The 2014 versions of all SAPIEN Software products are limited to two (2) activations. As per our EULA this limitation to two installations has existed for quite some time.
All 2014 or later SAPIEN software will use online activation to verify the availability of additional activations.
Naturally this raises some questions, the most common of which we will answer below. Please understand that our new online activation is not meant to deter the legitimate use of our products by our customers. It is meant to prevent abuse and license violations which unfortunately exist. If you feel at any time that your legitimate use of our software is unduly restricted please contact us at once. We will do our very best to accommodate any legitimate circumstance that may prohibit you from using our software.
How can I transfer my license to a new computer?
Simply go to the products about box and click “Remove license”. This will remove your license and free up an activation for your new computer.
I have activated my copy on a computer as a local user. After joining a domain, I get prompted to unlock again. Why?
Normally license information is stored on a machine and unlocks automatically, so you don’t get prompted when you log on or elevate as administrator. If you join a domain most likely your machine name may have changed.
Change the machine name back to its previous value and remove the license before joining a domain or changing the computer name.
Can you just remove my activations from my machines so I can start over?
No, we cannot reach out and remove anything from your computer. While we log activations, we do not have any mechanism that allows us to remote control our software or your computer. You need to remove your licenses yourself.
I unregistered my license on your web site. I still don’t get any additional installation.
The unregister feature on the account page on our site allows you to transfer the license to another person. It does not remove any license data from your computers.
What if I need another activation right now because something really horrible happened to my computer just today?
We can give you another activation as a one-time courtesy. Please contact sales@sapien.com and provide the circumstances that require another activation.
I regularly reset my virtual machine where I use your software. I need to activate each time I reset my VM.
Install and unlock our software, then create a snapshot of your virtual machine. Once you reset to that snapshot, our product is already activated and you do not require any additional activations.
The computers I need to install your software on are not connected to the internet. How can I activate them?
Navigate to your SAPIEN account page (http://www.sapien.com/account/products) and click on “Click to request an offline key”
After reviewing the submitted information you may be granted the ability to generate an offline activation key. Generally this option is reserved for long time customers, larger corporations and government agencies with a proven license management infrastructure in place. If we determine that offline license keys are used to install our software on more than the allowed two machines per license, your license may be revoked.
I am a trainer and I really would like to use and show your software in the classroom. How can I let my students try your software?
We have special infrastructure for trainers. Please contact sales@sapien.com with your teaching credentials, links to course material or anything else that allows us to determine that you are teaching classes in a relevant field. We will evaluate your request and provide you with additional information once approved.
How do you unregister the software after you rebuild your computer? There should be a way on your website to see the computers that have it installed and remove them. I have 3 computers that I use to code Powershell and C#. V3 (Win7), V4 (Win8.1) and V5 (Win2012R2). I think 5 activations should be the minimum. Love the software, but between the activations and the subscriptions pricing, you have lost a customer. The price has been doubling with each release. First version I paid $49 (new), upgrade was $99, now this upgrade is $195 for only 1 year of maintenance.
We can help you with such a case. This case is specifically mentioned in the blog post. Normally you would remove the license before you rebuild your computer, but we know that this sometimes doesn’t happen.
We do not send or store any information that would identify your computer. And we do not want to implement anything that would allow us to remotely remove licenses.
I don’t know what “software” you are talking about, but neither PrimalScript nor PowerShell Studio ever was $49. Any of our price increases have been very moderate and completely in line and usually less than what the rest of the industry does. We have NEVER EVER doubled our price. As always you are NEVER forced to upgrade. It is for you to decide if it is worth it. We work hard to add the features you need. If we don’t, try talking to us. It works for many customers.
As for the 5 activations, everyone has a different number. Most companies today only allow one. We allow two, because most users have a desktop and a laptop. If you have a really good case why you need five you can always email us. We have implemented the activation system to prevent illegitimate use but not to keep our customers out. If you step back for a minute and think, you will realize that this is not a simple task. So by all means, try starting a dialog.
The 2 activation limit is concerning me as well. A lot remains to be seen in terms of how its handled by your support team, but honestly, hard drives die, people wipe their machines forgetting to remove the registration, and in general, stuff happens. That i have to sit and wait for someone to respond to an email after the second one is kind of a pain. The previous poster’s suggestion of 5 is perfectly reasonable. With only 5 activation attempts your not spreading the key to the world, your putting it on your desktop at work, your laptop, and maybe a desktop at home. A drive dies and your at 4 activations, that means your still have one until you have really questionable usage. When you get to 5, that’s a reasonable time to have to explain yourself a bit and wait for a response. Even at 4 it allows for drive failure from both the laptop and desktop scenario that you mentioned, while you guys still know the key isn’t running wild on the internet. Hell if it makes you feel better put in an email based verification that the licenses is being used.
When do the activation counters reset? After I purchase the subscription again next year or does the counter still stay the same and its like a permanent mark that I now always have to deal with.
As to other companies only allowing one, I generally try to avoid them SPECIFICALLY because of that and look for alternative products that don’t treat their customers like they are always trying to scam them. Also, a lot depends on price. If I’m spending $10, then i can deal with a single use license, if I’m spending up to $800 for the suite I’m expecting more for the sizable purchase. I understand that your trying to protect your company, but if hackers eventually crack your software anyway, at 2am as a paying customer I’m writing an email to you begging for me to have another activation because someone stole my laptop and i just got a replacement, while the guy that cracked it is done installing it at 2:05. Something doesn’t seem right there.
I’ve been buying every version for years, but this new subscription/activation model has me uneasy. It’s easy to say oh just work out the details now, but we don’t know what your answer will be when the time comes that the issue appears.
I understand your concerns. Again, our intent was never and never will be to keep users from using our software legitimately. Why is it 2 and not 5 activations? Simple. We caught a very LARGE number of companies who purchased a single user license and used it for 4 or 5 admins. So we can either increase the price dramatically or curb that practice. That’s just the reality. The activation counters reset after 180 days automatically. So if you get a new laptop every six month or wipe your drive every half year you don’t have to do a thing. If your drive dies before that and you need another one, just email us. It’ll be reset in no time. If you ask us every week and we see different ip addresses for the activation, that is obviously another story.
Your hacker analogy doesn’t work for me though. Just because some bloke drives a Ferrari that he stole doesn’t make me consider stealing one too. And you don’t need to “beg”. It’s a perfectly normal request. I am usually up at 2:00 am so most likely it will be done at 2:02. 🙂
So, if I have a 2014 product installed on 2 computers, and they both crash, requiring a fresh rebuild. I can only get it back on ONE computer? I am ok with limiting it to two computers, that’s fair. But I think requiring local removal to update your system is not a good idea for system crashes. We should be able to revoke machines via our account in case of a system crash. This would save you support time and save us time in getting back up to speed. I understand your concern over licensing and I know you don’t want to add in a periodic license check, but we need a better solution.
Two computers crashing simultaneously is a bit of an unlikely event, don’t you think? But if that would happen we have no problem giving you two activations back. Just not every other week 🙂
We cannot allow you to remove licenses from your account page. That would require us to store information identifying individual computers and verify licensing information on each startup. The first one many users would rightfully have an issue with and the second would be just too much big brother. We are working on something to make this more practical for the legitimate user, so please stand by. We will post again when we have that implemented.
Why don’t you implement an activation system like the Adobe Creative Cloud? You are allowed to install the software on as many systems as you like, but you can have only 2 active registrations. If you log in on a 3rd system, you have the option to unregister the “old” registration and login and work immediatly. that way you don’t have to be afraid for abuse and the customer is happy because he can work anytime anywhere.
Because it requires you to be online. MANY of our customers activate and then the machine is not connected to the internet at all. It’s just not a practical solution for administrative tools.