Locked out of Xara DP11 once again!

[handrawn]

have you done a similar process check to see if DesignerPro.exe calls up routines internally which then seperately initiate outbound traffic?

have you looked into the MAC address suggestion that Luke mentioned earlier ?

[jaydear]

All outbound traffic is shown by Windows 10 Firewall Control when it is set to show the log balloon, its not limited to any single program, so by default, yes I have because I have not seen anything else in the log balloon after XDP11 is up and stable. So far it looks to me like XDP11 only phones home to check the registration/activation stuff whilst its starting up, after that who knows?

The point of this thread is that some users have been prevented from starting their registered and activated software by something unexpected. The testing I have done shows that 1. there is nothing underhanded going on at startup time, 2. there is a sensitivity to my network specifics.

I can only offer the following advice based on my experience: 1. If the Registration/Activation dialogue pops up when you least expect it, DO NOT proceed to the Device Management nor Check License dialogues because you will enter a downward spiral of frustration! 2. See if your networking specifics have changed and see if you can change them back. If not, see if you can start the program with your networking disabled.

I'm not a developer nor a programmer, just a user like you. I have been able to learn a bit about what is going on with a few freeware tools. I try to be in control of my own computing destiny. When my XDP11 failed to proceed I was able to find the cause and sort it myself. I have shared my experience in detail and hope that it can assist my fellow users to move forward with artistic endeavours rather than wasting time trying to get out of software quicksand. I like the Xara software, it is innovative and clever and it has a lot of very talented users. Sadly, I don't use it to anywhere near it's potential. When I get stuck, I come here first and there is always some assistance

[handrawn]

I think for most 'starting the program with networking disabled' would not count as a solution, and depending what else is in progress may not even be practical

I would be interested in whether you pin this down specifically to a change of access route, be it MAC address or otherwise - I say this because, as I mentioned earlier, this happened to me under circumstances where the access route had not changed - of course it is always possible that there is more than one issue...

I have never used the firewall software you refer to - I assume that all routines that are blocked/allowed when trying to connect will be logged as such in your 'balloon' dialog - including those operating at system level?

just out of interest have you run a repair on the program [as administrator] - you never know it might reset

[jaydear]

I think for most 'starting the program with networking disabled' would not count as a solution

I agree, but it might just help to get an urgent job done. Of course the next step would be to report any incident to Xara, also mentioning this thread because there is evidence here of activation bugginess. I still recommend not proceeding with the Registration/Activation thing if you know you have not done anything to trigger it. All I'm suggesting is: if you're on a different network that might be the 'problem'.

A mac address is a unique identifier of a piece of equipment and it's manufacturer, although it can be 'spoofed' in some cases, but I don't want to start messing about with that sort of thing. If Xara are using mac addresses as a trigger of changes, they should ensure that they are not monitoring external equipment. I don't want to push my luck by fiddling about any deeper. I assume Xara have the people and resources to get this sorted.

Windows 10 Firewall Control is only an interface for Windows' own internal firewall and I like it primarily for that reason. You can make it as verbose or as silent as you like and as specific or broad. You can see all sorts of gubbins, e.g. what software is accessing the network and details such ip addresses and how much activity there is. You can block and unblock one or as many programs as you like. You can completely 'bolt the door' or completely open it to let everything through. You can use the free version or buy the Pro version and control and monitor even more stuff, e.g. Windows' own internals. You can export and import your settings. I have had other firewall software over the years and this is by far my preferred solution.

[jaydear]

It could well be that it's the MAC address of the internet connection that is different and not the IP address. I very much don't think anyone would use the IP address as machine specific information, not least because 99.9% of machines will be in the same range.

It could very well be the mac address that's the problem. I'm not familiar enough with them to dig into that and test it. I know you can spoof a mac address in some modems and routers, but have not tried it. What happens for example if two things on a network have the same mac address? It's supposed to be unique. In any case we shouldn't need to hack/spoof mac addresses to make Xara's activation system work.

And just nitpicking here... The following list is from https://www.arin.net/knowledge/address_filters.html and I'm pretty sure I've also seen 192.169.0.0/xx

10.0.0.0/8 IP addresses: 10.0.0.0 -- 10.255.255.255.
172.16.0.0/12 IP addresses: 172.16.0.0 -- 172.31.255.255.
192.168.0.0/16 IP addresses: 192.168.0.0 – 192.168.255.255.

All I'm saying is that there are a lot of possible private IPs, and not one of them is the default for 99.9% of machines.

Over and out.