1110 TCP AVP.EXE -R [ Firewall Port's # ]
19780 TCP AVP.EXE -R
1501 TCP AVP.EXE -R
1509 TCP AVP.EXE -R
1511 TCP AVP.EXE -R
1513 TCP AVP.EXE -R
1516 TCP AVP.EXE -R
1519 TCP AVP.EXE -R
1522 TCP AVP.EXE -R
1079 TCP System
1521 TCP System
123 UDP SVCHOST.EXE -K NETSVCS
123 UDP SVCHOST.EXE -K NETSVCS
1453 TCP FIREFOX.EXE "HTTP://WWW.GIVEAWAYOFTHEDAY.COM/PDF-2-HTML/?ACTIVATE"
1454 TCP FIREFOX.EXE "HTTP://WWW.GIVEAWAYOFTHEDAY.COM/PDF-2-HTML/?ACTIVATE"
1455 TCP FIREFOX.EXE "HTTP://WWW.GIVEAWAYOFTHEDAY.COM/PDF-2-HTML/?ACTIVATE"
1456 TCP FIREFOX.EXE "HTTP://WWW.GIVEAWAYOFTHEDAY.COM/PDF-2-HTML/?ACTIVATE"
1499 TCP FIREFOX.EXE "HTTP://WWW.GIVEAWAYOFTHEDAY.COM/PDF-2-HTML/?ACTIVATE"
1502 TCP FIREFOX.EXE "HTTP://WWW.GIVEAWAYOFTHEDAY.COM/PDF-2-HTML/?ACTIVATE"
1504 TCP FIREFOX.EXE "HTTP://WWW.GIVEAWAYOFTHEDAY.COM/PDF-2-HTML/?ACTIVATE"
1508 TCP FIREFOX.EXE "HTTP://WWW.GIVEAWAYOFTHEDAY.COM/PDF-2-HTML/?ACTIVATE"
1514 TCP FIREFOX.EXE "HTTP://WWW.GIVEAWAYOFTHEDAY.COM/PDF-2-HTML/?ACTIVATE"
1517 TCP FIREFOX.EXE "HTTP://WWW.GIVEAWAYOFTHEDAY.COM/PDF-2-HTML/?ACTIVATE" you only need one's say Firefox,I can not see port # 80
All so need to tell Kaspersky,spyware terminator firewall yes to out,on spyware terminator you need to tick show blocked alert,or you not know,and one time was failed to connect & try later & all ok.

Thank you for your prompt reply, BuBBy. I activated the same offering (yesterday's) with no problems on my Vista ThinkPad at home, so the GOTD end is OK. Suspicion of course falls first on the corporate firewall, but then why would other giveaway activations have worked?

Here's a thought: does Avtivate.exe go to the same URL or domain every time? If it goes to different URLs or domains, perhaps some are blocked and others not? I'm clutching at straws here...

Out of curiosity, I just tried to run Setup.exe for today's giveaway (Partition Recovery) on the office XP ThinkPad, and it failed to connect to giveawayoftheday.com again. This would seem to be more evidence against the firewall, right?
Thanks again for your help!

Is it possible there have been any changes made at all to the firewall rules? (can you connect without going via any proxy server?)

Can you connect from "outside" the firewall - or your home network - if it works then it isn't your laptop.

Easy Money is on the firewall as the likely culprit. (Activation worked fine for me first time - so the GOTD end of the deal looks ok).

BuBBy, thank you for your reply to my new Activation forum posting, which you then closed. Oops! I apologize for forgetting the forum rules. I am ashamed, and will try to read and remember the rules better for next time.

Meanwhile, do you have any idea why I occasionally cannot activate a giveaway? I get the "failed to connect" message sometimes. This is an XP SP2 ThinkPad. It's behind a corporate firewall, which I cannot configure -- but that has not interfered with activating many other giveaways at other times. Of course, it only happens for the giveaways I want the most. :-(

Any help you can offer would be very much appreciated.

I am behind a proxy and have no option to turn it off. I already understand that's the problem, so I'm not looking for advice. I just wanted to add my voice to those who would like for some alternative validation method to be employed.

Thanks, HOSS, for the heads up on the free Starburn download. I was disappointed when that one didn't work.

KarinJ - There is also a ton of stuff in the Freeware Library and in the Audio-Video section of this site. There are a lot of items in there so you may want to look them over to find the one to best suit your needs. I hope this helps.

KarinJ - The general rule is that the software must be downloaded and activated within the 24 hour period. I have not heard of anyway around that but someone else may have.

There is a download on Rocket Division's website that is free, it is called Starburn SDK and I think the main difference between the one offered here and the one on their website is that the one offered here has network support. The one on their website should be the same software without the extra network support (using it with a number of computers linked together). If you need it for use on a single computer it should be the one.

Here is the STARBURN DOWNLOAD link (if you click on it, the download will start).

If your problem occurs every time you might want to read through the suggestions in this thread to see if it solves your problem: http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/2103?replies=37#post-18729
If not, do let us know.

But if you've tried to download other giveaways later, and it worked, then your problem is of another nature then mentioned in these threads.

This is a reply to my own post above. I read Bruno's solution for the same problem, which was as follows:

"I've found an easy solution to this problem that has worked great in my case. I am using IE7 on a Vista machine. Apparently there was a problem with the settings for my LAN connection. What I did was open up the 'Internet Options' box under the 'Tools' menu, and then click on 'Lan Settings' under the 'Connections' tab. In the LAN settings box, I clicked on the top box to let IE7 automatically detect the correct settings to use. GOTD ctivations worked perfectly after that. HTH "

Check this out, but IE7 was already set to detect correct settings. So it seems there is another problem.

My question still stands. Is there a way I can still get my s/w activated?

I'm a new member (joined yesterday), and I failed at the first hurdle. Starburn was just what I wanted, so I immediately begain unzipping and installing it. Sadly, when the installation s/w connected me to Giveaway, I got the message "activation module failed to connect". Thought I would try again later, but only got back home after midnight. Now, of course, when I try to activate, I get a message that the deadline has expired. Not a very good start.

What does Giveaway do in these cases? I note from this forum that so many people are having trouble, surely you must have a fallback position to help those who, despite their best efforts, are unable to activate their software?

Do let me know what the official position is on this one. Thanks.

I was also getting the "Fatal Error:Key is Invalid" message (and very frustrated). Like Goldeneagle, I also have an accelerator for my dial-up account (although my isp is Earthlink). When I deactivated the accelerator everything worked ok.

@hotdoge3 - "How do you download in the safe mode?"

With the option "Safe mode with Networking"...

Hi Face, How do you download in the safe mode? no net in safe mode some times not work may be GOD is in over load one time just keep on trying & it work allso past right to left & keep trying it not the fire wall.

Hi Face, How do you download in the safe mode?
I can not even connect to the internet in the safe mode and am being told I am not suppose to.

marciejs
Try downloading in Safe Mode. That's what I've been forced to do for about the last 7 or 8 months. It allows the activation check to go through - then when you switch back to Regular Mode the software is right there. I don't know why it works, but it does.

OK, I do not exactly understand this but will tell you and then someone who knows can tell me if I am using a proxy or not.

After disconnecting from the internet I went into my internet properties settings and was going to uncheck using a proxy. However when I got there the boxes were both UNChecked. So I connected again and looked again and they are Checked. I would assume I am using one but don't know and how do I not use one if they were unchecked to begin with.

Hi guys I was just fixing to post again that I was still having this problem and saw your answers.

First off I checked my internet connection and it does say to use a proxy server, but it also says to bypass proxy server for local address. Both boxes are checked so no really sure if I am or not. I use People PC.

As far as the firewall, I am using a paid version of AVG Security Suit and I had contacted them about this problem and they told me to disable the firewall and also the resident shield. I disabled both but still got the same error.

I did look at http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg31/graylox/LOOK.jpg
and have double checked today and still have lots of time.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I am going to try connecting without the proxy and see if I can. I really don't know anything about that stuff but will try.

@ marciejs
One of the causes of the invalid key has been found to be connecting to the internet via a proxy server. Check (in your internet connection settings) that during setup/activation, you are connecting directly and not via a proxy server.

Secondly trying to install a Giveaway that has been updated (on the download server) since you downloaded your copy. (Sometimes the GOTD team need to update or release a "fixed" version of the giveaway while the giveaway is running. You can usually tell because the giveaway download filename will now end in "Upd" - for "Update") In this case you will need to download the fixed/repaired/updated giveaway again.

NOTE: Updated Giveaways will sometimes happen in the earlier stages of a giveaway if a problem is found. To protect against having to possibly download a larger download twice, wait for a couple of hours into the Giveaway period, for any obvious problems to be noticed and then repaired/reported and some more useful comments to appear - to give yourself a better idea of what lies in store...

@ marciejs
Hallo marciejs, Welcome !
Are you sure, your firewall has left a little hole for the activation ?
You have to allow GOTD to call home once. I hope that will help you. If not, come back; perhaps one of our techies has a better advice.

@ swobovike Hi swobovike welcome to the forum !
Please have a look at the front-site and all your problems are solved ;-)

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg31/graylox/LOOK.jpg

Wish it had been more evident that you had to install that day. I had downloaded AdolixPDF
and saved the ZIP to a flash drive. It wasn't until I tried to install the next day that I
found the README in the ZIP explaining that it had to be installed right away. For newbies
it would be great to know this up front.

I seem to be having a little different problem then most that have posted here.
This is the third program I have downloaded and tried to install and get the same error.

a box titled setup comes up and says "Fatel error:Key is invalid"
I can see an activation box behind it that says it is connecting but because of error can not get it done.

Before you ask, yes I am downloading and trying to install on the same day before giveway runs out.

Thanks for any help

Great reviews, and great game! I can't even tell you how many hours I've spent playing this one as well as Age of Japan 2. These are keepers!

Your welcome, funkymom.

thanks funkymom

thanks whiterabbit and bobby619 for the reviews.
:D

I am having a problem installing. It keeps giving me a fatel error "key is invalid"

Thanks for the help

Hey whiterabbit; thanks for another great and insightful review - this old broad would have very few games if not for you!

D/I no problem on XPsp2. I got Age of Japan a few months back but wasn’t on the site when this was given away - so Thank You for the repeat. This is a very cool game!! I too love match 3 games like Jewel Quest 1 and 2 and have played Jewel Match at least 3 times through on all 150 levels.

Love the varying formats of the Age of Japan layouts, windowed mode and volume/sound controls. The choice of pieces/symbols allows for easier contrast for my low vision. I know Age of Japan 2 had some interesting twists (like the blackout and flashlight levels) so I hope this has some good surprises as the levels progress!

Overall this is a KEEPER! THANK YOU REALORE AND GGOTD!!

good point Robert. Despite having to adjust my screen res' several times during the early hours of this morning while writing todays review (in between smashing my forehead on the keyboards I might add, and wondering why I was doing this at the same time, lol) and never thought to mention it in the review. Though it only did this after the game was closed down due to taking screen captures. If I shut the game down normally the screen resolution always reverts back to my preferred resolution.

WR

Okay, lucky Maizey, now tell me what the creature is. Zooplankton or some sort of ratfish or is the commenter's id correct - a rainbow chode(sic), Stylephorus chordatus.