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AutoCAD 2008 loses license in BootCamp
- Thread starter kevbec
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I have Architecture 2008 (the new version of Architectural Desktop) installed with XP Pro under Boot Camp on a second internal drive and although I haven't used it since installing I didn't have any problems with licensing.
On another line of thought if you are running ACAD under Boot Camp and Parallels this may cause problems. When I first installed XP in Boot Camp I had to register it. When I ran Parallels I had to register it again because XP sees that all of the hardware has changed (Parallels is a virtual machines and emulates all of the hardware interfaces). When I tried to register I got an error message saying I had registered this copy too may times. I called MS and they gave me a new key that worked okay. I now can run XP in BC and Parallels without re-registering.
This maybe why some are having problems with ACAD re-registering. Running XP in Boot Camp is as if it was running on a PC - it has no idea what Boot Camp or Leopard is. Boot Camp ONLY allows the dual boot HD icon choice at start up with Option key pressed. After that it disappears from the scene as XP boots.
Just a thought.
Alan
On another line of thought if you are running ACAD under Boot Camp and Parallels this may cause problems. When I first installed XP in Boot Camp I had to register it. When I ran Parallels I had to register it again because XP sees that all of the hardware has changed (Parallels is a virtual machines and emulates all of the hardware interfaces). When I tried to register I got an error message saying I had registered this copy too may times. I called MS and they gave me a new key that worked okay. I now can run XP in BC and Parallels without re-registering.
This maybe why some are having problems with ACAD re-registering. Running XP in Boot Camp is as if it was running on a PC - it has no idea what Boot Camp or Leopard is. Boot Camp ONLY allows the dual boot HD icon choice at start up with Option key pressed. After that it disappears from the scene as XP boots.
Just a thought.
Alan
interesting........
Trainwreck707: My installation of acad is on a 2nd internal drive.
Siron: You mentioned that you haven't used it since installation. Can you try using it in Bootcamp and then try using it in Parallels. You see, mine also technically worked after installation as you described (registered in Bootcamp and re-registered in Fusion), it's when I switch between the two that the license breaks.
I'm going to try to block it from connecting to the internet and see if that works. It seems like it may be a clock issue because I had it running in the virtual machine and the license broke when the "guest" was left to fall asleep. If not, maybe a second installation of windows and Autocad, exclusively for the VM, and disabling the internet connection after registration, might do the trick....
Trainwreck707: My installation of acad is on a 2nd internal drive.
Siron: You mentioned that you haven't used it since installation. Can you try using it in Bootcamp and then try using it in Parallels. You see, mine also technically worked after installation as you described (registered in Bootcamp and re-registered in Fusion), it's when I switch between the two that the license breaks.
I'm going to try to block it from connecting to the internet and see if that works. It seems like it may be a clock issue because I had it running in the virtual machine and the license broke when the "guest" was left to fall asleep. If not, maybe a second installation of windows and Autocad, exclusively for the VM, and disabling the internet connection after registration, might do the trick....
Is this correct? -
Laptops have only one internal drive, and the Mac Pro can have multiple internal drives,
Laptops have only one internal drive, and the Mac Pro can have multiple internal drives,
blocking internet
I tried blocking internet access, first with a third party firewall and then just unplugging the internet - both times I was unable to run acad. Which I thought was weird. I've never tried running acad without internet access since whenever I'm using the computer I'm at a place where I've access to the internet. But what if I'm on the road and don't have internet access, does that mean I can't run acad?
I tried blocking internet access, first with a third party firewall and then just unplugging the internet - both times I was unable to run acad. Which I thought was weird. I've never tried running acad without internet access since whenever I'm using the computer I'm at a place where I've access to the internet. But what if I'm on the road and don't have internet access, does that mean I can't run acad?
That has to be the answer. Several of my friends haven't had any problems and they don't use Parallels or Fusion.
I don't run parallels or fusion only bootcamp to run windows.
and I never had to re-register acad in Tiger. But, as soon as I started using Leopard I had to reactivate acad every 5-6 days.
and I never had to re-register acad in Tiger. But, as soon as I started using Leopard I had to reactivate acad every 5-6 days.
I think the switching back and forth is the problem. I don't intend to run it in Parallels as I've found that most CPU intensive programs don't run too quickly in a virtual environment. As I said in my post about XP having to be registered twice, ACAD probably has the same mechanism that detects hardware changes. Once you register it in Boot Camp and switch to Parallels it will note the hardware change and assume that you have installed it on another machine. Same when you switch back to Boot Camp. I don't know if turning off your internet connection will help as it may just do an internal check of your hardware settings and compare them with the ones you had when you registered and then put up a flag if it sees any changes.
Alan
AutoCAD 2008 - Thanks all
I am really happy that I got so many responses to my original question about getting AutoCAD to work on my iMac! Since I have an iMac, the second (internal) drive is out.
If the economy wasn't...sucky, I'd just solve my problems by rebuilding my old pc....I'm really kicking myself for selling my 20" lcd on craigslist.
My solution has been to install my companys vpn software, log-on to the system and point my computer to the two "license servers" in "environmental variables" and install AutoCAD 2008 as a network installation. This is a temporary fix. Rumor has it that they will be installing (and the IT guys could be shutting me about this) they are installing some type of hardware filter that won't allow non-ms computers to log onto.
I am really happy that I got so many responses to my original question about getting AutoCAD to work on my iMac! Since I have an iMac, the second (internal) drive is out.
If the economy wasn't...sucky, I'd just solve my problems by rebuilding my old pc....I'm really kicking myself for selling my 20" lcd on craigslist.
My solution has been to install my companys vpn software, log-on to the system and point my computer to the two "license servers" in "environmental variables" and install AutoCAD 2008 as a network installation. This is a temporary fix. Rumor has it that they will be installing (and the IT guys could be shutting me about this) they are installing some type of hardware filter that won't allow non-ms computers to log onto.
Acad And Leopard
I just reactivated acad - which I do every 5 days since I started using Leopard - I talked to the acad rep and they are fully aware of the problem. With Mac shares of computers reaching 14%, it's time for us acad users to put pressure on autodesk to solve the problem. I submitted a formal complaint - I would suggest that others do the same. And btw isn't it about time that autodesk come out with a mac version of acad?
I just reactivated acad - which I do every 5 days since I started using Leopard - I talked to the acad rep and they are fully aware of the problem. With Mac shares of computers reaching 14%, it's time for us acad users to put pressure on autodesk to solve the problem. I submitted a formal complaint - I would suggest that others do the same. And btw isn't it about time that autodesk come out with a mac version of acad?
point taken! i don't know what i was thinking (or not thinking to be exact).
how's life in NZ? my (mom's side) family is in Australia. i've been over 3x and have wanted to get to New Zealand each time but my realitives are so spread out, that just getting to see all of them takes the better part of a 3 weeks.
Anyone made progress?
I am also suffering massively with this problem, my personal woes being compounded in that once the Boot Camp partition is opened by VMware, then Autocad (Architecture 2008) refuses to re-authorise (even after reinstall) and requires my Boot Camp installation to be reformatted and reinstalled, a time consuming nightmare!
Even if Autocad is not actually opened in VMware (just booting the partition) the licence still drops, and I am at a loss to find a solution. My half of a work around (as mentioned by others) is to have a second XP install as a VMware specific virtual machine to allow me to use Autocad within OS X, but actually the most awkward problem is not being able to access my Boot Camp partition through OS X, which basically has made VMware an expensive toy.
Interestingly I don't seem to have any issues with the licence requiring reauthorisation if I stick to Boot Camp/OS X without virtualising the Boot Camp volume in VMware. Surely some extension of the work around in VMware tools would be able to address the issue?
I would greatly appreciate anyone's info on a possible solution! Although I am not holding out much hope when all similar internet discussions I have come across seem to have drawn a blank.
I am also suffering massively with this problem, my personal woes being compounded in that once the Boot Camp partition is opened by VMware, then Autocad (Architecture 2008) refuses to re-authorise (even after reinstall) and requires my Boot Camp installation to be reformatted and reinstalled, a time consuming nightmare!
Even if Autocad is not actually opened in VMware (just booting the partition) the licence still drops, and I am at a loss to find a solution. My half of a work around (as mentioned by others) is to have a second XP install as a VMware specific virtual machine to allow me to use Autocad within OS X, but actually the most awkward problem is not being able to access my Boot Camp partition through OS X, which basically has made VMware an expensive toy.
Interestingly I don't seem to have any issues with the licence requiring reauthorisation if I stick to Boot Camp/OS X without virtualising the Boot Camp volume in VMware. Surely some extension of the work around in VMware tools would be able to address the issue?
I would greatly appreciate anyone's info on a possible solution! Although I am not holding out much hope when all similar internet discussions I have come across seem to have drawn a blank.
If you have any problems with autocad, the next time you talk to a rep to reactivate lodge a formal complaint - two days after I did that the problems stopped.
I have found (for the time being at least) that if I just stick to one option, either Bootcamp or Fusion, that the license holds.
The license did break a few times while in Fusion, but I found that this was happening when I let my "Guest", the virtual machine, fall asleep. I disabled sleep within Windows and the problem seems to have gone away.
I'm thinking of installing another instance of Windows and Autocad on another partition if I need to work with any unusually large files, but I'm not sure if that will even be necessary.
What I really need to figure out now is how to enable middle button pan, and the function keys when running Autocad in Fusion.
Has anyone figured that out yet
These are the last two hurdles which need to be overcome before I can have Autocad running fluidly within the Mac.
The license did break a few times while in Fusion, but I found that this was happening when I let my "Guest", the virtual machine, fall asleep. I disabled sleep within Windows and the problem seems to have gone away.
I'm thinking of installing another instance of Windows and Autocad on another partition if I need to work with any unusually large files, but I'm not sure if that will even be necessary.
What I really need to figure out now is how to enable middle button pan, and the function keys when running Autocad in Fusion.
Has anyone figured that out yet
These are the last two hurdles which need to be overcome before I can have Autocad running fluidly within the Mac.
the problem is with leopard - ever since I changed to leopard I had to reactivate the license. I never had to do that with tiger. I use bootcamp because it faster. And the problem didn't go away until I filled a formal complaint with autodesk.......they are fully aware of the problem.....
I asked the person who I called to get the activation code that I was sick and tired of calling up every five days to activated acad and that I wanted to file a formal complaint with autodesk. She said she would and the next day I received an email from autodesk confirming that a complaint had been filed. Since then - about 2-1/2 weeks - there's been no problem.....what they did - I have no idea.
AutoCAD 2008 loses license in BootCamp
I am experiencing this issue as well.
AutoCad 2006 running under Windowsd XP SP3.
The problem started the moment the notebook had PGP whole disk encryption installed. Now whenever the notebook is shutdown it loses it's AutoCad license information, and it must be re-activated. As long as the computer is not shutdown the license will be valid and Autocad will run without a problem.
The moment the computer is shutdown on the subsequetn startup, the AutoCad license is invalid.
I suspect that AutoCad is storing it's license information in the disk MBR, so programs like PGP and/or bootcamp trash this information on boot-up.
Anyone else think this is a possibility?
I am experiencing this issue as well.
AutoCad 2006 running under Windowsd XP SP3.
The problem started the moment the notebook had PGP whole disk encryption installed. Now whenever the notebook is shutdown it loses it's AutoCad license information, and it must be re-activated. As long as the computer is not shutdown the license will be valid and Autocad will run without a problem.
The moment the computer is shutdown on the subsequetn startup, the AutoCad license is invalid.
I suspect that AutoCad is storing it's license information in the disk MBR, so programs like PGP and/or bootcamp trash this information on boot-up.
Anyone else think this is a possibility?
Scott,
That is what I learned from reading here and FINALLY talking with someone at AutoDESK.
I am going to AU2008 in December in Vegas, and plan on asking more questions there. I'll try to remember to come back and post any info I get.
That is what I learned from reading here and FINALLY talking with someone at AutoDESK.
I am going to AU2008 in December in Vegas, and plan on asking more questions there. I'll try to remember to come back and post any info I get.
System Clock
If the Windows system clock is adjusted, the Autodesk software will de-activate right away.
If the Autodesk software needs to re-activate, it will try to go online and contact the Autodesk activation server.
A 1 user license can re-activate @ 4 times per year online, after you have used these activations up, you will have to call for more activation codes.
If there is a way to make sure the system clock is not adjusted, the program will stay activated. As far as I know, that is the only reason the program would de-activate.
As a side note, if you have an external hard-drive plugged into your computer, the Autodesk program will most likely de-activate if you launch your program - while the hard drive is plugged and turned on -
Thats one of the only other reasons your programs are de-activating.
If the Windows system clock is adjusted, the Autodesk software will de-activate right away.
If the Autodesk software needs to re-activate, it will try to go online and contact the Autodesk activation server.
A 1 user license can re-activate @ 4 times per year online, after you have used these activations up, you will have to call for more activation codes.
If there is a way to make sure the system clock is not adjusted, the program will stay activated. As far as I know, that is the only reason the program would de-activate.
As a side note, if you have an external hard-drive plugged into your computer, the Autodesk program will most likely de-activate if you launch your program - while the hard drive is plugged and turned on -
Thats one of the only other reasons your programs are de-activating.
I don't know much about Autocad. However, I recall a discussion
here about the electronic Oxford English Dictionary. That program
apparently stores licensing information in a disk sector a little after
the MBR. On a typical windows disk there's a gap before the first
partition:
Some programs use sectors in that gap to store data. They should
not really. It isn't very safe and there is no filesystem there. But
that's how it is.
Unfortunately, if you have Windows installed on the same disk as
OS X, there's a different disk layout. As a result, there is no gap.
AutoCAD on my MAC
I never did find out what was the problem.
I believe that I wrote how I fixed it. I use Cisco VPN to connect to our network at boot (of VMWare), then when I start AutoCAD (Revit now), it acts just like I was at work....finds the license server with the company network, retrieves a license and then opens. Once that has happened, I usually disconnect from the VPN and go about my business.
Thanks to everyone who wrote.
I never did find out what was the problem.
I believe that I wrote how I fixed it. I use Cisco VPN to connect to our network at boot (of VMWare), then when I start AutoCAD (Revit now), it acts just like I was at work....finds the license server with the company network, retrieves a license and then opens. Once that has happened, I usually disconnect from the VPN and go about my business.
Thanks to everyone who wrote.