activation

**monesque** · 07-20-2018, 02:43 PM

So, changed computers. Now A5 v7 tells me I need to activate again. Ok. I have a license and activation key.
I plug in the activation key, nothing happens. It stays grayed out so that I cannot click ok to activate.

Surely, this can't be that difficult a problem, maybe a registry edit or something? Yeah, I know it's old, but I can't quite believe software I paid for, bought and previously activated can just stop working.

Any advice?

**Stan Mathews** · 07-20-2018, 02:54 PM

The activation key is tied to the computer name and license number. If you rename the computer it should work.

**monesque** · 07-20-2018, 04:17 PM

Originally Posted by Stan Mathews

The activation key is tied to the computer name and license number. If you rename the computer it should work.

Thank you, not that I recall if there was an old version. It is a little more complicated than the short story--I had a Win10 problem that required a complete refresh and a fresh reinstall. So far as recall, i'm using the same computer name as I was before the refresh. And it worked fine for a few years. I don't think I changed the computer name or my username in any way in the refresh.

I'm still hoping there's a solution here, but I may just have to import the DBF files into another program. That will lose some data, but...

**Stan Mathews** · 07-20-2018, 05:41 PM

Quoting the documentation but not sure if that is your issue.

Remember that the activation key is linked to the license number and the "Machine Name" of the computer, so if you ever have to re-install your OS, then you want to rename your computer the same that it was named before. For example, if your laptop is called "LAPTOP" and you need to reformat your hard drive, it is quite possible that the name of your computer will default to a system name, so rather try and rename it "LAPTOP" and you will not have any further problems regarding the activation of the software.

**monesque** · 07-20-2018, 07:01 PM

Originally Posted by Stan Mathews

Quoting the documentation but not sure if that is your issue.

Many thanks but so far as I can see the refresh did nothing to rename the computer. So far as I can see, the refresh is not quite as violent as a reformat. If there was another name--I don't know what it would be at this point, but I do not believe there is.