Notes & articles

Troubleshooting licensing and activation errors

This page provides information about errors you may encounter when you activate Red Gate products:

For general questions about licensing, see Licensing and activation resources.

The number of activations for this serial number has been exceeded

This error message is displayed when a serial number is activated on more computers than the number of licenses that were purchased for that serial number.

When you purchase products from Red Gate Software, we send you an invoice that includes your serial numbers. The serial numbers enable you to activate the software a number of times, depending on how many licenses you purchased and the terms in the license agreement. When this limit is reached, you will see this error message.

To fix the problem, you can:

• deactivate the product on another computer to free up a license
• purchase more licenses
• request additional activations for your serial number

This serial number has been disabled

This error message is displayed when you try to activate a product using a serial number that Red Gate Software has disabled.

When you upgrade a product, your existing serial numbers will be disabled and we will issue new ones with your invoice. If you cannot find your new serial numbers, you can review them at http://www.red-gate.com/myserialnumbers

Red Gate Software will also disable serial numbers for non-payment of invoices or breach of the terms in the license agreement. If you think we have disabled your serial numbers in error, contact licensing@red-gate.com

This serial number was for a trial extension

This error message is displayed when you have requested a trial extension and you try to reuse the serial number that was provided for the trial extension; trial extensions can be used one time only.

To continue using the product, you need to purchase it.

This serial number is not registered with the activation server

This error message is displayed when the serial number you entered does not exist on the Red Gate activation server.

To find out your serial numbers, check your invoice or go to http://www.red-gate.com/myserialnumbers

This serial number is not for <product name>

This error message is displayed when the serial number you entered is not for the product you are trying to activate.

To find out your serial numbers, check your invoice or go to http://www.red-gate.com/myserialnumbers

This serial number is not for this version

This error message is displayed when the serial number you entered is for a different version of the product you are trying to activate.

If the serial number is for an older version of the product, and you don't have that version installed on your computer, you can download it from http://www.red-gate.com/downgrade

If you want to upgrade to the latest version of the product, go to the Upgrade center to get a quote or purchase an upgrade.

The activation request is in the wrong format

This error message is displayed:

• if your Internet connection does not allow SOAP requests.
  
  Try using manual activation; on the error dialog box, click Activate Manually, and then follow the instructions that are displayed.
• if you are activating by email and there is a problem with the format of the activation request.
  
  Check that you copied and pasted all of the activation request.
  
  Alternatively, try using manual activation. Go to http://www.red-gate.com/activate and paste your activation request under Step 1.
• when you are using manual activation and there is a problem with the format of the activation request. If the format is incorrect, for example part of the request is missing, the Red Gate activation server cannot process the request.
  
  Check that you copied and pasted all of the activation request.

The activation request contains an invalid machine hash

This error message is displayed:

• if your Internet connection does not allow SOAP requests.
  
  Try using manual activation; on the error dialog box, click Activate Manually, and then follow the instructions that are displayed.
• when you are using manual activation and there is a problem with the format of the machinehash element in the activation request. The machinehash is a checksum of attributes from your computer. We use the machinehash to identify computers on which our products have been activated. If the format of the machinehash element is incorrect, the Red Gate activation server cannot process the request.
  
  Check that you copied and pasted the activation request correctly.

The activation request contains an invalid session

This error message is displayed:

• if your Internet connection does not allow SOAP requests.
  
  Try using manual activation; on the error dialog box, click Activate Manually, and then follow the instructions that are displayed.
• when you are using manual activation and there is a problem with the format of the activation request. If the format of the session element is incorrect, the Red Gate activation server cannot process the request.
  
  Check that you copied and pasted the activation request correctly.

The activation request contains an invalid serial number

This error message is displayed:

• if your Internet connection does not allow SOAP requests.
  
  Try using manual activation; on the error dialog box, click Activate Manually, and then follow the instructions that are displayed.
• when you are using manual activation and there is a problem with the format of the activation request. If the format of the serial number is incorrect, the Red Gate activation server cannot process the request.
  
  Check that you copied and pasted the activation request correctly.

The activation request contains an invalid product code or version number

This error message is displayed:

• if your Internet connection does not allow SOAP requests.
  
  Try using manual activation; on the error dialog box, click Activate Manually, and then follow the instructions that are displayed.
• when you are using manual activation and there is a problem with the format of the activation request. If the product code or version numbers are incorrect, the Red Gate activation server cannot process the request.
  
  Check that you copied and pasted the activation request correctly.

There is a problem with deactivating your serial number

This error message is displayed if your computer is not connected to the Internet or your Internet connection does not allow SOAP requests. You cannot deactivate a serial number if your computer does not have an Internet connection.

Try deactivating again later. If the problem persists, contact your system administrator.

If you require more activations because you cannot deactivate your serial number, you can request them on the Request Extra Activations page.

This serial number is not activated on this computer

This error message is displayed when you try to deactivate a serial number that has not been activated on your computer.

If you think the product installation on your computer is corrupt, you can try re-activating the product, and then deactivating the product again.

If you require more activations because you cannot deactivate your serial number, you can request them on the Request Extra Activations page.

Products not activated on this computer

This error message is displayed when you try to deactivate a serial number for a bundle of Red Gate products and those products were not activated on your computer.

If you think the product installation on your computer is corrupt, you can try re-activating the product, and then deactivating the product again.

If you require more activations because you cannot deactivate your serial number, you can request them on the Request Extra Activations page.