I was having problems to use Scrivener in windows because of a lag in the text editor.
Seeing that this problem could not be solved, I have taken another aproach.
I found a computer that has reasonable specs but has no netowrk card.
This is actually an advantage for me because I would have no distractions to my writing when on this machine. (Damn you Youtube!)
I have run into the problem though of activating the licence on an offline machine.
Can anyone suggest a solution?
Use a USB Wifi network adapter to get it online and activate (and do things like pull down system updates, etc. while you’re at it.) Unplug the USB adapter when you don’t want network connectivity.
Is there no other way?
I do not want to connect this computer to the internet. It has no antivirus or anything else for protection and I have well seen how few seconds it takes for a unprotected windows machine to become totally stuffed when it meets the gremlins on the internet.
Yes, if you connect your machine to the Internet without any security protection (hardware or software), the rumour is probably true that your Windows machine will become a target of automated attacks with bots. I have no experience other than what I read. 
But … are you sure you are not behind a secure router? If you are using your own internet connection from an Internet Service Provider (ISP), surely they gave you a router as both a security device and way to connect to their service? That would probably prevent the attack you fear from bots unless you changed the ISP’s default settings. Corporate and University networks usually have reasonable security to connect their networks to the Internet.
But if your connection is direct, then your fear, I guess, is justified. Your choice.
Ok, interesting, but this answer does not help me.
I have no idea of some protections my provider would give me in their box.
And I imagine you guys (Scrivener) will not give me extend me any guarantees about no bad stuff happening.
And from the track record of my provider, I would not count on any help or assurance from them.
So my original question is still open:
Can I activate my license offline?
The helpful posters who responded thoughtfully above are, like me, fellow customers and not L&L Support. L&L Support are the only ones who can answer licensing questions.
While L&L Support certainly hangs out here, I recommend you contact them directly by using the support page.
You should receive an automated response within 24 hours of submitting your request to them. Be sure to check your spam folder.
Best,
Jim
Nobody reasonable is ever going to assure you, with certainty, that a car will not crash into your home five minutes after you open the gate… but how likely is it to happen?
It takes less than half a minute to activate. Get your info ready, plug it into the router, activate it, unplug it. If that’s all you do, the odds of getting attacked are about like that rogue car.
If this is an issue of wanting to keep the device air gapped forever. Well, you’re out of luck. Our vendor doesn’t believe in offline activations, sadly, and never developed a solution despite our requests to do so.
OK, thanks AmberV
This is the information I was searching for.
I appreciate all the other advice, but it overlooked the fact I did not want this computer for personal reasons to always be offline and was not interested in those trying to talk me into it.
Lets say I have had some sharp lessons in these dangers.
Yeah, sorry we don’t have a better answer for you, truly.
Hi Amber, Thats OK.
It was a long shot.
I still have not found a way to use Scrivener in a functional way. You may remember I am the one that was dealing with the lagging text editor issue.
I really do not want to be buying a new computer just because of Scrivener, but seems that optionality is running out for me.
Hello, I’d like to add my potentially unhelpful $0.02.
I have scrivener 1 and 3 on an offline windows 7 box. I did have to connect it for the inital activation, but it’s been fine since.
However, my other licence is on a connected windows 10 box, and I was getting deactivated on a regular basis (long standing problem with the licence software that may finally have been sorted).
When I raised this with support they suggested a couple of things. They also expressed surprise that my offline box still worked. The support person thought the licence software checked every so often, even after activated. If it couldn’t get through for a few days/weeks, it stopped working until reactivated. Given that mine (and loads of others) were getting regularly deactivated, it does suggest that the the software tries to phone home every so often.
As I said, I’ve never had a problem on my offline box, but it’s something to be aware of. I have never updated my offline version, just in case one of their bug fixes sorts whatever has kept mine from complaining for over a year.
Welcome to the offline world, by the way. It’s much more peaceful and so much quieter 
Hello. I’ve tried the support web form to ask this question but the email was sent back to me as “undeliverable”
There was a way to activate offline with Win Scrivener 1, did this change to a hard no with Win Scrivener 3? I would love to upgrade to this new Win version to go with my existing Mac version but the only Win machine I have left is thoroughly offline.