Finale says I am unregistered...

[gary-duane]

Gary-Duane:

A suggestion I might make, you mentioned earlier updating all your old Finale files and being stuck if nothing works in Finale 25.

I never just update all my old files. I always create a new directory with the older files copied into a new directory.
For example, I still use Finale 2012 for certain things. However, I've installed and use Finale 25 for most of my projects now.

I have a "Finale 2012 files" directory, and an almost identical "Finale 25 files" directory. The files in the latter get opened in Finale 25, and updated. The files in the former only ever get opened in Finale 2012. All I did was copy all the contents (files and subfolders, etc...) of the "Finale 2012 files" folder into the new "Finale 25" directory.

This saves a LOT of headaches.

I always update any file with this format:

-170728-0x

I instantly know what year, month and day - and what version on that day - I last made a change.

However, I am updating dozens of files on a daily basis. In other words, I never get rid of old versions, but once I've spent a lot of time on something, of course I don't want to go back unless I have a major problem - such as either a corrupt file.

That's my single reason for sticking with Finale 2012. It is the most stable/useful version I've used.

However, one huge advantage to the newer program - Windows 10 likes more detail on the screen, which for viewing files is excellent. But when you size something bigger, to fill the screen, it does not resize the small squares we have to click on for things like sizing point or to remove things. So everything got "shrunk" in Win10, making such details smaller on the screen. The new version of Finale is more compatible with my screen.

[MikeHalloran]

The new version of Finale is more compatible with my screen.

Finale is certainly experiencing some growing pains in this regard. As 4K and 5K screens become more commonplace, MM is going to have to do something that looks right on any display at any resolution. MOTU needs to do the same with Digital Performer, too.

The only thing about that which is certain is that older MM products will not be upgraded when this day finally arrives as it must. Not holding my breath that 25 is going to get it.

For that matter, I'm not certain that 25 is due for another unpaid upgrade now that MusicXML 3.1 is here. I will speculate that we might see a maintenance update or two as Microsoft and Apple tweak their OSs but a feature upgrade—anything we were promised in 25 that we haven't seen yet? Does anyone know?

For myself, I do not miss the bad old days of annual paid $99–$129 upgrades even with free t-shirts. Not one bit.

[gary-duane]

Well, the same thing happened again. Finale again says that I am unregistered, and this time when I tried to put the license number back in, which worked just a couple days ago, it rejected it. I am officially unregistered, again.

So I'm baffled. Thank GOD I never saved anything with the new program...

[miker]

Sorry you're having the problem again. Fortunately, any work you would have done would not have been lost.

[motet]

You could ask your friend to save his or her file in 2012 format and you would be able to work on it with 2012.

[MikeHalloran]

You could ask your friend to save his or her file in 2012 format and you would be able to work on it with 2012.

Yea... it's one of those things that seems so obvious but, if it hasn't been pointed out, one might not know.

MusicXML is good, especially 3.1 with the new Dolet 7 plugin for 2009—2014.5 but Motet's suggestion is better in this case.

Slightly OT:
As I regularly exchange .xml files, I am really liking 3.1. Even apps that haven't adopted yet (pretty much everyone else so far) benefit if the file is exported using it.

[gary-duane]

The new version of Finale is more compatible with my screen.

Finale is certainly experiencing some growing pains in this regard. As 4K and 5K screens become more commonplace, MM is going to have to do something that looks right on any display at any resolution. MOTU needs to do the same with Digital Performer, too.

The only thing about that which is certain is that older MM products will not be upgraded when this day finally arrives as it must. Not holding my breath that 25 is going to get it.

For that matter, I'm not certain that 25 is due for another unpaid upgrade now that MusicXML 3.1 is here. I will speculate that we might see a maintenance update or two as Microsoft and Apple tweak their OSs but a feature upgrade—anything we were promised in 25 that we haven't seen yet? Does anyone know?

For myself, I do not miss the bad old days of annual paid $99–$129 upgrades even with free t-shirts. Not one bit.

The only serious problem I have is the small little boxes we have to click on and drag. They are really small now and sometimes impossible to find when they are over notes. But that's a minor complaint.

A far bigger annoyance for me is collision of things like dots and accidentals between layers. I wanted to explore what has been changed in the newer Finale, but since I can't get it to register, I haven't worried about that. I might be able to resolve it with a lot of conversation, but frankly I am so tired of fighting with it that I'm avoiding the irritation.

[gary-duane]

Sorry you're having the problem again. Fortunately, any work you would have done would not have been lost.

Miker, I'm not sure what you mean there. If you mean I have lost no work because I never saved anything in the musx format, then you are right.

I was immediately wary when I saw that the new program wants us to register with the Internet. That's a red flag for me.

I still don't know that I have not missed something simple. If I try again, I'll make a screenshot of the problem and share it here, in case someone has a suggestion.

[gary-duane]

Update to my problem:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7hpg4733jmwaz ... n.png?dl=0

I was not even able to get a screen shot without tricking the system. It did not want to make a screen shot, so I opened up a directory, and then it would do it.

This happens after doing everything I'm supposed to do. I've double and tripled checked my registration number.

I'm utterly baffled.

[motet]

Have you contacted the company?

[gary-duane]

Have you contacted the company?

Yes. I sent them a screen shot.

Someone sent me instructions to turn off the Windows Firewall:

"Gary,

Thanks for the update. It looks like, from error message you sent, there is something preventing Finale from accessing our servers for authorization. We may be able to get around this though.

Press the WINDOWS key + R, the Run dialog will appear. Type in the following and press OK.

services.msc

Scroll down and locate the listing for Windows Firewall. Right-click on this and choose Stop. Temporarily stopping this may allow Finale to reach out to our authorization servers. Let me know how this goes for you."

The result:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/49xr8b9q2y1id ... l.png?dl=0

[gary-duane]

The problem, apparently, is that Windows is expecting me to disable the firewall as administrator. The guy I'm talking with from Finale obviously does not know what he is talking about.

But beyond this - and I can't get an answer yet - is trying to find out if I am the only person running into this problem. I don't see how that is possible.

I also can't get anyone at MM to acknowledge the seriousness of what is going on. By setting up Finale so that the Big Brother can shut it off, at any time, it means that none of us can reliably use the program when things go wrong, as they most definitely have gone wrong for me.

This has been going on for 8 months now. The only other insanity I went through like this was with my health insurance company, which refused to pay anything for about the same time, 8 months, because it screwed up.

At this point I am beyond exasperated.

Each time I go through another battle with MM I end up sick to my stomach, really furious and unable to sleep. It is why I keep delaying trying to get to the next step.

But I do suspect this is all a Win10 problem. The last update, Creative, knocked out my Video card drivers. It took me a couple days to get them back.

[gary-duane]

Update:

Supposedly guys in Finale checked out the information on their site. They have admitted to doing nothing wrong but told me to try again.

And suddenly I could authorize. I believe the problem was on their end.

But now I can open up the new Finale only one time. It appears to work perfectly. I can open any file, and I can save under the new musx format.

Nice.

But when I close the program, it won't open again. And 2012 won't open again.

I get back 2012 by rebooting, which then works perfectly as always. But the moment I open the new program once, it won't open again, and 2012 once again will not open.

I am totally baffled.

The next step would be to uninstall the new Finale and then reinstall, in case something is corrupted. But this is a fairly new laptop with no other problems, and I'm running Webroot. No sign of a virus. No problem running any other program.

The problem is specific to Finale, and only the newer program.

[motet]

I think at this point they would probably give you your money back. Since you are happy with 2012, maybe that's the best think. Your friend with Finale 25 can save files for you in 2012 format.

[gary-duane]

I think at this point they would probably give you your money back. Since you are happy with 2012, maybe that's the best think. Your friend with Finale 25 can save files for you in 2012 format.

I may be getting somewhere. I got specific instructions on info files from my system to send to them.

Finale 25 last night loaded properly. No warning that I was unlicensed. That is my primary worry.

The rest at this point is some kind of system problem. The word is that Finale 2012 and Finale 25 coexist perfectly, but they don't on my system, which is a mystery. I have a very current laptop, and everything else runs perfectly - all programs, all games, you name it. So the problem of opening 25 and then having it block itself AND Finale 2012 - until I do a reboot - is probably something totally weird.

So I continue to chug along with Finale 2012, and so long nothing knocks that out, I'm OK.

It took me 8 months to resolve a problem with heath insurance last year, and they were a lot less helpful