Program activation lost

anaron · 08 May 2012

Got a problem with two programs, Revo Uninstaller & RegAce, randomly losing their activation. This has been an ongoing problem for several months. I first thought it was my maintenance/cleanup programs but after extensive testing, those are not the issue as I cannot forcibly recreate the issue. Thought it might be Windows updates but again, I cannot recreate the issue by restoring a clean image and manually installing/restarting computer on each update (in same order they were automatically installed) that are installed about the same time as the issue occurs.

I have ran out of ideas of what to look for. Any suggestions?

Ron Burnes

Dwarf · 08 May 2012

Hi Ron,

After about what period of time do the programs start to lose their activation status? This does sound like a registry problem (many programs store activation/registration details in the registry, albeit in encrypted form and sometimes in seemingly irrelevant locations). I note that one of the programs you mentioned is RegAce, which I assume is a register cleaner. Many of us here, myself included, don't recommend the use of this type of program at all, as the potential to cause far more problems than they solve is high. Even with a well-known program such as CCleaner, we advise against the registry cleaning function.

Sir George · 08 May 2012

anaron said:

Got a problem with two programs, Revo Uninstaller & RegAce, randomly losing their activation. This has been an ongoing problem for several months. I first thought it was my maintenance/cleanup programs but after extensive testing, those are not the issue as I cannot forcibly recreate the issue. Thought it might be Windows updates but again, I cannot recreate the issue by restoring a clean image and manually installing/restarting computer on each update (in same order they were automatically installed) that are installed about the same time as the issue occurs.

I have ran out of ideas of what to look for. Any suggestions?

Ron Burnes

+1 for what Dwarf said about registry cleaners. Stop using RegAce and test the results. I just viewed a video for RegAce and it didn't show a pop-up, prior to removing the discovered items, to backup the existing registry. Does the program prompt for a backup?

karlsnooks · 08 May 2012

Another vote to get rid of RegAce.

WOT (Web of Trust) gives RegAce a red circle which, in practical terms means, avoid like the plague.

anaron · 08 May 2012

Registry cleaners are extremely dangerous in the wrong hands however, for the past 25 years, I have been a firm believer in registry cleaners and have had very good results with the right ones. By design or maybe lack of design, Windows computers are notoriously bad at keeping the registry clean. I definitely understand and respect the anti reg cleaner train of thought so we can just agree to disagree.

As to RegAce, I am test running the program at the request one of my customers who wants to know of any issues before they install on their company computers. I am quite aware of most all the web reviews on RegAce. Reviews of any program are what they are as they are written by humans. Good reviews, bad reviews and phoney reviews exist for any program ever put out, but they can give ideas as to what to look at or test.

Sir George, it does have the option to create a restore point which is done automatically before any cleaning.

karlsnooks, I'll check WOT & RegAce. Thought WOT was a ranking site for safety levels of websites. Had no idea that they were also computer program reviewers! Learn something new everyday!

Dwarf, there is absolutely no pattern what so ever as to the period of time before the programs lose their activation. Might be a month then might be the same day. The only common denominator I have found is that both programs lose activation at the same time. If I can discover it relatively soon, nothing out of the normal appears with the computer. I can say that it is not cleaning programs as I have extensively tested this area in an attempt to recreate the issue but cannot. There is most definitely a conflict that I have been unable to find. Not good on my end as that is my job, find what causes problems with computers or programs but this one has me totally stumped.

Ron Burnes

anaron · 08 May 2012

Sorry Sir George, just notice that I did not complete the reply to you. Yes in addition to auto restore point, they have an automatic back up for each cleaning session.

Ron Burnes

Sir George · 08 May 2012

anaron said:

Sorry Sir George, just notice that I did not complete the reply to you. Yes in addition to auto restore point, they have an automatic back up for each cleaning session.

Ron Burnes

Thanks for the follow up.