Help a Luddite get back on track??

Hey folks,
It's been a LONG time since I've posted here. I've got a small problem that I'm hoping y'all can help me with.

Here's the deal. I'm an occasional graphics guy - not a pro or anything - just someone who uses graphics software often enough to be decent at it, but not often enough to keep up with "the latest". To that end, I've been using XaraX for years - running on Windows XP, and it's always been just fine for my purposes; never felt the need to upgrade/switch/keep-up. I don't even know what the latest incarnation of my old software is.

But I just had to replace my computer (also a relic with MANY years of use and abuse). Of course the new hardware runs on Vista. I've been able to load my XaraX software onto the new computer, along with all my old and/or working files, and it all works just fine. The only problem is that I can't get the computer to "remember" my registration code. It asks for the code every time I start up XaraX. This is annoying and a bit of a hassle.

So, the question is: what do I need to do to load the registration code in just once, and have the new computer recognize it automatically (like it does on the old computer) so I don't have to enter it every time I startup XaraX?

And for those of you who are saying, "sheesh, what's with this guy? why doesn't he just upgrade to the latest version?" - sorry, I'm one of those "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" types. You oughtta see my car.

Thanks if advance for you help. I may not have posted in years, but I do check in the forum from time to time and almost always find the answers/guidance/help that I need just by searching.

Try starting it by right-clicking the icon and choosing 'Run As Administrator'. That way it will have sufficient privilege to be able to write the registration code to wherever it's trying to write it.

Willdean, thanks for the tip. Unfortunately that doesn't quite work so I'm bumping this up to fish for more ideas. I've been fussing around with the "user access controls" and "permissions" and I can't seem to get this problem fixed. Everything else works just fine - no problems running the program once I've entered the code, all my old files and fonts are there, etc. In fact it works faster and smoother than before. It's just the one little thing of having to enter the license/code every time at startup.

it may be that you have to install it as administrator under vista from what I gather reading other threads

http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthre...istrator+vista

post #2

Draven Vista prohibits updates to the registry by all log on accounts, including one with Administrative rights on the machine.

Uninstall Xara X.

Do not allow the installer to run automatically when you put your CD in the drive.

Use Windows Explorer to view the root directory of the CD and right click on RunCD.exe and select Run as administrator... from the popup menu.

You may prefer to right click on XaraX.msi and Run as administrator to bypass the initial menu.

After the program installation is complete the very first time you run the program do NOT double click the desktop icon or click the All Programs > Xara X icon. Right click the icon and again select Run as administrator...

Enter your registration number when prompted.

You have now actually installed Xara X on Vista as an administrator and registered it completely in the Windows registry.

You can now double click the desktop icon or use the All Program Xara X icon to launch the program as you would normally.