7x Upgrade - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

This page provides answers for Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) involving an upgrade to Manifold System Release 7x from Manifold 6.50.   See the News page for more information on Release 7x.

For a limited time period, 6.50 licensees may upgrade their Manifold System licenses to 7x for $150 per license, and may upgrade any Manifold System extension licenses (Business Tools or Surface Tools extensions) for $25 per extension license.  All upgrade offers from 6.50 to 7x terminate on 1 May 2007. Upgrade assistance terminates on that day as well.  6.50 licensees should not procrastinate - get 7x now while it is a discounted upgrade! 

Very Important: There is no assistance of any kind with installation or activation questions arising from upgrades to 7x unless you have acquired a Manifold 7x DVD (Media Only) product.  This assistance terminates on 1 May 2007 even if you have acquired a Manifold 7x DVD (Media Only) product.  6.50 licensees who have upgraded to 7x should not procrastinate: please resolve all issues with installation or activation before 1 May 2007.

This seems complicated. Is there a simple way to get 7x without having to read this FAQ? Yes, of course! Simply buy the 7x licenses you wish as a new product for the regular, non-discounted price.  If you want to save money by upgrading 6.50 licenses instead of buying new licenses, you must apply the simple steps for upgrading covered in this FAQ.  This FAQ covers a lot of ground because different people may have many different combinations of Manifold products they would like to upgrade, and we would like to provide details to enable each customer to upgrade at the lowest possible cost.  A few additional details are required because the 7x product line is different in certain key ways (new editions, new extension, etc.) from the 6.50 product line.

I thought I could upgrade from 6.50 to 7x for free? That was possible until January 15, 2007, at which point the upgrade increased in cost to $50 until March 15, 2007, on which date the price of the upgrade increased yet again to $150.  Free upgrades were available for many months, and the subsequent increases in price were widely advised on this website and on Manifold online user communities, with numerous encouragements to 6.50 licensees to take advantage of the upgrade offer while it was free.

Do I have an unlimited time to trade in my 6.50 serial number for a 7x serial number? No. The free offer is a special offer that ended on January 15, 2007. Likewise, further discounted offers are limited in time.  On and after 15 March the price for the upgrade goes to $150; however, that special offer can disappear at any time thereafter.  In particular, such special offers will normally disappear well before whatever next major edition of Manifold is released.  Please, do not procrastinate - get your upgrades before price increases.

What happened on January 15, 2007? The web pages allowing free exchange of 6.50 serial numbers for 7x serial numbers disappeared.  On and after that date an Online Store product appeared allowing trade-in of 6.50 serial numbers for 7x serial numbers for a fee.

How do I upgrade 6.50 to 7x on or after January 15, 2007? After that date all upgrades require the purchase of the new Upgrade to 7x product on the Manifold Online Store.  When you buy that product, the checkout process will give you an opportunity to provide a valid 6.50 serial number to exchange for the new 7x license.

Are upgrades for extensions still free? No.  On January 15, 2007, the price of upgrading an extension to a 7x extension increased to $25, by purchasing the new Upgrade to 7x Extension product on the Manifold Online Store.  When you buy that product, the checkout process will give you an opportunity to provide a valid 6.50 extension serial number to exchange for the new 7x extension license.

So, now if I want to upgrade 6.50 Professional with Business Tools and Surface Tools to 7x equivalents before March 15, 2007, it will cost me $100? Correct.  That's $50 for upgrading 6.50 Professional to 7x Professional plus $25 each to upgrade the extensions to 7x equivalents.

And suppose I also had the Geocoding Data extension, would it then cost me an additional $25 as well?  No, it will cost you an additional $50.  The reason is that Geocoding Data in 6.50 was not an extension; rather, this product provided a data set needed to work with the geocoder already built into Manifold.  The 7x product line is different in that all street address geocoding functions have become part of a new extension, Geocoding Tools, which also has additional features such as rapid creation of maps from the geocoding database. 

Suppose I already have Release 7.00 installed.  What do I do?  7x is just another update for 7.00 if you already have 7.00.  It has a different name to emphasize that it has new functions and options available (such as an option for new 64-bit core technology), but as far as 7.00 users are concerned it is just another update, like updating from build 428 to build 429.  Simply download the 7x update the way you would any other update to 7.00.  See the update page for links.  Next, uninstall 7.00 and then install the 7x update the way you would any update.  7x automatically recognizes your 7.00 activation status.

I don't have 7.00 but I am upgrading from 6.50... How do I get the 7x upgrade? This depends on what you mean by "get".  In order to upgrade a 6.50 installation to a 7x installation there are two things you must have in hand:

You must have a 7x license, that is, you must have a 7x serial number.  Get this by purchasing the Upgrade to 7x product on the Online Store.

You must have a 7x installation package, that is, you must have an actual 7x .msi installation file you can use to install 7x. This must be obtained on a Manifold 7x DVD (Media Only) product, which is available on the Online Store for a nominal fee.

Trade-ins of a 6.50 license to a 7x license are not "bundled" with shipment of a Manifold 7x DVD (Media Only) product (and vice versa) because many Manifold licensees want it that way.  A Manifold licensee with a few hundred 6.50 licenses doesn't need or want to buy a few hundred 7x DVDs.  Such a licensee normally wants to upgrade the 6.50 licenses to 7x licenses to get the serial numbers required, and then will purchase only a handful of 7x DVDs to use for installations.   Conversely, a licensee who has a damaged or lost 7x DVD might want to buy a replacement without needing any additional licenses.

Note that simply buying a Manifold 7x DVD (Media Only) product does not get you a 7x license.  In addition to the DVD you will need a 7x serial number to activate the 7x installation.  You can trade in your 6.50 serial number to get an equivalent 7x serial number by buying the Upgrade to 7x product on the Online Store.  You will also have to trade in any extensions you have by buying the requisite number of Upgrade to 7x Extension products on the Online Store and trading in your 6.50 or pre-6.50 extension serial numbers to get 7x serial numbers.  You can then activate your 7x installation using your 7x serial number, and you can activate your extensions using the 7x extension serial numbers.  Note that even if you have previously purchased Geocoding Data, 7x requires purchase of a Geocoding Tools extension to enable street address geocoding. 

I am a 6.50 licensee and I want to move to full 64-bit operation... what must I do? Read the 32-bit and 64-bit Manifold Editions topic in Help for computer system hardware and operating system requirements.  Next, upgrade your 6.50 license to a 7x license as noted above.  Once your order has been processed and you have received your new 7x serial number, visit the Online Store and spend $50 to buy the Upgrade to 7x x64 product.  You'll need your new 7x serial number during the Check Out process to qualify for that discounted upgrade product.  When your order is processed, an x64 serial number will be sent to you.  Install the x64 version of 7x from your 7x DVD.  Activate it using your new x64 serial number.

My 6.50 serial number doesn't work when I attempt to trade it for a 7x serial number.  What's wrong? It's not a valid serial number. We recommend using copy and paste from the original 6.50 serial number email to avoid typographic errors.  Check the status of your serial number (see below) to see if it has been revoked.  Serial numbers get revoked for a variety of reasons.  The most frequent reason is that the serial number has already been traded in on some upgrade in the past.  Serial numbers will auto-revoke if you have violated the license by operating the same serial number on more than one computer. Serial numbers also get revoked if you charged back your purchase or failed to pay a PO.

I don't know if I have a valid 6.50 serial number.  How can I check the status of a serial number? Visit the serial number status page to check.

I want all the stuff on the DVD but I also want to get going with 7x right away.  Can I download and install 7x now and also get the DVD? No.  You must buy and receive delivery of a Manifold 7x DVD (Media Only) product.

Can I get a free 7x download if I don't have 6.50 or if I have a previous Manifold edition? No. In that case you must buy a 7x license at the regular price.

But, I am a Manifold 6.00 licensee and I didn't hear about 6.50. Don't you feel you should give me 7x for free? No. Just like car manufacturers don't give you a free 2007 model because you bought a 2004 model, manifold.net does not in general give out free copies of new products.  Release 6.50 was promoted to 6.00 licensees in a series of special offers that were available for almost a year.  Between coverage in the press, features in the Manifold web site, extensive discussion on Internet forums for Manifold users and even direct emails sent to 6.00 licensees  there was a fair and reasonable effort to try to convince 6.00 licensees to upgrade to 6.50, even going so far as to offer outstanding financial incentives to do so. It's unfortunate if some 6.00 licensees did not hear of the special offers or had a spam filter set up that nuked upgrade notices or chose to ignore them, but that's the nature with any special offer. Automobile manufacturers, for example, will sometimes offer special financing or special discounts for a limited time to encourage people to begin buying a new model.  There will always be some people who missed the sale or later on regret not having taken advantage of a special offer.  Release 7x includes an automatic update availability notification service so that once you upgrade to 7x you can automate the process of checking for a new update.

But, I am a Manifold 6.50 licensee and I never got an email telling me about 7.00 or 7x.  Don't you feel you should give me 7x for free?  No. Just like airlines and other businesses have special rewards they give to their "frequent flyers," manifold.net  wanted to reward those people who were active participants in Manifold online communities.  The special free offer for 7x was intended to reward people who are both actively using Manifold and who are also participating in giving feedback on new Manifold features in Manifold online communities, to reward them for their "early adopter" service to the Manifold user community.  If you don't participate in those communities the free offer was not intended as a gift to you; however, to simplify administration it was nonetheless granted to anyone who heard of it.  The upgrade to 7x was widely discussed in all Manifold online communities for many months.  It is not possible that someone who was an active participant in those online communities did not hear about it.  If you were not an active participant in those communities, then this particular reward offer was not intended for you.  Keep in mind that people who are active participants in Manifold online user communities and those who are "early adopters" of new releases play a very important role in serving all Manifold users.  They are the first to start using new technology, the first to suggest refinements in new features and the first to find whatever bugs make it through the quality assurance process.  Their early use of new Manifold technology helps support other users and it helps manifold.net create updates very soon after a new release that fix bugs and makes alterations in new features to help make the new technology work better for all users.  Folks who are only now diving into 7x will get the benefit of hundreds of improvements prompted by the experience of those early adopters.  It's only right that those early adopters got the benefit of a special incentive.

I am not a Manifold licensee but I would like to get started right away.  Can I order Manifold 7x and then download it and get going without waiting for the DVD to arrive? No.

Must I uninstall 6.50 before installing the 7x upgrade?  Yes.  If you have anything special stored in the 6.50 installation folders, back it up to a different folder before installing 7x.

Must 6.50 be installed on a computer before installing the 7x upgrade? No.  The 7x upgrade can install on a fresh computer that has not had Manifold previously installed.  However, if you have 6.50 installed on a different computer and are now installing 7x on a fresh computer you must uninstall every 6.50 license used to get a 7x serial number because any such 6.50 license has had its serial number revoked.  It's risky business running with a revoked serial number, since it is only a matter of time before the system detects a licensing violation for both the revoked 6.50 serial number as well as the derivative 7x serial number. If a licensing violation is detected the 7x serial number will be auto-revoked.

What Manifold System edition do I get with my 7x serial number? The same Manifold System edition as the 6.50 serial number traded in.  If you trade in a 6.50 Professional serial number you get a 7x Professional serial number.  If you trade in a 6.50 Universal Runtime serial number you get a 7x Universal Runtime serial number.  Note that all 7x serial numbers obtained by trading in a 6.50 serial number are regular, 32-bit 7x serial numbers.

In addition to upgrading to 7x, can I also upgrade the Manifold System edition, such as upgrading a 6.50 Professional license to a 7x Enterprise license.  If such an upgrade path is supported within the 7x family of products, yes. For example, 7x Professional can be upgraded to 7x Enterprise, but there is no upgrade option from 7x Professional to 7x Database Administrator. If you want to upgrade a 6.50 license to 7x and also upgrade to a higher level edition, such as upgrading to 64-bit operation or upgrading a Professional edition license to Enterprise Edition, that is a two step operation: first buy the upgrade for 6.50 to 7x and then next use the 7x Professional serial number you receive to buy whatever is the desired upgrade within the 7x product line, for example, an upgrade to Enterprise.

How do I get a 7x serial number?  There are two ways: either buy a new 7x license at the regular price or, if you qualify for an upgrade and agree to all terms and conditions of the upgrade, visit the Online Store and buy the Upgrade to 7x product. To use the upgrade path you must have a valid 6.50 serial number to acquire a 7x serial number that is required for your 7x installation to function.   See the Lost Serial Numbers section below if you have lost your 6.50 serial number.

Very Important Information when Upgrading:

• You must provide an original, valid Manifold System Release 6.50 serial number.  You can check your serial number at the serial number status page to make sure it is what you think it is and that it has not been revoked.
• The serial number version masked off with a series of X characters shown in Help - About is not the original serial number and will not work.  The masked version shown in Help - About is deliberately masked off with X characters to prevent your serial number from being stolen by people with physical access to your computer.  It shows enough characters so you can keep track of which of your serial numbers is installed on which machine (if you have more than one serial number) but to keep your serial number secure it does not show all of the serial number digits.  Use the original serial number sent to you.  It's best to Copy it from wherever you have stored a safe copy and Paste it into the serial number box in the web site form.  Make sure when copying and pasting you copy and paste all the characters in the serial number.
• You must use a Manifold System serial number.  Attempting to use serial numbers issued for Business Tools or Surface Tools will not work to get a Manifold System 7x serial number.  Instead, serial numbers for extensions will get 7x extension serial numbers.
• You must use a Manifold 6.50 serial number.  Attempting to use a serial number issued for Manifold System 5.50, for example, will not work.
• If you originally licensed Manifold System 6.00 and then upgraded to 6.50 using an Upgrade to 6.50 product, use the 6.50 serial number that was sent to you for your license.,
• If you originally licensed Manifold System 6.50 Professional Edition and then upgraded to Enterprise Edition, use the most recent, 6.50 Enterprise Edition serial number that was sent to you.
• If you had a Business Tools or Surface Tools license installed on your 6.50 machine, you will need to trade in those serial numbers for 7x equivalents using exactly the same procedure as trading in your main Manifold System license.

Is the 7x upgrade downloadable?  No.  You'll need a Manifold 7x DVD (Media Only) product for installation, which may be obtained for a nominal fee on the Online Store.

Does this mean anyone who has my serial number can download an upgrade and get a 7x serial number with my serial number? Yes.  If someone has access to your serial number they can use it instead of you.  Each 6.50 serial number can be used to get one 7x serial number.

Suppose I fail to save the new 7x serial number given to me by the web page when I trade in my 6.50.  Am I in trouble? Yes, if you consider having to spend $35 to use a Key Recovery service "trouble." If you lose your new 7x serial number you can buy a Key Recovery service product to try to get it back. This almost always works if it has not been too long since your 7x serial number was issued. Avoid brain fades: take a moment to save your new 7x serial number in a safe place.

What happens to my 6.50 serial number after I use it to obtain an 7x serial number? The 6.50 serial number is revoked and can no longer be used to fetch Activation keys.  To avoid problems with license auto-cancellation, do not attempt to continue running a system using that 6.50 serial number.  For example, if you have an older machine running 6.50, after using that 6.50 serial number to get a 7x serial number do not continue to run 6.50 on that older machine while installing 7x on a newer machine using your new 7x serial number.   Note that if you have many machines running 6.50 and you plan to upgrade them all to 7x, then you do not need to keep track of which 6.50 serial number was used to get which 7x serial number.  If you have ten 6.50 machines you can take the ten 6.50 serial numbers you have and trade them in for ten 7x serial numbers, and then use the ten resulting 7x serial numbers to upgrade the ten machines you are running. 

I have been using 6.50 and since I used it to get a 7x serial number my 6.50 serial number no longer works.  What's wrong? Nothing - that is what is supposed to happen. When you use a 6.50 serial number to acquire a 7x serial number, you are replacing that 6.50 license with a 7x license.  When the new 7x serial number is issued for the upgrade, the old 6.50 serial number is revoked and can no longer be used for fetching Activation keys.  Use your new 7x serial number to activate your 7x installation.

I have 6.50 installed and when I try to upgrade it to 7x using the 7x serial number sent to me it doesn't work.  What's wrong? Nothing - 7x serial numbers can only work with a 7x installation.  Providing a 7x serial number to a 6.50 installation does not turn it into 7x software.  This makes sense if you think about it, since getting a 7x serial number to somehow turn on 7x features within a 6.50 installation could not be done without time travel. The 6.50 installation was created months before 7x was created and published on DVD, so there's nothing on your computer that's 7x-ish which can be activated by a 7x serial number until you install Manifold 7x from a Manifold 7x DVD.

Are there different prices for upgrades depending on whether you have Professional or, say, Universal?  No.  The same free download or 7x upgrade DVD product, for the same price, will upgrade any 6.50 edition.  The only thing that matters is the 7x serial number you use when activating the 7x installation. What determines the level of the 7x serial number you get from the trade-in web page is the level of the 6.50 serial number you trade in.  If you provide a Universal 6.50 serial number, you will get a 7x Universal serial number.  If you provide a Professional 6.50 serial number you will get a 7x Professional serial number.

I placed my 7x upgrade DVD order and did not receive a confirmation email.  Is that OK? Yes.  The online store no longer sends confirmation emails since these were confusing numerous customers who did not understand these were different than serial number emails or shipping notification emails.  Instead, if you see a Confirmation page and the store gives you an order number you know that your order has been accepted for processing.

I see there are changes in the product line.  If I trade in a 6.50 Professional serial number will the 7x Professional serial number I get still enable IMS to run? Yes.

Will my geocoding functionality continue to function after I upgrade to 7x? No. You will have to buy the Geocoding Tools extension. 

Will my Business Tools or Surface Tools extensions continue to function after I upgrade to 7x? Not automatically, no.  You must perform an additional step to get them turned on.  You will have to locate your original Business Tools and Surface Tools serial numbers, trade them in for 7x Business Tools or 7x Surface Tools serial numbers by purchasing an Upgrade to 7x Extension product for each such serial number and then use those 7x Business Tools or 7x Surface Tools serial numbers in the Help - Activate Extension dialog to turn on the Tools extensions in 7x.

Will 6.50 be continued for sale? No. 6.50 was discontinued for sale at the end of 2006.

Can I purchase the Manifold 7x DVD (Media Only) product if I do not have Manifold 6.50?  No.  You must be a Manifold 6.50 or 7x licensee to acquire a Manifold 7x DVD (Media Only) product

Is there a discounted upgrade from 4.50 or 5.00 or 5.50 or 6.00 to 7x?  No.  There were discounted upgrades at each of these steps that have long ago expired. 

If I order more than one 7x DVD do I have to pay a $5 shipping fee on each?  Yes, if you want a DVD for each and if you place them as separate orders.  Otherwise, multiple units tend to be relatively inexpensive to ship because single DVDs do not add much weight or bulk to orders.

Can I order faster shipping that postal service?  Yes.  When you order a Manifold 7x DVD (Media Only) product you can choose a Federal Express shipping option, which will be priced higher.

What about Runtime Editions?  Runtime licenses use exactly the same licensing procedure.  If you provide a runtime 6.50 serial number, you will get an 7x upgrade runtime serial number.

I have 6.50 Professional Edition and I would like to upgrade to 7x Enterprise Edition.  How do I accomplish that?  That is a two step process:  first, trade in your 6.50 Professional serial number for a 7x Professional serial number.  Next, visit the Online Store and order the Upgrade to 7x Enterprise product.  When that order processes and you receive your new 7x Enterprise serial number. Install 7x from the 7x DVD and then activate it using your 7x Enterprise serial number.

Can I upgrade Enterprise Edition or some other edition to Database Administrator Edition? No.  You must acquire a fresh Database Administrator Edition license.  Note that this question usually indicates a misunderstanding.  Database Administrator Edition is normally used by customers who have more than just a few licenses.  If they already have 6.50 Enterprise Edition licenses they will want to migrate those to 7x and then in addition acquire Database Administrator Edition licenses for their IT personnel in charge of their centralized geospatial databases.  If you only have one Enterprise Edition license you probably don't need Database Administrator Edition (although some individuals with large data holdings will indeed work with Database Administrator Edition even if they only have one or two Manifold licenses).

I want Database Administrator Edition but I also want the "Tools" extensions. How do I do that? Acquire an Ultimate Edition license. Get it all for one low fee.

I have extensions acquired before 6.50.  Do these work with 7x? No. You can, however, trade in any extension serial number (even from before 6.50, like a 6.00 Surface Tools serial number) to get a 7x serial number for that extension.  For example, if you first licensed Business Tools when you acquired a 6.00 licenses, if you upgraded to 6.50 then the new 6.50 installation automatically recognized that older Business Tools activation status or serial number.  7x won't do that, but you can trade in that old Business Tools serial number to get a shiny new 7x Business Tools serial number to use in your 7x installation.

I have a 6.50  Academic License - How do I upgrade that to 7x?  Send an email to sales@manifold.net asking for your 6.50 Academic License to be upgraded to 7x.  Such upgrades will be done at no charge using License Server and will take a few weeks to process.  Note that this free upgrade is for your licenses: you will still need to acquire at least one 7x DVD that you can use to install 7x.  To do so, visit the Online Store and order the Manifold 7x DVD product for $35.  That will get you a 7x DVD from which you can install 7x for use with your Academic License.

I have a 5.00 or 4.50 Academic License - How do I upgrade that to 7x? Order 7x Professional and then after you receive the DVD send an email to sales@manifold.net asking for your Academic License to be upgraded to 7x.

I am having some navigation problems using the Online Store: when I go to checkout it pops me back to the product list (or other nav problems). What's going on?  The three most likely possibilities:  1) The store depends upon mild use of cookies to save people from circular loop navigation, as is possible with some browsers when hitting combinations of controls in the store and browser Back and Forward buttons. If you have cookies disabled or are using very atypical browser settings it cannot work right.  Using IE 5.5 or 6.0, set your cookie privacy settings to medium (the default) or low and then place the order.  2) It could also be that the session you were using to place orders has expired. If you do not do anything with the website for 20 minutes or so, the server assumes that you have ended the connection and discards all data it has received.  3) It could be that the Online Store  has been upgraded in the middle of your transaction. This is extremely rare since, while  upgrades are used to add various new features to the website, most of them do not require ending and restarting all sessions that are currently in process.  Nonetheless this is something that could happen.  If you wait a few minutes and try your transaction again it will go through OK if the problem was a store upgrade in the middle of your transaction.  Note that the Online Store is "fail safe" - if you don't see a Confirmation screen with an order number provided you can be sure you did not actually place an order.

Lost Serial Numbers

I have lost my 6.50 serial number.  Can manifold.net send me a new serial number?   No, but manifold.net may be able to recover your previous serial number for a fee.  If you can receive email at an email address that is an match to the email address to an order placed, you can use the Limited Key Recovery service in the Online Store to attempt to recover your lost serial number for a fee of $35. Do not order this product without first reading the Key Recovery Service Instructions - by ordering this product you agree to the terms and conditions set forth in that web page.

What if my email address has changed since I ordered 6.50 but I neglected to send in a change of address email, and I lost my 6.50 serial number?  If your email has changed since you ordered 6.50  then you cannot use the Limited Key Recovery service but may be able to utilize the Extended Key Recovery service for a fee of $75 via the Online Store.  Do not order this product without first reading the Key Recovery Service Instructions - by ordering this product you agree to the terms and conditions set forth in that web page.

Why do you charge a fee for key recovery?  Didn't you use to do that for free? - Anyone who possesses a Manifold serial number can use that serial number to get Activation keys for that serial number or to order a discounted 7x upgrade product.  Activation keys are valuable parts of the Manifold System license and the ability to save potentially hundreds of dollars in an 7x upgrade (as is the case when upgrading an Enterprise or Universal license) is also valuable.  To protect these benefits for Manifold licensees, manifold.net has always taken measures to prevent unauthorized people from stealing your serial numbers.  However, the security measures used to protect against theft of serial numbers have changed with the introduction of 7x.

The previous security system used by manifold.net used a higher degree of human involvement which provided a greater degree of flexibility in matters such as key recovery because it allowed certain informal methods by manifold.net personnel. A downside of that system's flexibility was the human involvement, which could potentially open the door to mistakes and other security threats. By requiring a high degree of human involvement that system also imposed numerous annoyances upon customers, such as the need to keep customer records updated with change of address notices in order to retain the ability to use technical support incidents.  Many users complained about the administrative burden that system imposed.

To provide better customer service the earlier security system was replaced with a new, higher security system on 25 July, 2005, for the 7x roll-out and all prior information was moved into the new security system.  The new system also provides much higher security and, more importantly, allows users to key in their serial numbers directly for routine activities such as 7x upgrades and use of technical support incidents.  This eliminates the need to notify manifold.net of any changes in licensing details. The new system uses new methods to secure manifold.net serial numbers against theft which are so strong that for all purposes serial numbers and technical support tokens can now be directly utilized by Manifold licensees without the need for human intervention from manifold.net staff.  That makes it a lot easier for customers to get certain benefits impossible under the old system and to avoid annoyances inflicted by the old system.

Under the previous system the name and email address were determinative to identify a licensee, which caused numerous customer complaints in matters such as using technical support services or transferring a license from a reseller to a customer.  Under the new system, possession of the serial number is determinative of customer identity and rights to the license.  There is no need to notify manifold.net of license transfers to retain rights to technical support or upgrades.  This greatly simplifies usage of customer rights in numerous scenarios, such as large organizations,  reseller activities, contractors assisting in installation or configuration of licenses and so on.

However, like any good security system, the new system for preventing theft of Manifold serial numbers would not be any good if it could be easily broken.  It's just like investing in a good lock - if it really is a good lock and you lose the key to that lock you have serious trouble.  If it were easy to break open the lock without a key, or if it were easy to create a key copy without knowing what the original key looked like, then the lock would not be a very secure or reliable lock.

Because the old system had a high degree of human involvement no matter what the task, it often was possible with the old system to recover and resend a serial number for older Manifold editions without unusual labor involved.  For that reason, if someone requested a serial number recovery it was often the case that sales personnel could achieve a recovery with little additional effort and could arrange a resending of the serial number email at no charge. This is no longer possible with the new system, since the same enhanced security measures that enable direct customer utilization of serial numbers prevent the previous informal measures. 

With the new system, it is such a strong lock that it takes significant effort to even attempt a recovery.  If the serial number request is for identically the same email address that was used for the older Manifold serial number, it is almost always possible to recover it and resend it using a relatively constrained amount of human effort, hence the $35 fee for the Limited Key Recovery service.  If the email address has changed, then a much larger amount of human effort must be expended to recover and resend the serial number, hence the $75 fee for the Extended Key Recovery service.

If I lose my 7x serial number, can it be recovered?  Most likely, but only if the email address has not changed.  Using the Limited Key Recovery service for $35 a 7x serial number can be resent to the same email address used for the original 7x order.  Make sure you place your Limited Key Recovery service order using identically the same email address that was used for your 7x order.

What happens if I change my email address?  Then you should be especially careful not to lose your 7x serial number.  If you lose your 7x serial number and can no longer use the email address you used to order 7x, then your serial number quite likely may be permanently lost.  The only way to see is by venturing the $75 fee for the Extended Key Recovery service.

Can you recover Technical Support tokens?  No.  Technical Support tokens are not recoverable in any case.

Place your order today for Upgrade to 7x, Upgrade to 7x Extension and Manifold 7x DVD (Media Only) products on the Manifold Online Store.