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Deactivate a Certificate

 

 

 

 

✅ Your users have the ability to deactivate their registered key and revoke it permanently on a specific computer. Deactivation becomes necessary when users want to transfer their registered publication or ebook to another PC, ensuring the removal of the publication and activation from the current PC. Proof of deactivation is required for a refund or issuance of a new activation key.

 

Another scenario where deactivation is applicable is when accepting refunds for ebooks, contingent upon users providing proof of deactivation.

 

 To enable the deactivation process for your ebook or publication, navigate to the Certificate Manager, double-click on a certificate, and select the "Deactivation Properties" tab:

 

 

⚠️ Note: Users can only deactivate the ebook if it was previously registered with an activated certificate. Deactivation is not supported in Trial mode.

 

Description of the Deactivation Process

 

By enabling deactivation for a certificate, end users can uninstall their registration data (key or activation) and receive a unique uninstall confirmation code in return. There are two ways for users to initiate the deactivation process:

 

ØLaunch the publication EXE file with the deactivate parameter, such as using the Windows Start -> Run command: `PUBFILE.EXE deactivate`

ØStart the publication and choose the "Help | Deactivate this program" menu command (if enabled in the "Deactivation Properties" tab).

 

Confirmation of the deactivation request is required. Upon successful deactivation, the registration key is deleted or invalidated, and a message box displaying the uninstall confirmation code appears. The code is also copied to the Windows clipboard, allowing users to easily share it via email. Additionally, the publication closes and reverts back to the Default certificate, immediately expiring if the user attempts to run it again.

 

To verify the integrity of the uninstall confirmation code, you can utilize the provided scripts (C#, PHP, etc.) available to registered users or leverage the uninstall code validation feature in the HTML Executable Activation Kit.

 

Preventing Reinstallation of Registration Key

 

Enabling this option permanently revokes the registration key when the user deactivates the ebook. If the user attempts to reenter the key to activate the ebook, it will be considered invalid.

 

ℹ️ Info: This option is recommended unless you wish to allow users to reactivate the ebook on the same computer.

 

Automated Deactivation

 

ℹ️ Note: This option is only available when using online activation.

 

✔Online activation provides control over the number of computers on which end users can activate your ebook. Utilizing the free HTML Executable Activation Kit or Protect Ebook .net, the remote activation server tracks the activations. By enabling automated deactivation, the activation server takes into account the deactivations as well.

 

When automated deactivation is active, the publication sends a notification to the activation server, which increments the number of allowed activations (according to the limit set via the HTML Executable Activation Kit or Protect Ebook .net).

 

For instance, let's consider a scenario where John is allowed to use your ebook on two different computers. John has already activated the ebook on both computers but plans to purchase a new one to replace his old computer. Since John has reached the activation limit, he cannot install the ebook on his new computer. The solution is to deactivate the ebook on his old computer.

 

The deactivation process disables the ebook on John's old computer and sends a notification to the activation server. The number of allowed activations increases from 0 to 1, enabling John to activate the ebook on his new computer.

 

ℹ️ Info: In case of computer crashes, where the end user is unable to perform the deactivation process, you have the option to manually increase the number of allowed activations yourself.

 

Automated deactivation requires an Internet connection. If no Internet connection is available, or if an error occurs while sending notification to the remote server, the deactivation process will still continue and the publication will display an uninstall confirmation code that the user can send you (as explained above). If the customer uses a proxy server, he should have already configured it when activating the publication and the latter will reuse the same proxy settings. If the proxy server has to be changed, it can be done through command line.