@Phill - I sent you a PM on 31-Dec to help you with your activation problem. But I don't have any reply from you. Did you not receive the message?
Thanks
Neil
Xara
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@Phill - I sent you a PM on 31-Dec to help you with your activation problem. But I don't have any reply from you. Did you not receive the message?
Thanks
Neil
Xara
@Phill, you have had a large following in this Thread (68 TGs and 2,000 Views).
Have your problems bottomed out?
You alleged a wide range of failings on Xara and its implementation for XDPX11, particularly around its activation mechanism.
A recent analogy I have is where I bought a very expensive, high-end PC and it would crash and reset once a day.
I "blamed" a tablet I left plugged in. I then "cursed" MS for Windows 10. I mentally "accused" my supplier for a faulty graphics card.
Each manifestation clearly fell into one of the three above categories. No fix, however, worked.
When the main monitor started switching off and then back on, I also heard a clicking sound. Power supply? Mains lead?
No, it was a power-saver that switches off peripherals when the PC is powered off. In failing, its random power spikes were the root cause of all my woes.
Now removed and no faults. A device that saves £3/year could have ruined a system that would have taken 1,000 years to refund through such meagre savings.
Acorn
I wonder if it's simply the firewall stopping the software being registered.
The support team contacted Phil and he has successfully activated the program. Its currently unclear whats causing the behavior he encountered and its not a generic problem or one we've managed to reproduce.
Nevertheless we will keep an eye on it and i'm sure Phil will let us know should the problem arise again.
Thanks
I'll keep a space in my diary on 22nd February.. ;-)
Yes it is working once again but in the interim was able to install and activate ver 9 from the same computer and immediately following that again tried activating v10 but the activation clock froze again. I tried it again on many occasions and finally after help from Xara it activated. Xara have assured me that there would be nothing in my registry causing the program to seek activation nor to refuse it. However my username and serial no. pop up even after completely uninstalling and installing a fresh downloaded copy which not only would not activate but the trial option was not available either on any of those occasions. Also, the fact that these problems have been happening on separate computers would seem to isolate the computer from the problem. I am pleased it is working but still do not understand the cause.
I've just found this thread after posting this in another part of the forum:
"Hi!
I have Web Designer Premium installed on two computers, but on one of them the program do not always start. The thing is, I've upgraded that computer with a SSD and didn't deactivate the program before cloning my harddrive over to the new SSD. The program didn't start as it saw my new SSD as a third activation, so I deactivated the program afterwards and it seemed to work - the program started. The day after it didn't, saying that I've maxed out on activations. When I logged in to my account I saw the correct two computers activated, so that was correct. I then contacted support who worked their magic, and the program was starting again. Then it stopped working again...
Just to test things out I tried restarting my computer after making sure the program didn't feel like opening, and then it's working again! :-O
In some way the program sees my second computer as a third activation when "calling home", but (and this is strange) not always."
Not exactly the same problem, but perhaps similar... I thought I was the only one on the planet with this kind of hickup.
All the best
Phono
Hi Phono
The problem you mentioned was mine. I dont think that Xara have solved it as yet, but the workaround was to issue me with an additioanal license number so that one was linked to my laptop wifi access and the other to my wifi Lan - not ideal but it works for me.
Hope you get sorted soon.
Thanks nobbyy! Yes, lets hope Xara fix this as soon as possible.
The thing with software problems in creative work is that you feel a bit reluctant to use the program altogether. It gets in your head, killing your muse. It's like having a paint brush with the head falling off while you're working!rotflmao I totally understand peoples sometimes extreme frustration with these kind of...um..."irregularities". I'm very far from frustrated myself, but I am a little concerned...
/Phono
If I uninstall DP11 completely and reinstalled it - would that be considered a third installation?
The two activation "slots" we can use are linked to the number of different computers, not the number of installations on each of these two computers, am I right? :think:
/Phono
From, the Help:
This means you can have it on a workstation and a laptop. You ten are travelling light so de-activate the program on the workstation and activate on a third machine somewhere else. When returning, de-activate the temporary machine and re-activate on the original workstation.Quote:
This software can be activated by one user on two computers. It is possible to cancel an activation when it is no longer required, freeing it for use on another computer (select the Deactivate program option in the Help menu).
Equally, when upgrading to W10 on your laptop, de-active first, update and then re-activate.
Relatively simply but does require the Internet.
Compare this with one machine - one licence.
I can cope with Xara wishing to protect its property and I appreciate the licence covering use on two computers, one at a time, by me.
Acorn
Acorn,
There seems to be an misunderstanding... :)
The reason I ask is that I can't get Xara Web Developer 11 to start every time on my second computer. After a reboot the program lets me in. Sometimes, anyway. (Read a more detailed post about it on page 5).
I figured if I uninstalled the software and reinstalled it again, the problems might go away. I thought I'd ask before tampering, hence my question.
So, a reinstall (on the exact same computer, same license, same software), is that considered a third activation or not?
All the best
Phono
Acorn, phono missed out on the de-activation. I guess the uninstallation doesn't automatically call Xara to de-activate.
That needn't be a problem if the installer detects the activation record on the computer.
Who knows?
First, thank you all for your responses! :)
But, the plot has thickened... (Can you say that in English?)
As it turns out I am not able to preview the project files I made before upgrading to Web Developer 11. Something has happened with my program. I think i need to re-install whether I like it or not.
From help inside the program:
XARA WEB DESIGNER 11 PREMIUM END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT ("EULA")
You will be issued with a unique serial number. An internet connection is required to activate the serial number and to complete the necessary one-time registration. The Software can only be activated on two computers concurrently, but activations that are no longer required can be cancelled so that you can install and activate the software on a new computer.
However, according to support this deactivate/activate procedure is also limited in such a way that you have to wait a month before activating one of the licenses again. So it is not as simple as one might think - you also have to consider WHEN to do this so you don't run the risk of locking yourself out for a month on one computer.
Maybe I'm blind, but I cannot find this fact printed in the manual.
:OT Sure, support can help to unlock it before that, but...well... It would feel better to use support for more serious problems rather than user inconveniances created as a result of a activate/de-activate timelock. Naturally, a company has every right to protect their product in every way they see fit, but when it doesn't seem to function correctly and by that clashes with "user reality", I'm not convinced the implementation of the said protection is all that reasonable. To be clear: the procedure of activating/de-activating is not a problem in any way, shape or form. But the timelock is, as I see it.
Enough about my personal views and reflections on implementation of software protection!
Back to the krux of the matter...
Here's what I'm planning to do to try to solve my problem on my second computer:
1. Uninstall Web Developer 11 Premium, WITHOUT deactivating, making sure everything is totally clean. Really clean.
2. Reboot and install again.
3. Start the program and see what happens, if it works or not.
4. Report back.
How's that? Perhaps it'll work and we all learn something new? At least I have the program functioning on my other computer. I can live with that if I must - it truly is a fabulous software!
Yours sincerely,
Phono
I'd like to hear more about this 30 day lockout punishment from Xara. I just upgraded the hard disk in the laptop I'm currently using to a Samsung EVO850 SSD. I did deactivate XDPX11 before doing so and as far as I know successfully reactivated it after I ascertained that everything was running OK. I'm supportive of Xara XDPX11 because I think the price is reasonable for the innovative features included. However, I absolutely do NOT like the idea of any legitimate user randomly being locked out for 30 days for some as yet unexplained breach of the (unwritten?) rules. I really don't get what the Xara programmer/s had in mind when including this undocumented 30 day lockout 'feature' and I think we all deserve to have their logic explained to us.
I've used CorelDRAW for many years and have never had any issues when changing computers and it is arguably more up-market than Xara's competing product. What if a computer fails without giving an opportunity to deactivate? It seems the license is then in some sort of limbo and that it can randomly lock the user out, even after a supposedly successful reactivation.
I'm sure that Xara want to wring every drop of profit out of their hard work, but to do it by aggravating legitimate users whose Xara licences are already at the mercy of Microsoft with their aggressive Windows 10 push and PC hardware that can quit without warning is, in my opinion, a huge error of judgement >:|
Hi,
New findings:
When WD11 wont start I'm able to get around this in two different ways; either by rebooting and try again or by simply disabling Internet, start the program and then enabling Internet again.
All the best
Phono
Hi jaydear,
OT: Funny thing is that I also upgraded to a Samsung EVO850 SSD - talk about speed in boot time!:eek: Best upgrade I ever did.
I'm not sure I understand your post (I'm also very tired!). Are you having problems with your program after deactivating or do you mean you where "locked out" and had to contact support to lock you in again?
Regarding the activation waiting time:
There is a possibility that this fact is actually printed in the manual, but I can't seem to find it. That doesn't mean that it's not there (or somewhere else!). All I can say is that I didn't know about it before running into my "activation hickups" and tried to solve my problems.
/Phono
Yes, the EVO is a big improvement!
I haven't been locked out so far, but I am concerned about it happening because there have now been several instances of it in this thread and it seems that Xara have a bug in their copy protection scheme :rules
Hi Phono,
If you have sent a ticket can you let me know what the ticket ID is and I can look into this for you?
If you haven't sent a ticket, can you send me a PM with your email address so I can lookup your details on our system and see what is happening?
Thanks
Rob
Hi Rob,
I have a ticket and the ID is #WBH-160-15888.
/Phono
I reinstalled Win7 on my laptop, went to the Xara website, deregistered Xara from that laptop, just installed xdpx11 on the laptop, registered, activated, no problémo. Seems legit
Hi Phono,
Your ticket was replied to shortly after you sent it. From the looks of it, it appeared as a simple case of forgetting to deactivate after changing Hard Drives and needing us to deactivate it for you, which was done.
If you haven't received the reply email, try looking in your spam box or logging into the support system and viewing your tickets there.
If you are still having problems, please feel free to reply to the ticket and we will look into this for you.
Thanks
Rob
Well, looks like I spoke to soon. After I de-activated my old laptop and activated the new Windows install on the same laptop I went to my desktop PC (on which Xara had worked fine before the laptop re-install) and I now get this message:
You can ONLY deactivate an unused device once a month???Quote:
You can deactivate an unused device once a month.
Sorry, you cannot deactivate at the moment because you have already used this function within the permitted time period.
Next possible date for deactivating a device for this product: 08/03/2016
(I have written the above in Comic Sans because I couldn't think of a more disgusting font for my rant)
What Einstein at Xara thought there'd be NO chance of a user have a problem with a PC and a laptop in the same month???
IS IT ANY SURPRISE PEOPLE GO HUNTING FOR CRACKED SOFTWARE???
yes, fine, rant over, i'll open a support ticket blah blah blah
My problems in being able to open Xara DP11 still continue. However, I have not been denied activation, nor required to wait several weeks before using the program. The most frequent error message on opening Xara is to the effect that my hardware might have changed and my licence needs to be checked before I am able to use program.
On some occasions I have not had a good internet connection and have to wait until I do. Today so far it has happened twice but I was able to "re validate the license"
straight away. I would emphasize that there have been absolutely NO hardware changes whatever, nor has any new software been added. Today I have not had even a Windows update since the same thing happened before. I thought it was only happening because of the internet connection but that is not always the case. I believe that the program contains some code to have it phone home on a regular basis.
I am in the graphic arts business and have learned that I cannot rely on Xara to work on a regular basis. For the last few months I no longer have been using Xara to create new content/files because of this extreme unreliability, but I still need to use it from time to time to correct and change existing files as I have not found a way to import/place them into InDesign to the point where I can easily make changes.
Even without the issues a few of you have had, I think this protection scheme is nuts. Which I have maintained from the start. I seriously doubt the legality of it. It's perpetual license for crying out loud. Keeping someone from legitimately utilizing the software for any amount of time is frankly ludicrous. I hope and pray I don't face the problem.
+1
+1
Hi Phill,
Have you sent a ticket into us? If not, could you do so (http://support.xara.com) and let me know the ticket number when you have sent it? We have some questions about your local setup and some tests that you could run so we can identify the cause of the issue.
Many thanks
Rob
I'm sorry, but the Xara copy protection method has me reconsidering using it for any professional project. I love the program and have used it on hundreds of work projects since X1, but the possibility of being locked out at any time is unacceptable. (I've been locked out during system upgrades before, and someone from Xara has gotten back to me fairly quickly each time. But such a small team could easily be unavailable at just the wrong moment...) My primary customer is a huge corporation that would have zero tolerance for delays related to my software locking me out... I can't even imagine trying to explain such a thing to them.
Please find an alternative to your 'always on, immediate total lock out' copy protection scheme. It only puts your loyal customers in peril, and does little if anything to slow down thieves.
I have not had any problems so I cannot comment directly on what I would do. I do have my Xara applications on two separate machines. If I had a large corporation to support, I would have another copy available or buy one to protect my reputation or contract. You probably still have earlier versions back to XDPX9 that could be leveraged into place.
While you can criticise Xara's protection scheme, don't give up on your trust in the product itself.
Acorn
I just upgraded my other machine with an SSD and forgot to unregister DPX11 beforehand. On restarting with the cloned disk all I noticed was that it is now much faster - XDP11 was otherwise unaffected. I can't help feeling that the problems that some users are having are down to 'unusual' Windows setups. This may indicate that the Xara protection scheme is sensitive to some of the very things that make our machines "Ours" and which have made Windows such a huge success. That would be ironic because we trust Xara to enable our creativity, yet our creativity in crafting the environment it runs in threatens to make it untrustworthy.
I hope we find out soon just what is making both of the OP's machines so incredibly unreliable with the Xara protection.
Following my latest complaint to Xara regarding not being able to activate my older version DP7 after my current v11 locked me out for the umpteenth time. It took Xara several days to respond and activate. During the meantime I was able to use XP 11 on the pc at my house. However, the inconvenience of not being able to open a file on any version of Xara at my office at that time is very bad for business, both theirs and mine. About a month has passed since without a total lockdown BUT there have been 2 other times when reactivation has been requested but these have only happened when there has been no internet or weak connection. That has to tell me that every time Xara is opened it "phones home" and if that cannot complete then I'm out of luck!
there again, as you are allowed to have DPX11 activated on two computers at the same time - that may be what happened and you now have the same computer activated as two separate configurations, and you would be out of luck the next time
way to check is to log onto your account at xara.com - if your original computer configuration is still registered you can deregister it there
sorry _ I misread your post; a cloned disk then may still count as the same computer - a repartitioned disk does not - and disk partitioning is a standard windows feature, it is not 'unusual' ... :)
maybe the new 365 version will be better in this respect... but I am not going to trial that until designer pro 365 comes outQuote:
Originally Posted by Phill
Totally annoying you are not on your own I have x11 installed I have had to contact Xara 3 times to have them de activate just so I can reactive on the same PC without any changes