Question
When I try to register my copy of Budgets Get Real I get the following error message:
Serial Number is registered to another user.
Please check your Serial Number and re-enter.
Contact Informed Choices if problem persists.
I keep trying to enter the serial number and password from my Tax Invoice but keep getting this message. What do I do?
What this message means
Your serial number is for a single registration of the program. When you successfully register your serial number it is disqualified from further use. Attempts to register extra copies of the program will result in this message.
There are three possible reasons for this message:
1. You have accidentally entered the wrong serial number and this belongs to another registered user. This is highly unlikely but theoretically possible.
Entry of the wrong serial number (possibly because you copied the number zero for the letter O) is more likely to result in the following error message.
Invalid Serial Number entered.
Please re-enter Serial number. Password not checked.
2. You have tried to restore your database or to update your Budgets GetReal application and not followed the correct instructions.
You may have been testing the program and decided to start again from scratch before entering your real data. Most likely you have simply deleted your existing work and re-installed a new copy of the program and its database.
The database file provided as part of the initial installation does not contain the critical data that verifies you as a licensed user. This data is added during the registration process.
You will be forced to register this blank database and then our registration server has no way of knowing if this was an original attempt or an attempt to avoid the license conditions. It simply throws an error and asks that you contact us and resolve the matter.
To know how to correctly update your application read Updating your Budgets GetReal application.
To know how to correctly restore your database read Backup and restore of your database. This also describes how you can use the original backup taken immediately after registration to clear your test data and start entering your real data.
If you revert to this original backup, and do not try and register a new database, you will not have this problem.
3. A previous registration attempt failed to fully complete, either because of an error with our registration server, or because you closed the registration window before all of the registration data was updated to your database.
The registration process is done in two parts. The first part checks that our server is available and that your serial number is valid and registered in our database.
The second part submits all of your registration details to the server and processes the response returned to the Budgets GetReal program. Budgets GetReal will wait up to 45 seconds for this response before generating an error.
The second part will not commence unless the server responds to the first part with a valid request to submit the second part. This means that the registration server must be available and internet connection or firewall problems with your computer are most unlikely.
How to fix this error
If you cannot fix this problem by restoring from a previous database backup, please leave a support request at http://budgetsgetreal.com/support.aspx. Select “Installation & Registration” as the subject of your enquiry, outline the error received and the reason you believe it happened.
Our usual procedure is to re-issue you with a new Serial number and cancel the existing one. This, unfortunately is not automatic, and subject to whether or not there is a breach of our license conditions. To safeguard your privacy and to prevent hijacking of your Serial number, we will require proof of purchase and confirmation that you are the original purchaser of the software before issuing a new serial number.
