Registering to computer after new storage installed

Rayane-Clark wrote on 9/22/2023, 12:28 PM

I recently had new/bigger storage added to computer but I can't use Photostory because it says I already have 2 devices registered and to delete one. I'm afraid to delete either one because I'm afraid I'll lose my projects. I don't know why I would have to register the same computer again if I just added/replaced storage... but I'm no techy. I'm using Windows 10.

Comments

johnebaker wrote on 9/22/2023, 2:12 PM

@Rayane-Clark

. . . . I don't know why I would have to register the same computer again if I just added/replaced storage . . . .

This could happen if you replaced the C: drive with a bigger one and cloned to old drive to the new, this would also change the ComputerID associated with the PC activation.

The addition of a second drive should not affect the installation activation unless you have re-installed the program and specified the new drive to be the installation location, this would then need to be re-registered/activated as the drive has changed in the same way as if you had replaced the C drive..

You can have the program installed on as many computers as you wish, however only 2 can be activated simultaneously.

De-activate the appropriate installation slot for the 'old' PC, it would be better to do this in your account at magix.com under My Products, and then re-activate the installation with the 'new' PC - there is no need to uninstall/re-install and you will not lose your projects.

HTH

John EB
Forum Moderator

Rayane-Clark wrote on 9/22/2023, 3:09 PM

That is really really good information, but this is what really happened. It's basically your first scenario, that I 'replaced' the storage. But my concern is that they did NOT clone it, all they did was put it in and put Windows back on my computer... (this is a whole other frustration). So I did do a lot of copy to a USB storage, but who knows if I really got everything. I just wanted to say this in case it changes your answer/thoughts. But if I can remove my current device (which is really the old drive) and then register the computer with the new storage in there, and you don't think I will lose projects ad work I've done, then I'm willing to give it a try. Anxiously waiting for your reply! :-) :-{

johnebaker wrote on 9/23/2023, 3:43 AM

@Rayane-Clark

. . . . my concern is that they did NOT clone it, all they did was put it in and put Windows back on my computer.. . . .

Assuming:

The old drive is still 'intact' ie has not been modified in any way and can be booted from
The lack of storage space is due to the Documents folder being very large in size.
The new drive is currently the drive that is used to bott up into Windows

The easiest option would be to use the old drive as the C: drive (boot drive) and have the new drive as the storage drive only, moving the entire Documents folder to the new drive.

This will free up the space the Documents occupied on the old drive and keep the C drive for Windows and Programs only - this is how I work, all my documents, projects etc are on my second drive.

If you are going to tackle this yourself, do note that you do so at your own risk and ensure you have full backups of documents, files etc, and also create clone images of both drives, to external storage before doing any changes.

John EB