Locked out of Xara DP11 once again!

[Egg Bramhill]

Of course Acorn, take yesterday off

[Acorn]

Of course Acorn, take yesterday off

Doing that right now.
In passing, your Avatar's chain looks like a W to me, in front of an anchor! (a term of endearment?)

Acorn

[Egg Bramhill]

I've no idea what you mean

[Rob-Xar]

Rob, in Phill's "absence" may I wish you and the Xara team a Happy New Year. I have always preferred the personal touch from a company like yours to the corporate behemoth. Could you now consider a little "something" for me as well?

Acorn

Thanks Acorn

New year, new start, let's all work together



You can have whatever you want acorn

[Acorn]

You can have whatever you want acorn

Well, kindness, patience and consideration for all, thank you,
Acorn

[Phill]

Response received from Magix in Germany informing me that they had opened the slots or words to that effect. Following that
Xara opened on both computers. They later sent me a new serial number to use if I had further trouble. Well everything had been working once again until today when I tried to open Xara on my desktop only to be greeted with the usual screen complete with user name and serial number along with green check marks asking for activation and noting that trial period had expired. However this time I was not locked out as I never got that far as when I clicked activate the little graphic "clock" started going around and finally stopped. My internet connection was fine. I tried restarting the computer and same thing. Also running repair directly from install disk - same thing. I then uninstalled and reinstalled - same thing. At that point I had to leave for the office, but when I return I will uninstall and try reinstalling with the new serial number. In the meantime at least it is still working on the laptop which is the most important as that is what I use at the office. The reason I did not use the new serial# earlier is that once everything appeared to be working I did not want to risk any changes and have the 30 day wait screen pop up as I had a backlog of artwork to finish processing and didn't want any more downtime.

[Phill]

Tried uninstalling and downloaded trial version from Xara which I tried installing. Following install it came up with the regular serial# and user name along with the green check marks. For this to happen I obviously could not have uninstalled all old traces from registry in spite of using Revo uninstaller. Anyway I hit activate and all I get is the clock rotating briefly then stopping and a time put. Tried again but with the new serial # and the same thing. I have never, ever had this many problems with any software. I cannot believe I am the only one going through this Xara nightmare! Obviously I have filed another support ticket so we will see how long they take this time. No doubt they will eventually open the slots as they say and everything will be fine for a few days or weeks before I am asked yet again to activate on one or both computers.

[jaydear]

What I find the strangest about this saga is that two computers used by one person are repetitively and identically affected! I'd be looking at both computers to see what is common apart from your good self; e.g. file manager, antivirus software, utilities such as registry cleaner, defragger, ramdisc, sandbox, privacy / site blocking tools, auto disc cleanup tools, etc., etc. Something is working against the way Xara software identifies that it is legitimate. On one PC, try temporarily disabling everything you don't really need, and make sure ALL the stuff you really do need is the right version for your OS version. Back up that PC *BEFORE* you start changing anything - a total backup image is the best insurance for unforeseen digital disasters. Another thought - do you shut down your PCs or just put them to sleep? It's a good idea to shut down completely and have a fresh start occasionally - especially after installing new software

[Phill]

I had written to both Magix and Xara. I had a response from Magix within 24 hours but, as is usual Xara are dragging their feet. Magix inform me that the problem lies with Xara and have agreed that the problem is not in computer hardware or connectivity but rather in the program itself. I maintain that Xara have put code into my registry requiring frequent activations, waiting periods, and denial of use. Following the response from Magix I installed my X9 software from it's original disk and it activated with no problem, whereas the time previous I did this, I was not allowed to activate for 21 days.
Without being a computer expert, if V9 activated it means it "talked" to Xara. Logic dictates that my registry contains code preventing activation or even communication where v 11 is concerned. Even though I had thought I had completely uninstalled it, there still remained code in the registry, otherwise how could my email and serial number have been automatically entered into the registration screen?
Your theory regarding a "common thread" as two different computers are involved, while being logical, just cannot apply here as the desktop has always had the same isp and the laptop has had three or four. They both at various times have run Win 7 and 10, but are now on 10. The only common thing, apart from the operator, is Xara pro 11 and shared artwork files, along with a router which has been shared by both and that router had been changed but the problems continued after that change. The problem has to be in the Xara software as why would it require regular activation if that requirement was not programmed into it? Why do you think Xara has been so unhelpful and unapologetic and slow to respond? I believe that Magix owns Xara but now it seems I am being bounced around between the two.

[jaydear]

It is common for commercial software and your OS to permanently store hidden/encrypted 'keys' on your hard disk (not necessarily in the registry) and to retrieve them when the software is re-installed, even if the disk is reformatted. Some software monitors the computer's hardware and will seek re-registration if certain items or a certain combination of items are changed. Usually there is a grace period before the software is deemed to be an unauthorised copy and then nobbled in some way, e.g. 'nagging'. Windows does something like this and OS-X has a scheme in place too. Anyway, I'm keen to learn how Xara resolves your situation.

I experienced a software security-related problem years ago in pre-USB days with a high-end CAD program that required a 'dongle' to be plugged into the PC's serial port (or was it the parallel port?) otherwise the software would not start. It was a huge problem for me because my X-Y plotter would not print with the dongle in between it and the port, and the software would shut down if the dongle was unplugged - a major oversight! After much complaining by the many affected users the company relented and got rid of the need for the dongle, relying on a serial number system. The popularity of that expensive CAD software soared and it flies even higher today. The point is that many users were prevented from enjoying normal useage by that CAD software's security measures. Is that the case here?