diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index f354a82b..1ca2317b 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ This project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/).
 - on systems in test signing mode sandboxie will by default try outdated offsets
 - changed Qt5 version to Qt5.15.13 with latest security patches [#3694](https://github.com/sandboxie-plus/Sandboxie/pull/3694) (thanks LumitoLuma)
 - moved network restrictions from general restrictions tab to an own tab on the network page
+- improved certificate retrival UI messages.
 
 ### Fixed
  - fixed Virtualization scheme Version 2 causing extremely slow file deleting speed [#3650](https://github.com/sandboxie-plus/Sandboxie/issues/3650)
diff --git a/SandboxiePlus/SandMan/OnlineUpdater.cpp b/SandboxiePlus/SandMan/OnlineUpdater.cpp
index 6d9afa8d..d4483edb 100644
--- a/SandboxiePlus/SandMan/OnlineUpdater.cpp
+++ b/SandboxiePlus/SandMan/OnlineUpdater.cpp
@@ -203,12 +203,12 @@ void CGetFileJob::Finish(QNetworkReply* pReply)
 
 SB_PROGRESS COnlineUpdater::GetSupportCert(const QString& Serial, QObject* receiver, const char* member, const QVariantMap& Params)
 {
-	QString UpdateKey = GetArguments(g_Certificate, L'\n', L':').value("UPDATEKEY");
+	QString UpdateKey = Params["key"].toString();
 
 	QUrlQuery Query;
 	if (!Serial.isEmpty()) {
 		Query.addQueryItem("SN", Serial);
-		if (Serial.length() > 5 && Serial.at(4).toUpper() == 'N') { // node locked business use
+		if (Serial.length() > 5 && Serial.at(4).toUpper() == 'N') {
 			wchar_t uuid_str[40];
 			theAPI->GetDriverInfo(-2, uuid_str, sizeof(uuid_str));
 			Query.addQueryItem("HwId", QString::fromWCharArray(uuid_str));
diff --git a/SandboxiePlus/SandMan/SandMan.cpp b/SandboxiePlus/SandMan/SandMan.cpp
index 755ca757..6ed0c7dc 100644
--- a/SandboxiePlus/SandMan/SandMan.cpp
+++ b/SandboxiePlus/SandMan/SandMan.cpp
@@ -2880,13 +2880,7 @@ void CSandMan::OnLogSbieMessage(quint32 MsgCode, const QStringList& MsgData, qui
 
 		if (!Message.isEmpty())
 		{
-			QMessageBox msgBox(this);
-			msgBox.setTextFormat(Qt::RichText);
-			msgBox.setIcon(QMessageBox::Critical);
-			msgBox.setWindowTitle("Sandboxie-Plus");
-			msgBox.setText(Message);
-			msgBox.setStandardButtons(QMessageBox::Ok);
-			msgBox.exec();
+			ShowMessageBox(this, QMessageBox::Critical, Message);
 			/*msgBox.setStandardButtons(QMessageBox::Yes | QMessageBox::No);
 			if (msgBox.exec() == QDialogButtonBox::Yes) {
 				OpenUrl(QUrl("https://sandboxie-plus.com/go.php?to=sbie-get-cert"));
@@ -2923,6 +2917,17 @@ void CSandMan::OnLogSbieMessage(quint32 MsgCode, const QStringList& MsgData, qui
 		m_pPopUpWindow->AddLogMessage(MsgCode, MsgData, ProcessId);
 }
 
+void CSandMan::ShowMessageBox(QWidget* Widget, QMessageBox::Icon Icon, const QString& Message)
+{
+	QMessageBox msgBox(Widget);
+	msgBox.setTextFormat(Qt::RichText);
+	msgBox.setIcon(Icon);
+	msgBox.setWindowTitle("Sandboxie-Plus");
+	msgBox.setText(Message);
+	msgBox.setStandardButtons(QMessageBox::Ok);
+	msgBox.exec();
+}
+
 void CSandMan::SaveMessageLog(QIODevice* pFile)
 {
 	foreach(const SSbieMsg& Msg, m_MessageLog)
diff --git a/SandboxiePlus/SandMan/SandMan.h b/SandboxiePlus/SandMan/SandMan.h
index 612a47b6..c5f84d00 100644
--- a/SandboxiePlus/SandMan/SandMan.h
+++ b/SandboxiePlus/SandMan/SandMan.h
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ public:
 	CAddonManager*		GetAddonManager() { return m_AddonManager; }
 
 	static QString		GetVersion();
+	static void			ShowMessageBox(QWidget* Widget, QMessageBox::Icon Icon, const QString& Message);
 
 	bool				IsImDiskReady() const { return m_ImDiskReady; }
 
diff --git a/SandboxiePlus/SandMan/Windows/SettingsWindow.cpp b/SandboxiePlus/SandMan/Windows/SettingsWindow.cpp
index 9c378e43..89b48368 100644
--- a/SandboxiePlus/SandMan/Windows/SettingsWindow.cpp
+++ b/SandboxiePlus/SandMan/Windows/SettingsWindow.cpp
@@ -1288,7 +1288,32 @@ void CSettingsWindow::UpdateCert()
 
 void CSettingsWindow::OnGetCert()
 {
-	SB_PROGRESS Status = theGUI->m_pUpdater->GetSupportCert(ui.txtSerial->text(), this, SLOT(OnCertData(const QByteArray&, const QVariantMap&)));
+	QByteArray Certificate = ui.txtCertificate->toPlainText().toUtf8();	
+	QString Serial = ui.txtSerial->text();
+
+	QString Message;
+	if (Serial.length() > 5 && Serial.at(4).toUpper() == 'U') {
+		Message = tr("You are attempting to use a feature Upgrade-Key without having entered a preexisting supporter certificate. "
+			"Please note that these type of key (<b>as it is clearly stated in bold on the website</b>) require you to have a preexisting valid supporter certificate, it is useless without one."
+			"<br />If you want to use the advanced features you need to obtain booth a standard certificate and the feature upgrade key to unlock advanced functionality.");
+	}
+
+	if (Serial.length() > 5 && Serial.at(4).toUpper() == 'R') {
+		Message = tr("You are attempting to use a Renew-Key without having a preexisting supporter certificate. "
+			"Please note that these type of key (<b>as it is clearly stated in bold on the website</b>) require you to have a preexisting supporter certificate, it is useless without one.");
+	}
+
+	if (!Message.isEmpty()) {
+		Message += tr("<br /><br /><u>If you have not read the product description and got this key by mistake, please contact us by email (provided on our website) to resolve this issue.</u>");
+		CSandMan::ShowMessageBox(this, QMessageBox::Critical, Message);
+		return;
+	}
+
+	QVariantMap Params;
+	if(!Certificate.isEmpty())
+		Params["key"] = GetArguments(Certificate, L'\n', L':').value("UPDATEKEY");
+
+	SB_PROGRESS Status = theGUI->m_pUpdater->GetSupportCert(Serial, this, SLOT(OnCertData(const QByteArray&, const QVariantMap&)), Params);
 	if (Status.GetStatus() == OP_ASYNC) {
 		theGUI->AddAsyncOp(Status.GetValue());
 		Status.GetValue()->ShowMessage(tr("Retrieving certificate..."));
@@ -1297,6 +1322,14 @@ void CSettingsWindow::OnGetCert()
 
 void CSettingsWindow::OnCertData(const QByteArray& Certificate, const QVariantMap& Params)
 {
+	if (Certificate.isEmpty())
+	{
+		QString Error = Params["error"].toString();
+		qDebug() << Error;
+		QString Message = tr("Error retriving certificate: %1").arg(Error.isEmpty() ? tr("Unknown Error (probably a network issue)") : Error);
+		CSandMan::ShowMessageBox(this, QMessageBox::Critical, Message);
+		return;
+	}
 	ui.txtCertificate->setPlainText(Certificate);
 	ApplyCert();
 }
diff --git a/SandboxiePlus/SandMan/Wizards/SetupWizard.cpp b/SandboxiePlus/SandMan/Wizards/SetupWizard.cpp
index 9c6843d9..2cb0dd1a 100644
--- a/SandboxiePlus/SandMan/Wizards/SetupWizard.cpp
+++ b/SandboxiePlus/SandMan/Wizards/SetupWizard.cpp
@@ -355,9 +355,14 @@ bool CCertificatePage::validatePage()
     if (m_pEvaluate->isChecked())
         return true;
 
+    QByteArray Certificate = m_pCertificate->toPlainText().toUtf8();
     QString Serial = m_pSerial->text();
+
     if (!Serial.isEmpty()) {
-        SB_PROGRESS Status = theGUI->m_pUpdater->GetSupportCert(Serial, this, SLOT(OnCertData(const QByteArray&, const QVariantMap&)));
+        QVariantMap Params;
+	    if(!Certificate.isEmpty())
+		    Params["key"] = GetArguments(Certificate, L'\n', L':').value("UPDATEKEY");
+        SB_PROGRESS Status = theGUI->m_pUpdater->GetSupportCert(Serial, this, SLOT(OnCertData(const QByteArray&, const QVariantMap&)), Params);
 	    if (Status.GetStatus() == OP_ASYNC) {
 		    theGUI->AddAsyncOp(Status.GetValue());
             Status.GetValue()->ShowMessage(tr("Retrieving certificate..."));
@@ -365,7 +370,6 @@ bool CCertificatePage::validatePage()
         return false;
     }
 
-    QByteArray Certificate = m_pCertificate->toPlainText().toUtf8();
     if (!Certificate.isEmpty() && Certificate != g_Certificate)
 		return CSettingsWindow::ApplyCertificate(Certificate, this);