H&R Block At Home 2009 Deluxe Federal + eFile Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The H&R At Home Deluxe Federal + E-file CD received from Amazon installs quickly enough. On attempting to start the installed program I immediately receive a message saying that At Home is not running on the computer it was originally installed on. That's silly because this is the only computer I have. But I follow the suggestion to un-install, then re-install the software. I get the same result, At Home won't start.
My on-line chat with H&R Support eventually leads to their request to check into Microsoft Update and install any missing "Critical" updates. There are none. But there are some "Important" ones. However, they're for programs I don't have (e.g., Office 2003, Server 2005, etc.) or don't want (e.g., Internet Explorer 8). H&R Support can't be any more specific about which updates might be necessary and I can't tell from the explanations of the updates which one(s) might affect At Home's inability to know where it's running.
I'm stuck.
I'm not going to install 8 updates willy-nilly, hoping one (or more) of them will solve the problem. At Home is obviously checking some internal value somewhere that tells it where it thinks it was installed against some value stored in the bowels of 64-bit Windows Vista, but H&R Support can't tell me what At Home is looking for.
So I still have no clue why At Home won't even start up. Has anyone else stumbled across this problem in 64-bit Vista (w/Service pack 1) and solved it? If not, I'm going to have to return H&R Block At Home (2009) and see if I have any better luck with Turbo-Tax for 2009.
I'm frustrated because last year I switched from Turbo Tax to H&R Block Tax Cut and found it easy and simple to use. Oh, well, back to Turbo Tax.*** Update, Jan 12th, 2010 ***
An H&R At Home representative contacted me at home (no pun intended!) after reading the above review. He apologized for the failure and said that I had encountered a known problem that wasn't related to "critical" Vista-64 updates. The problem affects some but not all Vista-64 users. Anyway, nothing I might have done during or as a result of the on-line chat would have solved my problem. He said they have a fix in hand for the problem and that they expect to have it available for download on Jan 15th. All in all, well handled by H&R and a good public relations endeavor. My opinion of them has risen substantially as a result of our conversation.


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H&R Block At Home Deluxe includes everything you need to easily complete your federal taxes, plus five free federal e-files. With a new, easy-to-use interface, H&R Block At Home Deluxe searches for hundreds of deductions to get customers the biggest refund.
Ideal for homeowners and investors, the program includes personalized tax guidance and features available only from H&R Block, such as built-in expertise and audit support with guidance, plus an H&R Block enrolled agent to represent customers in the event of an audit.


At Home Deluxe (No State) Investors / Homeowners The right choice for customers with more complex tax situations to easily complete their federal returns. Includes five free federal e-files and built-in expertise available only from H&R Block!

Includes these features:
Customized interview process to help customers easily complete their federal taxes.
Five free federal e-files.
Personalized tax guidance for popular occupations and specific deductions, plus answers to FAQs.
Audit support with guidance, plus an H&R Block enrolled agent to represent you in the event of an audit. Included when you file a federal return.
Guidance for reporting investments, dividends, home sales, and retirement income.
Advice, tips, and planning tools for the upcoming year.
Easily import W-2, 1099, and data from last year's return.
Quickly import data from TaxCut, TurboTax, Quicken, Microsoft Money, and H&R Block DeductionPro software.
H&R Block DeductionPro software to maximize tax savings from donations.


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