Build 459: Warned about 15 days remaining when license expires on 31st July

[Leggless]

Startup Dialog is displayed with 15 days remaining when the license expires on 31st July, starting from 20th June. There are more than 15 days between now and the end of the month.

[Tim]

Yes, those are two separate issues. Trial mode counts your days of use -- you have 15 days remaining. Our beta releases also have an expiry date so that people don't continue to use an obsolete release. Our next release will bump the expiry date to the end of August.

[Michael Bulgrien]

Q? Does the "days of use" counter decrement every day whether or not the product is used? Or does BC3 decrement the "days of use" counter the first time it used on each day so that users who let BC3 sit dormant for two weeks still have "days of use" left when they resume their testing?

[Tim]

We only count days of use. People can (and have) used BC across many months in trial mode.

[Rick Steinwand]

I've been getting a similar message and when I click on the button to enter my serial, BC hangs. The task bar shows a second BC window but I can't switch to it or view it.

I'm running Vista Business. I remember that happening when I first started the beta and tried to enter my serial.

[Craig]

Rick, are you using Aero? If so, can you get an image of the dialog by hovering over its taskbar button?

[Rick Steinwand]

Rick, are you using Aero? If so, can you get an image of the dialog by hovering over its taskbar button?

Yes. I get a preview that shows just the BC icon. Nothing useful there. Have to use Task Manager to terminate it.

Next time I launch BC I don't get the license expiring warning with the "enter key" button. Must be a first time each day thing. Happened yesterday too.

From within BC... help menu... enter key... that will lockup too unless I launched BC by "run as administrator". Run as administrator, I could enter a key since that dialog seems to work.

This is Vista Business SP1, running on a domain. I have local adminstrator rights but am not a domain admin.

Works like a typical Xp program not optimized for Vista. I've seen software that after first installed, you had to run as administrator to finish the install.

I've been a beta tester for Microsoft OS's and SP's since Win98SE. Been using Vista for over two years and SP1 for close to one year.

[rothkj1022]

I am also receiving this message. I use BC3 every day and I have been receiving this message for the past 2 builds, as well as the current (462).

I am running XP SP2.

Will this be fixed in the next 12 days? Otherwise, should I export my settings now so they do not get lost? I have probably over 100 saved sessions...

Thanks!

[ron]

FWIW, I just installed 462 on Vista Enterprise and the daily reminder and Enter Key button and subsequent dialog work OK for me.

[Rick Steinwand]

FWIW, I just installed 462 on Vista Enterprise and the daily reminder and Enter Key button and subsequent dialog work OK for me.

Vista Enterprise? Never heard of it. Compare Editions (http://http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/compare-editions/default.aspx)

You must have UAC disabled or run BC as an administrator or some other change that makes you an admin (or you're running Server 200x).

With UAC enabled and 462, just locked it up by clicking on help... Enter Key. Nothing changed here, except less days left. I'm not going to cheat and enter my key. I'll use BC2 first.

FWIW, I'm down to 9 days now.

[ron]

Vista Enterprise (http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/sa/benefits/vista/faq.mspx)

My account 'type' is Administrator as opposed to Standard User.

I'm not logged into a domain.

UAC is ON.

Help/Enter Key also works.

:confused:

[Craig]

Rick,

Do you have have UltraMon (http://www.realtimesoft.com/ultramon/) installed? We had another user report the same issue and that was the culprit.

I've been using Vista Business with UAC enabled since early 2007, and I'm the one that added the copy protection to BC3. Believe me, if reproducing it were as easy as you think I would have seen it. ;)

[JimF]

Rick,

Vista Enterprise (http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/sa/benefits/vista.mspx?wt_svl=20122a&mg_id=20122b) is not a retail version. You must be a business and have a Microsoft Software Assurance license to obtain it.

Enterprise otherwise sits somewhere between Business and Ultimate. That is, it has some of Ultimate's features, like BitLocker, but not others, like Media Center.

Jim

[ron]

Just tried on Vista Business too, works ok. Although I did encounter a UACLaunch.exe failure when electing the launch after install option.

[Rick Steinwand]

Do you have have UltraMon (http://www.realtimesoft.com/ultramon/) installed? We had another user report the same issue and that was the culprit.

Yes I do. Closed UM and it works. Started UM and from options, added compatibility entry (with all options checked) for BC and it works now.

[rothkj1022]

I don't know about everyone else, but I only get prompted once a day that my trial is going to expire. How are you able to verify that the nag has gone away if you already received the message on the same day?

[rothkj1022]

Oh, and I do not have UltraMon installed.

Also, I work with a team of developers here and the rest of my team are also receiving the trial nag message, so I know I'm not the only one having trouble with the nag on XP.

[Craig]

I can reproduce the problem here. Looks like the bug was introduced in one of their 3.0 betas, because the 2.7 release worked. When I have time I'll look into it further or discuss it with their developers.

[Craig]

rothkj1022,

What, exactly, are you reporting as a bug? The beta has the copy protection enabled, so it will count down in trial mode, and does display the nag screen once a day. That's the intended behavior.

Do you have a version 3 key? It's different than the v2 one. You can see if you're registered or not in the Help->About dialog.

[Tim]

The program only nags once per day (by design). You'll need a BC3 license key to continue to use the program beyond the trial period. Once you've entered a license key, you can verify that the nag has gone away by checking the About dialog.

[Tim]

Your settings won't be lost, but you'll need to get a BC3 license in order to continue to use the program. You can use this form to request an upgrade coupon:
http://www.scootersoftware.com/shop.php?c=upgrade

[rothkj1022]

So I have to purchase a BC3 key to continue using the product while it is still in beta?

[rothkj1022]

So I have to purchase a BC3 key to continue using the product while it is still in beta?

Granted, me and my team will all be purchasing licenses the very moment BC3 is officially released, as it is an incredible product. I've just never heard of having to pay for beta software before...

[rothkj1022]

Ok, I filled out the request form. Perhaps I don't have to pay at this point -- is that the case? If so, how will you manage collecting payment once BC3 is released?

[Tim]

I've just never heard of having to pay for beta software before...
I guess we just quirky that way. ;)

If the nag screen doesn't say "Your 30-day evaluation period has ended" then you're ok. Once the main 45 days have counted down there's an additional 15 day grace period. (And the full release of BC 3.0.0 is 15 days from today.)

If it does say the evaluation has ended and it says "The program will stop running in xx days" then you have xx days of use left.

Since we only count the days that you actually use the program, the 45 + 15 days are enough to get most people through the beta without paying.

[Tim]

You'll need to pay to get a BC3 key, but we'll send you an extension to the trial period.

[rothkj1022]

Awesome. You guys are very reasonable and great to work with.

Kevin

[Craig]

Rick,

Thanks to some help from UltraMon's support this will be fixed in the next release, and as an added bonus I've fixed BC so it works correctly with their "don't add custom buttons to dialogs and message boxes" feature.

[Rick Steinwand]

Rick,

Thanks to some help from UltraMon's support this will be fixed in the next release, and as an added bonus I've fixed BC so it works correctly with their "don't add custom buttons to dialogs and message boxes" feature.

I've removed the customization from Ultramon and Build 463 seems to work ok now. Thanks.