How to move Copy Protected Software

Hardware and technical stuff
1

I do some volunteer work for a local school, and in doing this, I use a software app that is fairly critical to the work I do. It’s an app that I started using with them in, 2005 or 6. The app is great, and does everything I need and I am way beyond comfortable and proficient at using it.

The problem is that this app has an “authentication” style copy protection, requiring an on-line authentication to activate the app, as well as de-authorize the app if I want to move it to a new computer, something I have done multiple times over the years. However, the company that produced the app no longer operates those servers, and I am unable to “unauthorize” my current installation, nor would I be able to “authorize” a new install (as the servers aren’t there any more to do so). I DO have the original key and the original installation file, but without being able to authorize a new install, they don’t do me much good.

I am currently running the app on a 1st Gen Microsoft Surface Pro, and things have been great for several years now, but the Surface Pro is starting to suffer issues with the battery, going through to 0% rather quickly. I have post-poned the trouble for now by getting a portable “charging” pack that allows me to use the tablet while still “plugged in”, but I am thinking it’s time I looked into different hardware.

There are several, much newer, tablets that would be great, but, as mentioned above, I am unable to unauthorize/re-authorize the software. I have contacted the developer, and they have no interest in helping me, wanting me instead to go on to their current gen products that do some, but not all, that the old product could do (and of course, they’d charge me full price too). There are other vendors that also offer similar apps, but still not 100% functionality of my current one.

So, my question is this…

What can I do? How can I move this app to a new computer, but have it still be “authenticated” for use? Would a disk image work? I’m fairly certain just copying of files wouldn’t. Am I SOL?

Thanks,

Tony

2

You could try to find a crack, but if it’s not a commonly pirated program you’re probably SOL there.

I suggest finding the email for the CEO of the company and complaining to him or her directly. If the company is still around they should be able to help out the school.

3

If it’s popular enough software, you could find a pirated version or ‘crack’ on the torrent sites or whatever. If it’s not that popular, you could hire someone to crack it maybe? I bet it’s trivial for anyone who does that kind of thing.

In the meantime, I get you can convert your Surface install into a virtual machine https://www.howtogeek.com/213145/how-to convert-a-physical-windows-or-linux-pc-to-a-virtual-machine/ (this won’t effect the real laptop) and run it in a VM to keep it going. IIRC the conversion software is free and you can use the free version of Vmware to run it on a different computer.

The guide I linked was just the first google result, don’t take that as a specific endorsement of a really good article.

4

It really, really varies. It could be as simple as a registry key to something that generates a key based on your hardware.
And just because you can find a way, it doesn’t mean the license allows you to. Otherwise, trying to VM your installation is a good idea.

5

Yea, the software is really obscure, and there’s no chance it’s been cracked, etc.

I will try and contact the company again, see if I can get a “higher-up” as suggested, and we’ll see how that goes.

I’ll also look into the VM thing. Sounds interesting and something I’ve never done before.

Thanks all for the suggestions.

Tony

6

Ideally, in IT environments there should have been someone identifying the end-of-life status of that software years ago and made plans to switch from it. Why is it all on you? Whose higher-up head will roll if it/when stops working? Unfortunately, school boards are under-resourced and under-valued but now would be a good time to explore the “what if” situations as more “when this happens” as well.