Nch Photostage Serial Number Registration
Carmel Kittell
What do I do with the 12 digit serial number that came with my Express Invoice purchase?This is your Express Invoice serial number. It needs to be activated, which will give you a registration code to enter into Express Invoice to register your software.
Is there any photo editing software that does NOT require an internet connection to install and run? I don't need on-line tutorials. I'm trying to install PSP X5 Ultimate and I keep getting an error message that tells me I need an internet connection. Corel tech support is working on the problem--I should be getting a phone-in registration message but I'm not.
Refusing to allow your computer to attach to the internet, even when trying to install software you downloaded from the internet sounds a bit like wearing a tin-foil hat to stop the CIA from reading your thoughts.
Unchecked, software vendors will push for more and more intrusion and control of our computers. In my view, consumers need to start pushing back especially as regulators are increasingly in the pockets of industry lobbyists.
And he did exactly that by choosing to build an unconnected box as his photo editing station. Aside from installing software updates (which for a photo perspective tend to be about supporting new cameras), what does he need connectivity for? Versus what bad things can happen....it's an extremely reasonable choice to make.
As long as the software vendor provides an alternative non-internet mechanism for registering software I see no problem. I also dislike the intrusive install policies and Nikon has a terrible one for CNX2. A little over a year ago Thom Hogan reported receiving many complaints about failed upgrades. It seems that Nikon allowed a set number of upgrades from the same computer, but then with the new upgrade they changed the software in a way that greatly reduced the number of allowable installs or upgrades. I'm sure that my numbers aren't accurate but it was something like before, up to 12 upgrades or reinstalls. After the change, only 6. Six months later that changed policy bit me, trying to upgrade from CNX to CNX2. It took several weeks and many calls to Nikon's tech support, who could only say "we're waiting for approval from the bosses in Japan" until I was finally able to install CNX2.
I'm not just paranoid, it's the principle of the thing. If I'm shopping for a car and the salesperson says I need to spend 45 bucks a month on a lock changing service I buy a different car. No virus-prevention is perfect and the real-time processes suck up resources that could be better spent on photo editing software.
My sister ended up with a "root kit" on her HP machine and reloading the OS didn't help. HP's tech support response was essentially too bad, so sad. And yes she did have anti-virus software running on it when it got sick. She tossed the machine in the trash. I almost cried--had I known I'd have put Ubuntu LINUX on it.
Another issue--85 frogskins a month for an internet connection is a bit steep. Comcast is the best option I have. So I use an old beater laptop at free Wi-Fi hot spots. Yes I am cheap but it also prevents me from wasting my life web surfing all day.
That's really their problem, not the customers'. And at the heart of it, no matter what you do, hackers will find ways around these checks, so it's better to stop treating your customers as criminals or inconveniencing them to no end....free products like the Gimp are readily available these days.
Yep. Vendors should understand they have taken a seriously wrong turn when it's easier to install hacks and cracks than it is to install the genuine product. Or when their copy protection/activation schemes amount to little more than malware.
Not quite. It is the software vendor's problem so they choose one of several solutions, which happens to not be an ideal solution but it works for them and it works for most customers. If they didn't protect their investment by discouraging (as you note, not totally preventing) unpurchased installs, it's unlikely that they'd be able to stay in business very long. Since Gimp exists and you're aware of its existence, why are you so outraged by the vendor's policies, unless, secretly, you're not willing to admit that Gimp doesn't measure up and you're frustrated? I also don't like Adobe's policies very much, but if their software suddenly stopped requiring purchase validation with no other changes to the software to encourage some other kinds of revenues, sales would plummet and soon, no more updates.
Your defense for Adobe and others is not compelling - you can get hacks to Abode software that disable the licensing models. As long as copy protection schemes have been out there, people have been cracking them. The more obtrusive approaches just annoy the real customers. And despite 30 years of software piracy, software companies like Adobe have thrived.
I admire the ease with which you misunderstand. I agree that the OP's wish is valid. But I think that if the software vendors allow registration via a phone call or email (which could be done on another machine that doesn't need extreme security) that it's a perfectly acceptable solution. What isn't acceptable (in my opinion) is anyone's suggestion to use license disabling hacks, which is your remedy.
I am astounded at the profound stupidity you just expressed here, showing a complete inability to read English. Show me where I suggested it as a remedy. I point out reality - all the crazy schemes (and Sony rootkits) do not stop piracy. Copy protection doesn't work. It just annoys the pig.
I haven't found a way round this - like you I keep my editing machine offline for the concerns you mentioned, but occasionally I make sure that the firewall is "on", and connect up solely for software activation.
>HP's tech support response was essentially too bad, so sad. And yes she did have anti-virus software running on it when it got sick. She tossed the machine in the trash. I almost cried--had I known I'd have put Ubuntu LINUX on it.
Yea.. that is a shame (trashed it), when there were other options. She could have downloaded the .iso for Windows, burned it to DVD, booted into it, and reinstalled Windows that way (making sure to repartition the drive so that the partition table was overwritten). Then, just plug in the license key on the Windows Authenticity sticker you should find on the laptop.
Normally, those kinds of things just hide in the MBR, so an install of Windows would normally overwrite that area anyway, even without repartitioning. You could also boot into a Windows DVD and use the fixmbr utility from a command prompt to overwrite the MBR. Basically, you run fixmbr from a command prompt if you're using XP, or run bootrec /fixmbr if you're running Win 7. Here's an article showing those commands when you have boot sector malware hiding there:
So, I'm wondering if she was getting it from another source after the reinstall. For example, a USB Flash Drive that had an autoron.inf on it that installed malware if Autorun was not disabled in Windows.
In any event, yep, there are lots of Linux distros that could have been installed on it, too. So, it makes no sense to throw away a perfectly good laptop due to a malware issue, when you've got plenty of options (reinstall Windows, install a Linux distro, etc.).
Basically, when you purchase it, they send you a license key you can plug in, and AFAIK, no online activation is needed for it. It will ask if you want to register it when you start it, but that's optional (works without doing that), as long as you have a valid license key plugged in.
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