Richard,
You can apply for and get a Dorico SE license which will take over if you start Dorico without your USB eLicenser plugged in. I have that arrangement on my laptop, since my USB eLicenser is generally on my desktop.
Thanks for the suggestions . I’ll give it a try .
Hello, I am new here and really like Dorico. BUT: there must be a way to install it on two computers without any dongles in the near future!!! Steinberg advertises Dorico as being made to use it on a laptop in a train as well as it is made to work on big orchestral files with a large screen. I come from Finale where I could simply install it on two computers!!! Same with Logic X… Do you expect us to carry a dongle with you, in times of clouds, 5G??? Plus an USB 3 to USB c adapter if you are a MacBook user??? I was extremely enthusiastic about Dorico, but this is a big, big downer and makes spontaneous creative work impossible. As notation is all capturing spontaneous creativity, I feel better off with Finale until this is resolved. Hoping for good news! Thanks, Chris
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Welcome to the forum, Chris. Please check this thread for a recent announcement concerning Steinberg’s plans for license management for its software products.
That’s good news! Thanks
Dorico Pro and SE are the same program, just with different licences. So you can have “SE” licence on the laptop’s soft elicenser, and then have the Pro licence on your dongle.
When the dongle’s plugged in, you’ll get Pro, when it’s not, you’ll get SE.
Since Covid, I have not needed to use Dorico away from my iMac but I’m planning a trip for ten days next month and will need to install Dorico on my laptop to work on orchestration. Is there anything I need to do in preparation for this?
One million plus? Seriously? For all Steinberg?
If you wanted to transfer your license permanently onto a USB-eLicenser so that you can then freely switch back and forth between your desktop and your laptop computer, then that’s an option, but you cannot transfer your license from the USB-eLicenser back to the Soft-eLicenser: that is a one-way journey.
Another option is to move your registered Soft-eLicenser from one computer to another, which would allow you to leave Dorico running on your iMac, but no longer able to be updated or upgraded on that computer.
Finally, another option is that I could provide you with a time-limited license that would allow you to run Dorico on your laptop while leaving the software on your desktop computer.
Hi, Daniel. Thank you for the reply back. This all looks kind of complicated and scary thinking about a one-way journey. I’ll also be returning to a full-time itinerant band teacher in August. I just simply want to be able to use Dorico either on my home iMac or laptop like I use Logic Pro or Ableton Live and every other music software that I have. I appreciate your help.
Rick
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Yes, I understand that, of course. In the future, Dorico will use a different license management technology that will, we hope, offer greater flexibility than the current eLicenser-based system, so you just have to manage until that time. If you’re unsure what to do, just ask for help.
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Hi, Daniel. I will be leaving the state for a few weeks on Thursday and need to keep working in Dorico so I’ll be away from my iMac at home. Then in mid August I’ll be back at school and hopefully using Dorico on my laptop and on iMac when I’m at home.
Hopefully you can provide a license that will allow me to do this.
Thank you for your help,
Rick
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Rick, I’ll send you a time-limited activation code that you can use on whichever computer you don’t currently have Dorico licensed on, and that should tide you over. Check your private mailbox here on the forum.
Hello, all. I’ve just made this switch from Finale after over 20 years of daily use, and I am wondering where Dorico has been all my life. It literally does EVERYTHING that I have wished for Finale to do, and then some. The new version of Finale disappointed me beyond repair, so here I am.
I am a church musician, and I did appreciate that I could install Finale on my church iMac AND home iMac using the same license. The USB e-licenser would not be practical for me, so I’m guessing my only option would be to buy a second license for my church office. Is there any kind of reduced rate for a single-user second license? I’m certainly not suggesting that Dorico isn’t worth the full price, but I’m not sure my music budget will allow for it at the moment.
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The new licensing system will support multi-computer. I hope it’s something sensible, like the Spitfire two computer registration, or other tools where’s it’s basically seamless. I’ll guess the new system will be rolled out sometime in the next year, maybe before the end of this one who knows.
Welcome, @Chase43078. You’ll find lots of Finale exiles here!
We’re all anticipating that Steinberg will finally change their licence system later this year, and the word is that it will allow two seats per user.
In the meantime, you might want to consider buying Dorico Elements for the church office. This is considerably cheaper, though does have some limitations: mostly to do with No Engrave mode, and a limit to the number of players (12). Above that, you can still print and read the score.
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Needing a “time-limited activation code” tells us how far we still now are from a system professionals need and SHOULD HAVE. Happily a solution to this nonsense is coming… 
I’m also happy to provide time-limited licenses upon request for you to activate Dorico on a second computer while you’re waiting for the new licensing system to arrive. Please simply send me a private message here to request one, and I’ll send it to you by return.
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Also note that now Dorico for iPad - with the new unlimited player subscription, is a very viable alternative to the full desktop version. With the new licensing system this will cover all bases - iPad for when really mobile, a laptop license for mostly mobile and desktop for studio work. It’s a bright future!
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Can you kindly perhaps shed light on what a “time-limited” means, please? Three days, one week, two months, until the new system, or something else…? Thank you ever so much.
HOW exhausted you must be with all our questions around the same topic! 
Thanks for you patience.
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