three things I always ask when troubleshooting Office/Visio activation:
1. Ensure Windows Date/Time are correct.
2. Check to see if you have the trial or the full product (should say in Add/Remove Programs), trials can only be activated once.
3. Delete the licensing file (it's a hidden file under C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Microsoft\OFFICE\DATA in Windows XP. In Vista the Documents and Settings folder is now called Users at the root of C, or whatever the system drive is). The filename varies from version to version.
- Office/Visio 2007 - opa12.dat
- Office/Visio 2003 - opa11 dat
- Office XP/Visio 2002 - data.dat
More info.
KB 919895: How to troubleshoot problems that you may experience when you try to activate a 2007 Office product
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/919895
Microsoft Product Activation
https://www.microsoft.com/piracy/mpa.aspx
Activation and registration of a Microsoft Product