Hi, Dan!

Thereby hangs the problem with PD14! The requirement for internet access to complete an activation process which, in previous versions only required the typing in of the CD Key(and a few other details). I struck this upon installation of PD14 last November. I required the internet to complete the process because, with PD14, simply typing in the key is no longer enough(after filling out other details). PD7 and PD8 installed easily without the internet(When I first got PD7 I did not have the internet, when I got PD8 I had the net for only a year or so). That's something Cyberlink should get back to, ease of installation where internet access is unavailable. After all, the only real purpose of the registration is access to this website and forum. That can be gained at any time. I had PD7 for over a year(probably two years) before I had internet access and was finally able to register it, and all that did was give me access to this site and forum.

Cheers!

Neil.

Neil.F.1955,

All of Cyberlink's Powerdirector since about Powerdirector 9 require internet access to activate. It only takes a few seconds, but you still need a connection.

It is possible to get it activated off line, (I do not know how) Cyberlink support is supposed to be able to supply a copy of Powerdirector that is already activated that does not require internet access. Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

Can you setup a wi-fi hot spot with your cell phone at the cabin. You only need a few minutes with very minimal data. The codecs should already be activateed from having the previous version of PD. Don't know if you have phone service in that area. Registration will allow to to obtain free software like maybe PhotoDirector 5, etc in which you can download and install later when you are back in the city.

"Remote cabin", as in, "no cellphone service"! A great, quiet place to work, but every now and then there's a little bug (like unable to upgrade from PD12). I'll try contacting tech support again, to see if they can help. Thanks! Regards,
Dan
Power Director 21-Ultimate
v 21.0.3111.0
XPS-8940, Win-10 64-bit,
Intel Core i9-10900 processor
(10 core, 20M Cache),
32GB DDR4 RAM, 2TB M.2 PCIe NVME SSD, 2TB 7200 RPM SATA HDD,
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER 8GB GDDR6

I guess you are able to go online since you are posting this here... so I am confused.

CL provided a no internet fix for this purchaser so I'd contact support for the same fix http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/46151.page#238871

Jeff

Cabin in WV...I'm now home in Richmond. Regards,
Dan
Power Director 21-Ultimate
v 21.0.3111.0
XPS-8940, Win-10 64-bit,
Intel Core i9-10900 processor
(10 core, 20M Cache),
32GB DDR4 RAM, 2TB M.2 PCIe NVME SSD, 2TB 7200 RPM SATA HDD,
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER 8GB GDDR6

Hi, All!

This is my second attempt to post today, my internet is giving me some grief so I'll make this short.

Carl, your comment: "All of Cyberlink's Powerdirector since about Powerdirector 9 require internet access to activate" sums it all up! Cyberlink seems to be bent on making life difficult for us end-users of their product by putting "road-blocks" in our way when we try to activate our software, when they should instead be making it easier! As I recall, from installing PD7(when I was yet to get the internet), at a given point in the installation(near the end of the process, I think), the CD Key had to be entered, then the process completed, and on first opening, you filled in the registration form, but had the option of posting it later. The CD Key had it up and running, and, most importantly, PERMANENT! The same with PD8! But I can see Richmond Dan's problem, not only did he not have the internet, out there in the wilderness, but no mobile phone service either....Ouch! The frustration would've had Dan pulling out his hair!, But he did get back home well before the 30-day expiry and was able to complete the installation process....Whew, what a relief!

Cheers!

Neil.

By the way, Dan, did the wig fit okay? Not too itchy, was it?

" But I can see Richmond Dan's problem, not only did he not have the internet, out there in the wilderness, but no mobile phone service either....Ouch! The frustration would've had Dan pulling out his hair!, But he did get back home well before the 30-day expiry and was able to complete the installation process....Whew, what a relief!

Yes, I'm back home. But the desktop computer is still in the cabin in the mountains with a slowly expiring version of PD14 (and the PD12 which was on there previously now wiped clean, as part of the PD14 installation). I'm still trying to get Cyberlink customer service to understand the problem...



P.S. No wig...part of my (so far, relatively) silent protest. Regards,
Dan
Power Director 21-Ultimate
v 21.0.3111.0
XPS-8940, Win-10 64-bit,
Intel Core i9-10900 processor
(10 core, 20M Cache),
32GB DDR4 RAM, 2TB M.2 PCIe NVME SSD, 2TB 7200 RPM SATA HDD,
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER 8GB GDDR6

Quote: " But I can see Richmond Dan's problem, not only did he not have the internet, out there in the wilderness, but no mobile phone service either....Ouch! The frustration would've had Dan pulling out his hair!, But he did get back home well before the 30-day expiry and was able to complete the installation process....Whew, what a relief!

Yes, I'm back home. But the desktop computer is still in the cabin in the mountains with a slowly expiring version of PD14 (and the PD12 which was on there previously now wiped clean, as part of the PD14 installation). I'm still trying to get Cyberlink customer service to understand the problem...

P.S. No wig...part of my (so far, relatively) silent protest.

The solution would be to bring the computer home so you can connect to the internet before the 30 day grace period is up.

Once the codecs are activated you never need internet connection again.

If you have extra monitor, keyboard and mouse, you only need the CPU unit. (The case that is the processor,motherboard and hard drive). Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

Yes, I thought of that earlier. Problem now is that its a 7-hour drive to retrieve the pc and the forecast is for 2-4 feet of snow on Friday. I can't negotiate the roads in the National Forest until that melts...sigh. Regards,
Dan
Power Director 21-Ultimate
v 21.0.3111.0
XPS-8940, Win-10 64-bit,
Intel Core i9-10900 processor
(10 core, 20M Cache),
32GB DDR4 RAM, 2TB M.2 PCIe NVME SSD, 2TB 7200 RPM SATA HDD,
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER 8GB GDDR6

Quote: Yes, I thought of that earlier. Problem now is that its a 7-hour drive to retrieve the pc and the forecast is for 2-4 feet of snow on Friday. I can't negotiate the roads in the National Forest until that melts...sigh.

Isn't hindsight grand?

All is not lost, if you ever get the computer back home, you may have to contact Cyberlink to re-enable the activation. If it is past the 30 day grace period. Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

Hi, Dan & Carl!

Ugh! So much grief and distress that could've been avoided if only Cyberlink hadn't "tinkered" with the activation process and carried on the same routine, from PD9 through to PD14. It would doubtless have saved a lot of problems for Dan and anyone else in the same or similar situations.

Cheers!

Neil.

I think Cyberlink has the right to decide what hoops users must jump through to activate its products. But I don't think they adequately communicated the restrictions.

It says on the PD14 webpage that an internet connection is required for activation. But silly me: I already had PD12 activated and thought I was just installing an upgrade, not activating a new installation. So I (incorrectly) assumed that I could upgrade with just the backup disks.

Guess I'll wait 'til the spring thaw and cart the pc back here to Richmond and see if I can activate it then. In the meantime, however, the installation process for PD14 wiped out my PD12, so now I have neither. Sigh... Regards,
Dan
Power Director 21-Ultimate
v 21.0.3111.0
XPS-8940, Win-10 64-bit,
Intel Core i9-10900 processor
(10 core, 20M Cache),
32GB DDR4 RAM, 2TB M.2 PCIe NVME SSD, 2TB 7200 RPM SATA HDD,
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER 8GB GDDR6

So you don’t plan to edit videos for a few month and have no desire to edit video while in the city. Think that is what you are saying.

Dan -

Did you try Jeff's suggestion at https://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/47122.page#244935 ???

If you're waiting till Spring to return to the cabin, it's probably hypothetical anyway

Cheers - Tony
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Quote: So you don’t plan to edit videos for a few month and have no desire to edit video while in the city. Think that is what you are saying.

No, I have a pc at home and at the cabin. Since I have no usable PD there (12 or 14), I've now installed them here at home. I had planned to uninstall here and install at the cabin when I went back and forth (to avoid having PD installed on two machines at once), but since I can't activate an installation at the cabin without internet, I may have to lug a desktop pc back and forth each time. A real PIA, and one which some vendors work around by licensing usage on two machines, as long as only one is in use at a given time.



As to Jeff's suggestion, I contacted customer support, but their response was that the internet was required for activation, period. I guess I wasn't a big enough fish to warrant an exception. Regards,
Dan
Power Director 21-Ultimate
v 21.0.3111.0
XPS-8940, Win-10 64-bit,
Intel Core i9-10900 processor
(10 core, 20M Cache),
32GB DDR4 RAM, 2TB M.2 PCIe NVME SSD, 2TB 7200 RPM SATA HDD,
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER 8GB GDDR6

Well, the whole software industry went this way. Since Windows XP you needed an internet connection to "activate" their product.
Sure, some provide a phone line as an alternative way - too bad CL customer support doesn't think they need to. Some products check with the mothership at every launch (Adobe) - I would never buy that garbage.

People using pirated copies might enjoy a better experience with this "activation" process, and that's a shame.

Hi, all!

The behaviour of software companies toward the end-users of their "product" will see many more "pirated" versions of their software installed and used, with the result that there'll be hardly anyone "logging in" to their websites because hardly anyone will be using official copies of their product's installation discs. This is the reality of computer software, due to price of product and restrictive license conditions. If the recording industry applied the same licencing conditions to the use of their LPs or CDs(or even cassettes, for that matter), that industry would be "dead in the water". No-one's going to buy an LP, CD or cassette of their favourite music if they're going to be restricted to playing it on one turntable, CD player or cassette deck.

We are the end users of this software, we are the "life blood" of these software companies, thus it should be us, and us alone, who shall determine how we use the product! Once the software company has developed the product and put it out for sale, their job is done. We, the end users, buy the product(for anyting between $80 and $250, depending on exchange rates and other factors), not cheap! We get it home and install it on our computer. In doing so we're greeted with this "end user agreement" we must tick the "I Agree" box before the installation can proceed. No tick in the box, installation stops! How rude!

Cheers!

Neil.