Hacked Mathcad 15?

[rcastle]

My friend just bought, on some website, a copy of the "full version" of Mathcad15.

After he installs it, he runs some MC1 registration .exe file. The result is that he can run the software perfectly. But when you click on help/about, it shows the version number and everything, and has a name in the "licened to" field, but has a completely blank "product code" field.

So, this is some cracked/hacked version I assume? It seems that it should be able to be installed on any machine as often as one would like?

No, I will not give any more info on how to get the software. Even though I am not happy with what PTC has done with MC, I am not going to facilitate the stealing of intellectual property.

I am just curious if my interpretation of this is correct. Thanks.

[RichardJ]

Which version of MC15 is it?

[rcastle]

He says it's: 15.0.0.436

[AlanStevens]

I have this version running and see the same situation - i.e. name to whom it is licensed appears, but no product code.

In my case it arose when I transferred M15 from my old computer to my new one. Therefore it isn't necessarily an indicator of illegality.

Alan

[MikeArmstrong]

AlanStevens wrote:

I have this version running and see the same situation - i.e. name to whom it is licensed appears, but no product code.

In my case it arose when I transferred M15 from my old computer to my new one. Therefore it isn't necessarily an indicator of illegality.

Alan

I see exactly the same as Alan.

[rcastle]

Hello. Wouldn't a new install require a key of some sort to be entered in?

[MikeArmstrong]

Did he retrieve the license via the Internet when installing?

If your friend is concerned I recommend he contacts the website and asks for clarification.

[rcastle]

After installing, it asks for license. You then run a separate registration.exe. In the window that opens up, you choose "extract" then the window goes away and you are done. It did not appear to do anything over the internet, but I guess it could have.

My friend has no intention of contacting anyone 🙂 He is happy to get MC15 up and running for < $40. I was just curious. I think I will try to install it on my machine, will do so while not connected to the internet and see what happens.

[MikeArmstrong]

I would suggest saying no more on this matter then.

[rcastle]

OK. It would seem as if my question has been answered 🙂

[RichardJ]

That's less than half the price of the student version, so it's pretty obviously hacked. Before installing it you might want to think about what else the hacker might have done other than cracking the security. After all, why sell it for only $40? If the student version is $100, someone would surely be happy to pay at least that for the full version. Hacked software always carries the risk that a little extra "something" was tucked away into the installer. Or that "registration.exe" file.