AutoCAD 2008 loses license in BootCamp

[kevbec]

I can get a take home license for any AutoDesk program through my work. I recently received the license for AutoCAD 2008. I installed it in the BootCamp Partition of my new iMac. It ran wonderfully for 4 times. On the 5th time, I was greated with the message "license have been activated too many times..." I came into work the next day and contacted our supplier and he gave me another serial number. It required me to un-install and re-install CAD. Worked great 4 times (I'm sure you know where I'm going).

I have done some research and I have found a site that said I should use VM. I just wanted to know if anyone here is running AutoCAD 2008 with just Bootcamp. If you are, did you experience any license issues? If you did, what did you do to fix it.

KevBec
CAD Manager, new OSX convert
20" iMac 2.4ghz 4gb ram

 

[Red Sox]

Running Windows through Boot Camp is not an emulation. Your mac is running Windows natively. Therefore, your problem is most likely NOT caused by Boot Camp. It's a Windows issue, or an AutoCAD issue.

After googling, this came up. Give it a try.
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/item?siteID=123112&id=9506795&linkID=9240617

 

[617arg]

I'm having a problem similar to yours, especially when using a virtual machine (Fusion in my case).

I installed Vista 64-bit through Bootcamp, and then Autocad 2008. I later installed VM Ware Fusion. I keep losing my license if I try to switch between running Autocad through Bootcamp and Fusion. I also lose my license if I let my machine fall asleep while using Fusion. So far it seems to be ok if I just use Bootcamp (although it sucks that I'm essentially using my Mac to run Windows for most, if not all, of the day).

Please post if you find a solution to your problem. Unfortunately I don't think there are many Autocad users running this setup problem free yet.

 

[kevbec]

AutoCAD 2008 Issues

thanks for the posts. I know when i have contacted AutoDesk, as soon as they hear it's running on a Mac, they say it's a problem with Mac. I have talked to the experts at our local Mac store and they say it's AutoCAD.

 

[Ello]

Hmm, this is bad news for me. Does this problem appear in Vista only or in XP too? I'm getting my MBP any day now and I can get a student license of AutoCAD 2008 from my school. I'm intending to use BootCamp+XP for AutoCAD and some games... hope this problem can be solved. If anyone hear anything new, please keep us posted!

 

[arch-angel]

same issues here with ACD and revit on leopard, bootcamp partition, and parallels.

i'm looking but still no concrete solution.

but some good leads...
http://autodesk.blogs.com/between_the_lines/2007/03/run_autocad_200.html
http://discussion.autodesk.com/thread.jspa?threadID=552613

i read thru both and there's some good info, maybe a possible work around in the second link... i have to reinstall to check.

anyine with info please post here! thanks

 

[kevbec]

AutoCAD 2008 Problems

It seem that every forum I look at has conflicting info. Some people say it works fine with BootCamp or Parallels, yet in every post, other people say different.

I am running XPSP2 and originally thought it had to do with my computer name (in windows), because that id is reported to AutoDesk as part of the license activation process. The last time I installed, I made sure I wrote down what mine was called. When AutoCAD stopped working, I went back and checked and it was the same, so no help there.

I'm pretty pissed about the marketing Apple does for their Intel based computers. For what I spent to get mine, I could have had a SCREAMING Xeon based workstation with a HUGE flat panel. And, when I wanted to scratch my non-windows itch, I could boot into Ubuntu! and get my GUI fix.

KevBeck
CADManager
2.4ghz 20" iMac w/4gb

 

[arch-angel]

i've done some testing, heres some news...

1. a fresh instal of XP on my bootcamp volume and a new installation of revit (same issue as autocad and all the rest of the autodesk products with activation) along with adjusting the clock (or making sure it has auto updated via the internet) has given me good results.
i formatted to get rid of the activation info autodesk puts on the zero track... not a windows guy or a hacker so i didn't attempt to find or mess with the registry dll files. this activation apparently gets threatened in a few situations including major changes of the system clock and editing of the registry (i'm sure that's not the correct tech speak but i hope it gets the point across... more accurate info can be found in autodesk's activation white paper). the latter has been said by some users to happen when a bootcamp volume is pulled into parallels. i don't really know but my bootcamp only version now works well, and...

2. i also have a separate parallels VM on the mac side, also installed with the same revit. this also works well... no reactivation yet. the two installations of XP are (obviously) not connected in anyway. for those who don't know, parallels can either work off of an XP installation already on bootcamp, or alternatively a virtual machine can contain it's own independent installation of XP.

conclusion: i've tryed all three scenarios... bootcamp w/parallels feeding from it (bad for autodesk), bootcamp alone (works), and parallels alone (works). in my experience the license 'breaking' and reactivation issue is caused by the combination of parallels with a bootcamp volume... something in the way they each handle the main directories maybe?? anyway, that seems to solve it for me, but i'll update here if i find more.

if anyone has info, strengthening this or opposing it, please post it here... thanks!

 

[617arg]

Sounds promising.

Can you explain how you "formatted to get rid of the activation info autodesk puts on the zero track"?

Also, is revit running well on the VM? Autocad seemed a bit slow on my VM (with 1gb of ram allocated). I remember Revit being kind of slow on our pc's in a class I took to learn it, I can't imagine it in a virtual environment. How much ram do you have allocated?

 

[kevbec]

Sounds promising.

Can you explain how you "formatted to get rid of the activation info autodesk puts on the zero track"?

I'm going to have to admit, I have now idea what that means either, and I'm 45 and have been working with AutoCAD since release 7.

 

[bdowlingmd]

What are "parallels?"

Pardon my ignorance, but what are the parallels that are referred to in the Autocad/Bootcamp discussion?

I've had several years of experience with Autocad but haven't used it for a few years. I would like to install Autocad LT in bootcamp on my MBP and I'm trying to decide if it will work well.

Which windows version do I need for Autocad LT 2008?

Thanks.

 

[kevbec]

Pardon my ignorance, but what are the parallels that are referred to in the Autocad/Bootcamp discussion?

I've had several years of experience with Autocad but haven't used it for a few years. I would like to install Autocad LT in bootcamp on my MBP and I'm trying to decide if it will work well.

Which windows version do I need for Autocad LT 2008?

Thanks.

I checked the AutoDesk page and this is what the list for system requirements....

Intel® Pentium® 4 processor, 2.2 GHz
Microsoft® Windows® Vista™, Windows XP Professional or Home Edition (SP2), Windows 2000 (SP4)
512 MB RAM
550 MB free disk space for Installation
1024x768 with VGA display with true color
Mouse, trackball, or compatible pointing device
Microsoft® Internet Explorer 6.0 (SP1 or higher)
CD-ROM drive

 

[617arg]

Pardon my ignorance, but what are the parallels that are referred to in the Autocad/Bootcamp discussion?

Parallels (and also Fusion) are programs that allow Mac users to run Windows side by side with OSX without using Bootcamp.

kevbec: are you still having issues with your installation? I'm hoping arch-angel will be coming back with an update soon to tell us if he's had to re-activate again.

 

[skd]

Acad And Leopard

I've been running acad thru bootcamp for a couple of years.......there was no problem when I was running Tiger on my mac regarding activation -
As soon as started running Leopard acad had to be reactivated every six days. I've talked to both apple and autodesk and they blame each other....
it's a hassle for us in the professional world and should be fixed!!!!!!

 

[Trainwreck707]

I haven't used Parallels or VM but I have used AutoCAD on several Mac's and they do not have licensing issues. I've heard it has to do with having Windows and Mac partitions on the same drive. With Windows on a separate internal drive I haven't seen any licensing problems.

 

[skd]

how do you acad on your macs?

 

[skd]

what I meant to say was - How do you get windows on a separate internal drive?

 

[Trainwreck707]

what I meant to say was - How do you get windows on a separate internal drive?

I've heard you can do it with the boot camp assistant, but I haven't tried.

I put the widows install cd into my Mac and shut it down. I then pulled out the Mac drive and put a new one in bay 2. When I restarted it booted from the Windows install cd. After installing Windows I put in the Leopard Install Disc 1 and loaded the drivers. Finally, I shut it down and put the Mac drive back in.

I can now hold option at startup to choose between Mac and Windows.

 

[skd]

so that was done with a mac pro not a mac laptop?

 

[Nermal]

Something that's worth mentioning is that Windows expects the system clock to be set to local time, and Unix (including OS X) expects GMT. When you boot into Windows, an Apple tool adjusts the clock so that you see the time that you expect. I've had some trial software kick up a fuss when this has happened and I suspect that your issue is related to the same sort of thing.

 

[skd]

is there a "work around" with the clock issue?

 

[bobmarley11]

i would suggest using a third-party firewall to block autocad from connecting to the internet, that should solve the activation issue.

 

[skd]

a third-party firewall -

can you explain how this works, and a name of a third-party firewall....

 

[bobmarley11]

3rd party firewall means something other than the built-in "windows firewall"

symantec, look n stop, zonealarm are three that I have tried. look n stop is what I am using now. Basically whenever a program tries to connect to the interent, it asks if you want to authorize it or not.

so once you activate the first time, don't let it connect to the internet because it'll keep checking every time you open the program.

 

[skd]

Why does software such as acad want to connect to the internet when you open it?