I woke up this morning in hopes of going back to work on my project, and got this disturbing dialog box telling me there was “no active eliscenser code” for my software. I paid a good sum of money for your product, have had some success and enjoy using it, and some good dialog with your tech people with one or another problems, but this process of needing to “re-register” for some reason, or no reason at all, is annoying and disturbing. Firstly, WHAT Is the process to get the program back? Secondly, do these “soft eliscences” expire after a limited amount of time? And if so, WHY? In my experience, once you buy a product, it’s yours, and there shouldn’t be any himpty-pimpty about your ability to use it.
I attempted to restart using the method suggest "right click on the elisencer and “run as…” but “no tickee-no washee” still. I want it back, and soon.
I sometimes get this- it’s usually after I’ve run a PC tune-up or optimizing software, and it’s cured in my case by re-booting the computer. The first time it happened it was a bit alarming and indeed it didn’t respond to the "right click on the elisencer and “run as…” trick, but I turned the computer off and on again and all was well. So it’s possible your problem might be helped by re-booting. If it isn’t, I’m sure someone else will have some suggestions.
It’s a current hazard of Steinberg’s soft eLicenser and Windows. WIndows 10 updates can (most often with a major roll-up) “break” the eLiscenser.
This article is the relevant FAQ, but some of my colleagues have had to work through support to get going again: https://www.steinberg.net/nc/en/support/knowledgebase_new/show_details/kb_show/win-windows-10-upgrade-disables-soft-elicenser.html. To repair they recommend uninstalling and reinstalling as well as run maintenance while as an administrator. The only sure solution (as someone who has lived with Steinberg’s licensing system for nearly 20 years) is to use their USB dongle.
This has been raised to Steinberg many times, but to date we haven’t seen a change in policy: How Dorico licensing works - Dorico - Steinberg Forums
My solution was to build a USB hub into a padded portable disk drive case with my (metal) iLok, eLicenser, and Samples SSD (Samsung T3). It makes it too big to loose when I travel. To connect to my laptop, I use a USB extension cable to lessen the chances of mechanical issue later on.
I DID run a Windows update last night. And I tried your advice, Steve, and guess what? It’s back. THAT is a big relief. I did not buy the “USB dongle” with the product, I bought an online download only, so I was not looking forward to contacting the co. and raving at them about it all again. So, problem solved!
Glad you got up an running without going to a support ticket! If you have Win10 pro, you can shut off auto-updating on Win10, so you can at least control when this might happen by doing manual updates. Soft licensers (not only Steinberg’s) have proved sensitive to OS updates in the past six months. 
