Failed RBRx Installations & "Exceeding the Maximum Number of Activations" Error

[cdressel]

Hi,

I've bored this board with this problem before but I was hoping there may be some new insight. I've just submitted my Support Ticket to get around the latest "Exceeded the Maximum Number of Installations", once again.

I have two licensed RollbackRx installations. Both are the latest software version, dated July 18, 2011. Both of my laptops are standard Toshiba's running Windows 7, 64-bit.

One of them, my wife's laptop, works flawlessly. Yeah! The other (my laptop) does not.

On each laptop, approx. once per month, I uninstall RBRx, clean files, defrag, backup the system and reinstall RBRx. Again, one (my wife's) apparently talks just fine with the licensing server because the reinstall proceeds just great, with no problems.

Mine, on the other hand . . .

After the backups are done, and with a fresh reboot, I begin to install RBRx. The computer says all is fine and asks for a reboot. During the reboot, RBRX "installs" and tries to start Windows. After the initial boot screen, with the dimming and brightening W7 logo, the screens darkens just before the desktop appears - then crashes! It reboots to the screen asking if I want to restart as "Normal" or "Repair your Computer".

I reboot and ask for a "Normal" start. At the RBRx screen, I hit 'Home' and "Uninstall". The system then reboots properly. My second try at the RBRx install always proceeds properly, except the system tells me I cannot activate over an Internet connection because I have, "Exceeded the Maximum Number of Activations".

I then submit a support ticket with my explanation of what I was doing, my Product and Activation ID's. Eventually, Support will respond with an Activation Code. After entering the code, I reboot and all is 'good-to-go' once again.

Questions:
Why does the installation never, repeat - never, succeed the first time I try to install it? My system is a standard Toshiba laptop with no special hard drives or boot sectors. Yet, apparently, my boot sector gets screwed-up every time I try the initial install. After an uninstall, all is well during the second attempt at an install.

And, why does my uninstall not properly communicate with the license server to allow me to install without all the communication with Support?

As I said earlier, my other laptop does the uninstall and reinstall flawlessly. That laptop apparently communicates with the license server properly. Any ideas what I can do to correct this problem?

I appreciate all your help but I'm frustrated that my two laptops work so differently, as far as RBRx is concerned.

I've been using RBRx for many years and since Version 8. In fact, it's probably at least several computers ago. I've had licenses revoked and then reissued for the new machines. I guess what I'm saying is that I am really, really confused - but I'm sure I'm installing it correctly. One works. One doesn't.

Thanks,
Chuck

[bgoodman4]

I suspect short of sending the problem PC to Horizon for analysis you will likely continue to have the problem. I don't see how the developers can resolve this problem without the PC itself.

But perhaps they can.

Have you brought this issue up with someone higher up the support food chain? I would think the response you are getting with the new activation code is from a low level support tech. They are not likely to try and figure out a fix for the problem at its root.

Good luck with this, it must be very frustrating, I know I would be going bonkers if I had to deal with this situation every month.

[carfal]

Hi cdressel. This would indeed be very fustrating.

In order to see what is causing the crash you need to make a change to a setting so that the BSOD stays up for you to read and see which file or driver is causing this. It should prove useful for HDS to troubleshoot as well.

So go to your "System Properties" and follow the pictures below.





Untick the "Automatically restart" option.

Now when your PC crashes, the BSOD will stay up until you hit reset button allowing you to actually read it.

Of coarse, if by "crash" you mean that your PC freezes then the above would not be of any use. Hopefully this is not the case.

[cdressel]

Hi Carfal,
Took your advice and unticked the Auto Restart box.

Usually, during the initial install, the computer will just go back to the screen stating there was a problem and ask if I want to restart normally or repair the computer. When it does that, I can restart normally and then uninstall RBRx from the opening screens by hitting the Home key.

However, at other times, I do get the BSOD. When that happens, my only solution is to boot to a Windows 7 Repair Disc and repair the MBR. Then I can reboot, hit the Home key and uninstall RBRx.

I'm sure you can imagine the anguish I felt the first couple of times this happened! I thought my entire computer was toast and although I had just made a fresh backup, I wasn't very happy. Now, BSOD's and "repair your computer" screens are pretty normal.

Thanks for the help.
Chuck



bgoodman4,
Thanks for the advice. However, there is no way I would ever send my computer, or hard drive, to Horizon for troubleshooting. Just ain't gonna' happen! No way!

I have submitted support tickets before but I get no real help. They just ask for the standard troubleshooting files, etc. Then they reply that they see no problem with my system, or similar words. I have no idea how to escalate my ticket to a higher authority. You'd sort of think they may have a problem with the license server but they don't seem to agree.

Any way . . .

Thanks
Chuck

[bgoodman4]

Originally Posted by cdressel

bgoodman4,
Thanks for the advice. However, there is no way I would ever send my computer, or hard drive, to Horizon for troubleshooting. Just ain't gonna' happen! No way!

Thats my feeling as well but it may be the only way to resolve the problem (which of course means you will probably just have to live with it).

Originally Posted by cdressel

I have no idea how to escalate my ticket to a higher authority.

I would simply ask to speak to someone higher up who could possibly help (I ask for the techs supervisor and then their manager/supervisor if they were unable to help - you may have to be persistent). Make sure to note the names of those who you have spoken to and when you get someone new ask what their position is. Sometimes tech support will simply hand you off to another low level tech rather than referring you to someone further up the food chain.

I hope this helps

[carfal]

Originally Posted by cdressel

However, at other times, I do get the BSOD.

Since now you've unticked the autorestart, the next BSOD you get when installing RB, you should take a picture of it using a digital camera and send it to HDS.

It would be interesting to see if this helps them resolve your issue.

[nexstar]

Originally Posted by cdressel

As I said earlier, my other laptop does the uninstall and reinstall flawlessly. That laptop apparently communicates with the license server properly. Any ideas what I can do to correct this problem?

I can sympathise with the activation issue. There have been a few times recently when I know I haven't cleanly uninstalled RB and have encountered this problem but I could understand why. A week ago, I had a laptop which doesn't get messed around with much but I wanted to do a RB uninstall/reinstall to clean things up a bit. So I did no more than that, uninstalled and reinstalled and I hit the maximum number of activations message and so RB was effectively then inactive as a result.

I submitted a ticket and HDS reset it the next day but they are pretty sure that their system works ok if you uninstall when connected to the internet but I'm not convinced or I wouldn't have been raising a ticket in the first place .

It's something that seems to crop up quite frequently and should be fairly easy to test out with a build of RB which maybe reported back with a successful response from the server on uninstalling.

Onto your specific problem....are your two laptops identical hardware? What about the software installed on each, are there any significant differences as to what is running (antivirus etc)?

Out of interest, how's the situation with your huge snapshots on reinstalling RB? Does that still happen on both laptops?

Graham

[cdressel]

Hi Graham,

As I said, one of my laptops must communicate with the HDS license servers properly because I have little problem with uninstalling and reinstalling. Both laptops are Toshiba, W7-64 bit. They are not identical hardware but the software is basically the same on both, incl. MS Security Essentials for malware and AV..

Nice of you to remember my questions about huge initial snapshots. I've gone on to worry about other things but, yes, the huge initial snapshots are still there. For example, the Install snapshot is about 213 MB, but the next snapshot (on a restart) is marked as 1225 MB. From then on the snapshots range from 150 to 450 MB. If I delete the huge snapshot and then use the snapshot defragger, the huge snapshot appears to be gone until the next reboot. Upon reboot, the huge snapshot reappears immediately after the install snapshot. I've given up wondering about it. It still does this on both my computers.

As you noted, HDS seems to respond fairly quickly about resetting my license to get around the "Exceeded the Maximum Number of Installation" problem. If I uninstall in the early morning, clean the drive, backup, etc., I usually can get RBRx reinstalled by late-morning. After sending in a support request, I almost always hear back from them by mid-afternoon. I just wish they'd tell me how to fix the root problem. For some reason, my installation must not be able to communicate properly.

Thanks for the comments.
Chuck

[pvsurfer]

Chuck, if it's true that 'misery loves company' you should be somewhat relieved to learn that the same problem has happened to me a few times over. It's definitely not unique to your install They can't tell us how to prevent the problem (other than telling us to refrain from uninstalling RB) as it's their problem!

pv

[nexstar]

Originally Posted by cdressel

I just wish they'd tell me how to fix the root problem. For some reason, my installation must not be able to communicate properly.

Thanks for the comments.
Chuck

Chuck, what you could do is to make a note of the exact time/date when you uninstall your machines. If you then get a problem on activation you could pass the info on to HDS to see if it ties in with their activation/deactivation logs at their end. You could pass on your IP address at the time of uninstall as well in case there's a record of it flagged up for any reason.

With my recent track record, I'll certainly do that here as it is one way that we might get further clues as to what is going on.

Graham