Getting Started with Your New MSDN Subscription

Make the most of your MSDN Subscription by familiarizing yourself with the Subscription Benefits.

Activate My Subscription

To begin using your subscription benefits, you will need to activate your subscription using a Subscriber ID. This process associates your Windows Live ID to your subscription using a Subscriber ID. You only need to do this once, after which you’ll just sign in with the same Windows Live ID each time you return to the MSDN Subscriptions Web site. If you have an MSDN product key, you’ll first need to obtain your Subscriber ID by activating your key.

During the subscription activation process you will be asked to enter the name, e-mail address, and the Subscriber ID provided by Microsoft when the subscription was created. Make sure to enter this information exactly as it was provided to you in the e-mail from Microsoft, even if there are typos or your first and last names are reversed (which sometimes happens with Volume Licensing customers whose company administrator makes a mistake when assigning the subscription).

Your Subscriber ID can be found in any of several possible locations. These include your Subscriber ID card or welcome letter (for retail subscribers), your initial Welcome e-mail from Microsoft, or the shipping label on media shipments.

Take Advantage of your Subscription Benefits

After you have activated your subscription, you can:

	Download software from MSDN Subscriber Downloads. You’ll be prompted to install the File Transfer Manager ActiveX control when you make your first download.
	Sign up for the Windows Azure. Visit the My Account page and click the link to sign up. For availability and the included benefits, visit the Windows Azure Benefit Overview.
	Take a Microsoft E-Learning Course. Visit the My Account page and click the link to sign up.
	Sign up for the MSDN Magazine. Visit the My Account page and click the link to sign up.
	Sign up for the MSDN Flash newsletter to stay up to date on the latest development news from Microsoft.
	Participate in the community through MSDN Forums.
	Get Technical Support when you encounter break-fix issues outside of production environments. (Production-only issues can be raised through pay-per-incident Technical Support.)

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You can find a list of the benefits for your MSDN Subscription level on the MSDN Subscriptions Comparison Page.

My Account

The My Account page gives you quick access to your account information and subscription benefits.

If you have more than one subscription (for example because you purchased one at home, and later you got a job where your employer supplied a subscription), you can review your Subscriber ID, subscription level, expiration date, and other account information by selecting the subscription from the drop-down list on the My Account page.

For more information on managing your account, visit the Managing My Account page.