Komplete 7 reactivation in Windows XP

jjezier
jjezier Member Posts: 17 Member

Dear Native Instruments,

I'm Komplete 7 user and many your legacy library (like Alicia Keys, The Giant and Kore 2)

Last week my hard drive is crash and i must reinstall my Windows XP OS. I change CPU from Intel Core 2 Duo to Intel Core 2 Quad. When i did it i must updade my BIOS. Finally i upgrade my RAM from 2GB to 4GB. Motherboard is still the same.

Last time i activate my Libraries offline via Native Service Center and i save ActivationReturnFile on Pendrive and CD.

When i try activate offline my products (what i usually did in the past and it works) my Service Center tell me that my ActivationReturnFile doesn't activate my products.

It's disaster for me because i'm Windows XP user and i can't install Native Access on my PC. It's very old computer with great Sound Card (E-MU 1212M) and great DAW (Cakewalk Sonar 8.5 Producer Edition) with many mix presets create by me.

Please don't tell "We have no support your system and you must buy new PC with new sound card and new controller (BTW. For DAW control i use your Kore 2 Controller its realy genius product). It's to Expensive to me. Music is only my Hobby)

Could you tell me how can i activate my products on my Windows XP?

Please help me, i don't know what to do.

Best Regards

Jacek Jezierski

Best Answer

  • jjezier
    jjezier Member Posts: 17 Member
    Answer ✓

    Vocalpoint

    Many companies like Ik Multimedia or Waves offer the possibility of reactivation his old products on old OS. For example: offline via another computer with new OS.
    On my Comuter, everything is activate exept NI Produkts.
    Could Native Instruments generate "ActivationReturnFile" for me?

    It's probably not impossible

    I'm loyal customer and NI leave me alone with this problem

«13

Answers

  • Kubrak
    Kubrak Member Posts: 3,067 Expert

    Have you tried if Native Access 1 does not work on WinXP. I know WinXP is not officially supported by NA1, but it might run. Maybe.

  • Vocalpoint
    Vocalpoint Member Posts: 2,660 Expert
    edited October 2

    Windows XP was permanently retired in April 2014 by Microsoft. NI had no choice in that decision.

    Service Center has been retired for 6 years and Native Access v1 is now retired as well. '

    Native Access 3.14.0 is the current release to activate NI products now.

    I realize it is frustrating but your only option now is to consider an upgrade of your machine and it's OS.

    VP

  • JesterMgee
    JesterMgee Member Posts: 2,967 Expert

    Too late now but a backup of your OS would have been the smart thing to do. It should have been known to you for a looooong time that if you were to sit on XP without interest to update that many plugins and software you have would likely not be available for download again or activation and of course no HDD lasts forever so a simple clone of the drive would have averted this issue.

    Eventually you will have failures in other areas and it's something you should always think on how to solve these down the track before they happen. Unlikely companies will have any answers for operating systems 10+ years out of support date

  • jjezier
    jjezier Member Posts: 17 Member
    Answer ✓

    Vocalpoint

    Many companies like Ik Multimedia or Waves offer the possibility of reactivation his old products on old OS. For example: offline via another computer with new OS.
    On my Comuter, everything is activate exept NI Produkts.
    Could Native Instruments generate "ActivationReturnFile" for me?

    It's probably not impossible

    I'm loyal customer and NI leave me alone with this problem

  • PoorFellow
    PoorFellow Moderator Posts: 4,823 mod
    edited October 3

    Could Native Instruments generate "ActivationReturnFile" for me?

    It's probably not impossible

    I'm loyal customer and NI leave me alone with this problem

    As you write yourself then it is probably not possible but if there is any chance of doing anything at all then only support would/will be able to assist. And while that I am sure that N.I. value your business and your patronage then even if N.I. otherwise had been able to assist then I don't think that they would stretch as far as supporting Windows XP.

    As for your E-MU 1212M then I personally understand your appreciation of what things that you got but alas then with respect to all the kinds of tech that are in question here then it has always been part of something where things, especially software wise, were too old shortly after buying it because tech development has been so fast including on the hardware front.

    With respect to the Service Center and Legacy Products End of Life then N.I. wrote this in the FAQ , quote :
    Is Native Instruments currently looking into any other solutions for affected customers?
    Yes, in specific cases we might be able to provide at-your-own risk support for our end-of-life products. We can’t promise anything at this point and technical feasibility needs to be evaluated. We will share more information about this as soon as possible.

    You can try asking N.I. Native Access and Installation Support . Though chance is very slim then I guess that it is possible that they have files in their possession that could help people such as yourself. Part of the problem here though is also that as time goes by then the resources that N.I. will be willing to divert to matters such as this will be plummeting I am sure.

  • jjezier
    jjezier Member Posts: 17 Member

    Hi PoorFellow

    Thanks for Helping. I send a massage to NI support via NI chat Assistant. I hope that they help me.

    By the way. On my PC everything works. Like i said i create accoustic music with voice, guitars and drums. It's simple music. I don't need the latest verision of my plugins.

    I dont uderstand NI wich tell that i must buy new PC to reactivate his product. I buy my NI product when Windows XP will stil support. I pay for it Native Instruments. It's not fair.

    I understand that i can't install a newest produkts. But these product who i bought, i think that company like NI should allow me to reactivate my product.

    In the past Music company like NI said: Don't dawnload piracy sofware because its not fair to us. Well now i ask: Is NI is fair to me? Her legal Customer?

    It's not about technological development. It's about respect for custormers

  • Vocalpoint
    Vocalpoint Member Posts: 2,660 Expert
    edited October 3

    @jjezier

    No one is doubting your customer status or the fact the you are loyal.

    But let's be fair - you have had over a decade to get your rig current.

    As others have stated - if you thought you could simply "not update" for years upon years and encounter no hardware issues on that aged machine - that is not the responsibility of anyone but you.

    No vendor is going to support and sustain any tools for on OS that was retired over ten years ago. And I checked - IKMultimedia and Waves certainly do not support Windows XP.

    Again - I am sorry you are in a jam - but you know what you need to do.

    We all have to update/upgrade once in a while if we want to remain current on our products.

    VP

  • jjezier
    jjezier Member Posts: 17 Member

    Vocalpoint

    Why i must change a device who works? For example I you have your favourite synthesiezer, than you must change because the company have the newest?

    Ik Multimedia and Waves doesn't support windows xp but they allow the reactivation of old products (Waves via pendrive, ik multimedia via e-mail they send activation code) I know it because i'm customer of this company.

    I don't want the latest version of my products. I want use version who works on my OS.

    I hope that your support help me

  • DunedinDragon
    DunedinDragon Member Posts: 971 Guru

    No one is demanding you MUST change. And I would agree that, if it's just a simple activation file that they think might fix it, they should probably send you one. But beyond that you're on your own the same as you would be with any other product you bought that's no longer supported…which is exactly the same as what you've got with the other vendors.

    But the reality is, the activation file alone may not fix your problem. So if it doesn't work it's the same as trying to find tires that fit a 1949 Packard car. You might find another source that can fulfill your needs, but you will likely pay dearly for it.

    Just because you paid for a 1949 Packard car when it was still being manufactured doesn't mean over time the factory (which no longer exists) has an obligation to keep it running. But there may be other specialized vendors that make a business of supporting it..but not for free.

    The reality is if your computer suddenly won't boot up, Microsoft has no obligation to help you fix it as they've retired XP a long time ago. Your only option if you want to continue using it is to find a local computer repair person to take it on. Chances are you won't find one because they no longer have the proper tools to fix problems in that operating system. They can try to replace a bad hard drive (which is NOT Microsoft) but the formatting of that drive is something they no longer have the tools for.

    This is the world we live in and, although you might not think it's fair, it's not going to change. Companies that make things continue to innovate and make new things with new capabilities whether you want them or not. That's how they continue to stay in business. I still keep a copy of my Sonar Platinum DAW which is no longer made or supported just to be able to access old projects. And I have on occasion brought over a couple of small projects successfully. But if it suddenly stopped working I'd just shrug my shoulders and move on with my current setup.

    That's simply how the world works.

  • Vocalpoint
    Vocalpoint Member Posts: 2,660 Expert
    edited October 3

    No one is asking you to change. Matter of fact no one is asking you to do anything.

    But if you cannot accept the fact that everything you are trying to use was retired a decade ago - no one can help you. That is the reality of this situation.

    The only thing that you "need" to do is either accept reality (and upgrade as needed) or do not accept reality and sit there with a non-functioning computer.

    There is no "in-between" here as much as you believe there should be.

    VP

  • PoorFellow
    PoorFellow Moderator Posts: 4,823 mod

    I understand that i can't install a newest produkts. But these product who i bought, i think that company like NI should allow me to reactivate my product.

    I don't want the latest version of my products. I want use version who works on my OS.

    Ik Multimedia and Waves doesn't support windows xp but they allow the reactivation of old products (Waves via pendrive, ik multimedia via e-mail they send activation code) I know it because i'm customer of this company.

    While I have to agree with VocalPoint that one can not expect that a company will keep supporting old OS' then I personally agree with you that if you can get it to run then you ought to at least be able to install and use the software that you have bought even if you keep sticking to the OS that you used and that were supported at the time of purchase. And I think that it is really great customer service that some companies will still help you activate their software on very old OS'. My guess is that these companies support off-line activation and that N.I. usually does not (not sure , I am no expert on activation). I hope that N.I. customer service will be able to assist you in finding a solution but if N.I. do not support off-line activation then I think that the only way that they would be able to help would be to supply you with installers that doesn't need activation unless that they have some rough tool that they use for the odd cases like here , and I am far from sure that they have any of that they distribute.

  • Kubrak
    Kubrak Member Posts: 3,067 Expert

    @jjezier Check EULA for your SW. As far as I know there is something like NI will provide universal key and so on.

    Best would be to contact NI Support and insist on that you want them to activate your licence according valid legal contract between you and NI. It is your right. Do not accept replies like, WinXP is not supported and EOL and like.

    It is NI responsibility to be able to provide activation for you. And of course to pay for your loss if they would not.

    NI should be able to send you offline activation keys if you send them file generated by Service Center. It is technically workable way of activation. If NI has decided to put down this activation path (I do not know if they have had or not), it was their decision to break the EULA. And they should offer another solution to use NI SW on OS version it was developed for (In your case WinXP).

  • jjezier
    jjezier Member Posts: 17 Member

    DunedinDragon

    This is not the same situation. The same situation is that you have a car that works and you key to start (in my Car Renault i have electronic card to star the engine) the engine doesn't work. And you can't drive. The company who sold you a car tell you tha must buy newone, because the car have 10 years and they not support this key.

    Did you "shrug your shoulders" and said: "That's simply how the world works"? I don't thing so.

  • jjezier
    jjezier Member Posts: 17 Member

    Kubrak and PoorFellow Thans for support.

    I contact with NI Support and i generate the ticket. I hope that they awnser me in the near time.

    By the way. Yesterday i install my EZ Drummer and my EZX Expansions by Toontrack. I activate it offline and one expansion by online mode. Another company gives me the opportunity to reinstall and reactivate my software

    Today i install BFD 2 and his expansions

  • Kubrak
    Kubrak Member Posts: 3,067 Expert
    edited October 4

    @JesterMgee

    Too late now but a backup of your OS would have been the smart thing to do. It should have been known to you for a looooong time that if you were to sit on XP without interest to update that many plugins and software you have would likely not be available for download again or activation and of course no HDD lasts forever so a simple clone of the drive would have averted this issue.

    You are right about backups and so. But it is not the case in this situation. The HW of computer had to be changed as it has started malfunction. And NI takes and stores 'computer HW fingerprint' in activation file. So, no backup would help in this case. And OP had the backup anyway.

    The problem is that NI has stopped supporting offline activation. Not being that, there would be any problem. And NI could support it, there is no security risc, it just costs money. To stop activation, violate legal contract (EULA) and put its customers in unpleasant situation just because wanting to save 'few bucks' is clearly wrong thing.

    Yes, WinXP is pretty old, but still I had to install it few days ago to be able to compile old C++ project that can be compiled on WinXP at most. Compiler cannot be installed on newer Win and code cannot be compiled (without major changes in code) on newer compiler that would run on newer Win.

    So, there are legitimate reasons to run legacy OSes with legacy SW. Even if OS is almost 25 years old and SW even older. Some of my programs run 30+ years without any changes. Or just very minor changes.

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