As far as I know, BESR comes in three flavors for business users, Server Edititon, Desktop Edition, and Windows Small Business Server edition.  Are you sure you didn't buy one of these editions with the Basic Maintenance package?

With previous editions, it was possible to to install the server edition on a workstation. It was an expensive way to deploy, but it was possible.  I don't know if this still holds true.

In the event that you di\d purchase the wrong version, your first recourse is with your reseller, If you can't come to some arrangement with your reseller, then you should get Symantec Licensing involved with the issue

If you purchased BESR Basic then the file you downloaded, ,BESRB853_AllWin_Multilingual_Prod.zip,  is incorrect.  You downloaded the full version of BESR, not the more limited Basic version which is limited to specific regions.   Please see the following article for the limitations of BESR Basic:

http://seer.entsupport.symantec.com/docs/313650.htm 

The file you need will have "basic" in the name.

Oh Joy! Another edition of BESR to add to the confusion!  Technotes that will explain the differences:

http://seer.entsupport.symantec.com/docs/313650.htm

Okay, I had to do a rewrite here after reading through this thread again.

I take it the info in the technote below is no longer valid:

http://seer.entsupport.symantec.com/docs/311478.htm

JB -- Is it correct to assume that you downloaded the original file from the CDW site?  If so, then try going to fileconnect.symantec.com.  You will have to enter the serial  number (not the license key) of the product, which usually begins with a letter followed by 10 digits.  It should be on the license certificate you received.   When I went to the fileconnect site, I did not see any downloads with the word basic in it.  Then again I have different licensing than you do, so it may not be one of the choices.  It could be possible that the separate basic edition download was eliminated and the version 8.5.5 download can distinguish a basic edition license key and do an appropriate lockdown at installation time.

Jacob -- Your link comes up as expired or invalid,

JB -- When you do get the proper download, it'll be a real joy applying the license key 100 times. Basic eddition does not have the central management capabilities.   I have posted two scripts in the linked post below that should make the job go easier:

https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/forums/app...

Marco

I've just checked and can confirm that there is still a separate download for the basic edition with 8.5.5.

JB - If you send me details of your serial numbers directly (private message) then I can check to see if they are correct.

I called Symantec yesterday and checked to see exactly what the license was for, and the tech told me it was for desktop edition!! I'm going to try downloading the desktop edition and installing it, and maybe the license will work for that? This really sucks, I had to email the tech my certificate because they couldn't find my info by customer number, name, order number, serial number showed up as enpoint protection....UGH, this is a nightmare!! Thank you guys for all the help so far, maybe this will fix it, I should know in an hour or so....

Okay, I just installed it onto my laptop and it worked just fine.  I don't even begin to understand what that means, I'm guessing it's a generic install that installs it as whatever setup it deems necessary. Hence when I install it onto my server, it installed it as the server edition, and when I installed it on my laptop, it installed it as desktop edition, and that's why I was able to license it? Will it not install onto my server because it's thinking I'm  trying to install BESR Server edition? And does that mean I have to install it onto each workstation, or can I get the management console and install all of them from there?

I think it should be a little more complicated. Does the management console have the feature for a trusted site to be set up, like the endpoint protection? Right now I don't have the fiber channel drives I want for my backups, so I'd like to split the backups between two servers to save space. I'm sure this requires two licenses, correct? Sorry for all the questions, I'm new to this product....

I believe you will need a separate license for each management station you wish to install on.  Not sure about the trusted site setup.  Page 187 of the cuurent manual has more info on the ports that nned to be open in order to communicate across firewalls and security devices

ftp://exftpp.symantec.com/pub/support/products/Bac...

Just wanted to give everyone a quick response to what happened. This is a very confusing setup and I guess I see how it works now, just want to save everyone else the hassles I experienced. The downloaded version was correct, it was for the basic edition. That version is ambigious with both server and desktop installations available on it. The software installs the appropriate version according to what it finds in the OS of the system, I am guessing. When I was trying to install the software to the server, it installed the server edition, whereas my license is for desktop edition. I only discovered that after calling Symantec, getting the run around, downloading three different packages, and finally getting it to work on a machine running XP. The license file I received stated the product was for Symantec Backup Exec Basic Edition v.8.5.3 for Symantec Endpoint Protection v 3.0. Thanks Symantec, that was fun.