migrating (and acitvating) old, unsupported software on a new laptop

I follow my stock portfolio with a program (Personal Stock Monitor Gold) which is no longer supported by the developer, and indeed the developer has closed up shop entirely.

The program is still available for download from third-party sites, and fortunately (I thought) I had saved my activation/license codes. Unfortunately when I enter the code I get a message advising that it has expired.

To the best of my knowledge the software came with a lifetime license.

The program is still working fine on my old machine, but I need to retire the old machine. I would not object to purchasing a different program if I could find one which offered the same features, nor would I object to paying for a license renewal, but of course that can't happen.

Is there a way that I can continue to use this program on my new machine?

 

Activations are not universal among programs. The makers of that software can handle it any way they want. Maybe it's just a file somewhere, or it's tied to a hardware component, or software component, or installation date.. maybe a registry key.. Whatever the programmers dream up.

Figure out how it's activated and you will have a better understanding as to how to move it.

 

a lot of old software and even hardware was only 32bit compatible so wont work on 64bit operating systems and im not sure if theres anyway around it.
i guess with windows 7 you have the xp mode but i have no idea if your using windows8.

you could try magic jelly key retriever on the old laptop to see if you entered the correct sequence KeyFinder | Magical Jelly Bean

 

Hopefully it's not tied to a phone-home server that the now-defunct developer was running.

 

We've had few cases where making a virtual machine out of the existing installation was the easiest route...

 

Yes, that is one way that should work, albeit a very resource-intensive one. Some other stabs in the dark would go as follows:

- Install the program as you normally would, but then overwrite its Progams folder with the contents of your current installation, and see if it works.
- If that doesn't make it work, find the main program registry keys of your current installation (typically in HKCU/Software and HKLM/Software), export those, and import them into the new installation. See if the program works now.

Unfortunately, as others have said above, there's many different ways programs store their licensing/activation information, so none of the methods above are guaranteed to work, and figuring out where and how exactly your program stores this information may be very hard to near-impossible. In which case the virtual machine suggested by KLF is pretty much your best bet.

P.S.: By the way, another alternative is to try and search the web for a hacked version of your program. Technically that may not be legal, but since the company doesn't exist anymore, I believe you may be in a semi-legal grey zone there, in particular since you own a valid license. Big caveat here: Be very careful with those hacked versions, and research whatever you find as best you can. Those things are very popular vectors for transmitting viruses, so you may or may not want to take that risk.

 

you can try:
go to the computer where psm installed and licensed,
open registry, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\DTLink Software\Personal Stock Monitor\Settings
export those Settings key - save as psm-activated.reg
go to the computer where psm intalled but NOT activated (same version, i presume 9.3.6 gold ? )
make sure that psm is closed, import that reg key, now open psm and see if it is activated...

 

32 bit software will work in 64 bit Windows as MS still uses WIN32 API's . 16 bit applications like DOS apps are the problem and older Windows app are the problem.

One thing you can try is to download the free program Belarc. Belarc gives a details fo hardware and software on your machine. It identifies Keys for the software you have installed.

 

8 month old thread but just to reply,
when 64 bit first came out i had some photographic hardware (pro printer) and software (FXfotoPro) which would not work on 64 bit and like the original person the licence key did not work even though it was a lifetime licence so that is why i mentioned it.

 

Most likely why their lifetime license doesn't work for one simple reason. The company no longer exists and since it can verify it online with the company would stand to reason why they get the invalid registration when they try to activate it. It's that simple to figure this one out. Just cause you bought the license doesn't mean you can run it - if it can't verify your registration.

 

There are 2 reasons why software isn't upgraded to current technology.

1. The software didn't sell enough and wasn't profitable to sell so they either closed the company.
2. The software wasn't profitable and the company moved to a new type of software and don't support the old software.

Although some a Software company get purchased and they attempt to get the users to switch to their software.

If the software is still profitable it will be supported and kept current if not it goes into software heaven along with Dbase III, Lotus 123, Foxpro, Turbo Pascal, Quick Basic and Registry Mechanic.

 

Photoguy....

I realize this is an old post, but I'm very curious if you had any luck with this issue.

I have been using Personal Stock Monitor for many years now, and I have the same issue with needing to move the installation to a new computer.

If you weren't successful with activating PSM, did you find an acceptable alternative? I can't seem to find anything. It really seems there would be more of a market for this type of program.

Thanks!

 

I did not find any good alternative to PSM...
so I am renewing my licensing every week or two –
to do so – install your PSM, register with with your credentials, it will be taken, but not activated – you will have week or two of fully functioning product.
when it is close to the end of this period I run /dbl click on reg file to erase registration dates and have my period extended for another period

content of reg file between dashes – save it as some.reg file and when needed – dbl click on it and accept registry change:
----------------
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\DTLink Software\Personal Stock Monitor\Settings]
"nr"=-
"last_backup"=-
"PSM3GOLDke"=-
"PSM3GOLDserX"=dword:00000001
-------------

good luck

 

I added dates reset reg file - see above

 

Thanks!