Software Installation Problem

Guest · Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 11:45 pm Post subject: Software Installation Problem

I have a program that I purchased 5 years ago that I need to install on a new Windows 7 computer. Each install requires a unique passcode which is given only once by the vendor. I've got a lot of important data on this program and am stuck because the vendor went out of business apparently 2 months ago. Even if I had the old passcode, it would not work if I tried to load the program onto the new computer. Is there any way to transfer this program to the new computer from the old computer or rewrite the code to remove the passcode ? I would gladly pay someone to do this. Any suggestions?

David Traver · Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 12:02 am Post subject:

What's the name of the program? There are about a zillion programs out there, and it's impossible to answer your question as given.

Guest · Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 12:40 am Post subject:

You wouldn't know the program if I told it to you. I know I'm asking for assistance and shouldn't be picky, but why does that matter? Its a billing program that runs on XP and I want to install it on a Win7 machine.

Guest · Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 12:42 am Post subject:

Can you recommend a developer of software engineer?

David Traver · Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 02:46 pm Post subject:

I recommend John Fischer, at Website Development Company, Milwaukee. (414) 831-7700 http://webco.info/

Johnny's the bomb. If he can't solve that software problem for you, nobody can.

David Traver · Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 11:36 pm Post subject:

Solution for everybody:
http://www.itwire.com/opinion-and-analysis/the-linux-distillery/28476-convert-any-computer-to-a-virtual-machine-with-linux-and-clonezilla

Guest · Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 03:35 pm Post subject:

Basically, it looks like you clone your entire old drive to a partition on your new computer and then run the old program on the new hardware. That's a good idea, but what I would like to do is just clone the program or move the program. I guess the problem is that unless you clone the entire drive, the program will not work because the registry or whatever will not also be cloned or moved. Do you think Laplink would work. Its supposed to move single programs.

David Traver · Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 04:07 pm Post subject:

Summary of the discussion so far:

"I have a car. It has a bad ingnition switch and it won't start. How do I make it start?"

The helpful non-professional car nut responds, "what kind of car? What year?"

Answer, "Why does that matter? Give me the name of a good mechanic."

Name of best known mechanic provided.

Response: "Johnny said it would be hard, but he told me how to do it. I don't like the answer he gave." New question, "What about using a coat hanger, would that work?"

Answer. "Yes, of course that would work, disregard the advice of the expert. Just jam the end of that coat hanger into the ignition switch and pound it in with a hammer until something snaps or sparks. That should do the trick."

Guest · Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 08:19 pm Post subject:

Summary of discussion thus far:

Person 1: I have a car and it won't start because I don't have the key. Does anyone know how to start a car without a key?

Person 2: What kind of car?

Person 1: Does the kind of car have anything to do with finding a way to start a car without a key? Maybe you could refer me to someone who knows how to
do that.

Person 2: Try Mr. X. He's the best I know and if he can't do it no one can.

Mr. X: My suggestion is to get another car, put the car you want to start on top of the new car, and then you can use your old car.

Person 1: Mr. X has a good suggestion but I was hoping that maybe I could find a way of getting rid of the ignition switch altogether so I can start the car or,
perhaps moving the ignition switch from another car so I can start it.

Person 2: You didn't want to accept my advice 100% so you are an ungrateful idiot. Go ahead and stick a coat hangar into the ignition if that's what you
want to do.

David Traver · Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 09:06 pm Post subject:

Sorry to be so sharp with you. Not providing the name of the program makes a meaningful online response impossible. I wanted to point out the futility of asking for diagnosis and resolution of a computer problem online when the program at issue is unknown. There is a good chance that the wrong answer could make your problem worse. Will laplink work? Try it, and if it kills your program and destroys all of your data and makes the hard drive unusable, let us know what happened.

Do I think you are a complete idiot? No, a complete idiot would not ask for help. The vast majority of people who use computers could not solve the problem you describe, and that's why the software was designed with a software key, to keep people like us from installing it for free. You seem to be an average computer user, not an idiot.

So, why does it make a difference, the name and version of the software? Because there are millions of cracks out on the web. See e.g. http://www.zcrack.com/ and http://keygens.nl/ and http://www.crack.ms/ Whether that is legal, I will leave to you. If you had given the name of the program it would be easy to help you find the crack, if it exits.

Also, free open source alternatives exist for most programs, many of which are compatable with commercial software files. Have you looked into that? http://www.osalt.com/

In any event, at a minimum, before attempting to hack into a commercial program, be sure to back up the whole drive using Clonezilla. If you want a copy of Clonzilla (or Ubuntu) and don't know how to burn it to a disc, just send me a self-addressed stamped envelope that will hold a CD and I'll burn one for you for free (I do that for anybody who asks.) You may wish to set your system up on this spare drive. It's quite nice. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073 It's cool and quiet and fast. There is a better drive from WD with a larger cache (32 MB) for an extra $20 or so. (If you buy the drive, buy a SATA cable too, it's not included.) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136534

See http://ssaconnect.com/component/option,com_forum/Itemid,0/page,viewtopic/t,7330/ (using Clonezilla)