Winzip 27, Pro, Courier, or Suite won't let me renew (Solved)

Winzip 27, Pro, Courier, or Suite won't let me renew again on my Windows 10 desktop even though I've paid the amount for the year.  I think I paid $106.95 with the autopay renewal message in October.  When I click on the Winzip desktop icon, I get this message:

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WinZip(R)
Your subscription has expired.
To keep using WinZip, please renew your subscription.

[Renew]

Already renewed?
Validate your subscription

Close Winzip.

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When I click the [Renew] button, it goes to https://suite.winzip.com/myaccount with my Winzip Pro registered email and gibberish activation password with 5 dashes listed.

When I instead click on Validate your subscription then it falsely says, "Your subscription does not appear to have been renewed."

After I re-download WinZip 27 or even the WinZip 25 21-day trial from https://download.cnet.com/WinZip/3000-2250_4-10003164.html, it won't even let me use the 21-day trial.  It won't let me go to the screen anymore to put in my gibberish activation password with 5 dashes.  When I finally did somehow get to that screen and type in my email and gibberish password, it gives me an error.

This gives me the run-around and is obnoxious.  I sent a message to tech support at WinZip yesterday and they still haven't contacted me back.

Could somebody please explain where there's the link to renew Winzip appropriately and/or get the 21-day trial working?

I thought that I'd respond here in case any of you ever have the same issue.  Winzip responded by email and is now helpful.  This is the response message to me, but I redacted my email address, most of my activation code, and most of the person's name:

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Hello,

Thank you for contacting WinZip Support and providing us with your feedback.

In order to download and install the latest WinZip version on your workstation, please proceed as per the following instructions:

1. If you have a previous version of WinZip install on your machine, please follow these steps to uninstall it: From the Start Menu > Settings > System > Apps & Features > Find WinZip in the entry list > Uninstall.

2. Restart your computer and delete this folder: C:\ProgramData\WinZip

Note that the Program Data folder is a hidden folder, so the user needs to show hidden files/folders in order to see it.

3. Download WinZip from the link: https://download.winzip.com/suite/winzip.exe

4. Finally, register the application with the information and steps below:

Open WinZip > Click use Evaluation Version > Click on the blue help icon (?) in the top right corner > Then register, and kindly insert the following details:

Registered to: (Email address redacted)
Registration/Activation code: *****-*****-*****-**0**-*****-*****

More information: https://kb.corel.com/129253

Please, do not hesitate to contact us for any further queries.

Have a good week ahead!

Thank you.

Kind Regards,
--
K***** M****
WinZip Support
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I also learned some things:
-Winzip gives you too many activation codes.
-They had forgotten to mention online the first time that you have to restart your computer, I think.
-You can learn to delete a hidden file at https://kb.corel.com/129253
-I think that for the 18th character in my activation code, that I typed the letter O at first instead of the number zero.
-We need to be a little bit more patient when something like this happens.
-We can now go back to unzipping the .zip files of Wolfenstein 3D mods!

Thomas wrote:What the heck Matt. just use WinRAR. You can pay for actual zippy tools? GTFO! 

Hello.  With my long to-do list of work and Christmas shopping, I finally had time to go back to see your response.  I know that you and I don’t always see eye to eye.  The reason why it sounded weird and expensive to you was mostly because I had forgotten to mention that my WinZip Black Friday (The Black Friday of shopping the day after the Thursday of American Thanksgiving) package deal from one year included more than 30 tools/programs including Corel PaintShop Pro 2020, Corel Painter Essentials 7, and others.  Have a Merry Christmas and/or Boxing Day!

Thomas, this is going to sound a little weird, but I want to thank you for recommending WinRar to me.  I was oblivious that it's a lot cheaper than WinZip until you posted here.  Over time, bought a WinRar subscription.  For some reason, I thought I canceled WinZip months ago.  On Sunday, I received an email from WinZip that it will renew in 7 days.  Last night, I put in a request to cancel my WinZip renewal and they emailed me today that it's canceled.