Broken Dongle

[weverat]

Hi, I am looking for a version 6 dongle, or repair the old one? I still use the old, old V6 for shop drawings, it is so handy and user freindly. The problem is the dongle was bent to many times, I now realize it is better to use an extension, rather than let it hang off the side of the lap top. Any how, if you have one, I will gladly pay to have it mailed.

Thank you

Steve Carlson

Rochester, MN 507-259-8536

[lbuttery]

Steve:

if you don't find one you could consider getting one of the HD products
HD Suite would be a good start at $99
http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/products/

There have been so many advances since Chief ver 6 that the HD products
would be far more "powerful" than Chief 6 ever dreamed of

did Chief 6 have the layout feature for creating CD's ???

if so, then only HD PRO has a layout feature and it is only one page

if you get one of the HD products then later decided you want Chief X5
CA has nice upgrade pricing


are you using Windows XP ???

if you ever get a new PC with Vista or Win7 or Win8
your ver 6 will mostly likely not even run and certainly won't run well

Lew

[BREEZE WOOD]

shouldn't Chief replace the broken one - have you asked them ?

[lbuttery]

Mike:

CA doesn't keep old dongles around - not feasible for them

ver 6 is an antique

even users with ver 9, 10 and X1 have had to post here and scramble to find dongle donors

starting with X2 which uses the software lock CA can possibly accomodate

Lew

[BREEZE WOOD]

in that case - shouldn't Chief disable the need for the dongle as it is a paid for program - they no longer support ?


*(the answer is yes)


if not - just curious, were Chief to go out of business would their software cease to function with the internet connection and or dongle - they do have the ability to release the program inhibitor haven't they ?

[lbuttery]

Mike:

since the software requires the donge I doubt if CA could retroactively change the coding for such an antique version
to no longer require the dongle

nor would it be in their interest to spend resources doing so

as far as CA going out of business someday - this is one reason why I paid extra to get the hardware dongle
for X2 - X5

not sure what would happen to chiefers who are using the software lock ???

Lew

[Dermot Dempsey]

Here are my thoughts on the subject...

All computer software has a limited lifespan. This is not because software companies want it this way. This is because computer hardware and technology is constantly changing. Most people welcome these changes because it means computers are always getting more powerful and more capable as time goes by. Because hardware is getting better all of the time, software companies can take advantage of these changes and make the software better.

As long as your hardware continues to function and you don't change anything, you could probably continue to use your software for a very long time. Eventually, a critical hardware component (such as your dongle) will fail and it might be very difficult to replace. When that happens, you will need to decide if it is better to try to replace the broken hardware or upgrade everything else to use newer hardware and software.

Chief Architect has been around for more the 20 years now. It is very likely that we will still be around 20 years from now. In my opinion, it is probably more likely that you will still be able to use the software lock version of Chief X5 20 years from now then you will still be able to use the hardware lock version. It is also my opinion that you would be crazy to keep using 20 year old software. Just compare what you can do with Chief Archtiect X5 to what you could do in Version 1. Twenty years from now, I can't imagine that anyone will still want to use X5.

As for Steve's dongle problem, we don't have any Version 6 dongles available. They don't make them anymore and we ran out of the ones we had a long time ago. If Steve can't find someone willing to part with one they still have, I would encourage him to consider upgrading to X5 or purchasing Home Designer Pro. Even Home Designer Pro is a much more capable program then Chief Version 6 (and probably a lot less buggy).

[McQueen3D]

It is also my opinion that you would be crazy to keep using 20 year old software.

You should talk the the convenience store distributor I work for. The order picking software runs in a DOS window on a Windows CE scanner. The two computers in the warehouse run Windows 95. The kids who work there set their smart phones down near the computer in the back, and if the freezer compressor ever shuts off, you can hear the phone laughing at the computer.

[weverat]

Thanks guys, good idea, the home designer software will work great ! and it is certaintly cheap enough. I was dreaming with the thought of keeping the old software alive, an upgrade is the answer.

Thank you all again, what a great forum !

Steve C Rochester, MN

[mkennedy]

I actually have an old v6 dongle in my pencil jar - email me your address and its yours.
Dermot, I don't remember v1, are you sure it went to market?