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Consumer Products => Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security (legacy Pro Antivirus, Internet Security, Premier) => Beta - Avast => Topic started by: petr.chytil on March 16, 2017, 06:06:35 PM

Title: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: petr.chytil on March 16, 2017, 06:06:35 PM
Dear beta users,
 
this BETA release is also about continuing in new licensing backend development with several changes done also on client’s side. Therefore, we would like to give you more details about it in order to help you with its understanding as well as helping you to provide more specific feedback to it. As we are talking about licensing and subscription, possible issues may impact mainly the product edition, its expiration day and installed components.
 
The original licensing backend system we call „Legacy“ and the new one is „Alpha“. In order to know against which of those backends is the client running, please look at the „C:\Program Files\AVAST Software\Avast\setup\config.def“ and find the „[Alpha]” string by following parameter “Enabled” followed by value [0,1] (0 means disabled, 1 means enabled, missing marameter means disabled). Please note that any manual changes to this file will be invalidated by not matching the content with its signature and the new one will be downloaded.
 
You mas also find the difference in look of the Subscription page in the Settings of the product (see the screenshots).
Legacy licensing in clientAlpha licensing in client
(http://public.avast.com/~chytil/pic/legacy.png) (http://public.avast.com/~chytil/pic/alpha.png)

Now, our goal for this BETA regading licensing is to enable the Alpha backend against clients with Free and Trial editions. The Paid one are already running against Alpha for a while. Enabling the alpha for those remaining will be done gradually so it may happen you will not run against the Alpha from the first day of releasing this BETA – we will inform you when the whole BETA channel will be switched once we are confident enough it works. This applies to already installed clients as well as new installations.
 
Scenarios that somehow trigger communication with license backend are the following:
1.      Installing Free or Trial edition
2.      Registering Free edition
3.      Trial or Paid expiration
4.      Downgrading to Free (from Trial or Paid)
5.      Activating Free by Trial (e.g. from banner)
6.      Activating by existing Paid (activation code or license file)
7.      Purchasing Antivirus or other products (such as Passwords, SecureLine or Cleanup) directly from the application
 
Please note that there are more variants and combinations, but those are the basic ones. Also note that migration of existing one without any manual change of the client subscription will be done gradually from our side as mentioned above.
 
Known issues in licensing against Alpha:
1.      After accepting offer for higher edition you might be switched back to previous edition
2.      If you have one license for more products, then all are visible in Settings -> Subscription page even if they are not installed
3.      There is no possibility to choose specific license when inserting old license file which contains more licences for the same product (e.g. two licenses for Antivirus Internet Security)
4.      Conversion to Free edition does not work for blacklisted/refunded licenses
5.      In some cases you might end up with multiple Free licenses instead of just one
6.      Some redundant calls from client to new backend (with no visible impact to you)
 
In case of any issue we would appreciate problem report with the following files for further debugging:

Thank you for your help, we appreciate it!
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: bob3160 on March 25, 2017, 12:05:39 AM
Is this related ???
https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=199512.msg1380702#msg1380702
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: Lano on March 27, 2017, 12:25:23 AM
Quote from: petr.chytil on March 16, 2017, 06:06:35 PM
Dear beta users,
 
<snip>Therefore, we would like to give you more details about it in order to help you with its understanding as well as helping you to provide more specific feedback to it.

What type of specific feedback are you looking for? I just updated to .2290 BETA from .2289 BETA. I checked config.def file and it shows Enabled=1 under [Alpha]. I'm using Avast free on Win 7.
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: petr.kolacek on March 27, 2017, 09:40:29 AM
Quote from: bob3160 on March 25, 2017, 12:05:39 AM
Is this related ???
https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=199512.msg1380702#msg1380702

Hi bob3160, thank you for the post. My colleague will contact you in order to agree on getting more details about this specific case.
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: petr.kolacek on March 27, 2017, 09:45:13 AM
Quote
What type of specific feedback are you looking for? I just updated to .2290 BETA from .2289 BETA. I checked config.def file and it shows Enabled=1 under [Alpha]. I'm using Avast free on Win 7.

Hi Lano, we are looking for feedback regarding your subscriptions. You can find detailed information about your subscription in the Avast UI -> Settings -> Subscription. If there is anything strange to you please get back to us with more information so we can follow up on that.

Some of the scenarios are mentioned in the post above - it depends on what subscription you have right now and what eventually would you like to do with them (e.g. start trial, purchase some, renew, etc.). Thank you!
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: Asyn on March 27, 2017, 02:55:40 PM
Hi Petr & Petr,

hope you're also interested in some positive feedback. ;)
No issues with Alpha here so far on my test system (Avast Free).
Screenshot attached. Cheers.
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: petr.kolacek on March 27, 2017, 03:35:05 PM
Quote from: Asyn on March 27, 2017, 02:55:40 PM
Hi Petr & Petr,

hope you're also interested in some positive feedback. ;)
No issues with Alpha here so far on my test system (Avast Free).
Screenshot attached. Cheers.

Good news Asyn, thank you for that ;-)
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: Lano on March 27, 2017, 06:43:35 PM
Quote from: petr.kolacek on March 27, 2017, 09:45:13 AM
Quote
What type of specific feedback are you looking for? I just updated to .2290 BETA from .2289 BETA. I checked config.def file and it shows Enabled=1 under [Alpha]. I'm using Avast free on Win 7.

Hi Lano, we are looking for feedback regarding your subscriptions. You can find detailed information about your subscription in the Avast UI -> Settings -> Subscription. If there is anything strange to you please get back to us with more information so we can follow up on that.

Some of the scenarios are mentioned in the post above - it depends on what subscription you have right now and what eventually would you like to do with them (e.g. start trial, purchase some, renew, etc.). Thank you!

Thank you, Petr. It looks like I'm also in good shape, then. :)
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: petr.kolacek on March 27, 2017, 09:42:45 PM
Quote
Thank you, Petr. It looks like I'm also in good shape, then. :)

Hi Lano, thank you for your feedback too. It would be great if you will get back to this post and let us know what happened in time of the Free "expiration" (1st of May). This is one of the interesting scenario when something may go wrong.
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: Lano on March 28, 2017, 12:16:39 AM
Quote from: petr.kolacek on March 27, 2017, 09:42:45 PM
Quote
Thank you, Petr. It looks like I'm also in good shape, then. :)

Hi Lano, thank you for your feedback too. It would be great if you will get back to this post and let us know what happened in time of the Free "expiration" (1st of May). This is one of the interesting scenario when something may go wrong.

You're welcome, Petr. I'll be watching for any changes around the first and report back here.
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: REDACTED on March 30, 2017, 11:31:31 AM
Я рад, что вышла новая версия Avast Free Antivirus. Буду и в дальнейшем отслеживать новые версии.
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: bob3160 on March 30, 2017, 04:21:54 PM
Quote from: valetu.ru on March 30, 2017, 11:31:31 AM
Я рад, что вышла новая версия Avast Free Antivirus. Буду и в дальнейшем отслеживать новые версии.
Post in English please.
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: REDACTED on March 30, 2017, 04:43:29 PM
I'm glad the new version of Avast Free Antivirus. I will continue to track new version.
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: YLAP on April 01, 2017, 09:40:17 AM
Any plans to add a "prolong" option? For eg. my current license for Premier is valid for 400 days and I have a code for 365 days more. But I can't use it because it is not summing up - I will just add a new licence file into my account.

I don't know about the others but I would like to have an option to extend my current license in any time. The great example is Office 365 subscription. I can buy and add new code any time I want and the subscription time is summing up. The only limitation I think total subscription can't be longer than 5 years, not sure about that.

What I have in mind: I like to buy a new licence and prolong the current one in any time, not only when it is expiring, because at that moment I have no free money left for eg.  :)
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: Asyn on April 01, 2017, 09:50:35 AM
Quote from: YLAP on April 01, 2017, 09:40:17 AM
I don't know about the others but I would like to have an option to extend my current license in any time.
That would be great (if possible). I second that.
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: Asyn on April 01, 2017, 09:03:11 PM
Quote from: MiTuL PaTeL on April 01, 2017, 09:00:48 PM
Quote from: bob3160 on March 25, 2017, 12:05:39 AM
Is this related ???
https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=199512.msg1380702#msg1380702
See Reply #3.
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: Jiří Šamánek on April 03, 2017, 12:39:12 PM
Quote from: Asyn on April 01, 2017, 09:50:35 AM
Quote from: YLAP on April 01, 2017, 09:40:17 AM
I don't know about the others but I would like to have an option to extend my current license in any time.
That would be great (if possible). I second that.

Hi YLAP and Asyn,

Prolonging of licenses should already be possible in two ways:
1) using our in-app cart - for example if you click on "buy now" button then separate dialog appears, if you finish the purchase in this dialog and you buy same edition as you currently have, your license should be prolonged. (You can do this anytime, does not matter if only 1 day or 360 days are remaining in the license)
2) using our cart on web, but only when you are redirected from the application itself to the web (but again only purchase of same edition, if you purchase different edition it will be considered as upgrade and new license will be generated)

You can also buy license directly on our web, but that will not prolong your license
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: YLAP on April 03, 2017, 08:19:21 PM
Quote from: Jiří Šamánek on April 03, 2017, 12:39:12 PM
1) using our in-app cart - for example if you click on "buy now" button then separate dialog appears, if you finish the purchase in this dialog and you buy same edition as you currently have, your license should be prolonged. (You can do this anytime, does not matter if only 1 day or 360 days are remaining in the license)
2) using our cart on web, but only when you are redirected from the application itself to the web (but again only purchase of same edition, if you purchase different edition it will be considered as upgrade and new license will be generated)

Well I can't find either option 1 or option 2 here in any place. The only option I find inside the whole application is "Add activation code" No buttons or offers to "Buy now" on avast Premier with 400 days of subscription left. So I can't confirm your theory in practice :)

My main suggestion was if I use "Add activation code" inside the antivirus dialog and that code belongs to the same edition of avast I am using now, it prolonged the current subscription, not added the additional licence.
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: Jiří Šamánek on April 04, 2017, 09:28:12 AM
Hi YLAP,

I looked more into your issue and found out from my colleague, that some options in in-app cart were removed as they were too complicated and our users were not using them anyway.
Most users tend to click on targeted offers (toasters, banners and stuff) and buy the stuff we offer to them.
Also users with autorenewal enabled, buy the product and don't want to think about other purchases and stuff, so they leave it on "automatic"
Unfortunately in your case, if you wanted the license prolonged, you would need to contact our support and they could merge your licenses together
I will ask the product manager about your idea and we will see whether he likes it or not:)

Regards,
Jiri
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: Asyn on April 04, 2017, 09:40:58 AM
Quote from: Jiří Šamánek on April 04, 2017, 09:28:12 AM
I will ask the product manager about your idea and we will see whether he likes it or not:)
Thanks Jiri, please keep us updated. :) Cheers.
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: Jiří Šamánek on April 04, 2017, 09:54:10 AM
Quote from: Asyn on April 04, 2017, 09:40:58 AM
Quote from: Jiří Šamánek on April 04, 2017, 09:28:12 AM
I will ask the product manager about your idea and we will see whether he likes it or not:)
Thanks Jiri, please keep us updated. :) Cheers.

So it should already be possible, but its just not currently set to behave this way (business decision).
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: YLAP on April 04, 2017, 07:16:43 PM
Quote from: Jiří Šamánek on April 04, 2017, 09:54:10 AM
So it should already be possible, but its just not currently set to behave this way (business decision).

Well, at least now I (we) know the answer. Thanks for clearing the skies  8) ;D
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: Lano on April 07, 2017, 01:04:58 AM
Quote from: Lano on March 28, 2017, 12:16:39 AM
Quote from: petr.kolacek on March 27, 2017, 09:42:45 PM
Quote
Thank you, Petr. It looks like I'm also in good shape, then. :)

Hi Lano, thank you for your feedback too. It would be great if you will get back to this post and let us know what happened in time of the Free "expiration" (1st of May). This is one of the interesting scenario when something may go wrong.

You're welcome, Petr. I'll be watching for any changes around the first and report back here.

Hello. Today I received a pop-up that my license has expired, but the subscription page still shows active until 05/01/2017 (early warning system?). When I click the CONTINUE button to renew, I am told the online content is unavailable. Clicking the RELOAD button does nothing, and my internet connection is fine. I have not installed .2291 final and am still on .2291 BETA. Problem?
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: Lano on April 08, 2017, 03:05:37 AM
Today the subscription page is blank. Shall I upgrade to .2292?
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: REDACTED on April 08, 2017, 08:11:56 PM
Hello.

I encountered problem with license activation.
I'm using avast Pro Antivirus Beta.

avast recognized 2-years license correctly before updating.
After updating 17.3.2291 to 17.4.2292, avast is changed to trial version.

I have never met with problem like this, so I think it is bug.
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: TerraX on April 11, 2017, 03:04:13 PM
System reboot see screenshot Abo 1.
After inserting the license, see screenshot Abo 2.

TerraX
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: Asyn on April 23, 2017, 02:07:39 PM
Quote from: drakkiefire on April 23, 2017, 11:29:10 AM
Hi all, my first time using this forum, hope I am doing it correctly.

I am currently on Avast Free Antivirus program version 17.3.2291 (build 17.3.3443.0) on a Windows 10 64-bit computer. My free antivirus subscription is ending in 18 days. Under the Status page, it indicates that "Uh oh. Your license is about to expire. Renew". I clicked "Renew", which brings me to the page to select either Avast Free Antivirus or Avast Internet Security. I selected the free antivirus. The page will then ask me whether I would like to try the premium protection for 20-day trial and I would click "No, thanks". However at this point it will just go back to the Status page with no further prompts.

I have tried to uninstall and reinstall, but when I reinstalled, they automatically detected by current subscription with 18 days left. Therefore I have been unable to request for a new license through the program.

I have tried going to https://www.avast.com/registration-free-antivirus.php to request for a free 1 year license. However, the license sent to my email is 27 characters long (XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX-YYYYYYYY), while the place to insert subscription code (Settings - Subcription - Insert Activation Code) only allows for an 18 characters long code (XXXXXX-YYYYYY-ZZZZZZ).

I have been using Avast Free Antivirus for years and this is the first time I had such an issue.
Any help would be much appreciated, thank you.
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: REDACTED on May 01, 2017, 02:30:40 PM
Quote from: Lano on April 08, 2017, 03:05:37 AM
Today I received a pop-up that my license has expired...
When I click the CONTINUE button to renew, I am told the online content is unavailable.
Quote from: Asyn on April 23, 2017, 02:07:39 PM
Quote from: drakkiefire on April 23, 2017, 11:29:10 AM
I have tried going to https://www.avast.com/registration-free-antivirus.php to request for a free 1 year license. However, the license sent to my email is 27 characters long (XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX-YYYYYYYY), while the place to insert subscription code (Settings - Subcription - Insert Activation Code) only allows for an 18 characters long code (XXXXXX-YYYYYY-ZZZZZZ).
Hello, I have both these problems, who knows what to do with it?
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: Jindra Kosek on May 03, 2017, 07:55:19 AM
Quote from: climber3 on May 01, 2017, 02:30:40 PM
Quote from: Lano on April 08, 2017, 03:05:37 AM
Today I received a pop-up that my license has expired...
When I click the CONTINUE button to renew, I am told the online content is unavailable.
Quote from: Asyn on April 23, 2017, 02:07:39 PM
Quote from: drakkiefire on April 23, 2017, 11:29:10 AM
I have tried going to https://www.avast.com/registration-free-antivirus.php to request for a free 1 year license. However, the license sent to my email is 27 characters long (XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX-YYYYYYYY), while the place to insert subscription code (Settings - Subcription - Insert Activation Code) only allows for an 18 characters long code (XXXXXX-YYYYYY-ZZZZZZ).
Hello, I have both these problems, who knows what to do with it?
Hi, we are working on a fix, you can wait until the problem is resolved and released for beta channel or you must wait until your license expired and activate/renew again.
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: REDACTED on May 09, 2017, 02:43:08 AM
Having Avast Renewal Problems, told to post it here, though likely fruitlessly:

When I try to click on the renewal link on the main page, it pops up with a window that says, for the last two days:

The online content is unavailable.

Also, when clicking on the Register Now button in the Subscription settings, I get the same error.

What am I supposed to do to re-register?

Program Version: 17.4.2294 (build 17.4.3482.0)
Virus Definitions Version: 170505-4
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: REDACTED on May 15, 2017, 09:30:17 PM
Hello Avast team,

I encountered license issues in Avast Premier.
It says my license expired even in web browser I checked it's still valid for next year.

To who can I speak to provide more details?

Thanks.
Lukasz
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: REDACTED on May 17, 2017, 07:02:05 AM
Quote from: drakkiefire on May 17, 2017, 07:00:36 AM
Just an update of how my issue got resolved.

I waited till my free license has expired and then proceeded to activate it again. The Avast interface still show the same problems, where they prompt you to choose between Avast Free Antivirus or Avast Internet Security. After selecting the free antivirus and selecting 'No, thanks' to the premium protection 20-day trial, it will just go back to the Status page with no further prompts.

However a few seconds later they reactivated my license for Avast Free Antivirus for another 365 days!

So basically, you would have to wait until your free license has expired before you reactivate it for another year of free antivirus.

Hope it helps!
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: REDACTED on May 19, 2017, 02:19:42 PM
Look I'm a total idiot when it comes to all these different terms and definitions but maybe something here can help me? https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=202531.0 (https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=202531.0)
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: Jindra Kosek on May 19, 2017, 02:34:05 PM
Quote from: missjmelville on May 19, 2017, 02:19:42 PM
Look I'm a total idiot when it comes to all these different terms and definitions but maybe something here can help me? https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=202531.0 (https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=202531.0)

Can you please send me logs gathered via Support tool https://www.avast.com/faq.php?article=AVKB33
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: REDACTED on May 20, 2017, 09:26:11 PM
Hi, I'm using Avast free version and I noticed the license is expiring with only 11 days left. I clicked renew some days ago not knowing that it didn't actually renew my license, and now when I opened avast up again it still says that I need to renew. I did, and then I chose the free version, followed by a thank you message for activating and a loyalty reward promo that only has a button to upgrade, so I closed it.

But my license is not renewing, why is this? What can I do to fix this?

Thanks in advance.
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: Asyn on May 20, 2017, 09:56:31 PM
See Reply #32.
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: REDACTED on May 26, 2017, 12:17:55 PM
Quote from: drakkiefire on May 17, 2017, 07:02:05 AM
Quote from: drakkiefire on May 17, 2017, 07:00:36 AM
Just an update of how my issue got resolved.

I waited till my free license has expired and then proceeded to activate it again. The Avast interface still show the same problems, where they prompt you to choose between Avast Free Antivirus or Avast Internet Security. After selecting the free antivirus and selecting 'No, thanks' to the premium protection 20-day trial, it will just go back to the Status page with no further prompts.

However a few seconds later they reactivated my license for Avast Free Antivirus for another 365 days!

So basically, you would have to wait until your free license has expired before you reactivate it for another year of free antivirus.

Hope it helps!

This has helped coz I have the same issue. It just makes me anxious risking not having any protection, even if it's for a second or two because of the time difference of where I am and where Avast is.
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: Jindra Kosek on May 26, 2017, 03:06:06 PM
Quote from: Bill Bill on May 26, 2017, 12:17:55 PM
This has helped coz I have the same issue. It just makes me anxious risking not having any protection, even if it's for a second or two because of the time difference of where I am and where Avast is.

Hi, you will be still protected. After Avast Free is expired, all free components are still working and protecting your PC.
Title: Re: New licensing in the beta channel
Post by: MartinZ on May 29, 2017, 12:26:30 PM
Quote from: Bill Bill on May 26, 2017, 12:17:55 PM
Quote from: drakkiefire on May 17, 2017, 07:02:05 AM
Quote from: drakkiefire on May 17, 2017, 07:00:36 AM
Just an update of how my issue got resolved.

I waited till my free license has expired and then proceeded to activate it again. The Avast interface still show the same problems, where they prompt you to choose between Avast Free Antivirus or Avast Internet Security. After selecting the free antivirus and selecting 'No, thanks' to the premium protection 20-day trial, it will just go back to the Status page with no further prompts.

However a few seconds later they reactivated my license for Avast Free Antivirus for another 365 days!

So basically, you would have to wait until your free license has expired before you reactivate it for another year of free antivirus.

Hope it helps!

This has helped coz I have the same issue. It just makes me anxious risking not having any protection, even if it's for a second or two because of the time difference of where I am and where Avast is.

Hi, do you have the beta version?