I work for a theatre co. and part of my job is to write scripts. I am also a freelance writer in my own time, which means that I write on 2 separate computers.
If I am reading the licensing agreement correctly, I am allowed to install Scrivener for Windows on my laptop (where it is currently) and on my workstation (which is password protected, for my use alone). My question is this:
The server at work has a lot of problems, which means that IT has been uninstalling & reinstalling software quite frequently. If there is a server crash and IT tries to re-install Scrivener without deactivating it first, will it cause problems? Or would they need to deactivate before they uninstall?
Also, if they deactivate the instillation on the workstation, would this affect the laptop instillation (since they are both using the same registration code)?
How much does Scrivener cost, and what are the licence stipulations?
The price is set at $45.00 USD for one “household” licence, which means you and family members can install Scrivener on multiple computers (of the same platform, so a Mac licence will not work on Windows, and vice versa) so long as only one copy is in use at once, and these computers are used by yourself or family members (installing on a work machine is okay, for instance, so long as it is primarily “your” computer). Business and academic institutions are required to purchase licenses for each installation.
If your workplace bought the program, then they’d be in charge of the license, but you shouldn’t be using it for your personal use. If it’s your own license, then I think you’re allowed to install it on your own work computer as well as home computers. I’m counting on that, because I write on my lunch break sometimes, but I also use Scrivener to write tech documents for work, rather than the officially supported Word. shudders.
So, if you own the license, then I’d think that your IT people could re-install to their heart’s content; the license is stored separately from the program, I believe. If not, just keep a file handy with your license information so you can re-register when necessary.
As Robert said, if you’re purchasing the license, you may install it on your work computer provided that you’re the only one who will have access to the software there, which by your description is the case. You get multiple activations in a given period before eSellerate will make you contact us to free one up for you, so a few uninstalls/reinstalls without deactivating first won’t be a problem (though certainly if you know they’re going to do it, you can deactivate first). If you do eventually get a message that you’re out of activations, just pop us an email and we’ll be able to get that set up for you so you can re-register that computer. In no case will the activations or so forth with the program on the work computer affect your home computer; all that would happen is that you’d run out of new activations and not be able to re-activate the program on your work computer. You’d be thrown into the trial period, though, so you’d still be able to work while contacting us to get the issue sorted.
And definitely keep your serial name and number safe, since you’ll need them for registering the multiple computers and re-registering if necessary.
Unfortunately, I’ve had several Windows 7 crashes recently, which has meant that I’ve had to re-install a previous Windows disk image which was prior to my initial installation of Scrivener 1.0.
I’ve therefore had to re-install and activate Scrivener several times already, and have been very worried that I’ll use up all my activations and then be completely stuck.