Justin Hill

Patrick, Thanks for your suggestion, which I would try straight away except that I had already created all the users on this brand new G5 in front of me before I read your post! I still think the VW copy-protection is a bit daft. Best Justin

I must say I'm bewildered by the Vectorworks copy-protection scheme. When I'm not looking after these architects I spend a lot of time working in the music business where Pro Tools, the most widely-used digital production system in the world, uses an 'intelligent' dongle called an iLok. These USB devices cost about GBP 30 retail and have the ability to have product codes installed into them by transferring from a SIM card, or downloading from a manufacturer securely via the iLok web site. The way the system works is to positively encourage people to install every bit of software they come across on every computer they come across. All software runs in demo mode unless a dongle containing the code is present. If you visit a studio, you take your dongle with you (on your keyring for example), and plug in to use all the software you own. Dozens of manufacturers work with iLok; so one dongle can contain the authorisations for all the stuff you use (and some Pro Tools users buy hundreds of plug-ins). This system works well in one of the most theft-prone software markets anywhere. If Vectorworks is dongle protected, why does it need serial numbers anyway? When I set up a new Mac for my customer, I have to create an account for every one of the twenty staff here. To get Vectorworks running, I then have to log in as each user in turn, launch Vectorworks, type in the serial number, quit, logout, select the next user, and so on. I also have to install Microsoft Office but I don't need to type that serial number in 20 times.