Siemens Step7 5.3 install on XP home

[RMA]

This is all very well, Ken, but I recently had a manual transfer of the PLCSIM licence from the (now) customer laptop (no floppy), bomb. For some reason, I hadn't backed up the PLCSIM licence and I had to phone Siemens to recover it. I was on the phone non-stop for nearly an hour before we got there and the Siemens guy was on the verge of giving up.

That's the reason why I have a back-up of the important stuff!

@QW if you do a search for "Floppy image" here, you'll get the info you need.

 

[Beggar]

The only real issue with the 14-day emergency license is that it's a one-time deal. According to Siemens, once used, you cannot ever do so again unless you reinstall Windows. I'm sure smart guys know how to clean it out of the registry but dum'ons like me just want to save that 14-day run for a *real* emergency.

Also, given how it was behaving (continually losing the "renewed" license provided by Siemens), there was no reason to believe that the same thing mightn't happen with the 14-day license leaving me in the same boat but with no emergency backup.

 

[Beggar]

Back to the original point: version 5.1 would install and run on XP Home. With the jump to 5.3, no more. I tried to trick it but figured that's the ultimate in "penny wise and pound foolish."

I can hear myself on the phone with tech support, "Uh, well I'm running a hacked version of Win XP Home. Could *that* cause this problem?" Pretty much the end of their constructive help, I'd imagine.

I had enough trouble trying to get my service packs straightened out with the Win SP2 debacle came down.

As I recall, the upgrade was around US$120 so why screw with it?

 

[S7Guy]

I thought Siemens already provide a backup licence with the full thing?

When you buy STEP7 you get a full unlimited licence plus a 14-day licence. Install and run the full licence as normal. If you ever hit a problem with losing that licence due to corruption, defragmentation, or any other issue, you can then install and run the 14-day licence. Siemens tech-support will re-activate your original licence for you and this gives you 14 days to contact them. If you accept they have chosen this method of software licensing for their product, it actually seems as reasonable a way of implementing it as any I've come across.

Ken

Well, I don't accept their method. I own my own business, and when my computer stops working, I stop getting paid, so I just can't afford to be in the position of trying to contact Siemens when something goes bad. I could be at a remote site, or I could be on a project with very tight time constraints with limited downtime to do my work.

Last year I was at a customer site when my boot sector became corrupted. I always keep a recent ghost of my hard drive, so it was just a matter of swapping my hard drive and retrieving the latest code, and I was back in business in 10 minutes. Sure, I technically have two licenses, but only one of them can be used at a time since I have two hard drives for one computer. This is completely reasonable and ethical. In fact, I own three licensed copies of Siemens V5.3, even though it would have just as easy to make copies of my first license.

And by the way, the one time in my life I had a problem with my license, Siemens couldn't help me. Their solution was to format my hard drive and reinstall everything. Uh, no thanks.

 

[10baseT]

On paper the 14 day license is OK , but practically ......

I too ghost the hard drive , since this ghost can only be used on this PC ( XP and NTdetect ) , then whilst technically the license may be deemed to be duplicated , in practice it is not . There are many more easy ways of cheating Siemens if that is your intention , in my case it is not , I just can't afford not to be able to work when necessary - it would cost many time more than the cost of any software if it happened at the wrong time .

 

[Ken M]

I'm not supporting the method or the company in this case, I'm just (as usual) playing devil's advocate. The "reasonable and ethical" individual is not who Siemens are after, I'm sure.

But I think a copyright lawyer would drive a coach and horses through that opening sentence -

Well, I don't accept their method.

By opening the software, by installing it, and by using it you are, quite explicitly and unambiguously, agreeing to their method. I know this is an issue which has been argued many, many times in many, many threads, but the "what is" and the "what should be" of software licensing are rarely ever the same.

I get as confused about this issue as anyone. I had bought a copy of jv16 Power Tools (highly recommended, BTW, http://www.macecraft.com) for my PC at home. It's cheap and it works well and I've never had any problems with it. The other evening my wife's PC started throwing up a problem which I was sure I could fix or at least diagnose using jv16. Was I entitled to install it there and use it despite only having one licence? I actually had a look at the Macecraft web-site and forum and was delighted to see a dilemma described which was very close to mine. A PC repairer had bought jv16 and wanted to know what his legal position was when it came to trying to fix customers' problems at their premises. The response from the company was to install the s/w on the customers' machines and use it under the standard 30-day trial period that exists. Do this as often and and as widespread as you like. If the software is good enough presumably they felt this was as good a marketing tool as any and might even persuade the customers to buy it legitimately in the long-term.
So I installed it, used it, fixed the problem, and have now recommended them here on this forum. Viral marketing does work, it appears.

Regards

Ken

 

[S7Guy]

Absolutely. I wouldn't expect my argument to stand up in a court of law at all. I'm just trying to maintain prouctivity, and I can go to bed at night knowing that I'm not costing Siemens a dime.

There are plenty of Russian and Chinese sites where anyone can download the cracks and keys for free anyway. Siemens has their hands full with those guys.

 

[qwsoftware]

Thanks for the info RMA and everyone else for their help

vbmenu_register("postmenu_140257", true);

 

[darrenj]

As far as i am concerned you are aloowed to make a backup of the floppy..the grey area comes into play when you have the software installed on two computers..

I will admit..I am one of those people..I have all my software on my lap top..however i also installed it on my desktop..can i use both at once? No..Legally i could copy my "key" and trasfer it everytime i switched but lets get real... Do i consider my "desktop" to be illegal..No..and to be honest i dont think any Major manufacture would dissagree... As has been said they have there problems with blatent thieves..not the guy like me whose eyesite isnt the best and works better at home..

BTW i dont own any siemens software but did a "search" on bypassing the siemens activation key..I came up with no less than 50 ways..(multiple versions..) I then for a comparison tried AB's 500 and 5000 and come up with 0...Is that becouse AB's "key" is different or becouse siemens is more popular when the "cracks" and "keys" are made?

D