think3 Licensing
think3 has updated its Web-based service for the
issue of product license passwords. Customers can personally register their
think3 products and manage accounts to access the Customer Care Home Page
(http://care.think3.com/). The
thinkcare site is accessible only to owners of a think3 products or beneficiaries
of educational grants.
CustomerCare access system
To access the Customer Care Home Page and benefit
from the Customer Care services, a personal account is required.
Users possessing a personal account can
continue to access the Customer Care Home Page (contact Customer
Care through email for any problems).
For think3 customers who would like to open a new
personal account, there are two options:
- Contact
Customer Care.
- Ask the Primary contact in your company.
The Primary Contact is the user who can:
- Register new products (as described in the section entitled
Web-based product registration)
- Enable or disable new personal accounts to register new products
- Create or modify new personal accounts for colleagues as shown below
To create or modify personal accounts, the Primary
contact must access the Customer Care home page and
select "user profile" from the left column followed by the "Other Profiles"
tab. All users can edit their personal accounts by selecting "user profile"
followed by the "My Profile" tab.
The primary contact is defined in two different
ways:
- All new companies must provide think3 with a "Primary contact" in the
first purchase order. think3 will send an automatic e-mail with the
information and link required to activate the personal account.
- Existing customers should contact
Customer
Care to name a primary contact for their
company.
The benefits of this think3 feature is that customers have automatic and accurate control over personal accounts. The primary contacts can automatically create or modify or delete
the personal accounts for colleagues within their organization.
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Finding out your machine ID
In order to enable the think3 product licensing service to supply you with the license codes of the products you purchased, you will have to provide them with your Machine ID (a code univocally identifying your PC).
The Machine ID is the one displayed in the bottom right corner of the License Adminstrator dialog box:
The Edit>Copy Machine ID enables you to copy the Machine ID to the clipboard, so that you can easily paste it into the forms used by the think3 product licensing service to perform your registration, thus preventing you from any mistyping error which might cause troubles in computing and installing the license code.
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Web-based Product
Registration
think3 customers can automatically receive and manage their license passwords when registering their think3 products. Customers can also view the status of company
licenses, including the products available for registration on a given computer or current products already registered and so on. These features are available on the Customer Care Home Page. The only requirement is an Internet connection and a Customer Care home page user account (see below).
On accessing the Customer Care Home Page, users
authorized to license think3 products through their Primary Contact will find "product licensing" in the left column. When you choose this option, the new product registration environment will open. Users with no licensing privileges will not see the "product licensing" link in the left column but they will still be able to edit their own user profiles. However, those users with licensing privileges will be able to:
1. Licenses this machine (Select this option if you have thinkdesign
8.0.0.96 or higher)
On selecting Licenses this machine,
users will see a page with three tabs:
- Registered Products
: The license
information regarding products installed on the computer concerned
will be listed. When a Product is clicked, the details button will be
displayed underneath it. The ID of the computer that the product is
installed on will also appear along with the Computer Name (as configured in
the COMPUTERNAME environment variable).
When the "Details" button is
selected, the product name, license Start and End dates, Quantity, Machine-ID
and Password will also be shown.
If the
customers have permanent licenses (.PL or .LSF) a Renewal button will be
available: the version number will be asked and a new password will be
computed on the same machine ID.
- Product to be registered
: The new
think3 products or subscriptions that can be registered are listed here. Using the Register button, users will be given the password for their computers. This will be automatically registered on the computer they are currently working on. No "Machine-ID" needs to be provided since it is now automatically detected. The License Administrator utility no longer has to be opened.
In the "Origin" column it is stated that the license to be registered originates, in the case of New Licenses, from a new purchase order or alternatively that it was exported from another computer. In the latter case, the previous Machine-ID and the respective computer name are also shown. "In the "Products to be
Registered" page, users can list products by name and select them in the appropriate PRODUCT lists".
It is important to note that think3 version 8
products are "Enabled" by this automatic feature. To use it, thinkdesign
Version 8.0.0.96 or higher must be installed on the computer where the product
is to be registered.
- Export/Import
:
It is possible to export/import only for: all ASF
licenses, LSF licenses (from 8.3 version), PL licenses (from 8.2 version).
If the customer has permanent licenses (.PL, .LSF) : when the licenses are
exported, they have to be imported with
the same version. Only after
the import, the renewal button is available and the customer can update license
to a new version.
When clicking on the Export/Import tab, users will see all licenses registered on their computer as per the information stored in the registration server.
From here, the products to be exported to a different computer can be
selected.
On exporting a product, the password is automatically
disabled on the current PC. If the user chooses Export only (Export License
and relative Continue button), a new entitlement is available in the "Product
to be registered" tab. This entitlement allows the user to register any other
computer (with think3 products installed).
Otherwise, users can choose to Export the license then immediately
Import it on another computer (Export/Import and the relative Continue button)
so that the password is automatically disabled on the current PC and
automatically registered on the other computer. The new license has to be installed on the new computer by double
clicking the license file or importing the license file through the License
Administrator utility.
In addition to this, if exporting
(removing) licenses before re-registering them, both the computers involved
must be connected to the internet. This operation takes place automatically
without .lcm files being imported in the process. For users with earlier
versions of the product, select the "Licenses for your company machines" path.
2. Licenses for your company machines
(Select this option if you have any previous version of thinkdesign to version 8.0.0.96; select this if you have thinkdesign 8.0.0.96 or higher and you want to register licenses on different PCs from the connected one)
On selecting "Licenses for your company
machines" a page with three tabs opens:
- Registered Products
: the license
information regarding products already installed on all company computers is
shown here.
On clicking "Download licenses' File", an
.lcm file listing all licenses registered on the computer will be
downloaded.
Products can be listed by license-validity period or by
Machine-ID on the "Registered Products" page; users can also search particular
products or Machine-ID’s by scrolling through the appropriate PRODUCT and
MACHINE-ID lists.
When the customer clicks "Details" button, the product name, license Start and End
dates, Quantity, Machine-ID and Password will also be shown. If the customers have permanent licenses
(.PL or .LSF) a Renewal button will be available: the version number will be
asked and a new password will be computed on the same machine ID.
- Product to be registered
: all new
think3 products or subscriptions that can be registered are listed here. On
clicking the Register button, users will receive their password and target
machine-ID. After this step, users must import the password in the target
computer using the License Administrator utility after having downloaded the
lcm file for the new password.
- Export/Import
:
think3 customers can
export/import only: all ASF licenses, LSF licenses (from 8.3 version), PL
licenses (from 8.2 version).
If the customer has permanent licenses (.PL,
.LSF) : when the licenses are exported, then they have to be imported with the
same version. Only after the import, the renewal button is available and the
customer can update license to a new version.
On clicking Export/Import, a form similar to
the Route 1 Export/Import form is displayed, the difference in this case being
that users are required to upload the .lcm file issued by the License
Administrator utility (Export command). Following this, on selecting Export
only, the License Export section Continue button must be clicked after the
upload. At this point, a new entitlement appears in the Product to be
registered tab. If users wish to first Export then immediately Import the
licenses on a different computer, the new Machine-ID must be specified before
clicking the Export/Import section Continue button.
The Computer name in
this case (Route 2) is a free field that can be used to specify the computer
name in the company network for example whilst it is filled in automatically
only in Route 1.
If you want to move a license from PC1 (say Work PC) to PC2 (say Home
PC) you have to:
- Export license from PC1. This can be done in three ways:
a) thinkcare website:
If PC1 has an Internet connection and if you have thinkdesign 8.0.0.96
or higher, enter the thinkcare website and select "product licensing"
from the left hand menu. Select "1. License this Machine" then the
"Export/Import" tab. You can choose the products installed on your
computer (check buttons) from this form in order to then export
them.
Said products can be either exported only or exported
and registered on the PC2 at the same time, specifying the PC2
Machine-ID on the form. When not registered on PC2 at the same time, the
exported products available on our registration server will be shown on
the "Products to be registered" tab. The PC1 Machine-ID will be shown in
the Origin column; products can be registered at a later date.
On
exportation, the licenses will be automatically removed from PC1.
b) License Administrator
Utility: Start->Program files->thinkdesign->License
Administrator. Select Edit->Export from the menu bar.
Select the Automatic option if you have an email account. This will send
the license automatically through email to our registration server and a new
entitlement will be available immediately given that the license will be
removed from PC1.
c) License Administrator
Utility: Start->Program files->thinkdesign->License
Administrator. Select Edit->Export from the menu bar.
Select Manual and specify the destination for the exported license file
on your disk. The license will be removed from PC1. Following this, move
the exported license file to a PC connected to the Internet and enter
the thinkcare website. Select "product licensing" from the left hand
menu and select "2. Licenses for your company machine". Select the
"Export/Import" tab and upload the exported .lcm license file to the
registration server. You can export only (simply upload the file and
click "Continue") or you can export and re-register products on PC2 at
the same time, specifying the PC2 Machine-ID on the form. If you choose
not to re-register exported products on PC2, said exported products will
be shown on our registration server in the "Products To Be Registered"
tab from where they can be registered later.
- Import the license to PC2. This can be done in two ways:
a) PC2 is connected to the
Internet
If you have
thinkdesign 8.0.0.96 or higher, enter
the thinkcare website, select "product licensing" from the left hand
menu. Select "1. License this Machine" and if the exported products have
already been registered on PC2, just click the Detail button in the
"Registered Products" tab and click the "Register Again" button to
install the license on PC2. If the exported products running on PC1 were
not registered, select the "Products To Be Registered" tab and click the
Register exported products button (these products are easily
recognizable by the PC1 Machine-ID). In both cases, the license will be automatically installed on PC2.
If your version of thinkdesign is prior
to 8.0.0.96, enter the thinkcare
website and select "product licensing" from the left hand menu. Select
"2. License this Machine". If the exported products have already been
registered on PC2, just click the Detail button in the "Registered
Products" tab and Download license File" to PC2 in order to import it
into the License Administrator utility. If the exported products running
on PC1 were not registered, select the "Products To Be Registered" tab
and click the Register exported products button (these products are
easily recognizable by the PC1 Machine-ID) specifying the PC2
Machine-ID; the license file will then be downloaded in order to
import it to PC2 using the License Administrator
utility.
b) PC2 is not connected to the Internet
The license must be registered from a
PC with an Internet connection. When registered, the license file can be
downloaded and saved to a floppy for example. After this it can be
copied and finally imported on PC2 using the License Administrator
utility.
Note. Remember that to export/register products, you have to be authorized
to register think3 products. |
The benefits to customers are:
- Automatic and accurate control of entitlement: Customers can check
both registered products and products that can be registered whenever they
require.
- Automatic password release via Web: Thanks to the "License this
Machine" method, no computer-ID has to be provided, nor does the License
Administrator utility have to be opened.
- No more CD serial #'s: That's
right! CD serial #'s have been dispensed with, thereby simplifying the
registration process.
- Flexible Licensing: thinkdesign customers now have flexible licensing
potential. By accessing the Internet and by storing unregistered
licenses on the thinkcare server, ANY other machine of their choosing can be
easily registered. With the previous method, a target machine where the
license was being exported to had to be specified and the license would only
work on that machine.
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New thinkdirect licensing mechanism
The new thinkdirect licensing mechanism has been made compliant with all other think3 licenses, starting from May 1, 2005. Once the customer applies for a thinkdirect license, it will be available on the think3 Customer Care site for download and registration, similar to all other think3 products.
This licensing mechanism works only for thinkdesign version 9.0.1.43 and beyond. If the user has an older 9.0.1 version, it can be upgraded to 9.0.1.43 by downloading the thinkdirect license patch from the Customer Care download area (http://care.think3.com/default.asp?tg=download).
If the user is using an older thinkdirect license (one with a 'dongle'), there is no need to upgrade to the new build. Just wait until the current license expires. However, if the new thinkdirect Licensing Patch is installed before the old license expires, a new thinkdirect license needs to be computed from the think3 Customer Care site. These new thinkdirect licenses will be available for registration and download, as the old license will no longer be compliant with the new mechanism.
For further details, please contact think3 Customer Care.
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Updating .LSF and .PL licenses
Users desirous of updating a .LSF or .PL
license must enter into a maintenance contract with think3. Thereafter, on
accessing Customer Care web site as Primary Contact, they can download the
update license passwords.
At the Customer Care site, click on Product Licensing
and select Licenses for your company machines. On
Registered Products tab one can find an UPDATE
icon button against the .LSF licenses as in the
image below.
Clicking on Update button against, say TDESIGN.LSF license,
displays the the following License Renew window.
Users can specify the higher product version that they
would want to use and click Register
button. This action registers the product and opens the window as
shown below.
The new license is now ready for download. Customers can download the license
file and insert it as a new license using the thinkdesign License
Administrator.
Please contact think3 Customer
Care for any further assistance.
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