I've tried that several time and in NEVER yet has given a valid registration set.
I'm sorry to rant, but damn it, EVERY TIME I try to register I run into the same stupid problems. I had the same problems with Video Factory and versions two and three of Vegas.

SoFo's registration scheme is broken, it always WAS broken. They know it is broken and they don't do anything to fix it. It works IF you are online. If you are not, it frequently does NOT work. This is a sore point with many customers. Why in the hell should I be forced to go through this constant frustration?

I've never tried registering off-line, so I can't argue with you there.
However, I've always had great service from them when dealing with other situations.
This previous statement doesn't help you any I know.
Here's something that might. I learned to do this when dealing with my local cable company, and you'd be amazed at how effective it is.
When you talk to the rep make sure to ask his/her name. And make sure they know you took down their name, indirectly of course.
I've said before "Could I get your name incase we get disconnected or if I have to call again, you'll know about my situation so I can ask for you."
You'd be surprised how much better one is treated if the other knows you have their name. The opposite is also true though. If they treat you well, you'll probably mention it later to someone else.

M

So have I gotten good service EXCEPT for registration issues. They are totally anal about it, always were, still are. In previous versions of Vegas I've needed to spend nearly an hour on the phone trying one stupid number they gave me after another until one finally worked. Their excuse? Must something I'm doing. Yea right. I never before entered a registration number in the twenty plus years I worked with personal computers.

Still I can tolerate that. I can not and will tolerate being deliberately hung up on because someone though going to lunch was more important then helping a customer. I demand an apology. Come on SoFo...

I once had a cardioligist tell me that for every ten minutes I spend in anger, I cut a day off my life. Not a general rule, you understand, just my situation.

Well, I am almost 57, and I have one child, a 3 year old daughter. I want to live to play with her children.

Its hard, Billyboy, but worth it. I am not the calm type, but I want to live a LONG time. Life is too short. So, I try, HARD, to calm down. Its really rough, sometimes.

You, too, probably have some good reason for staying calm. I carry a picture of mine with me all the time, and a copy of it is on the wall next to my telephone, and one on the dashboard of my car.


Good luck! Live long, and prosper, as the old jib goes.

Also, not everybody leaves for lunch at 12 sharp. Some go early, so go late. Gotta spread it out.

BillyBoy,

I'm not positive yet as to why you were cut off, but our phone system may have caused the error. It is an automatic system that closes the available phone queues at 11:30am Central Standard Time providing our department a break for lunch. I have spoken with all the representatives who were on the phones at that time and it does appear there was a disconnection error. I will look into this apparent problem. We can certainly call you back at your earliest convenience to finish this activation process. I will ask someone to do so. Hopefully, you will be available at the number found in your registration file.

We do regret this problem, and I speak for the entire Customer Relations department when I say: BillyBoy, we are sorry for this inconvenience. We'll get you going ASAP, I promise.

-Any customer reading this, please note: 'Register from another computer' has been tested extensively, and it works. There is a problem with certain internet service providers, however, that block the transmission of .reg files which are attached to auto-reply text based activation code emails as a convenience. We are looking into a solution to that problem as well.

Sincerely,
Joshua Dodge
Customer Relations Lead
Sonic Foundry Inc.

Maybe the rep tried to tell you about the auto cut-off, but you were upstairs???

M

I was "cut-off" at 11:25. Maybe someone should learn how to set their clock.

I already called back and got what I needed. The reason I got so hoping mad is this happens EVERY TIME I register. My ISP has nothing to do with registering over the phone. A failure in YOUR registration software requiring numerous registration numbers before one finally works as was the case in the past certainly does.

Some phone system you got if when you are ALREADY talking to somebody it cuts the caller off. I doubt it. If that what you want to run with, you choice. Rather obvious I was hung up on from where I sit.

OK, as far as I'm concered its behind us. Apology accepted. I can hardly wait for version 5 to go through it again. <wink>

I can testify to the "register from another computer" thing working perfectly, provided the .html file is generated on the actual machine where the app is to be registered. I do this all the time because I don't want my music and video machine on the net.
Anyway I'm glad that thing got sorted.

BTW - I've noticed, when writing about the timeline and things connected with it, a few people on this forum has been referring to what they call the curser. I now know that they mean BillyBoy.

Good'ealth!
Tor

Just try and call Pinnacle customer support, better yet just try and find a number for them. At least the vegas guys respond here on the boards.

To Joshua,
I beg to differ on the subject of registering from another machine. Using the system
of writing to a floppy disk, then carrying it over to a web machine, the code that I received this way did NOT work. I tried this several times from two different machines and with different products to no avail. However it USED to work OK.
Warren Wright

Actually no it didn't work in the past either. The registration process worked sometimes. The only part of the registration process that worked most of the time was the web based automated method. If you tried to install Vegas on a box that didn't have Internet access, what would be the NORMAL condition for many people that have multiple computers, like me, the other methods were/ARE buggy and only work somtime for some people. Others like me were left out in the cold, much to their annoyance forced to call customer "service" and given one useless number after another until one actually worked. If some can excuse that sloppyness fine. I don't and won't. NOTHING is more annoying to buy software, pay for it, then you can't use it because the damn application is too stupid to properly register.

I've used the "register from another computer" four or five times and it's worked perfectly on the first try every time.

Now I am pissed off---Why is it that everyone in this damn forum is so damn defensive when Sonic Foundry messes up---Why even pick the damn phone up at 11:25 if you have an absurd auto-cut off thats going to end the call at 11:30. Has anyone ever heard of starting lunch a couple of minutes later? I love the product but heck, this company has some very strange theories of what constitutes customer service. The ulitmate irony is that with all their security measures, Vegas is probably pirated at a very high rate.

I've NEVER had a problem registering either from a computer hooked to the internet, from another computer on the internet, or over the phone. SF customer service has always been great to me. Always. I've registered VF 1&2, Acid pro4, VV2, VV3, V4 and DVA1. Never once had a problem.

no problemo here...

Dan

It is really annoying that SF products such as Vegas Video have to be registered FOUR times to get a fully functional program!!!! The program, the mp3 codec, the main video codec and noise reduction plug-in are separate registrations for VV3 and presumably VV4. If, like me, you don't put your audio/video computers on the web, registration is tedious, iffy and highly frustrating. I upgrade/change computer parts twice a year on average and I dread the Sonic Foundry reinstallation and reregistration hassel more than any other software packages I use. I've used Sonic Foundry products since Sound Forge came out in the early nineties. They have produced some good software, but the registration aggravation has finally terminated my interest in buying any more SF products. (I have Acid 3, SF6 and VV3. It takes more than an hour to go through the 10 or 11 registrations required for these three products.) Try doing this on a floppy every six months or so. It is not worth it. So, SF, if you read this, some of us out here will buy updates that use a dongle.... You are entitled to protect yourself from piracy and I will buy software that empowers me to get my work done.

What I find funny is those that say 'it works fine for me' My answer to that is, lucky you. The whole multi step registration process is a royal pain... and totally self defeating. SoFo's menthod is similar to Windows XP and guess what, the day Microsoft released their 'tamper proof' registration scheme there was a crack for it on some German web site. Took only hours for someone to break it on the same day it was released.

I refuse to upgrade to a later version of Photoshop for a similar reason. That translates to lost sales. Rule one, NEVER piss off your customer base. Besides piracy is build into the cost of software. just like "shrinkage" (employees stealing) is priced into EVERYTHING you buy in retail stores as is shoplifting.

So making it hard for your PAYING customers to use the software you paid for is poor business practice.

I got into a rather heated discussion with the Windows XP product manager in one of the Microsoft Windows newsgroups when XP first came out. After a lot of huffing and puffing he finally admittied that Microsoft knew it wouldn't do a thing to stop software piracy, they did it to stop Joe Average from installing XP on their desktop and then copy the same CD to a laptop. In other words nickle and diming. At least SoFo doesn't do that and is more liberal with their license.

I don't remember having a problem registering my VV3 last year. I am waiting for my computer to cone back from the shop and will be installing my new Vegas 4. This computer is not connected to the web and I hope I don't have the registration problems mentioned in this thread. I have already shunned Windows XP and will do the same with future SoFo products if I have a problem. It doesn't seem very smart to me to inconvenience previously satisfied paying customers in a futile attempt to stop a few pirates.

Knowing that SoFo is in financial straights, it looks like a Pyrric victory to me. SoFo's air-tight-anti-piracy-royal-pain registration process may have saved them a few dollars and cost them the store.

"SoFo's air-tight-anti-piracy-royal-pain registration process may have saved them a few dollars and cost them the store."

Yeah, that must be the reason for their financial problems. (Heavy use of sarcasm involved in this reply!)

M

I'm curious about your statement "the main video codec" doesn't work if you don't register. I was able to do all functions, render and create avi files with no problems before actually registering VV3. I'm not sure what I didn't have. Yes, noise reduction and mp3 had to be registered for the audio products (I agree, what a pain), but VV# seemed to work just fine. I do have the CD, and not the download version, is that the difference?