Registration key query

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InquiringMind
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Registration key query

Post by InquiringMind »

Dear Romex,

Will anyone purchasing Fancy Ramdisk (hate the name already...ugh!) receive a registration key that is not tied to a specific system (which requires them to contact Romex for a new key before installing it on a new PC).

This possibility was mentioned in the Transferring Registration Key... thread so it would be nice to have confirmation of this, one way or the other.
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Re: Registration key query

Post by Support »

Well, a new price strategy would apply to Fancy Ramdisk product. For personal or home users, one license allows to install the program on 2 or 3 computers (depending on the license type). This also apply to the existing VSuite Ramdisk users.
InquiringMind
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Re: Registration key query

Post by InquiringMind »

Thanks for the reply - but does this mean that someone registering would receive a key that would work for any system, rather than having to email Romex for each one? (which, aside from inconvenience, means not being able to install Ramdisk on a new system if Romex close down). And could the product be run on a system not connected to the Internet?
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Re: Registration key query

Post by Support »

Fancy Ramdisk, as well as VSuite Ramdisk, provides two ways to activate the program: online and offline. Generally you'll receive an activation code to activate the program over the Internet immediately after you make the payment. This is the easiest way and you don't need to email us at all. However if your computer cannot access the Internet, you have to provide us the Product ID and then you'll receive an offline key file to activate the program. This key file works for any operating systems, but is specific to the computer. For convenience, we also provide the interface which allows users to generate and manage the offline key files by themselves. But currently this interface is only open to the volume/bulk users.

For your reference, you might see the following links about the current activation mechanism for VSuite Ramdisk.
http://www.romexsoftware.com/en-us/vsui ... ister.html

Hope it helps.
InquiringMind
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Re: Registration key query

Post by InquiringMind »

Thanks for the reply - in essence the registration system is unchanged from Vsuite Ramdisk's and presents the same inconvenience and risk to paying customers of losing access to their product should Romex cease support. Well, I'll pass on this then.
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Re: Registration key query

Post by Tenchi »

Thanks for the information,

disagreeable to hear that Primo use a real activation (bound on one computer only) like Superspeed Ramdisk (thats a reason why i would not buy it).

In my opinion a serial nummber with entering a my name - must suffice.

So i have to reconsider my 3 licence buy of Primo Pro or Server Edition.
It's a pity.

I change often my hardware so it makes no sense - only trouble.
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Re: Registration key query

Post by Support »

Well, usually only the change of motherboard/cpu may affect the license. Besides, we allow the normal license update on new computers without any charge. We think this shall be reasonable.
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Re: Registration key query

Post by muf »

As most RAM disk vendors offer little more than a jazzed-up version of the Microsoft DDK sample RAM disk code anyone can compile, I think it's fairly obvious VSuite/Primo stand out above the competition with head and shoulders. If you don't want to give them your money, fine; but you'll be hard pressed to find anything else with a comparable feature set.

That said, their licencing scheme is hardly draconian. Being able to get an offline key on demand should be good enough for anyone (and their support is FAST). For the relative niche market that Romex operates in, allowing offline keys that aren't bound by hardware GUID opens the floodgates for amateur crackers. Blocking internet access and simply leaking someone's legitimate key is child's play. If they decide to cease support, Romex can always decide to loosen their activation scheme before they do (or if they're ever going out of business, simply release a free version). For now, let's just hope none of that ever comes to pass. I think Romex have a solid product and I'm looking forward to seeing more in the future.
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Re: Registration key query

Post by MrCache »

muf wrote:As most RAM disk vendors offer little more than a jazzed-up version of the Microsoft DDK sample RAM disk code anyone can compile, I think it's fairly obvious VSuite/Primo stand out above the competition with head and shoulders. If you don't want to give them your money, fine; but you'll be hard pressed to find anything else with a comparable feature set.

That said, their licencing scheme is hardly draconian. Being able to get an offline key on demand should be good enough for anyone (and their support is FAST). For the relative niche market that Romex operates in, allowing offline keys that aren't bound by hardware GUID opens the floodgates for amateur crackers. Blocking internet access and simply leaking someone's legitimate key is child's play. If they decide to cease support, Romex can always decide to loosen their activation scheme before they do (or if they're ever going out of business, simply release a free version). For now, let's just hope none of that ever comes to pass. I think Romex have a solid product and I'm looking forward to seeing more in the future.
Couldn't agree more. The exceptionally good Primo Ramdisk software leaves the competition in the dirt. The dynamic memory allocation, with the new auto-release function, is something I've been on the hunt for for years. I'm quite amazed it has taken this long to create a ramdisk like this, which works a lot like the way they worked on the fantastic Amiga computers.

I'm still on trial license, but I will go ahead and buy this software - it's worth it!
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Re: Registration key query

Post by InquiringMind »

muf wrote:...If you don't want to give them your money, fine; but you'll be hard pressed to find anything else with a comparable feature set.
Dataram and Superspeed offer comparable ramdisk products. I've not checked Dataram's in detail but Superspeed's works well and is compatible with more systems. Their licensing is problematic also (a serial number tied to the computer name) which is why I haven't purchased from them yet, but given the choice their system is less risky than Romex's.
muf wrote:That said, their licencing scheme is hardly draconian. Being able to get an offline key on demand should be good enough for anyone...
It's a requirement which means:
  • You can no longer install if the vendor goes bust or ceases support.
  • The product is tied to your hardware so will require re-activation if you upgrade (depending on the exact checks involved).
  • Activation makes the task of setting up a new PC (or reinstalling Windows on an existing one) more onerous - consider the extra work involved in activating 20-30 pieces of software, with the consequent need to contact publishers when activation fails for some reason or other.
  • Activation allows for the product to be disabled at the whim of the publisher (the best example of this is Valve disabling Steam accounts, examples here, here, here, here or here). If the publisher is based overseas, your consumer rights are then effectively nullified.
  • Activation imposes greater support requirements on publishers, resulting in higher software pricing.
muf wrote:For the relative niche market that Romex operates in, allowing offline keys that aren't bound by hardware GUID opens the floodgates for amateur crackers.
1. Panic over piracy is never a valid reason to inconvenience paying customers. There are plenty of "niche players" who use a simple serial number - almost the entire shareware industry works this way and I have in excess of 30 products that I can rely on, even if the publisher no longer exists (which is the case for several items).

2. People who wish to use Primo/VSuite for free can do so currently - just use an installation monitor to properly remove and then reinstall the trial version.

So this activation requirement, just like that used elsewhere, only inconveniences paying customers.
muf wrote:If they decide to cease support, Romex can always decide to loosen their activation scheme before they do (or if they're ever going out of business, simply release a free version). For now, let's just hope none of that ever comes to pass.
If Romex went bankrupt, the chances of them removing activation are virtually nil - see Shamus Young's Authorization Servers article on the reasons why.
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