will time machine save me

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I have some rosetta stone language software on my computer. this software if your not familiar with it is very expensive. I have more then one language installed. they have a VERY strict license. You have to deactivate the software in order to activate it again. I have screwed up majorly 2 different times just due to rotation of mac machines and windows machines constantly switching. so anyway my license was active 2 different times but without me actually having the software. reinstalling doesnt work. you must deactivate it first. so if the software is deleted from format or such you have to call them. Bottom line is I had to call them twice already to reset my license. they said they would not do it again. they were reluctant to do it even the second time.

so will time machine save me if something happens to my hard drive. does anyone know how that would affect the software. I cant afford to lose this software and im not through the entire programs yet to be done with them.
 
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chas_m

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Maybe, maybe not.

Rosetta Store is likely to have more than just the app itself as a component in the system. You would have to either carefully restore each component of a normal install back to the way it was, or roll back the ENTIRE system to before any accident happened.

The key phrase here is "without me actually having the software." Why is that? I'm not questioning the authenticity of the software but particularly with this company, that's obviously an issue with them. You may need to order replacement disks (probably should have done so last time).

In re-reading your post it sounds like you have everything working correctly now but are worried about a possible future outcome. Good for you, planning ahead!

I would recommend that in addition to the TM backup, you purchase another external drive and use software like SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner to ALSO create a bootable backup of the drive on which this software is stored. That way you have two chances of successfully restoring the software should anything go amiss. You can never have too many backups!
 
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Bottom line is I had to call them twice already to reset my license. they said they would not do it again. they were reluctant to do it even the second time.

I really don't understand this from a company, that these days actually has a number to call for support and there are people on the other end. The authenticity as Chas stated isn't in question, its no skin off there nose so why is it so hard for them to help out the ones that are keeping these people employed ?? Im at a loss and can't believe the nerve of some companies. </end rant>
 
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safarisurfer
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im sorry i should have been more clear. i have all the software on disk. however if you format your hard drive, or something happens to your machine before you get a chance to deactivate the software. thats it. reinstalling wont work because technically its still "active on their server. if you try and reinstall it says the license is in use already on a different machine because it was never deactivated. hope i am clear.


this second time they were really rude. even though i bought it directly from them and they had my receipt on file they were very nasty about it. I just want to make sure I dont lose the installation before i get a chance to deactivate it again. if i dont it wont let me activate again and ill have to call.
 
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I really don't understand this from a company, that these days actually has a number to call for support and there are people on the other end. The authenticity as Chas stated isn't in question, its no skin off there nose so why is it so hard for them to help out the ones that are keeping these people employed ?? Im at a loss and can't believe the nerve of some companies. </end rant>

they are really bad. when i first exclaimed to them what happened the guy basically told me if i didnt buy it from them they wouldnt help me. so if I had bought it from amazon the guy would have told me to bugger off. the only reason they agreed to help me was because i bought the software directly from them and they had my receipt on file.

I agree that alot of stupidity happened due to my own fault but they have my receipt and ask a million questions like its a bank account. its not like they cant tell its me if i have the credit card number i paid with it on me.
 

chscag

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so will time machine save me if something happens to my hard drive. does anyone know how that would affect the software. I cant afford to lose this software and im not through the entire programs yet to be done with them.

I wish I could give you a definitive answer. It all depends on the criteria the software uses for activating the license. If for example, it looks at hardware (which it probably does when moving from machine to machine), then what does it look for? In other words, if the hard drive crashes and you need to install another?

Does the Rosetta language group have a user forum? If they do, it's probably best to ask there.
 
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However if you format your hard drive, or something happens to your machine before you get a chance to deactivate the software. thats it. reinstalling wont work because technically its still "active on their server. if you try and reinstall it says the license is in use already on a different machine because it was never deactivated. hope i am clear.
I have a very passionate dislike for software companies that pull this kind of baloney, and I avoid them like the plage.
I'm all for preventing piracy, but when the protection scheme becomes a hassle and a bother to legitimate paying customers I'm waving bye bye.


Anyway, I'm not sure if TimeMachine would help you since it will migrate specific user files over once you have to restore from a backup. Basically it will skip over some system stuff that really isn't important to copy over, and if the apps activation data is stored there you will loose it.

Now as Chas suggested, a full HD SuperDuper clone will very likely work fine since is is an absolute exact copy of your working internal HD.
And when you restore, you just boot from the SuperDuper clone and clone it back to the internal one.

That being said, if they are this picky about installations there's no telling what other kind of stuff they have in place that would detect a copy.
 
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thanks guys i appreciate it. what i will do is use superduper then cross that bridge if it happens. Thanks again for all the insite.
 

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