Bootleg Autocad

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Martha Vanschaick

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Aug 3, 2024, 5:40:57 PM8/3/24

to surmeboxti

does anyone know where i can get the express tools for autoCAD 2004? i have a bootlegged copy of the software but im having a hard time working without pick freeze and the rest of the express tools.
does anyone know of a website where i can download them...or even buy them.

if not, would people recommend buying a 1-yr license of 2006 or 2007? i just made a $2k investment in a laptop and it would seem that an additional $150 for '06 or '07 [academicsuperstore.com] would be a wise investment as well.

any thoughts?

thanks.

express tools is universal to all versions of autocad.

there is no installation reuired. find somebody that has it. copy their "express" folder (and a few other files i forget) and you should be able drag drop and load the tools.

the "other files" you may need to do some research to find. our IT guy did this for my laptop and it works fine.

not true. i have the express tools for 2000 and they don't work.

from autodesk's website:

Will the AutoCAD Express Tools I purchased on the Autodesk store work with AutoCAD 2004 or any 2004-based product?
No. There has been a technology (compiler) update to AutoCAD 2004 which prohibits the installation of AutoCAD Express Tools on any AutoCAD 2004-based product. However, a compatible version of AutoCAD Express Tools has been added to the AutoCAD 2004 and AutoCAD 2004-based product CDs for your convenience. The AutoCAD Express Tools product currently available for purchase on the Autodesk Store is compatible only with AutoCAD 2000/2000i/2002-based products.

hmmm. 2004 is the version i have on my laptop, and i just copy and dropped from someone else's machine. perhaps it was a newer version (2006) of express tools that was compatible with my older (2004)? i honestly don't remember.

i would just say find someone with 2004 express tools loaded on their machine and burn the 'express' folder onto a disc. you need some 'other files" copied into your support folder as well.

yeah i thought it was strange too...like you, i thought they were universal.
and its not that i couldn't find someone with '04 express tools...but it'll be difficult. i wonder if i should just buy a 1-yr license of a legit copy of '06 or '07. part of me doesn't want to load the new computer with bootlegged software. i don't know.

i use '04 at work, do you dot, or anyone else know the major difference between '04 and '06-07? think its worth buying for $150?

express tools come with '04 and later, it's a seperate install, check your cd, it should be in a folder called express (if i remember correctly)

06 and later is only more useful to firm really with all of it's scheduling additions... not needed for studio projects...

When you install it you are asked which components you want to install Express tools is one component that has to be selected. Do a repair and you can install it that way.
It is on the same disk, its integral.

On a related note, software piracy not only hurts Mastercam, but it hurts the reseller severely(sp?). I would estimate that in the (909) area code alone, piracy among machine shops is in the 75-80% range(and I'm being kind). Meaning that 75 to 80 out of every 100 shops is using bootleg Mastercam in one form or another. If Mastercam could count the Bootleg in the CIMData reports, Mastercam would surely have over 50% market share (At least in Southern California).

Don't bother with the excuses, "It's too expensive", etc... ad-infinitum. It's part of the cost of doing business. Deal with it. You don't walk into Staples and Steal a ream of paper claiming "It's too expensive" do you? I didn't think so. It's part of the cost of doing business. I just spent $850 for Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server(5 licenses), why? Because I'm using it, and Microsoft deserves their ROI.

I don't think they(CNC SOftware) can do that legally. It's kind of like "Paying for testimony", but, maybe you can "work $omething out" with your local dealer if they get a sale as a result of information you provide. I'd be willing to bet there is not a reseller out there that would reject a sale that came about as a result of "information" such as this.

Hot topic, huh? I agree. What happened to peoples morals? I was raised to believe that stealing was, like, WRONG. I don't know what I'll do about it, other than chastise the *&($#@ out of these people until they either go legit or erase the program from their systems.

As many of you know I am(was, as of June 8, 2001) a Mastercam reseller and It's soooooooo hard to compete with the bootleg stuff out there. I go do a demo, show them all the cool stuff in the new version. They ask for a quote. I send it to them. They don't return my phone calls and their employees show up in my Mastercam class "So they can learn the software so their boss will buy Mastercam". Uh huh. Not that it doesn't happen that way,because it does. More often than not they start asking questions after a little while that leads me to believe they are using it more than in the classroom and at home(with the Demo Software I sold them). Very disheartening.

So, I decided to go back into the ranks as a programmer (I'm not really sad about it, I just don't like failure in myself) Not that I don't like programming, as a matter of fact I thoroughly enjoy it. I'd do it for free if I was independantly wealthy. I was just hoping I could be a better sales person than I am. I guess a leopard can't change it's spots. A tech guy is always a tech guy. So that's my story. I'm just so $%*$^((% mad about the situation out here and there's not a %^&(%&)^_ I can do about it unless someone comes outright and tells me "Hey I'm running Mastercam" or "Hey My company is running Bootleg Mastercam" which does happen pretty often.

So keep reporting them if you get the chance. Maybe you can save some poor salesman's job and so that Mastercam can continue to develop kick @$$ software in the future and we can all machine the most trick stuff on the planet.

Hey James, just a thought here, but what if individuals ARE using the crack at HOME to learn the software AND going back to their companies and trying to get them to buy it, cuz now they know it? I'm IN NO WAY advocating stealing the stuff, but look at autocad. Everyone and thier brother has a bootleg copy of it at home (but me). So they play with it, and play with it, and play with it until they're pretty good at it. Then they go to thier boss and say "hey, lets BUY autocad, cuz I know it!". I've always heard that autocad uses that as a marketing tool.

now that i am trying to give support to Cad-cam consulting i have to let them know every time i go to a shop to do a Predator demo along with the mastercam if they have Mastercam running and should not be of course.

What I'm talking about is the guys that are using it in the shop not the guys using it at home (which in no way am I advocating). I'm talking about the guys that after I go and do a demo(they say they have no CAM experience), don't buy, their employees show up in my class more knowledgeable than experience at home would show. I can just tell who's using it at work by the types of questions they ask. The guys practicing at home ask completely different types of questions, than the bootleggers.

I learned MasterCam at home with a crack. I never made any chips with it, but it allowed me to practice building 3d surfaces, toolpaths and got me a job as a programmer. The company that hired me was usnig version 5 and upgraded to 7.2 since I knew how to use it.

Tech support is my groove, not sales. I tried it for almost two years, but that aside, the proliferation of bootleg hampered my ability to sell more than all the other factors combined. Next in line was the power issue here. Rolling black-outs are becoming more common as the temperatures climb. The cost of electricity has nearly doubled. etc......

Dadgad, I may be younger than you but I am 66 and retiring at the end of this week! (May 29,2020) I moved from board drafting in 1988 to AutoCAD V2.6 (R8) and over the years always tried to embrace the new commands and UI while keeping many old school functions. I like a good customized Ribbon and all the contextual tabs. Good luck everyone.

I feel like I had an interesting career and tried to always learn and strive to do better. When I went from the board to AutoCAD I knew very little about the program, just what I could learn in a 2 month class at the community college. I was very worried about measuring up and consequently spent way too many hours away from work doing nothing much else but teaching myself more about AutoCAD.

Even though I learned on R9 the first company I worked for had bootleg copies of R8 (v2.6) and we used that for about a year. After that they bought R9 licenses and I was still able to copy the program and put it on my home computer, in fact my boss encouraged it.

Digging up old posts of mine on the Ribbon: man I hated that when it first came out. I am often too quick to judge a new feature like that but with time and learning to customize it I definitely became a fan.

Way back when used to demo draw a full 3d spiral stair via lisp and then we had a fly through that followed the path through the front door and up the spiral stair all done with shade no render in those days.

Another one that caught my eye in passing was you at age 55 talking with a 26 year old Tannar (AKA Stykface) about the passage of time, sort of within the context of being a draftsperson. That would have been back in the day before Styk went "over the hill", or should I say FORWARD> to REVIT?

@rkent are you going to be able to keep up with AutoCAD as well or is that going to be one of the 'work tools' that stays back at the office. I can't imagine life without my CAD it gets used for so many things, even my kids play with it from time to time.