PM license issue - very bad sales politics

[Tony Hall]

I was recently informed that you can check your activations from the "my account" link on CameraBits' website, or clickety-click to go there directly.

Useful to know.

Cheers,
Tony

[ChongLi]

Well if someday in the future PM lets you deactivate from within the program or from the web that would be nice. I am a single user but have 4 computers I work off of. I would love 4 installs and am fine with only 1 running at a given time. Also I don't know but it seems like PM counts an install off the hard drive. I just installed an external SSD to replace an internal hard drive on an iMac and it will not let me register even though it's the same computer?! I can't use both so why the issue? It's the same computer! If I boot back into the hard drive PM works fine. I deleted it thinking maybe PM has some way of knowing but that didn't help. Basically it's a "Dumb" program meaning it can't tell what computer maybe only what hard drive that counts toward the activation seat?

What if I am in an emergency situation where the main drive fails and I have to use the backup drive on the same computer? Will it block me from using PM? From my failing to register on the SSD on the same iMac I will have to say yes. And I would have no chance to deactivate from a failed drive or corrupt OS unless I would be able control my active seats from any PM install by logging in with a user name and pass. That would still require an internet access scenario. Please correct me if I am wrong, and I hope I am!

[Kirk Baker]

Our new licensing system allows both activation and deactivation of a system.  Changing a hard drive and reinstalling/activating should no longer increase your installed count.  Our old system did not allow one to deactivate and changing hard drives would cause the activation count to increase.  This should be a thing of the past.

-Kirk

[JAS Photo]

Hi Kirk - I also recently ran into this limit. As a geek I also over install.

As a geek & early adopter I upgrade PC's Frequently, I beta test, I reinstall OS's but we are the people that WILL run into problems. I work alone in a home office.

#1 Install - I have a Photo PC - PM & LR & Photoshop - that's it - Usually my newest PC.
#2 Install - I have a test PC - Most new software & betas run here first.
#3 Install - I have a older laptop in my living room that I work on while watch TV with the family
#4 Install - I have a travel / Light laptop.
#5 Install - Main PC / Server - Got downgraded from Photo PC still has PM on it (Not functioning properly) - Used when / if I'm at it - could be uninstalled but would be inefficient.
# 6 Install - My wife's laptop - When traveling with my wife - she needs her laptop for work  - I don't want to bring a second laptop just to ingest images and quick edits. She doesn't even know how to use PM.
# 7 Install - An old laptop - still has it - maybe 4.7 or so but still there.

That does not include reinstalls when I upgrade from HD's to SSD and reinstalled OS's or failed HD's.
I DO NOT feel I've abused the license terms

If you need to be strict (I understand) There needs to be a deactivate option (Not always possible) and maybe a small fee for additional installs - at that point I would probably uninstall #7 old, #3 my living Rm laptop & # 2 my beta laptop - I would not pay to test someone else's software!

Just my thoughts
Joe

[Kirk Baker]

Hi Kirk - I also recently ran into this limit. As a geek I also over install.

As a geek & early adopter I upgrade PC's Frequently, I beta test, I reinstall OS's but we are the people that WILL run into problems. I work alone in a home office.

#1 Install - I have a Photo PC - PM & LR & Photoshop - that's it - Usually my newest PC.
#2 Install - I have a test PC - Most new software & betas run here first.
#3 Install - I have a older laptop in my living room that I work on while watch TV with the family
#4 Install - I have a travel / Light laptop.
#5 Install - Main PC / Server - Got downgraded from Photo PC still has PM on it (Not functioning properly) - Used when / if I'm at it - could be uninstalled but would be inefficient.
# 6 Install - My wife's laptop - When traveling with my wife - she needs her laptop for work  - I don't want to bring a second laptop just to ingest images and quick edits. She doesn't even know how to use PM.
# 7 Install - An old laptop - still has it - maybe 4.7 or so but still there.

That does not include reinstalls when I upgrade from HD's to SSD and reinstalled OS's or failed HD's.
I DO NOT feel I've abused the license terms

If you need to be strict (I understand) There needs to be a deactivate option (Not always possible) and maybe a small fee for additional installs - at that point I would probably uninstall #7 old, #3 my living Rm laptop & # 2 my beta laptop - I would not pay to test someone else's software!

Well you have very clearly exceeded the number of installations on your license, a license that you had to agree to each time you installed.  But like in the case of the original poster of this thread, there is a solution.  Contact sales@camerabits.com via email (or call +1 503 547-2800) and explain your situation and they'll help you deactivate the systems you no longer use and can convert your license to a new license that allows you to be in control of your activation count.  The new license allows you to deactivate a system and decrease your activation count so you can activate another system in its place.  You can even go online and check your activation count in your account on our store.

-Kirk

[olidie]

Our new licensing system allows both activation and deactivation of a system.  Changing a hard drive and reinstalling/activating should no longer increase your installed count.

How do I deactivate a copy before changing a harddrive or operation system?

After reading this thread I checked and found out that I have 4 activated seats although I only run PM on my desktop and laptop. Both were once upgraded to a ssd and hence windows installed freshly. I just contacted sales to find out how to deactive these non existent "seats".

[Kirk Baker]

Our new licensing system allows both activation and deactivation of a system.  Changing a hard drive and reinstalling/activating should no longer increase your installed count.

How do I deactivate a copy before changing a harddrive or operation system?

After reading this thread I checked and found out that I have 4 activated seats although I only run PM on my desktop and laptop. Both were once upgraded to a ssd and hence windows installed freshly. I just contacted sales to find out how to deactive these non existent "seats".

If you have a new license key (alphanumeric) then you simply deactivate from the Help menu.  If you have an older (numeric-only) license key then you'll need assistance from the sales people.

-Kirk

[olidie]

Quickest reply possible :-) Thanks a lot Kirk!

I have an old numeric only license key. Do I understand it correctly that therefore the relevant submenu doesn't show under "Help"? Just asking for the future since I will mostly likely be updating to a new desktop PC not to far from now and want to keep my activations down to the actual number.

btw. sales responded as quickly as you and deactivated the two non existent copies.

Thanks again!

[Kirk Baker]

Quickest reply possible :-) Thanks a lot Kirk!

I have an old numeric only license key. Do I understand it correctly that therefore the relevant submenu doesn't show under "Help"? Just asking for the future since I will mostly likely be updating to a new desktop PC not to far from now and want to keep my activations down to the actual number.

That's correct.  You can get your numeric license key converted to a new alphanumeric license key and then you'll be able to manage your activations yourself.  The sales people will be able to help you with the conversion.

-Kirk

[olidie]

I immediately sent my mail to sales. Thanks!

[Luiz Muzzi]

I immediately sent my mail to sales. Thanks!

I have just done that too.
Regards,

-Luiz Muzzi

[Brendan]

Hello,

We are replacing our registration system to allow users to both activate and deactivate their systems so this won't be a problem in the future.  We're definitely not out to gouge anyone by forcing them to purchase licenses they don't need.

This is all no problem, if you have access to the maschine and if you can still run PM.
I now have the same issue again: I dont have access to the windows instance so I cant run PM for deactivating!


So, what can I do now? I have of course no free activation left and I cant run PM for deactivatinig because of windows / Hard drive issues! I think that that situation will happen often and is not considered by the registration of PM system at the moment.

So, I did a fresh windows installation on SSD and I cant use PM - the most crucial application on my laptop!
unhappy...

Regards,
brendan

[Kirk Baker]

What has happened to your original machine?  You should be able to activate it again, and if you don't want to use it anymore, deactivate it and make another slot available for a different computer.

If you cannot do this, please contact sales@camerabits.com and they will try to accommodate your situation.

-Kirk

[Brendan]

Hi Kirk, as I wrote above, the old windows instance is unaccessible (only in protected mode I can log in)

This happens not only to me, as you can see in this thread.
Normally this kind of issues occur periodical.

Maybe you think about a re-design of the current registration process.

-Brendan

[Kirk Baker]

Oskar,

Hi Kirk, as I wrote above, the old windows instance is unaccessible (only in protected mode I can log in)

This happens not only to me, as you can see in this thread.
Normally this kind of issues occur periodical.

Maybe you think about a re-design of the current registration process.

It is not going to happen.  The system works fine for thousands of people who use Photo Mechanic.  If you were to get your old system able to boot again, you should be able to activate it which won't count against your count of available slots and then you can deactivate it, thus freeing up a slot for use on your new system.  The registration system is no longer tied to a specific boot drive so the loss of a drive and its subsequent replacement should not be an issue any longer.  If you want to move to an entirely new computer, and you do not have any free slots in your license, you must deactivate one of your existing instances.

-Kirk