Figured it out from another post here. This should be a sticky or an FAQ. The IE option to automatically detect LAN settings does have to be checked. I don't know why, and I don't know why it would have changed on my PC, but apparently it does and it did. Now that I've checked it I can activate GOTD software just fine. I hope this helps someone.
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Original problem post:
I've tried to get help in the comments for the StepShot giveaway, but my main comment has been "awaiting moderation" for hours, and my second post (about rebooting and turning off my firewall) doesn't make any sense without the main one.
I’ve installed and tried numerous times to activate StepShot over a period of many hours, and when I run Activate.exe I keep getting a Windows error message headed “Giveaway of the Day” that says “Failed to connect. Please try again later.”
I’ve tried running “As administrator” and not, with the same exact results. This is not the first time I’ve installed and activated a GOTD release, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen this kind of problem.
I've even rebooted and turned off my firewall. It doesn't make any difference.
I'd really like to try out this software, but it just refuses to activate. Apparently the GOTD activation server is refusing the connection from my computer, and I don't know why. I've tried running other instances of Activate.exe from previous giveaways, and they all behave the same: “Failed to connect. Please try again later.”
Please help.
Edited to add: After reading some similar threads here, I've looked at a couple of other things. My Internet Explorer option to work offline is NOT checked. My connection is NOT configured to use a proxy and it IS configured for manual settings.
