Not having a good time here, and gradually getting angrier and angrier >:(

So. For ages, Roxio Suite 9 has been running fine - I purchased it around 18 months ago. I'm ripping a bunch of CDs just recently, and am working with CUE files. Double-clicking on a CUE file to open it with Roxio apparently requires some sort of activation.

On-line activation fails. The first time (before I attempted the "clean install") I got an error mesage suggesting my CD key might be invalid. After a clean install, I'm now getting "invalid fingerprint". I've also tried off-line activation but the activation code I receive is rejected.

In addition, while trying to figure out what's going on I also found a problem when launching the same application via Roxio Central: some sort of product registration process is launched, but it crashes out with an Internet Explorer Script Error (invalid object or method) and the process only displays part of a screen and I need to manually kill processes to get rid of it.

I've tried the "clean install" mainly because it was listed as a fix for the IE script error, but I thought it might help with the activation too. Annoyingly I still couldn't delete some of the files as instructed by the "clean install" process as they were being used by explorer.exe. Having found the (undocumented) part of the registry to clean, I managed to complete the "clean install". All this did was change the error message from "Invalid CD key" to "Invalid fingerprint". The IE script error is unchanged.

I tried the emc9rmv.exe patch to fix the activation problem, but this didn't help either.

So I'm currently stuck with 2 different problems... Part of the prodct doesn't work because it can't be activated, and depending on which way I attempt to activate it I get an IE script error.

The "clean install" is pretty annoying. I've seen forum posts on here that say "it might take 3 or 4 times before it works". What?! That's mental - either it will work, or it won't work. How can it work sometimes but not others?? It took me around 45 minutes last time, after trying to delete those DLLs - and while I reckon I could do it quicker next time around I am not so keen on sitting here for the next hour or so going through the "clean install" process until it suddenly decides to work (if, indeed, it does actually work).

Product installs ok so I guess the product key checks out. I still have the email receipt so I am 100% certain the product key is correct (I copied/pasted from the email) - does it expire or something?? Based on the email header, I bought a licence last July - does it run out after a year??

It's doing my head in. Anyone got any ideas?

Cheers,
Dan.

EDIT: I'm running WinXP SP3, by the way. I only recently updated to SP3 - are there any known issues with SP3 that have messed up Roxio?

Check this post:

http://forums.support.roxio.com/index.php?showtopic=12074

The suite isn't time-bombed in any way - the problem is that the required codec is from a third party source and they insisted on activation (it only occured in EMC9 and not in any prior or subsequent versions)

Thanks dude. Sadly it doesn't work - I've tried this a few times (also mentioned in my post above, although I called it "offline activation" by mistake) but without success.

I've bitten the bullet and going for another "clean installation". This time I've added a couple of extra steps to remove Roxio and Sonic stuff from the registry completely to see if it fares any better. It's just finished reinstallation. I'll reboot and see if either of the 2 problems I'm having are changed in any way. BRB.

Also - cheers for confirmation about the product code, in that it doesn't expire. At least I can rule out that out and focus on other stuff.

Nope - same deal. On attempting to open a CUE file by double-clicking it I get an activation dialogue. It doesn't say which part of the product actually requires activation (it doesn't mention MPEG2, or anything else that I can see). When I click the "Next" button to activate, I get the following error:

"Unsuccessful Activation

There was a problem activating your product. This could be due to:

Invalid fingerprint"

Likewise if I try to open Roxio EMC 9, I get the a pop-up telling me that there's an IE script error.

"An error has occured in the script on this page
Line: 924
Char: 2
Error: Object doesn't support this property or method
Code: 0
URL: file:///C:/Program%20Files/Common%20Files/Roxio%20Shared/DLLShared/SAR_HTML_9/activation.htm?Exe=DiscCopier9.exe

Do you want to continue running scripts on this page?"

Doesn't matter if I choose "Yes" or "No" - either way, I just see a partially displayed box that I can't get rid of without manually killing processes from the task manager.

Looks like I need to log a case with Roxio Support.

Hang on a minute... I bought the software ages ago, and originally installed it onto my laptop. I no longer have that laptop, and am using Roxio on my desktop PC. I'm looking at the vrious html and js files, and they make mention of "machine ID". Is the software tied to a particular machine, perhaps? Do I need to contact Roxio to lock the software to this machine, do you think?

You shouldn't - I've reinstalled it a few times afetr complete upgrades on this box (it's in a permanent state of flux and has had just about everything changed at some stage except the case )

Registration is sort of automatic - so long as your e-mail and password match that on file, then that's it. The codec activation is just a pure pain reall. I've known cases where it worked first time - others where it took anything up to 20 attempts for it to work

Think I've fixed it. The various html files and JavaScript files made checks of the OS locale. I changed mine from "English (United Kingdom)" to "English (United States)" and now the activation is successful. Go figure.

Now that activate is successful, I can load CUE files into Disc Creator without problems. I've not seen the annoying IE script error since I managed to get the thing activated - but for the moment, it looks like I'm in good shape.

Cheers for your advice and moral support, dude

I think it's just you hit the activation 'sweet spot' really

My setup here is set to English UK and locale to Ireland and I didn't have that problem.

As I said, the activation is pure hit and miss really (which is probably why they got rid of it in 10 and 2009)

Ah, I see. I thought I was being clever, but I guess not Even so, thanks again for your advice and support dude - much appreciated!

Cheers,
Dan.