I was hoping to find a traditional help source with user Q&A posts to find whether any prior version (v18) needs to be removed first before installing this version 19.

I tried to use the Steganos "Service" feature of their website; however, the drill-down problem-solver referred me to "Please check if your problem can be solved in our Steganos Support Forum", URL:

https://steganos.zendesk.com/forums

...which resulted in an "Oops! The page you were looking for doesn't exist" However, clicking on the Steganos logo at the top of that page does reveal a variety of help topics in the Steganos Help Center.

I did not find installation help under "Steganos Safe"; and the link in the topic Old FAQ (under General Inquiries for Steganos Products):

"...for help with older Steganos Products, please visit our old FAQ section: http://www.steganos.com/support/faq/index.php"

... does not work -- apparently it requires an Administrator account to access.

They need to check their links.

(Later on today...)

OK, went ahead and installed it to discover that Steganos Safe 19 installs in a separate set of folders, and does not replace/update Steganos Safe 18.

That did not seem like a good idea, so I uninstalled both, restarted my computer, then installed today's Steganos Safe 19 again. Installation went smoothly and e-mail supplied S/N worked OK.

The previous v18 has not given me any problems since installing it back in February 1 of this year (haven't used it much, though).

Very buggy program. Crashed many many times. Tried creating on hard drive program locks up. Tried on USB drive crashes almost every time. First install crashed three times.
Scary program if you don't have a good backup like Macrium Reflect. I would never trust this with important data.

I am still waiting for the download link to arrive in my email; I've checked it's not in the spam folder.

The site for this software is awful. Marketing jargon descriptions of the product with no real technical insights or details, where a product like this is highly technical and needs that. NO manual download available. This is highly unusual for a German publisher - they usually drown you in information.

I was interested in how it deals with Dropbox uploads, but I'm not going to install it just to find out, and the ability (never mind the process) is barely even mentioned anywhere on the site.

Based on the site, and its unusually sparse product descriptions, I would never consider buying this product for such sensitive use.

not everyone is a computer buff so have some patience

How do I insert key ???

Help About shows no key !!

Is this license go lifetime until update? That would make me want to try this. I don't want to find out it expired and I can not get to my stuff.

A safe is basically an encrypted Virtual Hard Disk [VHD] -- a VHD is a single file that, by using special drivers can be mounted, and then acts like a real hard drive partition. There are several apps that, like Steganos Safe, let you create encrypted safes, and several apps for disk encryption, though not all disk encryption software is easy to use with VHDs. Same as an encrypted file or folder, encrypted safes &/or VHDs protect data while it's not in use, e.g. files stored on a laptop with an encrypted hard drive are secure if the laptop is lost or stolen, but offer no protection when decrypted to access that data. The main benefit of using safes in my opinion is ease of use compared to something like Veracrypt or Bitlocker when used with VHDs -- a benefit of Steganos in my opinion is that it's not tied to a brand of security software [like many safes] that you might change when your subscription runs out.

The talking points Steganos publishes mention creating portable safes, e.g. on a USB stick -- I couldn't find anything saying whether that includes a portable version of the decrypting software, or if it just lets you store an encrypted VHD [safe] on removable media. Obviously that makes a difference, since without that portable software the encrypted data can only be accessed by PCs/laptops where the software's installed. Veracrypt will let you put the decrypting software on a USB stick along with the encrypted data, but it's not the easiest to use. GiliSoft makes easy to use software just for creating an encrypted VHD on a USB stick, but I've no idea how secure it really is.

Info on Steganos Privacy Suite 19 [includes Safe]: steganos[.]com/en/steganosblog/668-new-steganos-privacy-suite-19-complete-package-for-data-protection-and-privacy

I requested the serial number and received a link to get it, but all the link does is sends me back to the "Thank you. The email with the desired information will be sent" page - no sign of a serial number ??
Please advise..

Not high-DPI aware, which is completely unacceptable for such commercial software from a reputable German publisher. I can use it on my PC, but the interface is blurry.

Also, rude software (at least in the version offered here) : does not ask the permission to install in a specific folder, you can't decide where to install it, how to name the install folder or where to put shortcuts.

The version offered here is number 19, which is one edition behind the current one. That's all right for a free offer, but it would be nice if the differences could be found on the publisher's website.

GOTD, please urge your software providers to spell out what will happen if there is a computer crash and the application needs to be reinstalled. Absolutely vital with a program like this. Also, is use limited to (e.g) 1 year or is it lifetime? Thx.

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