Why is Mathcad so difficult to install

Question

Mathcad installation and support has to be the most user unfriendly software on the market.  I purchased Mathcad 15 M045 several years ago.  Then I later upgraded to M050.  Then I upgraded my computer from Windows 7 Pro 64 bit to Windows 10 Pro 64 bit.  I had to reinstall Mathcad 15.  If I run the Mathcad license exe file and enter my product code, it says the license is installed; however, there are no instructions on how to access the license.  When I run Mathcad 15, the product code is not my product code but some other product code that the installation used since I could not find any license on my computer.  It would be nice if PTC gave some instructions.  When I go to their licensing tool it says I would have to pay for an account upgrade to use the tool.  What gives with this company.  I have no idea if the product code the installation used is temporary or not.  If it is, I consider PTC now to be a switch and bait company.  There is no way to get support other than this forum and recently no one responds to my questions.  Also, as I said in a previous post, after the install on Windows 10, I no longer have access to the help files via F1.
 
Is there any way to actually contact a human and get support so that my purchase was not a sham?
 
Dr. J. Regnald Curry

regcurry · Answer

I did all the following:

Here’s how to install your software and request your license key:1.Have ready your:a.Product code above.b.PTC web account login. If you have not yet created your Basic Account, please visit www.ptc.com and click on “My Account” and then “Create a Basic Web Account”. c.Ensure that you are connected to the Internet before starting the installation process. Obtaining a license file using this process requires a connection to the Internet. If you cannot connect to the Internet for the installation, please visit the following link from another Internet-connected computer: http://www.ptc.com/appserver/cs/mathcad_logger/options.jsp2.Install Mathcad:a.Insert the Mathcad CD into your CD ROM drive. If the installation program does not start automatically, you can start it manually by choosing ‘Run...’ from the Start menu, and typing D:\SETUP(where “😧” is your CD-ROM drive). Or, browse to the Mathcad installation files on your network.b.After reading and accepting the software license agreement, select ‘Mathcad’ as the product to be installed. On the following screen, select ‘Acquire a new license’. Follow the remaining on-screen instructions.3.When the “Mathcad License Setup” screen appears, select “I want to acquire a license via the Internet” and click Next.4.Select Educational – Student, enter the product code from above and then click Next.5.The Create Account screen appears. If you already have your PTC Basic Account from step 1b above, click Next. If you still need an account, click Create Account.6.Enter your PTC Basic Account login information and click Next.a.The next step contacts the PTC.com license management servers to obtain the license file. This step may take several minutes, depending on the speed of your internet connection. Do not cancel this step, power off your PC, or disconnect from the Internet during this process. Please be patient – this can take up to three minutes.7.Once complete, you will receive a message that says ‘Selected license file has been installed and Mathcad licensing has been configured to use it.’ Click Finish, and the installation will continue. Follow the remaining instructions on the screen.

I got to here and nothing happened. There were no further instructions. Also, I had to find and run mclicense.exe. The installation did not bring up the license install procedure.

🤔😪😫😠

Sign up

Please use your PTC eSupport account.

Welcome to the PTC Community

Please use your PTC eSupport account.

Scanning file for viruses.

This file cannot be downloaded