I am getting heartily fed up with the number of progs I download, "activate" (which is what it SAYS it's done) and then when I go to use the thing, maybe a month down the line, it's no longer activated. Its the "end of the trial" do you want to register ?
The latest has been Visual mp3 splitter. I have had it happen to me half a dozen times in the last fortnight with Giveawayoftheday progs.
It seems to be happening more and more often. The SoThink prog was the 2nd last 2 days ago, and MKV converter before that.
Are companies conning us ?
Am I the only one it's happening to ?
Ive been getting stuff here for years, and only NOW is this happening.
Progs "Activated" which become "trials" shortly after...
(13 posts) (10 voices)-
Phil123
MemberPosted 14 years ago # -
GMMan, Hexadecimal Blacksmith
BlockedDo you use any registry cleaners or super-uninstallers? Those are likely culprits.
Posted 14 years ago # -
Whiterabbit-uk
Games GuruI've not had any problems with any of the programs I've downloaded. Do you double check to make sure they are registered. If so what GMMan suggests above is the most probable culprit.
THe message you get that says activated is an automatic message. It will appear even if you cancel the installation process, so it's very important that you go find the help button and select about, where you'll usually see registered to GOTD or GAOTD. If you don't find any sign of confirmation this way, theres a good possibility that the program isn't activated.
W.R.
Posted 14 years ago # -
Phil123
MemberRight...reg cleaners bugger up registration ?
Hell. Didn't know that.
Thats VERY annoying.
Odd it only does some, not all.
Good call. Thanks for the help.And WR - yeah, always check to make sure.
That reg cleaner thing has really amazed me.
You'd think that wouldn't be touched.Posted 14 years ago # -
GMMan, Hexadecimal Blacksmith
BlockedWell, registry cleaners use heuristics, because it's impossible to have a central catalog of all useless registry entries (remember that new software and malware are developed each day). And a lot of programs tend to use non-descriptive and random registry keys to store their data, so it's extremely hard to predict whether or not if some random entry is useful or not.
If you still have the registration keys for those programs, you may try them. Chances are they are not going to connect to the Internet to check validity.
Posted 14 years ago # -
I've had registry compressors that are simply supposed to remove the "blank" space in the registry affect the registration of some products. I also determined that the size of the registry AFTER compression was sometimes barely smaller or even LARGER than the registry before compression. Moral - stay away from compression. They cause far more problems than they solve!
Posted 14 years ago # -
thenameipicked
MemberPhil, check your registry cleaner, and see if it makes backups. The only registry cleaner I use is Glary Utilities' because it backs up the registry before it makes changes. (It also seems like it makes less mistakes than others, but that can't be proven, its just my opinion).
Posted 14 years ago # -
The GOTD Project Team answered this and some other common questions in the FAQ.
In the past I found another reason for a lost registration.
Wondershare mostly distributes old versions of e.g. Flash in their programmes. Kaspersky treated that as a threat. After updating Flash the registration of the Wondershare programme was gone.Posted 14 years ago # -
goodgotd
Memberanother thing that's often death to GAOTD programs is to let them sucker you into accepting online updates.
Some allow it- Zoner Photo Studio 12, WinUtilities the last giveaway...
But for most, find and turn off checking for updates ASAP, and if it asks, say no.
And one of the reasons the bloody reg cleaners (hardly worth it, in general- and I never compact the registry) can mess up programs is they put the reg codes in stupid places that cleaners don't recognize and get marked as junk.
Posted 14 years ago # -
@Phil123...
the SoThink programs did have some type of registration problem...
May 12, 2010 GOTD, Sothink DHTML Menu 9.3, comment 31, Tina:
"Just a note to SoThink:
I installed this to update the last version. While I was my SourceTec program folder, just for the heck of it I launched the Sothink Logo Maker given away here awhile back.
When I did that the Logo Maker came up as un-registered and the info box was prefilled with the GAOTD information. I clcked and the program re-registered itself.
This is something you might want to look into."
http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/sothink-dhtml-menu-9-3/
after reading that, i checked & had the same problem/result...now, after reading your comment, i checked my Sothink programs...and DHTML Menu had the same problem/result...it did say it registered after i clicked today, but i'm not sure what's going on there (as usual!)...just anecdotal (the March 23, 2010 Sothink Logo Maker GOTD page has comments at the bottom about registration problems, too:
http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/sothink-logo-maker-1-0/ )...the program also asked if i wanted to check/download updates...@goodguy...you are correct in thinking i have no idea how to actually use most of the Sothink programs :D
Posted 14 years ago # -
Bigun
MemberI have found that more than just a few programs go from a "registered / activated" condition to a "expired trial" status seemingly without reason. I do not use Registry cleaners or registry compactors. I do use "Revo UnInstaller". The Revo program displays registry changes and file additions that are made during a program's installation but not removed using the programs own uninstaller routine. I have always found that Revo displays a chain of files that are located in the same directory or registry entries that I can identify as belonging to the program that I am uninstalling.
There is an exception to the statement that I just made concerning the registry. There are times when Revo will identify several hundred registry entries that it believes should be uninstalled during a given program's uninstallation. This is rare - but it does happen. What is not rare is a program's status going from registered to unregistered.
I have posted in detail the metamorphosis of a certain program that has gone from an " installed / registered / activated status " to an expired trial each time that I was foolish enough to have installed it. I finally learned not to give that program a second look. I know that there are several posts in the forum that deal with this same behavior.
In my case, there may be a link between the changing of a program's status and something that I intentionally do. That is a reinstallation of "SP 3" (Windows XP Pro SP 3) every three or four months. I am not sure how the reinstallation of SP 3 could effect a program's activation.
Posted 14 years ago #
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