Activation questions

[mrjrt]

Due to recent events I have had to advance my plans as I have acquired a large SSD to front my RAID array. When did my planning about a year ago the competing product VeloSSD appeared to be the independent solution I was after as yours was in beta, but now I have looked into the installation process for testing unfortunately both of these seem to use mandatory software activation, which makes me very wary. Were it not for the fact that all the other options for SSD caching are so bad it would be enough to put me off completely. As it seems, I have little choice. I've spotted a few indications that you seem to offer an offline activation option for PrimoCache, and this may be enough to swing the deal over VeloSSD as they only offer online activation (I'm still waiting to get actual confirmation of this, but I have no reason to believe otherwise).

Anyway, I require more information before I plonk down my hard-earned money on software with a designed-in fault...
...so, tell me, what are the limits on activation?

I'm intending to use PrimoCache on my main testbench workstation, so OS reinstallation will likely occur - is there a independent method of resetting activation counts? If not, this alarms me should the business either get sold or stop trading in the future. I also multiboot multiple OSes. Does PrimoCache a) support this (I would imagine it does, as it supports multiple volumes, AFAICT), b) even allow me to install it into multiple OS installs on the same hardware due to the digital restrictions management (DRM) in use.

...and finally, what, if anything, causes deactivation. If I change my hardware am I going to have to come ask you for permission to keep using the software I have bought?

Right now PrimoCache is edging this decision due to slightly saner licensing options regarding runtime limits, which coupled with the possibility of an offline keyfile for installation would swing things fully in your favour, but I have seen one mention that the offline option is only for volume licensing, which would be quite a shame.

If there isn't an activation-less install option then I suspect my decision will come down to whichever product has a working patch that bypasses it. I fully intend to buy the software (otherwise I wouldn't be here, would I?), but I will happily run the patched version as I'm not going to fork out my hard-earned cash and then end up with a defective product...

For what it's worth (and I've read the other discussions on here where it's cropped up), the only reason that your decision to utilise activation hasn't cost you this sale yet is because your competition also seems to enjoy turning away business. Given the option between selling 100 copies and have nobody using it without paying and selling 200 copies and having 100 using it without paying I know which I'd choose, purely because it made me more money!

[Davey126]

Licensing questions are best directed to product support (via email); doubt you will get a response to this rant.

If OS re-installations are the primary concern then you should be able to continue using (reactivating) PrimoCache under the 90-day trial provision.

[mrjrt]

Cheers, will do.

...just product activation really gets my back up as it's so customer-hostile...and utterly, utterly, pointless.

[mrjrt]

For reference, the reply I recieved was:

Regarding the activation, we provide two methods: Online activation and offline activation.
See http://www.romexsoftware.com/en-us/prim ... ister.html
PS. Offline activation doesn't require volume licensing. Every users can use offline activation.

The license won't be affected if you reinstall Windows without the change of motherboard. It also supports multi-boot and multiple Windows OSes on one machine. If you want to upgrade your computer or changing the motherboard, you need to email us for transfering the license. Each license allows to be transfered 5 times in

...which sounds manageable to me. Still don't like it, but at least it's manageable on a day-to-day basis for me. Handily, I also believe to have found ways of mitigating it easily enough, so looks like we're in business.

[InquiringMind]

...just product activation really gets my back up as it's so customer-hostile...and utterly, utterly, pointless.

Seconded.