Activation Troubleshooting

Please visit the Activation page for a quick guide to activating your Manifold license.

Activation problems arise from simple errors. These are easy to fix by carefully applying the activation instructions. In case of any difficulty with activation, consider the following to eliminate the most common errors:

• Check the serial number - Check the status of the serial number you are attempting to use on the Status Page. This page will report the product authorized by that serial number and how many activations are left on that serial number. If a serial number is invalid, that usually indicates a typographical error. Please make sure to copy and paste the serial number from the original serial number email message. If a serial number has been revoked, that usually indicates it has been traded in on an upgrade, such as a Professional serial number being upgraded to Enterprise. Locate the serial number obtained by upgrade and use that serial number instead.
• Typographical errors - Copy and paste serial numbers from the original serial number email. Do not change the serial number in any way. Do not add spaces or change any characters in any way.
• Wrong serial number - Make sure your serial number is for the product you are trying to activate. You can't activate a Release 8.00 license with a Release 7x serial number. You can't activate a Manifold System installation using the serial number for an extension. You can't activate an x64 license with a 32-bit serial number.
• Wrong system date - Your system date must be accurate. Manifold will not accept serial numbers or Activation keys if the system date is not reasonably accurate.
• No Activation key - A serial number will work by itself for 30 days after the date of issue. After that, you must get an Activation key as well.
• Wrong machine - A serial number and Activation key pair are good for one machine and one machine only. You can't use a serial number and Activation key on a different machine.
• Expired Activation key - An Activation key is good for one machine for 72 hours only. When you get an Activation key, use it within 72 hours. If you ever need to re-install Manifold on the same machine, you cannot re-use an Activation key obtained more than 72 hours previously. You'll need to get a new Activation key.
• Activation keys all used up - This is a sales issue, not a tech issue. A serial number can get five activations, which is plenty for most people if they install on only one machine as the license allows. If all of the activations have been used up, you'll need to procure a new license. See the Activation Frequently Asked Questions page.
• Same key every 24 hours - You must wait at least 24 hours before getting a different Activation key for the same serial number. This is to discourage piracy and to save people from accidentally using up their Activation keys.
• Not Administrator - You must be logged in as the Administrator account in Windows 7 or Windows Vista and must have true Administrator privileges in Windows 2008 or 2003, XP and 2000. Perplexed that Manifold says you aren't Administrator in Windows 7 or Vista when you think you are? See the Administrator Login page.

For even more detail, see the Activation Frequently Asked Questions page for a comprehensive list of questions and answers.

When installing or activating Manifold, you must have a standard Windows installation in operation. Some registry "protectors," third party uninstall programs, network supervisors and other "value added" supervisory programs running on top of Windows may interfere with the installation and/or activation process. Temporarily turn off third party virus programs as well. Manifold software and these instructions assume you are running an unmodified Windows installation as shipped by Microsoft. If your organization's IT department has installed special software on your computer to prevent you from installing software, that may prevent you from installing or activating Manifold as well.

Getting Assistance with Activation

All serial number and activation questions are handled by email.

If the tips in the above list do not help, the fastest way to solve any activation problem is to read and apply the instructions in the Activation Keys and Serial Numbers help topic. This topic also provides more detailed troubleshooting information within an extensive FAQ. Even though tech support responds very rapidly to activation questions it is still much faster to carefully read even a long topic to get the answer right away.

Please see the Activation Support page for information on contacting tech support for priority assistance with any serial number or activation question. No tech support token is required for activation questions using the given procedure. Activation questions for Runtime licenses require a developer level support token.

For general information on technical support for Manifold System, please see the main Support page.