As long as you run activate.exe before running the program (as opposed to running setup.exe) you should be OK in most cases. Running activate.exe while the actual giveaway program is running is most likely to fail (or at least fail until the giveaway program is exited and restarted).

As I've said before (and the reason for the suggestion), if you run activate.exe first - there is no possibility it will fail because the giveaway program has already run or is running during activation. The order of "activate" THEN "setup" is simply to prevent some users shooting themselves in the foot. (Although, obviously this doesn't always succeed).

Disclaimer - it has happened just once in the past, where a setup.exe erased the activation settings (Stunningly stupid programming if you ask me) - and the only way to get the program running was to activate after setup - but this was the exception to the rule.

Archangel wrote:
By reading your email to them it sounds as if you installed the program then activated it. Is that correct? If so you need to read the readme file before installing. If you did follow the readme, try uninstalling it and cleaning the registry and try again.

When there are three files, (IE: readme.txt, setup.exe and activation.exe), I've always installed the giveaway by installing the program (setup.exe), then running the activation file... this is irregardless of what the readme file says. I've never had a problem with activation of any programs I've ever downloaded doing it this way. So the program does work and activate if you switch the order of installation..

Exactly VampireRat and alexiussq.

i have no problems with activating the software- usually you must run the activate.exe first before installing the program when the owner's software, i.e. Setup.exe, is not embedded in the activate.exe.
But if the owner's software is embedded in activate.exe, just run it as the program.
I suppose now I have a complete collection of Wondershare's softwares on my computer. :)

It can make a difference whether you run the Install program or the Activate program first. Generally, you first run Activate, but ALWAYS read the ReadMe.txt file first for instructions, as they sometimes differ. Then, if you have problems, go to the software download page and skim the Comments to see if anyone else is having your problem and may have already gotten an answer. If you are the only one having a problem, it's a good bet you have done something incorrectly, and it is not a problem with the download.

I hope you solved your problem before the activation period was over.

By reading your email to them it sounds as if you installed the program then activated it. Is that correct? If so you need to read the readme file before installing. If you did follow the readme, try uninstalling it and cleaning the registry and try again.

I didn't install this program but it seems that nobody else has had a problem or at least hasn't posted about it.

I downloaded iPod Slideshow as a Giveaway of the Day program. I clicked on Activate and got a message that it was activated. Then when I opened the program, the message on the screen asked for a registration code. How do I get that?

The same thing happened some time ago with iPhone Slideshow.

For both programs, I downloaded and activated well within the free period.

Sep 10 19:57:52 2007 Wondershare admin
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Dear user ,

Thank you for contacting us ,if you want a keycode ,you need to pruchase a order online ,here is the purchase link.

http://www.photo-to-dvd.com/buy/ipod-slideshow.html

Please try to use the trial version first ,if you are satisfied with it ,please purchase a order.

Any further question or suggestion, please feel free to contact us.

Best Regards,
Wondershare Support Team