Unlicensed Vehicle Message After Just Paying $100 To License It..

I've got an '08 Avalanche.. We are doing an 80E transmission swap. In the past, when I need to flash the TCM for the 80E programming, this is what we would do;
1. READ and SAVE the original programming from the vehicle.
2. Change at least 1 parameter in the ORIGINAL READ file so that HPT will prompt me to license it (see questions below!)
3. License the vehicle.
4. Open an Express van tune that I ALREADY licensed and do WRITE entire for PCM & TCM.
5. Go back and WRITE ENTIRE just the PCM using the ORIGINAL READ file.

I tried that just now, but when I get to step 5----hp tuners is telling me the vehicle is UNLICENSED even though I JUST licensed it 5 minutes ago. Is it because I burned ANOTHER file onto the PCM? If so, that is ALSO a licensed file!!!!! Can anyone tell me where I went wrong? It has been working this way on past vehicles... WHat would you guys recommend I try at this time? Am I going to have to RE-LICENSE the vehicle--essentially paying $200 just to flash the TCM?

Questions;
1. Does anyone know how to LICENSE a file without having to change something in the file first? I know that if/when I change something and try to save it with another name it will pop up the prompt to license. If I don't want to have to change something, is there a way to license it?

Just an update.. NVRAM is now damaged in the PCM due to attempting to write an '09 file onto an '08 PCM. For those you out there.. Just one more "gotcha!" to watch out for. Tomorrow I'm picking up a used PCM from an 08 truck at the junk yard and will then flash my current tune onto that. HOPEFULLY... The TCM will retain the 80E programming. But, like most things I attempt to modify, it's not likely to work.

You dont need to write the whole file
you can write just the tcm, (on vehicles with tcm's) or do a segment swap, for those that dont. This eliminates this whole scenario

Mbray, I was taught by another tuner that there I am supposed to burn BOTH the PCM & the TCM at the same time with the tune from the 4l80e equipped vehicle, and then go back and WRITE ENTIRE the original PCM tune back over that. Something about there being extra files on the PCM side that the TCM needs at time of segment swap over to the 4L80E file. I've tried just writing the TCM on those vehicles that have external TCM's and it rarely, if ever, has worked that way. In the past when I've written BOTH TCM & PCM, and then gone back and put original tune back in the PCM, it has worked. I'm learning the hard way. I'll try writing JUST the TCM next time but my experience has shown me that it does not work that way.

Read This thread: https://forum.hptuners.com/showthrea...CM-OS-24239036 post #5..

His problem was that he "hoped" that moving over files by copy and paste would resolve his issue, it simply needed to be segment swapped, or just simply write entire the transmission file on his tcm.
Ive changed the tcm files hundreds of times, as we specialize in swaps just like this, by only writing the tcm. The only time in my experience that the ecm has needed to be written was if changing from a standard to an auto, sometimes it wont start because the file is missing some back ground stuff. However hpt wont write that, needed to be flashed with sps.

When you write entire the pcm, then write entire the file back, you havent done anything but created extra steps to take