Considering GameJackal? Better act fast...

[DABhand]

If your online whats the problem with online activation? You talked about this a few times, seems you dont like it.

But to be honest GJ = crap. And do you think GJ does not contact home when you enter your serial? There is a huge chance after you think you have activated the software, GJ may contact a home server to report.

[AstralWanderer]

Originally Posted by DABhand

If your online whats the problem with online activation? You talked about this a few times, seems you dont like it.

Online activation has two problems:

• if the company dies, the software goes with it (covered in more detail in this Authorization Servers article). I have no way of knowing how long Daemon Tools (or any other developer/publisher) is going to stay in business, but as a paying customer, I shouldn't need to.
• the company can change the rules on activation any time it wants and enforce them. They could levy extra payments (Stardock does this if it thinks a licence has been transferred), require you to install software (e.g. adware, an "anti-cheat scanner" to check your system for cracks or even the publisher's own electronic store software) or just arbitrarily terminate your licence (as EA were threatening to do to anyone banned in their forums - they withdrew this threat but the fact that they were in a position to make it should give anyone pause for thought). Even if DT's LocutusOfBorg is the most honest, upright person on the Internet, who can guarantee that a more ruthless, money-grabbing, EA-tattoo-touting miscreant can't take over sometime in future?

Originally Posted by DABhand

And do you think GJ does not contact home when you enter your serial? There is a huge chance after you think you have activated the software, GJ may contact a home server to report.

Easy enough for a firewall to detect - have you seen this happen? In addition, no requirement for an Internet connection is given in GJ's requirements - now that doesn't guarantee no-phone-home (plenty of other software has that "let's check for updates automatically" feature) but it would seem to rule against any type of compulsory activation.

Originally Posted by TippeX

dt online activation i honestly never had a problem with, the lite version doesn't include mandatory adware (the free version has image making capabilities i think, so if its just for simple game playing, install lite)

Thanks for the info but does that mean that the note about Daemon Tools on this page needs an update?

[TippeX]

Originally Posted by AstralWanderer

Thanks for the info but does that mean that the note about Daemon Tools on this page needs an update?

yep, think so, because i definately have daemon tools lite 4.30.2 on my x64 machine sptd version 1.56 and during install i could choose not to use the adware..

so, to recap (heres how i think it goes)

daemon tools lite -> optional adware, simple image mounting etc..
daemon tools pro standard and daemon tools pro advanced

the standard and advanced version offer a 20 day trial as well as the activation based license