Coreldrawx5 illigal copy

[gary l roberts]

SO AFTER YEARS OF USE, (YES i HAVE A LEGAL COPY IN THE BOX ETC) I STARTING GETTING A ILLEGAL COPY MESSAGE FROM COREL, THEY ARE OFFERING TO FORGIVE ME IF i JUST BUY A NEW COPY. ANY BODY ELSE HAVE AN ISSUE?

[Kev Williams]

Yup...

what to do to fix the problem:

on second thought, PM me...

[Hilton Lister]

I have had the same problem. Twice, The first time I contacted them and they fixed it, but it happened again after the next update, so I reinstalled then took the Laser PC off the internet. It also claimed that the older version I had on another PC was also illegal, which it probably was because I updated to later version from it. It's a nuisance for sure.

[Bert McMahan]

I had a "legal copy" once that I got from what appeared to be a reputable store on eBay. It had a box and everything. Turns out, it wasn't reputable, and the eBay seller was nowhere to be found. It lasted about 1-2 years before I got the "illegal" message, so I bought the newer version straight from Corel, and have had no issues since.

[Doug Fisher]

Yep. The counterfeit copies off of Ebay and Amazon are hard to tell from the legit ones. Very accurately copied packaging and printed materials. I am surprised that Amazon doesn't crack down on these sellers. A number of them sell for years before getting booted off.

[Paul Phillips]

I've been using the subscription service since 2016, $198 per year comes out to $16.50 per month for the latest version with free tech support, free automatic updates as they become available including free upgrade to latest version, access to online database of fonts and clip-art. Never had a problem with it and I like staying on top of the latest version as I work with other designers who often forget to save down to lower versions. And I like not having to deal with those licensing issues I used to have with older discs. Also, you can install one license on up to three computers. My two cents.

[Bert Kemp]

yep I have the same problem and I have a legal copy. I emailed corel they sent me a fix but it only lasted a couple days.

[Bert Kemp]

Well Corel wanted some more info on my copy of x5, I gave them all the info I had except a receipt which I didn't have since I bought it years ago and don't have the receipt . So the wrote back and said and I quote
"We can't confirm that your copy is a legal copy and It MAY be an Illegal copy, so were going to switch you to view mode only" So they can'y confirm and It MAY be an Illegal copy but hey there not sure but their going to shut my copy off anyway Nice company to do business with. So now what I have to try and figure out inkscape. I've tried that before and find it very difficult to use.

[Jerome Stanek]

I have had that happen with Corel also and the copy I had came from them as I upgraded from an earlier version.

[Bill George]

Well Corel wanted some more info on my copy of x5, I gave them all the info I had except a receipt which I didn't have since I bought it years ago and don't have the receipt . So the wrote back and said and I quote
"We can't confirm that your copy is a legal copy and It MAY be an Illegal copy, so were going to switch you to view mode only" So they can'y confirm and It MAY be an Illegal copy but hey there not sure but their going to shut my copy off anyway Nice company to do business with. So now what I have to try and figure out inkscape. I've tried that before and find it very difficult to use.

Are you using your copy online? You have the CD install it on a not connected to the internet computer. Inkscape is not a good replacement for Corel Draw.

[Bert Kemp]

Are you using your copy online? You have the CD install it on a not connected to the internet computer. Inkscape is not a good replacement for Corel Draw.

my computer is connected to internet which I need it to be as I have to search for stuff or send a cdr design to someone.

[Kev Williams]

Bert-- just uninstall it, re-install it, firewall corel.com from your computer or router, and enjoy the software you paid for.

If Corel can't figure out if your software is legal or not, then Corel has NO business disabling your program.

[Bert McMahan]

The issue here is that people with "legal" copies may think they're legal, but might actually not be. Bert, where'd you get your copy, and how are you certain it's legal? If you bought it online you may be able to look up your old order in your online account, or contact the seller and see if they have a record. If it was from eBay, it's probably pirated.

Corel has the problem that likely 10,000 people have registered with the same serial number. All evidence points towards all of those copies being pirated. Bert unfortunately has one of the serial numbers that is being used by a large number of people, and can't provide a receipt. It's not as cut and dry as "well they can't figure it out".

[Jerome Stanek]

The issue here is that people with "legal" copies may think they're legal, but might actually not be. Bert, where'd you get your copy, and how are you certain it's legal? If you bought it online you may be able to look up your old order in your online account, or contact the seller and see if they have a record. If it was from eBay, it's probably pirated.

Corel has the problem that likely 10,000 people have registered with the same serial number. All evidence points towards all of those copies being pirated. Bert unfortunately has one of the serial numbers that is being used by a large number of people, and can't provide a receipt. It's not as cut and dry as "well they can't figure it out".

Mine came from Corel itself Bought from them way back and then upgraded that through their web site but it came back as being a pirated copy that I had to send them the invoice that I received from them to prove it wasn't.

[Kev Williams]

Bert unfortunately has one of the serial numbers that is being used by a large number of people...

--Does he? According to Corel (according to Bert), they can't confirm whether his is a legal copy or not. Why is that? It should take Corel's accounting computer .0001 seconds to figure out if his serial number is a duplicate of a previous valid registration. So, what happened to their database? Pretty sure Bert didn't hack it or delete it, I know I didn',t pretty sure Gary, Jerome and Hilton didn't either....

It's not ethical and probably not legal for Corel to hack OUR computers to put a "you have an illegal copy of Corel" message in the %appdata%/Corel/Messages folder AND install a hidden trojan to render your software inoperable, when by their own admission (to Bert) that they can't even prove it.

Trying to register a pirated copy of software should be stopped in its tracks at the moment of registration, not several years later. They've discovered a problem and now they're trying to get their customers to pay for it.