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I had been using v6.3 with no problems. But suddenly it claims the program is not activated and/or my taxonomy lists are not activated.
I restarted program as administrator and went through the activation process, but it still claims my program is not activated. Help?
Update: I just ran activation process again and received message that I have exceeded the number of allowed activations.
Hi Gordon,
Thanks for posting.
Do you get any messages when you start BD? Those would be helpful to diagnosing the problem. Please provide if you have them. Attaching a screenshot helps also.
When this happens, it is usually due to a couple of things:
- Antivirus software. Many (Norton, Kaspersky, Avast, etc. etc.) cause problems like this. Windows Defender by Microsoft never has a problem. I strongly recommend removing all others and only using Windows Defender.
- Corrupt license file (sometimes caused by #1 above, then see #1). In this case,
- Exit BD if running, then
- download and run the "Fix Corrupted License File" installer found on the Downloads >> Birder's Diary Program (near the bottom) page.
- After running, start BD with run as admin and activate your user license; I have reset your activations.
- Then exit BD and restart normally.
Is the problem fixed? You may or may not need to also reactivate your taxonomy licenses.
Let's start here. Please update me with what you find.
Thanks.
Jeff,
I seem to have fixed the problem, although I don't know what caused it in the first place, i.e., I don't know why suddenly my taxonomy lists were not being recognized as activated. And then I did not realize that the program activation window (screenshot below) was the proper place to activate taxonomy lists. When just now I tried to activate my taxonomy lists here, all went well.
So, something mysterious happened, but it seems to be working properly now. Thanks for your help.
Gordon
Great Gordon. Always happy when things work out quickly. Not happy when we don't know why however.
Keep me updated if this recurs please. Simply post back here.
Also, from the screenshot, I can see that you are keeping outdated copies of taxonomic lists in your database. Do a backup and remove all older versions of your taxonomic lists (as long as you have reconciled each version with the next).
There is a feature BD for this: Features | Advanced | Remove Unused Taxonomic Lists. Follow the instructions there.
It will reduce the size of your database by a good bit, and improve performance in certain areas.
Let me know if I can assist with anything else or if this generates questions.
Hi Jeff
I am finally looking at deleting those old tax lists. Is it necessary to reconcile each one in chronological order for each year? For example, can I reconcile a 2018 list with 2025? Or must I first reconcile 2018 with 2019, then 2019 with 2020, and so on to the current list?
I now use 2 bird tax lists -- ABA and AviList. (I'm hoping they all resolve into AVILIST soon). How does that affect my work? Do I have to reconcile old Clements lists with both the ABA taxonomy AND with the AVILIST taxonomy? Or neither?
I tried to reconcile every time when I installed a new taxonomy, but .... I'm just not sure what to do with this mess.
Gordon
Thanks for posting, Gordon.
Beginning with Birder’s Diary v6.3, you must reconcile each taxonomic list against the next newer list, one pair at a time.
For the Clements lists:
-
Reconcile Clements 2018 against Clements 2019.
-
Reconcile Clements 2019 against Clements 2020.
-
Reconcile Clements 2020 against Clements 2021.
-
Continue this process one year at a time.
-
Finally, reconcile Clements 2024 against AviList 2025.
Do not skip directly from Clements 2018 to AviList 2025.
Handle the ABA lists separately in the same manner:
-
Reconcile ABA 2018 against ABA 2019.
-
Reconcile ABA 2019 against ABA 2020.
-
Continue one year at a time.
-
Finally, reconcile ABA 2024 against ABA 2025.
The Clements sequence ends with Clements 2024 against AviList 2025. The ABA sequence ends with ABA 2024 against ABA 2025.
After all reconciliations are complete, you can remove the older unused taxonomic lists.
Do I have to reconcile old Clements lists with both the ABA taxonomy AND with the AVILIST taxonomy? Or neither?
No. You only reconcile Clements 2024 against AviList 2025; Not ABA nor anything else.
Eventually, I recommend using AviList as your primary taxonomy unless you have a specific reason to continue using the ABA list.
Let me know before deleting anything if you are uncertain which pair should be reconciled next.
Let me know if anything is unclear. This is a good question and the answer can seem complicated.
Thanks. Your instructions seem clear.