Locked out of Xara DP11 once again!

[Rob-Xar]

We have, couldn't replicate it, but still looking into these activation issues.

[pauland]

Rob, if you guys have tried to replicate the conditions of the 8.30 post, I am impressed.

I wonder if jaydear can replicate it?

[handrawn]

if it helps I thought at the time it might be a local firewall issue... but no actual evidence - firewalls are usually in place on routers although most 'ordinary' useres don't change them from default settings...

[Rob-Xar]

if it helps I thought at the time it might be a local firewall issue... but no actual evidence - firewalls are usually in place on routers although most 'ordinary' useres don't change them from default settings...

A lot of people don't realise this as well unfortunately, let alone even know the log in details for their routers

[jaydear]

It is repeatable. After reading your responses with only my wired connection active and without closing my browser, I easily started XDP11. I then closed XDP11, went to Change PC Settings (I'm using Win 8.1) and turned on WiFi. As a check for connectivity I went to my browser and opened a new tab. In the new tab I browsed to http://www.ebroadcast.com.au which is an online TV program guide and viewed the current program which loaded in a millisecond and proved to me that my connection is working because it displayed today's date - I'm in Australia and we're 10 hours ahead of GMT, so it's 6:30am Saturday 25/6/'16 here. I left the browser open and attempted to start XDP11 again and was greeted by the Xara Activation dialogues. I captured the three screens. I exited the dialogue. I plugged my wired connection back in, then went to Change PC Settings and turned off WiFi. I immediately browsed to http://www.abc.net.au which is our national broadcaster's website and it too loaded today's info without delay again proving I'm not viewing a cached image. I then started XDP11 again. It started promptly and without any activation issues. The screens I captured are here...

[handrawn]

explain to me how this is not a firewall issue

[jaydear]

Easy! I use Windows 10 Firewall Control which allows full monitoring and control of the Windows firewall. I've highlighted the entry for XDP11. I recommend it. It is a right royal pain when you first install it because it asks about everything it sees for the first time and tells you about everything it blocks, but it is fully configurable and once you're comfortable with how it is managing the firewall you can disable annoying notifications and enjoy using your software. I use the free version and despite it's name it is for Windows 7, 8, 8.1 & 10, there are 32bit and 64 bit versions, and there's also a version for XP! From http://www.sphinx-soft.com

[jaydear]

Handrawn, I didn't mention the router's firewall. These are usually hardware firewalls that are there to block incoming cyber attacks. Leaving the default settings in place is recommended. There are certain characteristics of the data and protocols in cyber attacks which are detected by these firewalls. I would not consider fiddling with mine. I very much doubt that Xara would be doing anything that would trigger a WiFi router's firewall to block their access. The firewall in a WiFi router would be more concentrated on blocking external access by WiFi rather than through the wired lan, which job is down to the modem's inbuilt firewall, and I've demonstrated that it is not blocking Xara.

[handrawn]

Easy!

ok using a different product I also use firewall in 'interactive' mode

you have just defined the way you use your firewall, but that is all

maybe Rob could confirm exactly what needs to have access, because I have a suspicion [but no confirmation] that it is more than just DesignerPro.exe itself

[jaydear]

... I have a suspicion [but no confirmation] that it is more than just DesignerPro.exe itself

Here's confirmation that it isn't:



All I did was to enable the 'log balloon' in Windows 10 Firewall Control, then start XDP11. As XDP11 started, the list of addresses it "phoned home" to grew to what I captured in the screen shot above. If you want to know exactly what it sends to Xara you need to install a 'sniffer' and let it record the session which you can then comb through at your leisure