My license has randomly stopped working

[Tantalus]

Today, suddenly, my license has been declared invalid and my installation of FT has stopped working. This is not the first time that I or someone else has had a similar problem.

I understand the reason for protecting the program from bootlegging, but clearly your methods are fragile and prone to inconveniencing your paying customers.

Please advise why this has happened and how it can be fixed.

[FT Support]

Hello Brian,

Probably your HardwareID changed due to some reason (hardware or software updates for example).

So you just need to send us your new HardwareID and we'll generate new registration key for you, pelase do these steps:

1. Run your Forex Tester.
2. Go to Help -> Register program menu
3. Choose "I do not have a registration key" and press "Next"
4. Choose "Yes, I already paid" and press "Next"
5. Fill key request form in next window
6. Press "Request key" button.

thank you!

[Tantalus]

This is not a sufficient answer to what is clearly a persistent bug in your registration system. I have done nothing to my computer that should cause my Hardware ID to change, unless your method of determining Hardware ID is extremely fragile.

Let me be clear: the Hardware ID should not be subject to sudden, unexpected change because of something else, totally unrelated, which happens elsewhere in the system. In particular, it should NOT BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE BECAUSE OF SOFTWARE UPDATES. Please note the fundamental and vital difference between HARDWARE and SOFTWARE. Changes in software do not constitute changes to hardware and so they should never affect each other.

What is clear is that your registration protection system creates a so-called "Hardware ID" which is quite fragile and can change suddenly due to other changes - even software updates - which have no relation to Forex Tester. That means that every FT user must be prepared for their product to simply stop working at any time WITH NO WARNING, and they will have to accept the delays involved in getting it back up and running. This is unacceptable and must no longer be ignored. It is time to fix the bug.

[Tantalus]

For those who may feel I'm coming down a bit hard about this, consider how you would feel if you bought a car and it would occasionally just stop running, with no warning, leaving you stranded until the dealer could send someone out to fix it. You wouldn't stand for it, especially if the dealer never admitted that there was a flaw in the product and never made any attempt to get it running again.

The makers of Forex Tester need to realize that their first responsibility is to their customers, and that includes providing a product that is strong and robust, and to fixing any bugs that are found as quickly as possible. This bug has been around for as long as I've used FT (at least 3 years) and many others have had the same problem.

I and other FT users need to know that our product will be there when we need it, and not have to fear that it will randomly shut down because the system used to thwart unregistered use is poorly designed and easily (and frequently) breaks down. I have always been reluctant to update to new releases of FT because about 1/2 of the time this also causes the fragile licensing system to break down. I have to wait until I have the option of being offline for a couple of days before I try it.

Time to admit that the programming is flawed. Time to fix the long-standing bug. And time to stop making paying customers suffer with inconvenience because of lazy programmers who are so paranoid about stopping unauthorized use that they are willing to thumb their noses at loyal customers.