TalkChess.com

As anyone here other than newbies know- I have always defended chessbase. And their guis are all I have ever used except for Shredder 11. But I am not sure how far I can go. I counted up all my discs, and it is doubtful anyone has shelled out any more cash to them than I have over the years.

Be sure you understand this is not Albert's fault. A few years back when I was testing for CCRL- he got each of us free copies of Fritz 13 when it first came out. I had installed it and it worked fine on both my i5 4-Core systems. Then when I bought my Alienware 6-Core system, it would not let me activate it because it said I had already used the serial number twice. Albert at that time told me he would try and get me another serial no. that would work. I told him no, that I was going to go ahead and buy a new copy myself because there were a few minor issues with the older "free" one that I did not like.

So i bought a new Fritz 13 disc. from Chessbase USA. I installed it on the Alienware 6-Core system and it was fine. 3 or so weeks ago, because this Alienware cannot be beat (I love it) I bought a 2nd exactly like it. When I tried to install Fritz 13, it will not let me activate it because it says the "serial number is already in use".

Goddam right it is- on my first Alienware! And that is friggin it! Am I suppose to believe you are only allowed to use it one time. Do they think the world is full of nothing but goddam crooks. I mean, what am I supposed to do? Just for the hell of it, to see what they would say, I clicked on "buy an activation number". It fiddle-farts around like it is half ass looking- then says what I am looking for is 404- cannot be found. Yea- I suppose I might be able to email and get another number- if they even bothered to read it. The last 3 I never heard back from them. And if they did, what- I gotta wait a week or 2 to hear back from them?

This is insane- they are insane- and what used to be a fine company has turned for me into a 2-bit pile of horse shit! I mean, the free one activated TWICE- and that is twice as many times as the one I paid for will activate.

Why don't they tell the truth BEFORE you buy it- that the serial number is only good for one machine. Because they don't trust their customers- the people who feed their fat faces. How many you think they would sell then?

PLEASE NO ONE tell me how it activated 4 times for them. Don't care and don't want to hear the shit. I must have activated Fritz 11 a dozen times over the years with the same serial- and it is still activating.

They knew what would happen when I bought it- they knew I would not like that- so they were deceitful and did not tell me. In this case deceit is no better than a lie to my face- they can kiss my ass.

Excuse any typos. I'm so goddam mad I cannot imagine spelling anything right.

Fritz 13 is sold with the membership to Playchess, that makes you have that kind of control.

I think for your use, no need to activate. (not Playchess, ect)
If it works, all right,
You know you're legal.

Anyone can install it on a computer without Internet, there can not be controlled.

If it works, do not think much.

velmarin wrote:Fritz 13 is sold with the membership to Playchess, that makes you have that kind of control.

I think for your use, no need to activate. (not Playchess, ect)
If it works, all right,
You know you're legal.

Anyone can install it on a computer without Internet, there can not be controlled.

If it works, do not think much.

You are correct,my friend. Except for one major point. If I cannot activate it with the serial number- then I can never update the program. And believe me- it needs the updates worse than Zap Chess did.


But thanks for trying to cheer me up a bit-

gts

geots wrote: gts

I sent you a PM.

Yes , Chessbase will do that to the little guy. They did something similar to that to me years ago.

What happens George if you choose File-Activate-Update Program ?

Modern Times wrote:What happens George if you choose File-Activate-Update Program ?

Therein lies the problem. Activate is a must before you can update. It won't let me activate because it says the serial number is being used. Which is correct. On only one machine. The one just like it- sitting right next to it. So it is good for one activation only as far as I can tell. Hell, the free one Albert got me with CCRL was good for 2 activations. This is insane. Main problem is not that they might help me after drag-assing around for a couple weeks. Main problem is that they should never let this come up in the first place.

So they have me backed in a corner, which means I will use an illegal patch- yes, ILLEGAL patch to activate it. They don't want me to do that- it is simple. Sell me something that is not a total piece of shit!



Best,

gts

I try to always speak correctly, so I want to modify my above thread. The patch will not activate it, but it will allow me to UPDATE the gui to the lastest update available. And that is all I care about.


gts

That is surprising, usually Fritz installation works fine and only asks for activation if you want to run the Fritz engine in the GUI. Since the Fritz engine is not that strong all you have to do is install another stronger UCI engine. As for activation, I think that has more to do with Playchess activation where you get one serial per CD where some activations give you only a month or so and others give you 12 months.

I think Chessbase is a great product and has gradually improved over time. They do have one hell of an annoying habit of putting up some stupid attempts at stopping piracy, but all they seem to do is make their software less usable and a PIA. This also encourages a lot of people to make hacks to defeat their schemes.

M ANSARI wrote:That is surprising, usually Fritz installation works fine and only asks for activation if you want to run the Fritz engine in the GUI. Since the Fritz engine is not that strong all you have to do is install another stronger UCI engine. As for activation, I think that has more to do with Playchess activation where you get one serial per CD where some activations give you only a month or so and others give you 12 months.

I think Chessbase is a great product and has gradually improved over time. They do have one hell of an annoying habit of putting up some stupid attempts at stopping piracy, but all they seem to do is make their software less usable and a PIA. This also encourages a lot of people to make hacks to defeat their schemes.

As I said, it is not the activation for Playchess I care about. But without the activation- I can't update it. And only ONE activation. 27 updates so far- and I am sitting here stuck on Number 1. (Not so for a lot of people- maybe, but with the money I have spent with them over the last 12 to 14 years and the support I have given them- I have "earned" the right to go off the deep end on this one.


Best,