FAQ
This page provides categories of questions for the most frequently asked questions
about eLicense use and how-to resolve licensing issues. Please check to see if your
question is answered here before contacting ViaTech.
Some questions and answers are general and some are specific. Some answers may not
apply directly to you, depending on how the product you are using has been configured
with eLicense. If you do not find an answer to your question, click on the
Support Form link and fill out the support form. We will email you the submitted
form with a "tracking number" that you can provide to us so we can respond to your
issue.
General questions about eLicense
What is eLicense anyway?
Questions about purchasing and downloads
After I buy, How do I get my license?
How secure is my credit card information?
What is the eLicense privacy policy?
I accidently bought the software twice. What should I do?
I bought the software but I don't want to keep it. What is the return
policy?
I need to re-download the software, how can I do this without
buying it again?
Can I download the software on one computer and install it
on another one?
Questions about licensing
How many licenses do I get? How many computers can I have licensed?
I've lost my Order ID, what can I do?
I bought multiple copies. How do I license them all?
How do I move my license from one computer to another?
Can I run eLicensed software from another computer? Can I use
terminal server or remote desktop with eLicensed software?
Questions about installing, system maintenance
I need to re-format my computer, what should I do about my licenses?
What do I do if my computer is reformatted before I unlicensed?
I need to re-install the software, what should I do about my license?
Questions about licensing and internet connection
How can I get my license if my computer is not connected to the
internet?
I'm behind a firewall. How can I get my license?
What is the communication protocol which eLicense uses?
How do I know what to do about the proxy settings?
Questions about problems getting a license
I'm getting an error message when I try to get my license. What does
it mean?
I try to get my license, but the program just hangs. What do I do?
Questions about eLicense Control
What is eLicense Control?
I've uninstalled the software, but eLicense Control is still
in my control panel. How do I remove it?
What is eLicense anyway?
The eLicense System is used by software and digital content publishers to combine
e-commerce and license management with applications and content. Trial licensing,
direct purchase, web store purchase, pre-arranged license delivery, download and/or
physical shipment, and other functionalities may be included. Purchased licenses
are acquired via an internet connection to the eLicense servers.
For more information, see the Overview page.
After I buy, How do I get my license?
eLicense provides several ways to purchase products, depending on how the product
owner configured eLicense for the product.
There may be a "Purchase" button on the eLicense GUI which appears when you launch
the software. When you click it, you will be prompted for your personal and credit
card information in the "desktop purchase" dialogs. This information is transmitted
securely to the eLicense servers, where the e-commerce transaction is completed
and your license is returned to your system and installed automatically.
The "Purchase" button may launch your browser to a web site to do a credit card
purchase. The web site may be the publisher's, or it may be hosted by ViaTech and
use the same e-commerce processing as the desktop purchase. If the publisher chooses
to support purchase order or check/money order processing, you do the purchase independently
of the software installation, and use the Order ID supplied by the publisher or
their agent to obtain your license If the publisher supports telephone purchasing,
you will see a dialog with information for calling the publisher or their agent
and exchanging information to obtain your license.
How secure is my credit card information? When you
purchase using the desktop interface (eLicense dialogs), your credit card and personal
information is sent to the servers using 128-bit encryption. On the eLicense servers,
your credit card information is sent (using Secure Socket Layer - SSL) to a central
processing center where it is validated and the purchase is debited from your account.
On the eLicense servers themselves, only the last 4 digits of the credit card are
retained for reference - you full credit card number is not kept by eLicense or
its client publishers. When you purchase using a ViaTech/eLicense hosted web store,
the same processing and record retention noted above is used. When you purchase
from a publisher web store, the publisher is responsible for the credit card processing
and information retained or not.
What is the eLicense privacy policy?
For ViaTech's eLicense privacy policy, click here.
For the privacy policy of the publisher of the software you are trying or buying,
see their web site.
I accidently bought the software twice. What should I
do?
Send us both the Order ID you are going to use for your license AND the Order ID
you want to have credited, using this Support Form
link. Make sure you are clear about which one is to be returned. In order for a
credit to be done, the Order ID must not be licensed. For some publishers, we act
as their agent, and can make credits directly. For other publishers, we forward
your request to them to be acted upon.
I bought the software but I don't want to keep it. What is
the return policy?
The return policy varies according to the software publisher. You should contact
them directly. You can also contact us via this Support
Form link.
I need to re-download the software, how can I do this without
buying it again?
The eLicense obtained and installed by your Order ID is independent of the software
itself. Once you have a license, you can re-download, re-install, etc. without any
effect on the license. You can use whatever link you have (from a publisher's website,
from the ViaTech/eLicense web store, etc. to download again if you need to.
Can I download the software on one computer and install
it on another one?
Yes. The eLicense is not in the download itself, but is obtained from the eLicense
servers using your Order ID. If you plan on downloading using machine A and transferring
the download to machine B (via LAN, CD, etc.) where it will be used, you should
not install and license on machine A - just download the installer and then transfer
it to machine B. See also the question about moving licenses
from computer to computer.
How many licenses do I get? How many computers can I have
licensed?
Some publishers provide 1 license for each unit of their software which you buy.
Some provide 2 or more. Each computer licensed has license data installed on it
which is unique to that computer. Quantity licensing is fully supported, so a given
Order ID may be for many units of the software, with a corresponding number of licenses
If the publisher provides for mobile licensing, you can move a license from one
computer to another (see the question about moving licenses).
So you can have the software installed on as many machines as you like, but you
can only have the simultaneous use of the number of licenses in your order.
I've lost my Order ID, what can I do?
Fill in and submit a Support Form. Make sure you
tell us the name of the software publisher and product you are using, and make sure
you give us the name of the purchasing credit card holder. It may also help to give
us the last four digits of the credit card, and any of the email addresses which
may have been used at the time of purchase. When the purchase has come through the
eLicense System, we can look up your Order ID if we have accurate information. In
cases where the purchase was from another party (the publisher's or their agent's
web store, for example) or when the purchase was not via a credit card, we may not
have all the information in our database. But we can get in touch with the publisher
for you.
I bought multiple copies. How do I license them all?
An eLicense Order ID may be for multiple units of the software. When you install
a license using the Order ID, there is a "receipt.txt" file put into the folder
where the application is installed. In the file is an License Number, such as 01/05,
which indicates that this license is number 1 of 5 available. The receipt information
is also seen via the eLicense Control by right-clicking
on the product icon and choosing "Product Receipt". The same Order ID used to obtain
the license for the first installation is used for all the installations. You simply
install the software and use the "License" or "Get License" (the text on the button
may vary) button on the eLicense screen, and enter the Order ID.
How do I move my license from one computer to another?
Not all publishers provide mobile licenses. If your license is mobile, you can unlicense
one computer and then get the license on another. This is done using the
eLicense Control:
Right-click on the program icon, and choose "eLicense Control" or go the eLicense
Control in your Control Panel or in Windows Explorer and right-click the program
name or icon Click "Unlicense"
If you do not see this choice, then your license is not mobile, or it is a trial
license, or you have already unlicensed it, or it has expired. The Unlicense dialog
will appear, with your Order ID in it. Make sure you are connected to the internet,
then click the "Unlicense" button. To get the license you have unlicensed on the
other computer, use the "License" or "Get License" button which is on the eLicense
screen which appears when you launch the software. Enter the Order ID.
If you are getting a license again on a machine which you have previously unlicensed,
the Order ID will already be in the Get License dialog. Note that you do not have
to uninstall the software to move the license from one machine to another. You can
have the software installed on as many computers as you like, and move your licenses
around to where you need to be using the progam at any point in time.
I need to re-format my computer, what should I do about my
licenses? If you have mobile licenses (see the question about
moving licenses), you should unlicense before you format the drive. Then
when you are finished and have re-installed the eLicensed software, re-license.
If your license is not mobile, you should contact us or the publisher with your
intent to re-format.
What do I do if my computer is reformatted before I unlicensed?
Try to get your license using your Order ID. If that does not work, contact the
publisher of the software or contact us using this Support
Form link.
I need to re-install the software, what should I do about
my license?
The eLicense obtained and installed by your Order ID is independent of the software
itself. Once you have a license, you can uninstall, re-install, etc. without any
effect on the license.
How can I get my license if my computer is not connected to
the internet?
Some, but not all, publishers support an offline license acquistion feature. You
may see an "Offline License" button on the Get License dialog. You should contact
the software publisher to see if this feature is available to you. You can also
contact us using this Support Form link.
I'm behind a firewall. How can I get my license?
The protocol which eLicense uses to communicate with the license servers is basic
HTTP - the same protocol which web browsers use, and most of the time does not raise
issues with network firewalls. Sometimes however there are firewall blockages, particularly
if the firewall is set to allow only certain ranges of IP's. The best thing to do
is to check with your system administrator if attempts to get a license result in
errors with -3, -4, -9, -10, or -12 error codes (see the question about
error codes).
If you have a personal firewall (installed on your computer instead of on a network),
you may need to disable it in order to get your license. Some personal firewall
software operates by monitoring communications and permitting them according to
permissions you have set up (for example, you are not blocked or prompted everytime
a website sends a new page to your browser). The firewall configuration knows nothing
about eLicense, and may not allow its communication to retrive your license. If
you need to disable or uninstall the personal firewall to get your license, you
only need to do so for a minute or two. Once the license is installed on your computer,
there is no communication needed with the eLicense servers, so you can re-activate
the firewall.
What is the communication protocol which eLicense uses?
eLicense connects with elicense.com using port 80. The protocol is HTTP 1.1, with
the mime type plain text. The URLs are 128 bit encrypted for security.
How do I know what to do about the proxy settings?
The Proxy dialog has a number of options. If you need to use proxy settings, the
option you choose will depend on the particular situation you are in. Here are some
guidelines: When you need to connect for licensing, eLicense first tests to see
if it can contact the eLicense server directly. If it cannot, you will see a message
which says "A connection check indicates that you may not be connected to the internet".
If you really are connected and you see this message, then you may need to use the
proxy configuration. If you have proxy settings in your web browser, eLicense will
acquire them automatically, and you will see those settings in the proxy dialog
If you are using a proxy and its settings are not in the default browser, then you
will need to contact your network administrator to get the settings to use. If you
have a proxy on your own machine (it is using itself as the proxy), you should first
try the "Do not use Proxy..." choice. You may need to disable the self-proxy in
order to get your license. (See error code -12 in the error codes
question.) Some networks require user authentication in order to make a connection
to the internet. The Proxy dialog provides input for username and password in that
case.
I'm getting an error message when I try to get my license.
What does it mean?
Here is a list of error messages, their meanings, and what you should do. Note that
the messages are by number - error messages generally have a text message, often
telling you what to do, but the number is the primary reference. Also note that
when the number has a minus (-) sign, that is important: error 11 and error -11
mean different things. The minus sign is used for errors which have to do with communication
between the eLicense software on your computer and the license servers.
If you are having a problem and you need to contact us using this
Support Form link. Be sure to give us the exact message you see, including
the number.
-3 or -4 Unusual. Indicates a problem with the data returned
from the license server. This may be remedied by correct proxy settings. Sometimes
it can be caused by the presence of personal firewall software on the computer.
Contact us using this Support Form link. Please
provide exact details on the steps leading up to the error occuring.
-9 This means the eLicense software is unable to connect to the internet
or to a proxy server from your computer. Check your network connections, and try
different proxy settings if applicable.
-10 This means the eLicense software is not establishing a two-way conversation
with the eLicense servers. Check your proxy settings and try different combinations
of proxy configuration to connect.
-11 This indicates a problem with your Windows sockets configuration.
It is usually a system problem and not specific to eLicense. Getting your browser
to work properly will usually provide a solution.
-12 This error occurs when you have a personal firewall/proxy installed
on your computer. You may need to disable the personal firewall/proxy software temporarily
to get your license.
11 There are a restricted number of licenses available with your Order
ID, depending on the number of licenses-per-unit the publisher has established,
and the quantity of units purchased with your order. This error means that all the
available licenses are in use. If your license is mobile, you can unlicense another
computer and get the license again.
17 This error is the same as "11", but applies to auto-renewable licenses.
23 (Purchase process only)This error only occurs during a desktop purchase,
and means that the name and address you supplied does not exactly match the records
for your credit card. You need to enter the name and address exactly as they appear
on the credit card statement.
24 (Purchase process only)This error means that your credit card has
been declined as over the limit.
501 This error means that the Order ID you have entered does not match
any of the order records for the product in the eLicense database. Re-check your
Order ID, probably you have mis-entered it.
999 Unknown error. Try again, and if the problem persists, contact us
using this Support Form link. Please provide exact
details on the steps leading up to the error occuring.
"Sorry, could not get a license at this time..." This error indicates
a problem with the eLicense software on your computer. "...get a license" does not
refer to license acquisition from the eLicense servers, it refers to the eLicensed
application being unable to retrieve license data on your computer. With older versions
of eLicense, this error may occur on Windows when using the Fast Switch feature,
and the logged-on user is not the owner of the program. This error will also occur
when trying to run eLicensed software via Terminal Server or Remote Desktop.
I try to get my license, but the program just hangs. What do
I do?
This can occur if you have personal firewall/proxy softare installed on your system.
That software operates by a set of permissions created when you installed it or
by some configuration process (for example, it has been told to let your browser
retrieve data from websites). It does not know what to do with eLicense data returning
from the license server, so it just gives up. The remedy is this:
Disable the personal firewall/proxy software. In some cases it has been found that
disabling is not easily possible, and it may be necessary to temporarily uninstall
the software.
Complete the purchase and/or get the license. It may be necessary to enter the correct
proxy settings manually in the Proxy dialog
Re-enable or re-install the firewall/proxy software.
What is eLicense Control?
eLicense Control gives you a view of license information on your computer, and some
choices for seeing details, moving licenses, etc.
I've uninstalled the software, but eLicense Control is
still in my Control Panel. How do I remove it?
You can download an unistaller
which will remove eLicense Control from your computer. Note that there is a choice
in eLicense Control itself "Add eLicense to My Computer" and "Remove eLicense from
My Computer". Those choices refer to the option of having the eLicense Control appear
in Windows Explorer (as an item under "My Computer"), not to removing it from the
system.
Can I run eLicensed software from another computer? Can
I use terminal server or remote desktop with eLicensed software?
You can execute eLicensed software across the LAN, but a valid eLicense must be
installed on the machine where you are sitting. Suppose the software is installed
on machine A and you want to run it from machine B. Install temporarily on machine
B and get the license. Then you can uninstall from machine B (the license remains).
You launch using the network or via a shortcut on machine B of the type "\\MachineB\ShareDrive\MyAppInstalled\MyApp.exe".
eLicense does not support Terminal Server or Remote Desktop. In order to run an
eLicensed application, there must be an eLicense on the computer where you are sitting.
You can run programs installed on another machine via the LAN, (without the software
being installed locally), but you must have a appropriate eLicense on your machine.
