PC Access for Windows Reference Guide

for PC Access for Windows 4.30.158

License Restriction

When you purchase PC Access, you are purchasing a set of media (diskettes) containing a copy of PC Access, and a license permitting you to execute that copy of PC Access. Your PC Access license is non-transferrable.

PC Access uses a mechanism called user authorization (also called copy protection) to enforce your license terms. Your user authorization also helps secure your account on your MLS. An MLS permits only paid subscribers to access it through their own accounts. Therefore, your copy of PC Access contains codes which identify it as belonging to you (if you have the Agent version) or your office (if you have the Office/Broker version). If other persons obtained illegal copies of PC Access from you, they could access your MLS account and act irresponsibly or illegally—while appearing to be you to the MLS provider. Your user authorization makes it very difficult for another person to steal your copy of PC Access.

Your license specifies the following two numbers that determine how you may execute PC Access:

· Install count: the maximum number of computers on which you may install your copy of PC Access.

· User limit: the maximum number of those copies which may execute simultaneously.

Here are the general rules relating the install count and user limit for each version of PC Access:

· Office/Broker version: this comes with one install count and a user limit of one (1). (You may set up your copy of the Office/Broker version for use by multiple agents, but only one agent may use the copy at one time.)

· Network version: you may install a network copy on one network server and an unlimited number of workstations on the same LAN. Network versions are available with user limits of 5 or 20. You may purchase an increase in your user limit by telephoning VISTAinfo Real Estate Solutions, PC Products Sales department.

· Agent version: most Agent versions come with three install counts and a user limit of one (1). (Exceptions: some Multiple Listing Services have stipulated that copies of PC Access in their market areas shall have only one install count. As of May, 1997, this includes only Cincinnati, Ohio and Northern Kentucky.) That means you may install your agent copy on up to three different computers, but you may only use one copy at a time. The only person who may use your copy of PC Access is you. If you employ one or more personal assistants who need to use PC Access on additional computer(s), you must purchase corresponding additional licenses to run PC Access.

An important note about the Agent version license restriction:

¨ If you set up your copy for simultaneous use on more than one computer, you have violated your license. You may also jeopardize your MLS account, because many Multiple Listing Services check for multiple logins from the same copy of PC Access. The reason for giving you three install counts is not to encourage you to install your copy of PC Access on three computers, but to give you a reserve install count in the event that you upgrade your computer's CPU, BIOS, or motherboard, or you purchase a new computer. (See the notes on machine tie user authorization below.)

¨ If your copy of PC Access has three (3) install counts when you purchase it, you are not eligible for free additional install counts regardless of any action or problem which may have caused you to lose your install counts. If you use up your three install counts, you must pay for additional install counts. In light of this policy, you should store your PC Access diskettes carefully and avoid using your extra two (2) install counts frivolously.

Here is how the PC Access authorization mechanism works:

1. When you install PC Access on a computer where you have never installed PC Access before, the SETUP.EXE program on your "PC Access for Windows - Disk 1" begins by installing the PC Access executable files and support files from each of your distribution diskettes.
   
   
2. Then the SETUP.EXE program launches the PC Access User Authorization Manager (UAM). The UAM prompts you to re-insert your "Disk 1" into your diskette drive, and attempts to install your user authorization to your computer's hard disk.
   
   
3. The UAM will be able to install your user authorization to your hard disk if you have an available install count on your "Disk 1." If your copy of PC Access uses the machine tie, the UAM will create a backup copy of your user authorization file in the EKB_BKUP subdirectory on your "Disk 1."

   ¨ If the UAM cannot install your user authorization, the copy of PC Access you just installed will not execute. PC Access is substantially complete on your hard disk, but PC Access will report that your user authorization is not present if you attempt to execute PC Access on this computer.

Here are some additional things you need to know about your user authorization:

PC Access uses two different types of user authorization:

· Machine Tie: this is the most common form of user authorization. Most Office/Broker version and Agent version copies of PC Access use the machine tie. When you install the machine tie user authorization to your hard disk, the UAM creates the file PCAW410.EKB in your PC Access executable directory. You may back up this file to tape or diskette, and it will work when you restore it to this same computer, provided you have not replaced your CPU, BIOS, or motherboard. The UAM also backs up your PCAW410.EKB to your "Disk 1" automatically when you install PC Access. This protects you if you accidentally or deliberately reformat or replace your hard drive and need to re-install PC Access.

If the UAM correctly backed up your PCAW410.EKB file, you can restore it with no additional penalty to your total available install counts. That is, should you need to re-install PC Access on a computer where you installed it before, the UAM will check your "Disk 1" to see if it already contains a backed-up copy of the PCAW410.EKB file for this computer. If so, the UAM will restore that PCAW410.EKB without deducting from your remaining install counts (if any). The machine tie version of the user authorization resists damage by disk optimizers, hard drive repartitioning software, drive compression programs such as DBLSPACE, or operating system upgrades. As long as you do not upgrade your computer's CPU, BIOS and motherboard, the PCAW410.EKB file should continue to work on your computer.

However, you cannot uninstall a machine tie install count from a computer once you have installed it there. That means if you sell or lose your computer and purchase a new one, you also lose the machine tie install count that you allocated to that first computer. (Hence the name "machine tie": when you install the user authorization, you "tie" it to a particular "machine," i.e., computer.) That is why Agent copies of PC Access (in most market areas) come with three install counts: to give you a reserve you will need if you purchase a new computer in the future.

· Disk Tie: all Network copies of PC Access use this form of user authorization. In addition, Office/Broker version and Agent version copies in some market areas also use disk tie. Disk tie creates a hidden, unmovable file in your PC Access executable directory. Its properties are the opposite of a machine tie user authorization file: you cannot restore a disk tie user authorization file from a backup copy on a tape or diskette, but you can uninstall it with the UAM. The disk tie user authorization file is also vulnerable to disruption by disk optimizers that move files having system, hidden, and read-only attributes. The UAM does not back up a disk tie user authorization file to your "Disk 1."

If your version of PC Access uses the disk tie user authorization, you must remember to uninstall (using the UAM) the user authorization before you do anything to your computer that might damage the user authorization. Such actions include upgrading your hard drive, running Norton SpeedDisk for Win95, repartitioning your hard drive (even if you use special programs like Partition Magic), compressing your hard drive, upgrading the operating system, and of course, upgrading your entire computer.

How to identify the type of user authorization your copy of PC Access uses:

· Run the UAM and see if the Uninstall button is gray. If so, you have machine tie. If the Uninstall button is not gray (i.e., it is selectable), you have disk tie.

· You may also press the Info button in the UAM.

This topic has changed for PC Access 4.30 (Wednesday, August 2, 2000).

Last modification date: Friday, January 17, 2003 00:58:55