To return to the "re-enter code issue": just got through building up a new Windows 8.1 64-bit laptop; in about a week of having MA3 installed, the request to (re-)enter the code has already happened once.

This issue persists as observed by numerous customers, but Jim's appointed staff just claims that they can't reproduce it. As a retired software development project manager I have found that is an all too common excuse used in software design and should not be accepted. I even tried the suggestion about locking the registry key and the problem persists. I now plan on checking the VirtualStore registry key value the next time it happens, and if it's zeroed out then I'm going to try to lock that registry key. It looks like the paying customers have to trouble shoot this problem ourselves if it's ever going to get resolved. Maybe we're the April fools! ;)

Maybe someone who's experiencing the problem could check the Key while the program is working normally, then again the next time it asks for a Key. (The entry will not be your actual Key Code, it is "munged" before being copied to the Registry.)

If the RegCode entry is still intact, then the problem might be something we have control over. If it's gone or zeroed-out, then it's a Microsoft thing.

The Registry entry is:
Current User/software/SereneScreen/MarineAquarium3/RegCode

Jim, thanks for providing your suggestion! The program is currently running fine on my system, so I checked for all SereneScreen RegCode entries in my registry. I found identical non-zeroed entries in the location you specified for Current User as well as under Users and several VirtualStore locations. However there is also a RegCode entry under Local Machine of '00'. The next time I'm prompted to re-enter the code I will recheck these values and report the results here, so stay tuned...

We now return to your regularly scheduled programming.

I did post a possible solution to this a couple of weeks ago but it never appeared on the forum. It was my first post and was sat "pending approval". Maybe it's still sitting there. So, let's try again:

"For anyone happy to tinker with their Registry settings you might like to try the following to prove/disprove a theory.

I suspect that the problem is likely related to MA3.1 perhaps not working well with Windows' Registry virtualization technology which I shan't bore you with but which you can read more about here:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/libr...(v=vs.85).aspx

Using Sysinternals ProcMon utlitiy you can see that entering your Registration Code in MA3.1 creates a number of "RegCode" Registry entries, some within the "VirtualStore" and some within the HKCU (Current User) sections of the Registry.

For reasons I haven't been able to identify, sometimes the VirtualStore entries are re-written with zeros (effectively blanking out the MA3.1 Reg Code) and, as the VirtualStore takes precedence over the "Current User" sections of the Registry, this means that the next time MA3.1 launches, affected users will then be asked to enter their registration codes again.

So, what I'm trying is this:

1. Enter your Registration Code when next aksed to do so.
2. Run Regedit and edit the Registry:
(a) Delete all VirtualStore SereneScreen Registry Keys
(b) Note the value of the SereneScreen "RegCode" entries that appear in the HKCU "Current User" sections of the Registry.
(c) Also note the value of the "VersionStr" entry. For the version of MA3 I'm using (MA33JBeta) the value is Y115.3.2.6373
(d) Now, copy the "RegCode" and "VersionStr" entries to the HKLM (Local Machine) secton of the Registry. There should also be a "Version" REG_SZ value here with a value of "3.1".

To summarize, after entering your registration code in MA3.1, delete SereneScreen from the Registry VistualStore. Copy the SereneScreen "RegCode", "VersionStr" and, maybe, "Version" entries from HKCU to HKLM.

Does this work for you?"

I'm re-posting for a new member, rhaythorne. I don't think the rest of you can see 'moderated' posts.

rhaythorne:
I did post a possible solution to this a couple of weeks ago but it never appeared on the forum. It was my first post and was sat "pending approval". Maybe it's still sitting there. So, let's try again:

"For anyone happy to tinker with their Registry settings you might like to try the following to prove/disprove a theory.

I suspect that the problem is likely related to MA3.1 perhaps not working well with Windows' Registry virtualization technology which I shan't bore you with but which you can read more about here:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/libr...(v=vs.85).aspx

Using Sysinternals ProcMon utlitiy you can see that entering your Registration Code in MA3.1 creates a number of "RegCode" Registry entries, some within the "VirtualStore" and some within the HKCU (Current User) sections of the Registry.

For reasons I haven't been able to identify, sometimes the VirtualStore entries are re-written with zeros (effectively blanking out the MA3.1 Reg Code) and, as the VirtualStore takes precedence over the "Current User" sections of the Registry, this means that the next time MA3.1 launches, affected users will then be asked to enter their registration codes again.

So, what I'm trying is this:

1. Enter your Registration Code when next aksed to do so.
2. Run Regedit and edit the Registry:
(a) Delete all VirtualStore SereneScreen Registry Keys
(b) Note the value of the SereneScreen "RegCode" entries that appear in the HKCU "Current User" sections of the Registry.
(c) Also note the value of the "VersionStr" entry. For the version of MA3 I'm using (MA33JBeta) the value is Y115.3.2.6373
(d) Now, copy the "RegCode" and "VersionStr" entries to the HKLM (Local Machine) secton of the Registry. There should also be a "Version" REG_SZ value here with a value of "3.1".

To summarize, after entering your registration code in MA3.1, delete SereneScreen from the Registry VistualStore. Copy the SereneScreen "RegCode", "VersionStr" and, maybe, "Version" entries from HKCU to HKLM.

Does this work for you?"

No the general forum can't see "moderated" posts until they are approved for forum use.

I'm going to wait until the next recurrence of the problem, and then check the registry values. If I find that the VirtualStore RegCode values have been zeroed out, then I will try the registry edits as suggested by rhaythorne. Btw, I now see his post three times in thread entry numbers 71, 85, and 86.

I have some info that I hope will prove useful to Jim's staff in solving this problem. I was prompted today to reenter my code, but before doing so I checked all of the RegCode entries via regedit. I still found exactly the same values populated as they were when everything was working; specifically identical non-zeroed entries in the location you specified for Current User as well as under Users and several VirtualStore locations. And there is also a RegCode entry under Local Machine of '00'.

So the RegCode entries were all exactly the same as they were when the program ran successfully, but now I'm being prompted to reenter the code. This is the scenario that Jim specified above that might be something they have control over. Please let me know your thoughts on this and any hope of now finding a solution.

Thanks for not giving up on this yet, it's very frustrating for many of your customers so hopefully a solution can be found and implemented.

New Member here... I've been having the same problem on a almost weekly schedule running Windows 8.1 Pro. I am also running Version Number Y506.3.3.6041 of Marine Aquarium.

I followed Tech Support suggestion "Try running the Marine Aquarium installer again, this time right-click the file and select "Run as administrator". This will allow Aquarium to properly update the computer's registry, which is where the encrypted keycode information is stored."....

It has been two weeks since doing this and so far no more requests to re-enter the registration code!

Fixed? I'm not sure as I'm still in a wait and see mode. I did receive a Microsoft update this morning and all is still working properly...

To those who are having problem of needing to reenter the keycode please try the following:

1. Make a copy of MarineAquarium3.scr into another folder and rename it MarineAquarium3.exe.
2. Uninstall "Marine Aquarium 3"
3. Reinstall "Marine Aquarium 3"
4. Now right click on the MarineAquarium3.exe that copied earlier and select "Run as administrator"
5. It should ask for the keycode because you have uninstalled it.
6. Enter a valid keycode and make sure it is not a pirated keycode.

Let me know if this fixes your problems.

The file that I used to install MA3 is already named MarineAquarium3.exe and I still have this problem. Version is shown as Y506.3.3.6041 under 'About'. Any other ideas? Would trying to reinstall it running in compatibility mode for 7 or 8 make any sense to try? TIA!

I think Edgar wants you to find MarineAquarium3.scr in your Windows/Systm32 folder.

Thanks Patrick! (I'm sorry I didn't realize that myself.) I have now followed Edgar's instructions, thanks to him for providing them. Now only time will tell if this fixes the issue, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. The fish are happily swimming away.

Note that it doesn't "fix the issue" - even if it fixes the issue for you.

But it's a diagnostic that (if successful) might lead to getting the issue fixed.

hillover - thanks for that clarification. Since there is no specific timeframe in which it would always require me to reenter the keycode, I'll just have to give it some time and hope for the best. Even if it's just a step towards reaching an actual solution to the issue I would consider that progress!

Well, it's been twelve days so far and I haven't been prompted to reenter the keycode yet. Need to wait longer to ensure that the problem doesn't recur, so I will provide periodic updates here...

It's been 20 days now without having to reenter the keycode, so it's still looking good... :)

Jinx ;)

Despite Jay400's jinx :lol:, it's now been four weeks and I have not been required to reenter the KeyCode since following Edgar's procedure detailed in post #91. So it seems that taking those steps has resolved the problem in my case, even after the installation of 30 new Windows updates yesterday. Hopefully this test case will help identify what needs to be changed in the standard code/installation procedure to prevent this from being an ongoing issue for other users. Thanks again for your support! :TU:

Now working as expected - so far so good...
 

Same experience here as audio.bill reported in his 12-10-2014 post: after following Edgar's and patscarr's suggestions, no prompt(s) to re-enter code for the last couple of weeks or so.
Win8.1-64.

Thanks
 

Edgar,

Your solution worked for me. Windows Update rebooted my machine this morning and I finally didn't have to re-enter code. Thanks

I would like to know if there's going to be an updated version (perhaps 3.4 ?) that has Edgar's 11-13-14 registration 'fix' coded into it? Otherwise, it would be helpful if a short video tutorial were offered for folks for non-techies like myself who don't quite know what it means to 'make a copy to another folder'.

Edgar (or anyone who knows),

Is there a fix to this problem implemented into an updated version of MA3 that is available for download? If there is where is the link? If not, is there an expected date for the fixed version?

Thank you.

Need to enter key every time I launch MA3
 

every time I launch MA3 I have to enter my key. I suspect this is the issue with a secondary problem I have in that the SS will not launch on it's own. I have to initiate through the desktop shortcut.

I originally bought the product from Nova customer service. I tried the fix posted earlier to no avail. So, I then suspected the issue may be with the key itself. So, i did the unthinkable and bought it again direct form the Serene Screen site and got another key. Same issues.

I am running Windows 10.

I've bought TWO of these MA3's now.BOTH went back to asking for a keycode.Within several days.No windows updates happening.The keycode does not work on either of these.(the first one I deleted from my PC before loading the newer one).Within a week this new one was again asking for 'testfish' or Keycode.My keycode for this latest one doesn't work.I feel scammed actually.

^^..what he said.My code won't work at all.

I installed Win 10 about a week ago, and have had no problems. Since this is a Windows issue, it's beyond my 3D programming scope. Hopefully Edgar can shed some more light.

I had MA3.3 installed and running fine in Windows 8.1 without being prompted to re-enter my keycode after I followed Edgar's instructions. I recently decided to go ahead and upgrade my OS to Windows 10, and am pleased to report that MA3.3 maintained its installation on my system and is still running fine. I'm a happy camper! :TU: