License Key woes

General discussion on BeerTools Pro Software.

Do you find the current License Key mechanism frustrating?

Yes
8
57%
No
6
43%
 
Total votes: 14

joshi
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License Key woes

Post by joshi »

First let me say I enjoy using BTP. However, I find myself spending more time looking up (to no avail) new my license key on the BTP website or digging through email than I spend with the program.


My suggestion is either:

A) Significantly increase the time before the thing expires to the order of a year, AND email us when our old one is set to expire.

or

B) Make our current license key visible from a page when we login to the BTP website. (Downloads page seems appropriate.)

or

C) A link from a BTP page that we can automatically have it emailed to us after logging in.

I am just growing weary of having to search for license keys every other time I use the program. For me, it is the biggest complaint I have about BTP. I have recommended BTP to a number of fellow homebrewers in my local club and they have had the same frustrations.

Am I alone on this?
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slothrob
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expire keys?

Post by slothrob »

Why are your keys expiring?

It almost never happens to me.
Are you talking about the demo key?
Are you moving the program to new computers?
Those are the only two occasions I can think of that require a new key.
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Post by joshi »

Actually, I do use the program on multiple machines. I generally use it on one of two machines in my office. Either on my main machine, or on an auxillary machine if my main one is tied up right then. Additionally, I have a machine in the garage where I brew and having the recipes, schedules and calculators handy while I am brewing is a necessity, especially as things need to be calculated on the fly during decoction mashing. All my recipes, etc are stored on a network attached storage, that way wherever I am, I can access them. I also find it handy to have a copy on my laptop so I can develop or analyize a recipe while I am on the go.

This probably makes it seem that I have to update the license key more often than others might as I have more machines to update. Regardless, it would really help if I could log into my BTP account and copy my current license key. Since I started keeping track of my keys, I have had 6, and that is in less than a year's time.
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jeff
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Post by jeff »

joshi wrote:Actually, I do use the program on multiple machines. I generally use it on one of two machines in my office. Either on my main machine, or on an auxillary machine if my main one is tied up right then. Additionally, I have a machine in the garage where I brew and having the recipes, schedules and calculators handy while I am brewing is a necessity, especially as things need to be calculated on the fly during decoction mashing. All my recipes, etc are stored on a network attached storage, that way wherever I am, I can access them. I also find it handy to have a copy on my laptop so I can develop or analyize a recipe while I am on the go.

This probably makes it seem that I have to update the license key more often than others might as I have more machines to update. Regardless, it would really help if I could log into my BTP account and copy my current license key. Since I started keeping track of my keys, I have had 6, and that is in less than a year's time.
If you request a new key, your previous key is deactivated. That means that BTP will lock if it tries to use a deactivated key. If you request a new key, you must install the key on all of your machines using BTP simultaneously.
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Post by dasein668 »

I also have never had the key expire. (Except for the demo key in the beta testing) Are the keys set to expire at a certain point?
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Post by jeff »

dasein668 wrote:I also have never had the key expire. (Except for the demo key in the beta testing) Are the keys set to expire at a certain point?
The keys expire in 30 days meaning they won't unlock the program after that period. But once the program is unlocked, it doesn't become "locked" unless something significantly changes the system such as a reformat, system install, or some other serious modification. If BTP says a key has expired, a new one can be obtained for free so the program can be unlocked again.

Some have had difficulty receiving their license key emails so we are rethinking the key request process so users never get stuck without a working copy of BTP. We want it to be as easy as possible :D
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Why I voted 'no' on the poll

Post by billvelek »

I don't find the key frustrating at all; I've been using BTP for about 18 months now, and I think I might have had to deal with the key perhaps once or twice. Admittedly, I've loaded it onto only one machine, so I guess that will make a difference, too. Since I still can't get my desktop fixed, I'll probably sneak :wink: a copy onto my wife's laptop or onto the dinosaur that I have in the spare room (it has no Internet connection). So, the main reason I'm posting this message is to ask Jeff or the group these questions:

Jeff said: "If you request a new key, you must install the key on all of your machines using BTP simultaneously." Okay, what happens if I do that using my wife's computer (Internetted) and I still haven't fixed my desk-top (also Internetted); will that interfere in my attempts to fix my problem? If I do manage to fix the problem, do I then reactivate both computers simultenously, and if so, how do I simultaneously reactivate the NON-Internet computer in my spare room (I would need to use a flash-drive or spend the money to make it WiFi enabled ... _if_ I can).


Also, how would I be able to use a flash drive (thumb drive) to transfer the program from my wife's laptop to my spare computer?

The only reason I'd want it on my spare computer is in case the same situation happens again with my main desktop not being able to load; the only reason I'll put it on my wife's computer is if I can't get this one fixed, although it might be nice to plan a recipe when we're away from home. How many total copies are we allowed to make, with only one in use at a time, of course?

Cheers.

Bill Velek
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Re: Why I voted 'no' on the poll

Post by jeff »

billvelek wrote:Jeff said: "If you request a new key, you must install the key on all of your machines using BTP simultaneously." Okay, what happens if I do that using my wife's computer (Internetted) and I still haven't fixed my desk-top (also Internetted); will that interfere in my attempts to fix my problem?
It will not interfere with the other issue. You may have to request a new key to unlock the installation on your wife's computer by using the "Request New Key" button when prompted; and that same key can be used if the desktop copy asks for one. If you do request a new key, give me a heads up and I will reactivate the old one so you don't run into a problem with the desktop BTP becoming locked.
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Post by dasein668 »

jeff wrote:
dasein668 wrote:I also have never had the key expire. (Except for the demo key in the beta testing) Are the keys set to expire at a certain point?
The keys expire in 30 days meaning they won't unlock the program after that period. But once the program is unlocked, it doesn't become "locked" unless something significantly changes the system such as a reformat, system install, or some other serious modification.
Oh, I see. That makes sense. I can see how that would get annoying if you are frequently tweaking things on your system!
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Re: Why I voted 'no' on the poll

Post by billvelek »

jeff wrote:
billvelek wrote:Jeff said: "If you request a new key, you must install the key on all of your machines using BTP simultaneously." Okay, what happens if I do that using my wife's computer (Internetted) and I still haven't fixed my desk-top (also Internetted); will that interfere in my attempts to fix my problem?
It will not interfere with the other issue. You may have to request a new key to unlock the installation on your wife's computer by using the "Request New Key" button when prompted; and that same key can be used if the desktop copy asks for one. If you do request a new key, give me a heads up and I will reactivate the old one so you don't run into a problem with the desktop BTP becoming locked.
I finally got my desktop running again with the newest beta -- version .10 I think -- and used it to help brew a couple of batches, as I've mentioned in another post. Now, with renewed enthusiasm, I want to check out the improvements in the past five or six releases that I was unable to access. However, I am now on vacation in Florida and my desktop is in Arkansas, so I downloaded a copy to my wife's laptop and attempted to install; it requires a registration key, which is also still in Arkansas. I requested a new registration key to be sent to my gmail account a couple of days ago, but still haven't received it. It rained most of today, so this would have been an ideal time for me to play with BTP, but I can't access it without a registration key. Sure, I should have taken care of this months ago, but that's besides the point. What if I had just purchased the lap top? It is precisely this sort of a situation, which I admit is rare, that still bothers me about the whole registration process. This is the ONLY program that I've ever purchased which requires this, and I do find it annoying (especially now) ... although I can tolerate it if it the developers really find it all that necessary to keep them interested in further development of BTP.

Thanks for the hard work and support, and please send me a new registration key to billvelek AT gmail.com

I believe my former request was posted via the support tab, so maybe posting the request here will bring it to someone's attention sooner (although I would have thought it would be the other way around).

Cheers.

Bill Velek
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Re: Why I voted 'no' on the poll

Post by jeff »

billvelek wrote:I requested a new registration key to be sent to my gmail account a couple of days ago, but still haven't received it.
Your license key was sent to the address you have setup in your BeerTools.com profile. Currently this email address is your alltel.net email address. Your request was made June 30, 2008 9:29:44 PM EDT and the license email was sent immediately. I searched your records for license key requests made before June 30 and only came up with one made November 26, 2006 11:43:26 AM EST. If you want a license key sent to another address, you must first modify your BeerTools.com account and a new key can be generated based on the new address. If you change your account profile and want to receive a new license key, please let me know.

Thanks!
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Things that confused me trying to get new registration key

Post by billvelek »

jeff wrote:
billvelek wrote:I requested a new registration key to be sent to my gmail account a couple of days ago, but still haven't received it.
Your license key was sent to the address you have setup in your BeerTools.com profile. Currently this email address is your alltel.net email address. Your request was made June 30, 2008 9:29:44 PM EDT and the license email was sent immediately. I searched your records for license key requests made before June 30 and only came up with one made November 26, 2006 11:43:26 AM EST.
I made a request days earlier, but it probably isn't showing in your records because it wasn't via the same method I used on June 30th. Instead, I had used the "support" tab on the website (since I was there already trying to use the knowledge base to see if I could find a solution before bothering you). So, on your support page I clicked on "Submit Ticket", but I can't remember now if I then clicked on 'General' or 'Technical', but in any event I DID send a TICKET request a couple of days earlier, IIRC, and while explaining the circumstances I asked that the key be sent to my gmail account since I'm not at home.

Later, on June 30th, I noticed that my downloads page has a registration key listed; I'm almost embarrassed that I never noticed that, so I decided to give it a try, but then found that it was expired. When I was asked if I wanted a new key emailed to me, I had the foresight to realize that I would need to first change my email addy, so I went to my profiles page and did exactly that -- thinking that I was in the right place. THEN, after changing my email addy on my FORUMS profile, I requested new keys ... which is no doubt what you have seen submitted by me on June 30th. So my FORUM profile page DOES have my gmail account listed instead of alltel.net -- which is also currently the case now, because I have just checked; however, the url that you sent is for a different page and still shows alltel.net. I thought I was in the right place, but I guess not; it has been corrected now so that both places list my gmail account.
If you want a license key sent to another address, you must first modify your BeerTools.com account and a new key can be generated based on the new address. If you change your account profile and want to receive a new license key, please let me know.
Yes, it is done now, so please send me a new key. EDIT: NEVER MIND! I just found an email with a new key; THANKS!!! :D

Whether this is another issue or not, I'm going to mention it. When the pop-up window asking for a registration key appeared, as soon as I would enter any character in either my name or email line, the registration button would dim, leaving 'cancel' and whatever the other one was (request new key???) as the only choices. Anyway, it seemed awkward and appeared to be unfunctional the first couple of times I tried it with the old registration key I found on my download page.

Again, I'm not trying to make this into a big complaint session; I just want to complete my installation as soon as I can and also let you know of my difficulties in case there are others having the same issues and you can find a way to improve this.

Thanks.

Bill Velek
Last edited by billvelek on Tue Jul 01, 2008 11:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Things that confused me trying to get new registration k

Post by jeff »

billvelek wrote:Instead, I had used the "support" tab on the website (since I was there already trying to use the knowledge base to see if I could find a solution before bothering you). So, on your support page I clicked on "Submit Ticket", but I can't remember now if I then clicked on 'General' or 'Technical', but in any event I DID send a TICKET request a couple of days earlier, IIRC, and while explaining the circumstances I asked that the key be sent to my gmail account since I'm not at home.
I apologize, I never saw a support ticket come through with your request, otherwise I would have addressed your issue sooner. Did you receive a support confirmation email?
billvelek wrote:Yes, it is done now, so please send me a new key.
Sent.
billvelek wrote:Again, I'm not trying to make this into a big complaint session; I just want to complete my installation as soon as I can and also let you know of my difficulties in case there are others having the same issues and you can find a way to improve this.
Thanks for the feedback; sorry the process didn't go smoothly this time. I'm always looking for ways to improve it.
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Got it; thanks.

Post by billvelek »

I've received the new registration key; thanks.

As for confirmation re the ticket, it's probably in my mailbox on my computer in Arkansas. That was done before I changed my email addy. The first message I have on gmail is the 'Activate Account' message I received on June 30th after I changed my email account. If you still need to know, I'll check my home computer next week and let you know.

As for the registration key, we're getting ready to go out cruising on the gulf now, so I won't have time to try it out until tonight.

Thanks for the VERY prompt service today.

Cheers.

Bill Velek
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Completed registration on my wife's laptop; thanks.

Post by billvelek »

Jeff, I used the registration key that you sent and completed installation. BTP is now up and running on my wife's laptop -- which has VISTA by the way -- and everything seems to be okay right now. If I encounter any problems that I think might be related to Vista (which I HATE with a passion), I'll post about them in the thread dedicated to Vista compatibility. Thanks again.

Cheers.

Bill Velek
Visit www.tinyurl.com/bvelek - portal to my brewing sites: 3,100+ members on 'Grow-Hops', and 1,350+ brewers on my 'BrewingEquip' group.
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