Problems with Storeagecraft

hi stevesynder

I have just read Feandur's post and his concerns exactly mirror what I have experienced. The difference is, Feandur is far more computer savvy than me.

I have just had a message from SC which states "have you been contacted yet?"

It is rather galling to receive a message from my software supplier asking if I have been contacted; this gives the impression that the front desk does not know what the back desk is doing. This is the second time that I have received such message.

As stated earlier, I have purchased Macrium and when the new AXTM hits the market, I will want to consider my options. That said, I remain convinced that SC server would be the way to go with our golf club.

In the meantime, I have decided to request a refund on my purchase, and I will pm you with my SC ticket number.


Marse

 

Cold Imaging & Recovery:

I am continuing my tests on Version 5 tomorrow [> midnight here].

But, in the mean time, I'm posting that I may have found my mistake in not being able to use / understand how to boot into the recovery media in version 5.

Both Version 3 [selecting Vista drivers]; and Version 4 [selecting 2008RC drivers] had a similar "style" or entry process into the GUI.

Version 5 is graphically very different. That confused me.

The "trick" is to pay attention to a DOS command that pops up very briefly that says "press any key to boot from CD..." If you are not quick it boots, by default, into the resident OS on the computer, bypassing the recovery media!

Once you have selected "boot from CD..." you will be brought to another DOS screen. Select "Windows Setup". Subsequently a nice white splash screen pops up and then a language box. Select your language, then the rest of the process is as per usual.

I understand many posts are about the full imaging / restore cycle. I will run some over the next day or so to see. This only applies to cold cycles done outside of the resident OS.

-cheers,
feandur

Apologies if I have distracted any Wilders members with my own ignorance to date.

 

Hi Feandur

I have the latest media CD and I do not get the same informsation as you.

However, I have just received the third message fro SC Support telling me that the issue is being transferred to Sales: but this never happens.

I intend to contact my credit card company: I have had enough. I never did get my SC licence back: it is still in the "please deactivate" state.

Regards

Marse

 

hi stervesnyder

I received the following from the UK SC:

"Dear Mr Platt,

Thank you for your continued correspondence. You purchased the software through the StorageCraft.com website.

As agreed, I have passed full details to StorageCraft in the US and would expect them to contact you in due course about the matter.

However, if you would like to raise the matter directly with them, please use contactus@storagecraft.com.

Kind Regards.
Simon Summers"

I have heard nothing from the US


Marse

 

Hello Feandur,

Thank you for the feedback. I meet weekly with the Product Management team and will tell them directly of your interest in a less feature rich version of the product for home use. I will also talk with our web development team about providing a library of archived .ISO files for previous product versions. This makes sense to me as some customers still rely on previous versions and may have lost or damaged their purchased media. We have recently made changes to our website (a face lift, better product organization and searchability) and this is an ongoing process so now is a good time to approach the web development team about this request for exposing archival copies.

I appreciate your candor and am glad that we've provided a reliable service to you. Thank you very much for your comments.

Cheers!

 

Hi stevensnyder

I have been contacted by the Trading Standards people this morning. They have reviewed the messages to and from SC Support.

The first solution provided was to recover an image and use that image in a different environment (whatever that means). The Guide which SC provided was for versions 3 and 4 - not for version 5 which I purchased.

Support also were addressing issues with a SC Server: not SCD. I had purchased the "Desktop" version 5.

Trading Standards have also enquired about the refund, and I advised them that you are dealing: is this OK?

Marse

 

Hello Marse,

Yes, I am glad to work out the refund for you. I'm on the technical side of the fence but I have a good relationship with sales. If you could PM me any ticket numbers or transaction details it will help me to find your transaction and get the process rolling.

Thank you for your patience
Steven

 

Mr Snyder

StorageCraft UK has sent all the deatils of this matter to StorageCraft USA. I have provided you with the Support ticket number as requested by you.

I am now asked to deactivate the Application to facilitate my refund.

On four occasions, Storeagecraft hosed my OS. On each occasion Windows 8 recovery could not repair the boot issue and this required a reinstall of Windows 8 and StorageCraft.

The last time this happened, Microsoft refused to accept another reinstall of Windows 8 (Microsoft has relented). When I tried to install StorageCraft, I was invited to purchase another licence.

In the meantime, I was forced to revert back to Windows 7 at which time I purchased Macrium and my immediate problems ceased.

Are you saying that if I cannot deactivate StorageCraft's software, I cannot have a refund?

I cannot deactivate software which is not on my system.

With the utmost respect, from a simple request for a refund, this issue is beginning to have a life of its own.

Marse.Robert

PS: I am still with Windows 7

 

I had a similar problem when I uninstalled without deactivating (because I didn't know that's what I had to do) and had to print, sign and then scan and e-mail a document declaring that the product was indeed not installed.

The text of the notice/instructions from StorageCraft was:

I followed the instructions and they then deactivated the licence so that I could install on a new, larger SSD.

I assume that they required this rather than just accept my word, by either e-mail or voice, so that they had a way to identify me if I was found to be cheating.

I'm surprised that you haven't received the 'same' PDF and instructions.

J

If you don't have a scanner, you can usually go to the 'corner store' and have them fax the document.

If you don't have a printer, you have a bigger problem, you'd have to forward the e-mail to someone with a printer, etc. etc....

StorageCraft isn't the only software house with these rules. Unfortunately the 'rules' are often 'hidden' or at least not obvious. SC has now updated their documentation to make this clear, but... if you miss a step, you're sunk, it's too late.

 

Hi JW

Thanks for your response.

In my case, I could not deactivate as SC was not on my system. I also get the feeling that SC believe that I am cheating.


If this matter is not sorted, then I am up for it.

Regards

Marse

 

Mr Synder

I have just reinstalled SC on my system. This is very suprising as SC invited me to purchase a new licence. However, the Application has been "Deactivated" and I anticipate a full refund.

Marse. Robert

PS: The licence status says: "Expired"

 

Mr Snyder

The above image shows the "Deactivation."




Marse.Robert

 

Hello Marse,

Thank you for the information. I'm running this over to Tod's desk to resolve right now.

Cheers!
Steven

 

Hello Marse,

Not to be nit-picky but the above image shows that you've never connected to your backup agent. You told me that you deactivated your license and I trust you. I just don't want other people to get the wrong impression and make a mistake, because in truth not connecting to a backup agent (locally or on a network) is a completely different thing than activating/deactivating a product key for registering the software. I know it's not a big thing but I want to win the fight against misinformation and every little step counts.

Either way I will get this resolved a.s.a.p. and get back with you.

Cheers!

 

Mr Synder,

I much prefer to do things by the book, for I do not want to mislead anyone here at Wilders as I have been here since 2004.

What you have said has gone right over my head. I have installed SC four times now. The last time was at about 1700 hours local time, and that ibnstallation was a pristine install.

However, both Feandur and me have felt a little uncomfortable with SC's licencing process. That said, I think SC is a fantastic Application, and I only wished it had worked on my system.

In closing, I will now leave the refund to you to deal with, and I expect same to be in my bank ASAP.

Regards

Marse.Robert

PS: I followed SC's deactivation process stage by stage. I do not understand "not connecting to a backup agent is a completely different thing than activating/deactivating a product key." I trully would like you to explain that to me, as I would not want to be involved in any misinformation.!

 

Hello Marse,

I wanted to let you know that I just heard back from our Sales department that they have refunded your purchase. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to help you.

Cheers!

 

Mr Synder

In conclusion, I thank you.

Marse.Robert

 

Hello Marse,

I can understand your concern. I look at the licensing issue in much the same way as the music industry looks at album sales for recording artists. The music industry sees the sale of music as their key source of revenue. It's the reason they exist and can afford to sign new artists to recording contracts. Without this revenue the industry wouldn't be as well-developed (concerts, range of music styles, media formats) and we'd all be worse off for this lack of creativity that fills so much of our lives (e.g. hours in the car, movie soundtracks, etc).

Did you know that in the decade since P2P (Napster) file sharing emerged that the music industry sales have dropped 47% to $7.7 billion? (reference here) That's lost revenue of $6.9 billion, which is hardly a small amount. The impact I feel from this piracy is the stringent rules iTunes and other audio systems set on how, when and where I listen to my music. Hey, it's my music! I should be able to play it however it want.

Much like you did, I tend to lay blame on the organization which provides me with the service rather than focus blame on that invisible group of people that are pirating this product for their own gain. With ShadowCopy we had numerous calls to our Support line asking for help on a product that they didn't purchase. We've had competitor organizations using our patented technology to recover their backups to new hardware. The list of examples goes on and on.

All I'm trying to say is that I understand that registering a product before you can use it is an extra step, but I hope that no one blames us for wanting to protect the great products we make and the time/money we've put into their development. For my part, I will do my best to help people in any way I can. I have a technical background so most of my assistance will come in the form of technical advise/knowledge. However, in your case I saw an opportunity to reach out to the people I see every day in the office and try to resolve your concerns. I hope I was able to help.

Cheers!

 

Hi Steve,

I also wanted to say that I hate your licensing process... I am not blaming you for wanting to protect the great products you make and the time/money you have put into their development but I sure blame you of implementing a licensing process that doesn't allow the paying customer to do what they want with the product they paid dearly... It always make me feel like a thief and make me lose a lot of time and money (and I am not even talking about the frustration it generate) trying to reactivate a license!

By the way, doesn't the time, money and frustration created by the licensing process to your paying customer any concern to your company, doesn't the time taken by the employees of Storage Craft do solve the license problems count in the balance...

Best regards,

 

Hello Olivier,

Absolutely! There is additional cost and effort to creating licenses, monitoring activations, handling support calls about activation/deactivation, and any other issue that makes product registration possible. There are costs involved with every decision.

Our Recover-Ability solution is built on a service model that provides a number of additional management tools (e.g. ImageManager, CMD, ImageReady, ISOTool, etc) that work with ShadowProtect to ensure your retention policies are set, backup chains verified and monitored, images are replicated locally and/or offsite, and you are alerted about the health of your backups. All of these additional products are free. All of them work together to provide customers with a complete business continuity solution to ensure that the operating system, installed applications, running services, and any customizations/configuration on the system are also backed up.

This is a complete backup and recovery tool that relies heavily on a strong backup application: ShadowProtect. You can see why this backup application is so critical to our revenue stream and continued viability as a business. As far as I know, software licensing and registration is the only way to protect software from illegal copying and use. Microsoft does this with Windows. Adobe does this with their Creative Suite. If there is a better alternative to licenses and registrations then I haven't heard of it.

If anyone wants to provide suggestions, I'm all ears. Since I'm calling for suggestions I would like to maintain the integrity of this as a technical forum and would appreciate that anyone send their comments to me in a PM so we can take this offline and focus the conversation in this backup/imaging forum on technical items. I appreciate the feedback and would welcome any constructive suggestions.

Cheers!