Giveaway of the Day Forums » User Favorites: clemmie

g@rgoyle on "General Knowledge Base 2.4 Became Unregistered January 1, 2009"

g@rgoyle — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:22:54 +0000

Hi Jackie,

Regards,
Lan

Jackie on "General Knowledge Base 2.4 Became Unregistered January 1, 2009"

Jackie — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 08:33:30 +0000

I like this program so much I decided to buy it...but it's no longer listed on Baltsoft site. Anyone know anything about this/how to purchase? I have a couple of large databases that I don't want to lose if my pc breaks down. Thanks.

Clemmie on "General Knowledge Base 2.4 Became Unregistered January 1, 2009"

Clemmie — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 13:58:40 +0000

I installed General Knowledge Base (GKB) on the 12th May 2008 from GAOTD and realized it became a trial version on the 1st January 2009. Now when I open GKB, it reads:

"This is an unregistered version and is for trial use only. Would you like to register?"

This trial version has limitations too. For example, you can only have up to 100 topics per category. GAOTD should have warned us of this limitation on the day it was given. I feel cheated. Ok yes it was free but I still feel cheated. This was a complex program to get used to so I put a lot of time and effort into it, not to mention sooooo much work. This limitation sounds like a commercial money venture. A program like this holds so much data and personalized formatting that you'd be forced to pay money to register just to save all the work you've done. And what timing, GKB has upgraded to version 2.5 now known as General KB. See, they want you to buy the new version. I could have downloaded a similar freeware version but now it's too late. I've invested too much time and become familiar and happy with the work I've done.

NB. I've found a way to overcome the 100 topics per category limitation. Create a new topic in a category that has less than 100 topics, then move it with your mouse to the category that is restricted to only 100 topics. TADAAA! You have 101 topics in a category that is supposed to be restricted to 100 due to the trial version.

PROBLEM - ANY IDEAS?
Why is it that I'm frequently stumbling across GKB files in unrelated folders? I see the GKB icon in some folders (even system folders) and think how on earth it got there and why its appeared there.

BuBBy on "General Knowledge Base 2.4 Became Unregistered January 1, 2009"

BuBBy — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 12:49:03 +0000

@Violet4714 - Good Advice. :)

Violet4714 on "General Knowledge Base 2.4 Became Unregistered January 1, 2009"

Violet4714 — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 06:30:29 +0000

you're welcome, Cacophony...

you can try writing the developers yourself & explaining...some do respond quite well to the community...

GOTD may contact them, as they do pay a fee that allows us the free, full program versions (unless stated otherwise; mileage varies)...maybe PM a Moderator or Admin if this thread isn't spotted & ask them?...

other options are to uninstall or buy the program...and again, sometimes the developers will offer a discounted price...

good luck with whatever you choose...

and welcome to the forums...

: )

Cacophony on "General Knowledge Base 2.4 Became Unregistered January 1, 2009"

Cacophony — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 04:54:16 +0000

Hi Violet4714,

Thanks for confirming this for me. I also did additional testing of the key and concluded that it was only good for about seven months. I don't know whether GOTD knew about this limitation when they offered the program, since I still have the readme file and it says under terms and conditions:

"1) No free technical support
2) No free upgrades to future versions
3) Strictly non-commercial usage"

Unless someone can think of a solution to this problem, I will export the data I need from the program and will stop using it.

Violet4714 on "General Knowledge Base 2.4 Became Unregistered January 1, 2009"

Violet4714 — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 22:39:01 +0000

hi, Cacophony...

can't remember when i last used the program...

but...yep...says it is unregistered now...

no suggestions here, sorry...just confirmation...

still had the key & tried to overwrite, as well...

looks like GOTD paid for a seven month giveaway...?...

Cacophony on "General Knowledge Base 2.4 Became Unregistered January 1, 2009"

Cacophony — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 06:50:23 +0000

Hi,

My installation of General Knowledge Base (GKB) 2.4, which was the giveaway of the day on 5/8/2008, became unregistered on January 1, 2009. When I launched it that day, a dialog box came up saying that it was an unregistered trial version and asked if I wanted to register it (for the price of a full license).

I did not have any problems with my computer or the GKB software on that day. I used GKB on December 31, 2008, and it was still registered.

Although this giveaway came with a license key file that was supposed to be copied into the main directory, overwriting the original key file on the assumption that it got corrupted, had no effect. It seems as if the key was designed to expire at the end of 2008.

Does anyone know of a way to get this giveaway to recognize the key? Or, will I just have to uninstall this program?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.