"Please insert the installation CD and restart the program"

[steve.ledger]

Preventing the creation of a backup disc definately seems un XARA-like to me. Personally I've always made backups of purchased software cd's, it just makes sense.
I assume the thinking is to prevent any pirated copies of the CD version being distributed.

[PatentGuy]

I thought faffing with CD-ROM formats as part of crappy copy-protection schemes went out of fashion about 10 years ago...

Hardware CD copy protection went out of fashion when it became really easy to circumvent the copy protection schemes being used. It was used primarily to prevent pirating by gamers.

I wish Xara would get serious about the business market. I have to set up a separate account for each copy I buy for my business (I don't buy in 5, 10, or 20 copy increments).

[willdean]

I wish Xara would get serious about the business market.

I quite agree. Along similar lines, they've failed to issue us with any VAT invoice/receipt for our upgrade to 4.0, and failed to respond to the support query about it.

I'm fairly resigned to scrappy paperwork when dealing with companies outside the UK, but one UK company buying from another UK company should not have to kick up a fuss just to get a proper invoice.

Sigh.

[willdean]

In fairness to Xara, I should say that this invoice appeared by email about ten minutes ago. Whether that's coincidence or a result of my whining in here I don't know...

[gdavidson]

The copy protection is worse than meets they eye….

If there are any school IT people here with RM CC3 networks and they’re trying to “repackage” Xara X4 Pro so that it can be deployed over the network to their machines, the copy protection prevents it running on any machine other than the one you repackaged it on (a Virtual PC in my case).

I spent a whole week repackaging it into a deployable MSI installer only to have fallen down at final testing where it soon became apparent the new copy protection was not only physically part of the media but also due software restrictions.

We don’t have CD drives on the PCs and without a solution, we cannot install or use the current version of Xara. Per station installs with a portable CD drive is not an option either as the machines are frequently rebuilt (very quick and easy to do on CC3)

I am thankful Xara gave us CD to try out before we rushed into buying licences but I am troubled by this new development.

I raised the issue with Xara over a week ago and am waiting to see if there will be any workaround. For education and corporate deployment of Xara, it would be ideal if they could make a non-copy protected installer available on request.

[remi]

If Xara is able to implement a copy protection, I'm sure they are also able to help customers with a lot of licenses. Let the Xara support find a solution for you.

Remi

[w00dy]

Owning a registered copy means that we can install and use our copies of XXP4 without any real issues but like everyone else, I like to make a backup copy for general use and store the originals in a safe place where they won't get damaged.

A quick trawl around the net would seem to indicate that CD copy protection is a standard Magix procedure across all their apps but what bugs me about it is that having paid for my own, personal copy, there is absolutely BoB Hope and no hope of me ever thinking of letting somebody have a copy, so why can't Magix allow a backup CD to be made. I think that the overwhelming majority of users would likewise guard their prized possession!

That said the CD version isn't Xara's, sorry Magix's main problem as I see it. A quick search for XXP4 via the various leading file sharing networks yields a plethora of links for the download version together with keygens. There lies the problem, not registered users wanting to backup their CD!

[The Doc]

Well said Woody, in another thread about the new copy protected cd I said that the protection only hurts genuine purchasers not the pirates who simply download a cracked copy so nice to see someone else feels the same

[StevenWWinters]

We don’t have CD drives on the PCs and without a solution, we cannot install or use the current version of Xara.

Can you put the CD in a drive on the network and share that drive so installs can be run over the network? Or does the copy protection interfere with that as well?

I have bought every version since CorelXara, as well as WebStyle and Xara3d. I am opposed to copy protection and predict that Xara/Magix will not see any revenue increase as a result users of pirated copies suddenly deciding to pay for a legit copy.

It would be interesting to see a poll on how many current Xtreme users agree with this change and whether this will dissuade them from future upgrades.

[gdavidson]

Can you put the CD in a drive on the network and share that drive so installs can be run over the network? Or does the copy protection interfere with that as well?

I haven't tried that - it might work but then again...! If so, it might indeed be a workaround for the occasional low volume network installation.

Speaking for myself.... Unfortunately it would not be practical for our school's needs where we have to modify the installer to deploy it and there can be up to 80 machines installing it concurrently and even then sometimes randomly due to repair installations. Certainly on CC3, the "SETUP" user only sees a limited number of drives on the network whilst the station is installing deployed software but again it wouln't be practical to have to leave the CD in the server to act like a dongle.

Whether Xara would be able to see the data it needs with a shared out CD drive would be another matter. Our stations access CDs via the use of virtual CD images, I've already discovered the physical media protection stops us imaging the Xara CD.

I really do hope they can come up with a "corporate" installer!