Hello,
due to a Win 7 crash I had to reinstall everything, but are not able to activate my Dorico 2 (licence key starts with 0240…), trying it also with the eLicenser Control Center (Ver. 6.12.11.1328). What can I do?
Thank you for your help.
Florian
I sympathize with your situation. Unfortunately, the eLicenser activation system shut down back in 2025.
Was your license stored on a USB-eLicenser? If so, you can simply use that to reauthorize Dorico 2—no activation required. If your license was stored directly on your computer (as a license file, or Soft-eLicenser), I’m afraid that you’re out of luck. You would need to purchase an upgrade to at least Dorico 4 (the current version is 6), which runs on a new licensing system. Unfortunately, you would also need at least Windows 10 to run the new version.
You might find some relevant information on their elicense information page:
Some links on the left.
Licensing issues aside, I would strongly advise you to upgrade to Dorico 6.
Would 6 run on Windows 7?
Downloading the Trial version would confirm.
I wish! The last version of Dorico to run on Windows 7 was 3.5, and then only unofficially. (I don’t think that any version of Dorico acknowledged working on Windows 7, but it was doable.) I tried the hard way; versions 4 and 5 will install on Windows 7, but fail to start. Version 6 might not even install there.
One has to ask why you run a totally obsolete WIndows OS, complete with a riot of viruses and attack surfaces
I understand the resistance to upgrading, but I also agree with those saying that it’s probably not a good idea to stay on Win 7. I switched to Linux instead of upgrading to Win 11, but that does of course mean that I can’t run Dorico on that computer anymore. I don’t regret the switch, since everything else runs better than before, but I do have a Mac that I use for Dorico (and Logic) since Dorico doesn’t have a Linux version. (Ok, I had to abandon Clip Studio Paint too, and I can miss that one a little, but I’m pretty happy with Krita and Inkscape as replacements.)
So I’m sorry, it’s probably time for you to get a new computer. Either a Mac or something beefy enough to be able to run Windows 11. (I would recommend switching to Linux Mint instead, but that wouldn’t let you run Dorico.)
It’s considerations like these that make me wish, like many others, that Dorico would be released for additional platforms. Until then, as I’ve mentioned before, Dorico is the true killer app for (recent) Mac OS or Windows.
But I almost wish also that Avid had laid off the (then)-Sibelius team 5-10 years before it actually happened, so that Dorico itself could have started earlier. Then we could probably truly run Dorico ~4 on Windows 7, while the rest of us (no offense OP… I don’t like the newer OSes, either) would be speaking of Dorico 8 or 9 by now. Granted, the OP’s original issue of the eLicenser system shutdown would still remain, and so the upgrade to a newer version (both Dorico and the OS) would still be forced in that way. And yes, I understand that Dorico itself might have evolved differently in this scenario.
Thanks to everybody for trying to help me out!
On the main topic:
I don’t have a USB-eLicenser, only the digital licence key (saved it after the purchase in a text file). Tried the activation over MySteinberg but interestingly none of my email addresses are known, although I bought an Education version - afai remember - with my university email address (but I can’t remember the exact process anymore).
On the interesting OS discussion:
At work I have to use Win 11 (Win 10 before) and - regarding to privacy and ads - it’s quite unappealing to me, regarding to the (system) settings sometimes even frustrating (but I am not an OS expert, so that’s just my unprofessional opinion). An Dorico Linux Version I would buy immediately.
Maybe I can somewhere purchase a used 3.5 with the USB-eLicenser.
Have a good week!