Anyway, a this is very bad point for photolab, because a lot of people choose NoAdobe sofwares because they want to owe what they buy and not rent it !
So, if I understand, we buy licences that will expire some unknown day under the pretext of maintenance of the license server ???
Naaahhh. Not good at all.
Not exactly the same thing here as op, but Iām having license activation issues but Iām dealing with at the moment.
Just bought a new PC (Mac, actually.) The first thing I wanted to try was Photolab 7.
Immediately greeted by license activation issue. (Iāve uninstalled Photolab from all PCs on my houseā¦ But apparently DXO check for new activationsā¦ Doesnāt release old ones on uninstall.)
Apparently they need lots of info to fixā¦ Computer Name, OS (and version number)ā¦ Problem is Iāve reset one of my computers twice this year already and it has different namesā¦ I donāt recall WHAT the previous names were.
Iām now being told they can do nothing without the computer name. They also cannot reset ALL activations for me. I was never told this was a crucial piece of informationā¦ Itās also a VERY bad way to track activations as OS reinstall can change this.
Iām at the point where Iām locked out of using Photolab 7 and support can do (or will do) nothing to assist.
I was planning on an upgrade to PL8 later this yearā¦ But now afraid that it will be wasted moneyā¦ I expect to be locked out of that immediately!
I canāt imagine how much of their support staffsā time must be spent on license resets. No wonder they did develop the new model.
Unfortunately itās kind worse for some of us but better for them.
This is a nasty trap, as even an SSD failure that requires replacing the SSD is obliged to re-activating Dxo because the activation is tied to the SSD serial.
Though Iāve never personally had an activation issue with DxO, this particular problem has come up for other users again and again, for perfectly legitimate reasons, and there is no excuse for DxO not having fixed it yet. OF COURSE DxO should be able to reset all license activations for users who are willing to separately activate each device they want to use.
With the newest PL versions, AFAIK you do not even need to have a disk or computer change. If the license server ceases to work, the software will stop working after around 1 month even if you have made no changes to your computer.
They have put themselves into the position where customers cant ever let them fail whatever they do or we lose what we paid for
We donāt know that, itās mere speculation and itās straying off-topic. Network-based licensing is an industry-wide concern and there are ways of dealing with it in the event of disaster or the cessation of operations. One is redundancy, so that a single server failing wonāt make the system stop working. Another is the transfer of IP to another entity or a change to the licensing system itself (e.g., the history of the Nik Collection).
Two ways: One that makes customers happy, one that makes them unhappy.
Nevertheless, āperpetualā gains another meaningā¦but I think that DxO changed the wording to ānot a subscriptionā.
I had a similar experience this year, where it took over a week for Riley to activate FilmPack. Iām stuck with two licenses for PhotoLab (due to the Nik 3 forced bundle offer, for PhotoLab Basic which I upgraded to PhotoLab Elite). So I have about ā¬1000 of licenses in my account, which only I use. The arrogance and poor service getting me up to speed when I had work to do (had to do it without FineContrast and my usual colour profiles was astounding.
Basically for long term access to our DxO products, we are all dependent on hackers. Very poor work.
I have PL7 Elite license activated on two computers, so I have one āspareā activation.
Is there any deadline for using it?
No, thereās no deadline for using an unused license activation.
Reading of these problems am I right in thinking that if I buy PL8 and other DxO software now for my Intel Mac, and then I buy a new Mac next year, I will have issues activating my existing licences on the new Mac?
Or, which is quite likely, have I misunderstood the recent posts?
I suppose not. Never had any issues as long as I only activated as many devices as you get with your purchase. Elite editions usually come with activations for 3 computers, other Editions will activate the product(s) on 2 computers only.
Thank you for your answer. Iāll only ever be using them on one computer.
ditto 10-27-25 they remotely shut off my opticspro 11 and will not let i be activated again on my old macā¦
clearly a breach of contractā¦
yesā¦ they feel they can pull the plug whenever they want to even if your machine and software still worksā¦
breach of contract.
If you purchased a license for PhotoLab 1 or 2 at an upgrade discount because you own OpticsPro 11, then it isnāt a breach of contract. Your old license is replaced by the new one, according to DxOās terms. If this isnāt the case, then you might be right.
Itās still an extremely user hostile attitude. I donāt care at all for DxOās current us against them (users) stance. And wonāt recommend PhotoLab to others any more based on the poor treatment we get. Why would I invite friends to be treated as shoddily as we are?
I fully understand the frustration.
What Iāve seen the last 10-15 and perhaps even 20 years is that thereās a growing distance between the customerās expectations and the corporationās delivery.
This is not exclusively this or that company but overall and throughout.
We expect something that for us appears naturally or should be obvious. But itās definitely so as the company has a far different view on the matter.
Thereās no alignment anymore and that causes friction which consumes customers faith and brand value of the company.
Hard cold data and statistics might point at it being worth it? Or do they simply have their sight at a too short horizon?
Not sure. But my personal opinion is that itās too short sighted on a current customer relationship perspective and way too focused on customer growth.