Serial Numbers in DISE

Understanding the basics

First, we need to explain some of the basic concepts used in DISE and in this appendix:

Serial Number

A number provided to you by your reseller that will unlock certain features of one or more applications in the DISE system. The most common use for a serial number is to register a DISE license to you as a person or company. A serial number can also be used to extend the demonstration period of a DISE product.

License

A right to use one or more applications in the DISE system. When you buy a DISE package, you will be granted one or more Licenses. The license grants you use of the software, support and updates

Copy Protection

Some of the DISE applications are copy-protected. This means that the application is locked to one computer, and cannot be copied to another computer.

Activation

The applications that are copy-protected will need to be activated before they can be fully used. Activation is the process where the application becomes copy-protected and locked to your computer. It can be done automatically trough the Internet, this is called on line activation. It can also be done manually, called email activation.

Key

A key is a special serial number that you might receive from our support. The most common is the Unlock Key, which you will receive if you activate the product manually. Other keys may extend your trial period, or fix copy-protection problems.

Unlock key

A special serial number that is used during manual activation of a product.

Registration The process of entering a correct serial number and in some cases activation of the software. The registration will transform a free demo-version to a fully working, copy-protected version registered to you or your company.

The serial number system in DISE serves two purposes. For you, it is your proof of purchase, which will give you the right to one year’s free updates and support that is included when you buy DISE. For us, it serves as a reference to which version and package you have bought, which will make our support more accurate and quick.

DISE application lifecycle

This is what happens with a DISE application when you buy it.

1. Unregistered copy (demo version) – This is the free software that you can download from our website. It is the same software that is included in the CD if you bought the product. The demo version has all the features that a full version has, but it can only be used for a limited time (usually 30 days). To transform a demo version to a full version, you will need to enter a valid serial number. The serial number will transform the software to a registered copy.
2. Registered copy (full version) – After a valid serial number is entered, the software becomes a registered copy. The software will be linked to you trough the serial number. Some of the applications will now work, while others need to be activated. Activation is usually done online automatically, but can also be done manually if you don’t have an Internet connection to the PC where the software is installed.
3. Activated copy (copy protected full version) – After activation, the software is locked to the PC where it is installed. The software can now be used.

Product activation

When you have installed a DISE product on the computer, it will be an unregistered copy (demo-version) of the application.

The demo-version has all the features of a full version, except that it can only be used for a limited time period (usually 30 days).

Demo versions will always start with the activation screen

• If you have bought the application, you have received a serial number.
• If you bought a CD, the serial number can be found inside the CD-cover.
• If you bought the product on-line, the serial number have been sent to you in the confirmation e-mail.
• It is important that you save this serial number in a safe place. The serial number is your proof-of-purchase, and it is also the key to get support.
• To start the registration process, click OK in the dialog to go to the next page.

The first step is to register the application. This will tell DISE that you have bought the product. It is very important that you enter the serial number correct. If you have received the serial number by e-mail, the recommended way to enter it is to copy the number from the email, and paste it into the serial number field.

If you do not have an electronic copy of the serial number, be extra careful to check

• The amount of characters. There are 6 groups of characters, with 5 characters in each group. The groups are separated with a dash (minus) sign. There are NO spaces inside a serial number.
• The difference between 1 (one) and l (small letter L)
• The difference between 0 (zero) and O (big letter O)
• The difference between uppercase/lowercase characters.

If the serial number is not entered correct, you will get an error message, and the registration process cannot continue.

The other information in this dialog is used when registration information is displayed in various parts of the applications.

The Name/Company is not so important, it is just a text.

The e-mail address is important, since it is the address that will receive replies to automated error reports.

When you have entered the information, you have two options:

Activate online (preferred)

This will activate the software automatically, and if activation succeeds, it will be ready for use immediately.

Activate by e-mail

In case you don’t have an Internet connection to the PC, you have the option to activate the software manually.

Activate online

The software will contact our registration server over the Internet and lock the software to the PC that the software is installed on. The following dialog will be displayed.

If you need special proxy settings in order to reach the Internet, you can enter them by clicking the Proxy settings link. Otherwise, just make sure that you are connected to the Internet and click Activate now.

The activation should only take some seconds. Then the following dialog should be displayed.

What do I do if activation fails?

There can be several reasons why the activation failed.
A connection to the registration server could not be made

Try to activate at a later moment, or, if you can't reach the internet at all, please troubleshoot your network connections.

The serial number has already been used on another computer

In this case you will need to transfer the license.

The serial number was used on the same computer before, but hardware has changed

In this case you need to contact our support, explain the situation, and do a manual activation.

Activate by e-mail

If you choose to activate by e-mail, the activation process will be performed manually. In order to do so, you need to send an e-mail with hardware identification codes to register@displayevolution.com.

The mail with all required information will be created for you. Copy the text and send it in an e-mail.

Our registration staff will answer within 2-3 working days with a special Unlock key. The application will remain an unregistered copy (demo version) until the unlock key is entered.

When the activation is ready, you will see the following dialog:

This is the last time you will see the activation screens. The next time you start the application, it will start directly, without activation messages.

The License Viewer

License Viewer will summarize all the DISE licenses that you have installed on your computer. The License Viewer can be invoked from several of the applications in the DISE system.

The License Viewer is also a tool where you can enter new serial numbers and transfer licenses from one computer to another.

When the License Viewer starts, it will scan your computer and detect which licenses that you have installed. This might take some time, so please be patient.

To the upper left there is general information about the licensing system. If you have problems with licensing, our support staff might ask for this information.

Below the general information, your hardware codes are listed. This is the identification of your PC that is used in the activation and copy-protection.

In the middle, the different DISE applications and packages are listed, and the serial numbers that you have entered for each product that you have purchased. When asked for your serial number, this is one place where you can find it. The products that you have not purchased will be marked as demo versions.

Note: If you have activated using a Dise Pro serial number, then the Dise Pro license will be displaying "Activated", but the Dise Replay, Dise Composer, etc. will still be displaying "Demo version".
On the other hand, if you just register a single Dise Composer license then the Dise Composer will be displaying "Activated".

To the right, there are two buttons:
Add key

Use this if you have received a special key from our support.

Refresh

Re-scan the system for serial numbers.

Add a serial number or key

The Dise system has several different modules and add-ons. Each of which can be activated separately by their own serial number. There are serial numbers that are valid for complete packages (Dise One, Dise Pro or Dise Enterprise and there are other serial numbers that are only valid for a single application.

This system is created so that you can expand your system when your display network grows.

There is also special serial numbers (called keys) that can be applied to the system, to perform different tasks, for example extending the trial period. All these keys and serial numbers are all entered trough the License Viewer.

To the right in the License Viewer, there is a button called Add key. Click the button and enter the key you have received. It does not matter from which application you started the License Viewer. All licenses and keys are shared over the same PC.

Transfer or reactivate a license

Please contact us with the license number that you wish to transfer.

Troubleshooting

Main article: Troubleshoot licenses