Norton Internet Security 2005 Activation expired

I have several friends that have Dimension 3000 PC's.  All came with the trial of Norton Internet Security.  The systems were wiped and a fresh install of Windows XP was installed.  Then they installed the retail version of Norton on the systems.  The software was purchased on sale at staples or a competitor.  So the software is legitimate.  Well a few months after using the system, they are prompted that the trial period has expired and the software needs to be activated.  Well the software came with a 1 year subscription and shouldn't have expired.  They then reactivated the software using the code provided with it.  After a month or so, they get the same prompt.

 

There is an article on the Symantec website concerning the issue, but I was wondering if anyone else had a similar problem.  Could this be Dell specific?  I find it hard to believe it is a coincidence that 3 different systems were affected in the same way.  All being new Dell Dimension 3000's.  I no longer use a Dell system, but my friends have purchased them on my suggestion of a good system for basic usage.  I also have NIS2005 installed on my system based on an Asus Motherboard and have never had the problem.

 

Any input would be greatly appreciated.  Below is the link to the Symantec support article.  I haven't tried the fix yet, but will do so this evening and post an update.

 

http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/sharedtech.nsf/docid/2004122212322013?Open&src=&docid=2004122212374313&nsf=sharedtech.nsf&view=docid&dtype=&prod=&ver=&osv=&osv_lvl=