Additional Activations

Activation Keys are Limited - Use Wisely

Please Read Carefully

Keys protect your property rights.

This page applies only to legacy, deprecated builds. It does not apply to current Manifold builds, for which additional activations are not necessary. Working with a current build? See the About Activation topic for a quick discussion about how activations grow back after use, so they can be used again and again.


Under some circumstances Manifold product licensees will receive free additional activations using the automated procedure described in this page. Licensees should read this page carefully to ensure they get full value from this opportunity now and in the future.

Manifold Viewer is a free product that does not require a serial number. No activation is required for Viewer.

COVID-19 Response

Three Free Activation Keys in 2021 - To support installation on work at home machines, Manifold licenses will automatically qualify for three free additional activation keys in 2021. Additional keys are automatically granted when activation is requested for a license that has run out of keys.

Important

To preserve the availability of free activations, the services in this page are provided with no technical support and no administrative or sales support of any kind. A fully-automated process guarantees the lowest price, ideally totally free, for all users. Any question regarding procurement, acquisition or use of additional activations or any request for assistance requires a standard technical support token. Assistance is limited to the current Manifold release only. Licensees contacting any manifold.net email address without a standard technical support token or for non-current releases may lose access to additional activations.

Manifold products are protected using a Serial Number and Activation Key system as described in the Licensing and Serial Numbers pages. For a summary of the activation process see the Activation Guide page.

A serial number allows installation on one machine, but there are up to five activations allowed to deal with tasks like replacing a failed device, upgrading to a new Windows edition or re-loading Windows or moving the installation to a new computer. If Manifold is installed on one computer as licensed, normally five activations are plenty to enable use of a Manifold license for many years even without utilizing occasional upgrades to newer products that may be offered.

However, some users will run licenses for extremely long spans of time, perhaps in the case of a runtime license embedded in a legacy application that runs well and will not be replaced. Other users may have exceptionally bad luck with computer hardware. To assist with such needs Manifold provides automatic free additional activations for all Manifold versions at the rate of one per year.

One year after issuance each Manifold serial number automatically gains the ability to get one more activation key (three more activation keys in 2021, to support at home work during the COVID-19 crisis), if fetched via the automated Activation dialog built into Manifold System or via the manual activation process as described in the Activation Keys and Serial Numbers help topic. If an additional key is available, it will be issued automatically even if the serial number status report says all existing keys have been used up.

If that additional key is used, another key automatically becomes available one year later. If the availability of an additional key every year (three additional keys in 2021) does not suffice, users can always purchase a fresh license, which provides five additional activations at low cost and then thereafter one free activation per year.

Limitations

The availability of additional keys does not in any way alter the Manifold license to which licensees have agreed.

Extra keys do not authorize extra users: Each activation key does not authorize an extra user. It simply authorizes a re-installation for the same single user in the event of a hard disk crash or other required re-installation. If you use additional activation keys to attempt to use the same serial number to run Manifold on more than one machine by more than one user at the same time, sooner or later Manifold will detect a licensing violation and your serial number will be revoked and you will lose all licensing rights.

Users should check their serial numbers on the Serial Number Status Page. The page will report the date the serial number was issued and how many activations have been used. If no activations are available and it is more than one year since the serial number was issued, if you request an activation for the serial number it will be automatically granted as an additional key for that year.

Important: A license for a Manifold product provides only five activations. The provision of a free additional activation key every year is a voluntary marketing promotion by Manifold that is provided at the sole and exclusive option of Manifold and which may be withdrawn at any time for any licensee. By way of example and not limitation, the voluntary provision of free additional activations will be rescinded for those licensees who do not cooperate with published procedures, such as the tech, admin or sales support service procedures or limitations on those services. Manifold would like to provide additional benefits to responsible users free of charge or at nominal cost. To do so Manifold will protect responsible users from higher costs imposed by irresponsible users.

Check your Serial Number

Before proceeding, please check the status of the serial number you are attempting to use on the Status Page. This page will report the product authorized by that serial number, the date the serial number was issued and how many activations are left on that serial number.

  • Check the date the serial number was issued. - If that date is less than one year ago, no additional activation keys will be issued.
  • Has the serial number been revoked? - If a serial number has been revoked, no additional activation keys will be issued for that serial number.

Serial numbers usually are revoked when they have been traded in for a discounted upgrade. For example, if you have traded in your 32-bit Personal Edition serial number to obtain an Upgrade to x64 product, the old 32-bit serial number is revoked when your new Personal x64 serial number is issued. You cannot continue using the old 32-bit serial number. Instead, use the new x64 serial number. If you can't remember why your serial number was revoked, contact tech support using a standard support token to find out why.

Automatic, Free, Additional Activations

Once all of the original five activations have been used up, if it has been more than one year since the serial number was issued additional activation keys automatically will become available at no charge at the rate of one additional activation key every year (three more activation keys in 2021, to support at home work during the COVID-19 crisis) subject to the following considerations:

  • Are all activations used up? - If all five original activation keys have been used up and it is more than one year since the serial number was issued, then the activation system will automatically issue a new activation key if you attempt to activate the serial number.
  • Dialog or web site access only. - Additional keys are provided only if fetched via the automated Activation dialog built into Manifold System or via the manual activation process as described in the Activation Keys and Serial Numbers help topic. No other provision of free additional keys is possible.
  • One free key per year. (Three free keys in 2021) - If a free activation key has been issued in the past year, no additional free keys will be issued until one year has elapsed since the prior free key was issued. Exception: In 2021, to support at home work during the COVID-19 crisis, three additional free keys will be issued.
  • All Manifold editions are covered. - All Manifold editions using activation keys are supported with a free key every year. This includes old versions like 6.50 or 7.00, and it includes extensions such as Business Tools, Geocoding Tools and Surface Tools. Runtime licenses and License Server licenses get a free additional key available every year as well.
  • Free keys do not accumulate. - Additional keys provided at no charge do not accumulate. If it has been five years since you last activated your 6.50 license serial number you do not now have the ability to fetch five activation keys for that serial number in the next few days. One additional key may be fetched with the next additional key becoming available 365 days after that first additional key was fetched.
  • No support for non-current editions. - No tech support or sales or admin assistance of any kind is available for Manifold products older than the current Manifold editions offered in the Products page. Free benefits from Manifold are voluntarily provided only to those users who do not abuse the support system.
  • Tech support token required. - Free additional keys are provided without support of any kind. If you have any questions for any Manifold organization or if you require any assistance regarding free additional keys, no matter whether you consider that question a technical, administrative or sales matter, you must provide a standard technical support token for assistance. Only questions regarding a current release qualify for assistance. If you do not provide a standard technical support token when contacting any manifold.net email address regarding a free additional key, a token may be automatically debited.
  • Developer tokens required. - Questions or assistance involving additional activation keys for Runtime licenses or License Server installations require a developer level technical support token.
  • Abusers lose access to additional activations. - Licensees who do not observe the limitations on technical support services may lose access to additional activations for all serial numbers for which they are licensed. Organizations should not entrust their serial numbers to individuals who will be unable to utilize a standard technical support token or otherwise follow published tech support procedures.

Advice

The following tips may help get the most out of the license rights you have acquired:

  • Do not waste activations. - Make sure to read the installation instructions (contained in the installation.txt file within a downloaded Manifold installation .zip file) that accompany your Manifold release. Please read the Activation Keys and Serial Numbers help topic at least once, and refresh your recollection before a new Manifold installation by reading the Activation Guide web page.
  • Plan system upgrades. - Plan system upgrades to avoid wasting activations. For example, don't upgrade to Windows 7 one week, install Manifold, and then upgrade to a new computer system the next week, requiring a fresh Manifold installation. Do both upgrades first and then install Manifold just once.
  • Use existing keys. - If you have a 32-bit Manifold license and might some day want to upgrade to a 64-bit Manifold license, run on your existing license until you actually need the 64-bit license and then upgrade. That allows you to take advantage of all the installations available on your existing license in case you need them in the time before you actually begin working in a true 64-bit environment.
  • Choose trustworthy admins - Entrust serial numbers only to responsible users who can read and apply simple instructions.
  • Not a big deal - Burning through all activation keys is not something to get stressed about. Activations grow back automatically, and if you can't wait for them to grow back, a new license costs only $145 and provides a fresh crop of activations right now. Wasting a few activations is not like crashing the company jet.

Getting Assistance with Additional Activation Keys

If the tips in the above page do not help and if your inquiry relates to the current edition of Manifold System, please obtain a standard technical support token and follow the procedures in the Activation Support page to contact tech support for priority assistance, providing the tech support token with your inquiry. Questions involving additional activation keys for Runtime licenses or License Server installations require a developer level support token.

For general information on technical support for Manifold System, please see the main Support page.

A Note to Managers

Sometimes managers who are called upon to authorize acquisition of a fresh license when all free activations get used up may wonder how that happened, especially if they are not personally familiar with the activation process but are told by their staff that all Activation keys were used up by accident, it just somehow happened or for some other reason than the staff member deliberately commanded the use of activations. When coaching someone into being more responsible, managers should know the steps Manifold takes to prevent accidental usage of Activation keys:

1. A user must command the system to fetch an Activation key. Under no circumstances will the system on its own get an Activation key without the user commanding it. The Activation dialog is not enabled unless the user has true Administrator privileges, which in most organizations is a level of authority not entrusted to users who click cluelessly on buttons without reading any advisory notes or warnings.

2. A user must deliberately input a serial number to the Activation dialog using copy and paste or much keyboarding before any Activation button is enabled. This prevents accidental key presses.

3. The Activation dialog warns the user:

Entering your serial number will allow Manifold to function for a limited time without an Activation key. After the limited time period expires, an Activation key will be required for continued function.

Activation keys must be used within 72 hours after they are issued. Do not obtain an Activation key until you are ready to use it to permanently install Manifold to this computer system. Obtaining an Activation key waives any refund privileges you may have.

Problems? See the Activation Guide

4. If after the above precautions the user commands the system to get an Activation key the system will raise a second, confirmation dialog that asks the user to confirm the command. This confirmation dialog has the following warning text:

Are you sure you want to get an Activation key?

* If you press OK this transaction cannot be undone.
* If you get an Activation key it cannot be given back.
* If you get an Activation key you cannot get a refund for this Manifold license.
* If you do not understand any of the above, do not press OK.

Press OK to get an Activation key.
Press Cancel to abandon this transaction.

Only if someone persists through all that the software will follow their command and get an Activation key. An Activation key cannot be issued by accident. It requires deliberately clicking through repeated warnings and confirmations. If that doesn't do the trick, what could?


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