I am not against a vendor protecting their interests, any they could even lock a dongle to a specific machine serial number if they wanted to, but it's their less than ethical practices of instead of replacing the dongle for a nominal fee, they force you to purchase a whole new license instead. The 'backup dongle' software would at least allow you to store the physical dongle in a safe place (literally in a fire proof safe) and save you the grief and hassle (not to mention the PITA factor) that some of the vendors out there are doing. You could even prove that you are the owner of the equipment, and they could confirm that SN:00001 did ship with that software and dongle, but they still refuse to sell a replacement dongle. Instead, they want you to purchase a whole new license. You purchased some equipment, and the vendor refuses the replace the lost dongle at a nominal fee (~$35). I'm not mentioning this for purposes of promoting any type of piracy, but for the exact scenario that you are facing: (The details of which are left as an exercise for the reader) There are ways to 'backup' the dongle using software. They are used to prevent software copying/piracy.Įven if you copied the software and gave to a friend, it would be useless (locked) without the dongle. What exactly is the 'dongle key' doing for me?'Ī 'dongle' (be it usb, serial or parallel), is a device very much like a physical key for your car or house.

Ve lxi master