[REQUEST] How to Backup AutoDesk Land Desktop 2007?

[NviGate Systems]

Dependency Walker (depends.exe) Home Page

That will let you troubleshoot. But, please do image backup first, don't do it live.

Also, AutoCAD has updated app, needs to buy it and support contract. There are resellers that assist with this.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Dependency Walker (depends.exe) Home Page

That will let you troubleshoot. But, please do image backup first, don't do it live.

Also, AutoCAD has updated app, needs to buy it and support contract. There are resellers that assist with this.

This. Yes it’s $4000 program or a $400 a month subscription but I’ve seen the rates drafters charge(or he should be charging). Cost of doing business. Cheap clients are bad clients.

 

[Philippe]

recommend an app monitor to show which DLLs are being requested / loaded

This will show you everything you want to know!
Process Monitor - Just put the name of the process in the filter list (process name / Contains / XXXX / Include)

Process Monitor - Sysinternals

Monitor file system, Registry, process, thread and DLL activity in real-time.

learn.microsoft.com

 

[britechguy]

Companies should make it very clear and make the user aware (without having to look at super lengthy fine print) that eventually the activation servers will go offline and you won't be able to activate the program again.

There really are some things that go without saying. I would not expect the versions of Microsoft's Office programs that I used in the 1980s or 1990s to activate anymore if they required communication with an activation server to do so.

Yes, certain activation servers do stay online for some period of time after a given product reaches EOL to allow for reinstalls on older hardware. But presuming that "some period of time" will ever be any longer than 5 years is to have failed to notice what's actually been happening for many, many years now.

I can't imagine how anyone who's been using (and I do mean just using, not a tech) computers over the course of decades has not witnessed the actual, total death of certain software over time. What has the greatest probability of "running forever" (and that's only so long as Windows or whatever OS has the support infrastructure it needs) are tiny, "home grown" utilities. Things like Microsoft Office, Quickbooks, CAD/CAM programs, and the list goes on and on have never, ever, been able to be reactivated "in perpetuity" long after their official EOL dates. I don't understand why, when people seem to get that hardware, even when it still works, doesn't "last forever" as a viable platform for daily use as time goes by and technology changes, that they don't get that the same applies to software.

 

[Philippe]

I would not expect the versions of Microsoft's Office programs that I used in the 1980s or 1990s to activate anymore if they required communication with an activation server to do so.

In the beginning, there was no activation, just serials, disks or manual checks. It all started around Windows XP and the spread of Internet to the general public.
"Activation" is a big step back consumer wise. I still hate it. Next step / Current step is software rental... pitiful

 

[timeshifter]

In the beginning one person bought the software and gave copies to all their friends.

 

[britechguy]

In the beginning one person bought the software and gave copies to all their friends.

Yep. Piracy made simple.

I don't blame software creators one bit for doing whatever is necessary to protect their intellectual property. I also think (as I've clearly stated before) that it's utterly silly to believe that any piece of software you ever installed is going to be magically transportable, across decades, to hardware on which it was never originally intended to run nor licensed upon. Get real!

 

[Philippe]

one person bought the software and gave copies to all their friends.

AFAIK this statement is valid for games & kids and a big old user's manual check or good copy protection on discs was enough to deter them. But businesses are/were afraid of controls, denunciation & fines and they need(ed) support!
Activation is overkill... and useless for those who really want to bypass it. As a legitimate user, is just another unnecessary constraint...
But I guess they made more money out of it

 

[britechguy]

As a legitimate user, is just another unnecessary constraint...

The following is not meant to be nasty, nor dismissive, but it is not you that gets to decide what is, or is not, an unnecessary constraint.

The makers of software decide that. Always have, always will, always should. They are, and should be expected to be, the actual gatekeepers for making sure their software is only used by those legally entitled to do so for the life of the given software (or edition of software) itself.

I've made that assertion from both sides. In the end, if I present whatever it is that the software maker requires to prove I have the right to use that software, and they actually unlock the gate, then I've done what I need to do (presuming I'm not dealing with purloined credentials and keys or presenting as an imposter). It's not up to me to figure out whether the activation credentials I have in my hand are legitimate, it's theirs.

 

[britechguy]

Basically true, though with virtualisation it's certainly possible to keep software running for far longer than even its designers expected.

You'll get no argument from me about this. In fact, I constantly see claims that, "Software X won't run under Windows 10/11," when I have seen with my own eyes that it can and does, and very often not with virtualization nor even compatibility mode. And some of that is not "dirt simple" software.

But "will it run" and "can it still be activated" are two different things. I know of instances where people activated old software they owned under Windows 10 back in 2015, that still runs just fine under Windows 10 (or even 11, when an in-place upgrade has occurred) that they could no longer do this for even if they wanted to. And it's because the activation servers were finally taken offline a number of years after the software itself reached EOL.

Were it reasonable to expect that software activation servers were to be available in perpetuity for every piece of software ever made that needed one, you'd be able to march stuff along on hardware not even dreamed of at the time of its original release to a very great extent. But it's not reasonable to expect software activation servers to be available in perpetuity. Software has a finite service life and, ultimately, for reasons other than activation, you must use what's available now. Clinging to software corpses never serves anyone in the long term.

 

[Philippe]

but it is not you that gets to decide what is, or is not, an unnecessary constraint.

I don't get it. From my end user & tech. perspective, it is "unnecessary constraint", will always be.
E.g. that's why I prefer to buy my games on GOG...

to expect that software activation servers were to be available in perpetuity

This should be clearly stated in the EULA. I don't think it is... (I might be wrong, though )

 

[nlinecomputers]

This should be clearly stated in the EULA. I don't think it is... (I might be wrong, though )

It doesn’t have to be. There’s a reason software is licensed, not sold. You don’t own the software. You don’t even own a copy as you would with a paperback book. You have an open ended license to use the software that states Microsoft can make additions or addendums to. Simply put Microsoft has the right to terminate its license agreement with you at will.

 

[britechguy]

I'm sorry, but any adult, and any adult in the tech field, who does not know, to the core of their being, that it goes without saying that no software will be capable of being used forever, for a variety of reasons, has been living under a rock.

It has never been possible to perpetually authorize any software - any of it. That's not going to change, nor should it.

The only thing that is constant is change, and nowhere is change so constant, and rapid, as in information technology/computing. "Keeping up" is not optional, but required, and that includes software.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Oh and why should Microsoft, or any other software publisher, be bound to something that YOU are also not obligated to use? It is not a contract. You can stop using Windows anytime you want. It's not like a subscription service or a full-blown yearly contract where you are required to pay for a year and they are required to provide the software and support for that time.

 

[Philippe]

it goes without saying that no software will be capable of being used forever,

Well, I still can run 40-year-old software for fun...

"Keeping up" is not optional, but required, and that includes software.

Sure, as a professional I do keep up - of course !!!
As an individual, I take a step back, look at this industry and don't like the way it is going.

Oh and why should Microsoft, or any other software publisher, be bound to something that YOU are also not obligated to use?

When you pay for the license, they are in a legal agreement with you. This is why activation or even Internet requirements are mentioned on the EULA now - at least this side of the pond.
For old software I really don't think any activation limitations were included in the EULA...

 

[britechguy]

Well, I still can run 40-year-old software for fun...

So can I. But were that to suddenly stop, tomorrow, I have no legitimate reason to feel ill-used nor tricked. Things die.

I even get where you're coming from, feelings-wise, but in the end, feelings have never had the slightest thing to do with it. We, the consumers, get what they, the producers, produce and support. That's for cars, appliances, window styles available for homes, and the list goes on and on. Most of these things can, if one is persistent enough, be kept on life support long after they have drifted off into the sunset as far as their manufacturers are concerned. But it's you, the end user, that has always had to make the gyrations to keep it going. No one screams at GM because they no longer produce parts for a 1996 Buick, as but one example. Why would I scream at Microsoft for no longer activating Windows XP or any other software maker for no longer activating a title that ceased to be produced decades ago? I expect just that to happen, regardless of the specific sphere we're talking about.

Folks that have 1905 Rolls-Royces have no right to scream at BMW because they don't produce parts for those cars even though they are the current owner of the brand and producer of current models. That's directly analogous to long out of support software.

 

[nlinecomputers]

When you pay for the license, they are in a legal agreement with you. This is why activation or even Internet requirements are mentioned on the EULA now - at least this side of the pond.
For old software I really don't think any activation limitations were included in the EULA...

Nor are there any activation requirements. If YOU can get the software working in spite of activation issues WHICH IS ONE OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE SOFTWARE. Best of luck to ya. If you can figure out what you need to bypass activation FOR YOURSELF you are free to do so. Microsoft is not obligated to provide ANY support ever. Even for brand-new software.

 

[Philippe]

Why would I scream at Microsoft for no longer activating Windows XP

I'm not screaming at them. They do what they want - granted, but it would have been better - for me - without their activation system.

You know you can have the best of 2 worlds here. Look at what Adobe did with their Creative Suite 2, when they shut down their activation servers: they released a "patch" that only leave the serial requirement, but disable the activation. IMHO the best solution!

 

[Philippe]

Microsoft is not obligated to provide ANY support ever.

Yes they are! It's written in the EULA, and you know it well.

When you buy their products, you are buying support for a predefined period of time (standard support, extended support, etc.). They have to respect that. It's a contract. Think of it as a guarantee, like when you buy a car.

Problem with (old) activation schemes, they did not tell you, * at the time of purchase *, that they will end your capacity to reinstall the software by shutting down their servers...

 

[Philippe]

We, the consumers, get what they, the producers, produce and support.

Not true. You know what the marketing guys say: "give the customers what they want"
If people were really against, said "activation", it would have been removed...

Things die.

From a software/computer/data perspective it's a strange idea...

No one screams at GM because they no longer produce parts for a 1996 Buick, as but one example.

Yes, but they will if they find something was put in their car to prevent them from fixing it.
Something nobody told them about, something without any technical use except deprive them of their "right" to fix their car.