Here is a repost of the information that was presented with regard to activations and machine fingerprint problems (i.e., the dreaded Security Dialog).

Changing your hard drive will change your machine fingerprint for DNS. Therefore, it is absolutely imperative that you uninstall DNS before creating an image using Acronis TrueImage 11. There are two major critical reasons for this:

1. If you don't uninstall DNS using the normal process of Windows Control Panel, Add or Remove Programs, you will not restore your activation for DNS on this system back to its previous state prior to installing DNS. The end result will be that if you create a backup image using Acronis TrueImage, and then restore it to your new 200 GB hard drive, DNS will prompt you for security code because your activation on the Nuance activation server will not be equivalent to the change in your machine fingerprint. As such, if your activation information doesn't jive with your new machine fingerprint, you not only lose an activation, you will have to contact Nuance technical support in order to get a new activation code. This is both unnecessary and a waste of time.

2. You do not want to make a backup image of your hard drive with DNS installed even if you uninstall it after you make the image backup. The reason for this is simply that the same problem will occur as noted above in #1. Your machine fingerprint changes and you will be prompted with the security code warning necessitating your contacting Nuance for a new activation code. It doesn't matter that you uninstalled DNS after making your backup image. Because your backup image is not valid relative to DNS when you restore it to your new hard drive. This is even more problematic because Nuance will grill you as to why you haven't installation of DNS with no activation and your calling for security code (new activation code).

Therefore, do the following in the following order:

1. Save your user profile(s) to a safe location. You can save your user(s) anywhere on your current hard drive prior to making a backup image using Acronis TrueImage as your user(s) have no impact on your machine fingerprint. Nevertheless, export them, back them up, or just copy the entire users folder to another location on your current hard drive. However, don't leave them where they are.

2. Uninstall DNS using the Windows Control Panel, Add or Remove Programs. Make sure that the uninstall process restores your DNS activations for this computer so that when you reinstall DNS on the new hard drive, it doesn't complain that you need a "security code" in order to activate because your machine fingerprint has changed. Again, this is a result of the activation that is stored on the Nuance activation server having a machine fingerprint reference that is different from your machine after you have installed the new hard drive. Replacing hard drives is one characteristic that Nuance activation flags to prevent users from transporting DNS from one system to another by simply backing up and restoring with the current version of DNS active and installed.

3. Go to the Nuance support webpage | Knowledge Base, and locate the DNS95remove.exe utility. You will find this in technote 5548 just in case you have problems with the link below. Otherwise, simply click on the following link and it should take you right to that webpage.

http://knowledgebase.nuance.com/view.asp?60VQ=JKKL&5d7r4B=erz18r4

Run the DNS95remove.exe utility. Be advised that you should carefully read the instructions that go along with it relative to the webpage above. This utility removes everything including your current user(s). Therefore, remember to move your users to a safe location other than the installed location. Otherwise, DNS95remove.exe will take care of that for you by permanently deleting your user(s). In short, reading is fundamental.

4. Once you have completely uninstalled DNS, create a backup image of your current hard drive using Acronis TrueImage. I currently use Acronis TrueImage 11, so you're not getting information from someone who is unfamiliar with that backup utility. If you normally use it to make incremental backups, don't do that in this case. Be sure that you make a full backup from scratch. You don't want any remnants of any prior incremental backup that may contain DNS information. You want a clean, new, full backup. Of course, I'm assuming that you're backing up to an external hard drive. If not, you'd better and if you have use Acronis TrueImage all along, there is no need for me to explain why.

5. There is no need to uninstall VoicePower. VoicePower's activation should be unaffected by changing hard drives. However, if you want to play it safe, you can always uninstall VoicePower prior to creating your backup image using Acronis TrueImage 11.

6. After installing your new hard drive, restore your backup image to that drive.

7. With your backup image successfully restored to the new 200 GB hard drive, reinstall and reactivate DNS. You will be required to create a new user. However, and as long as you're using DNS 9/9.1/9.5, you can elect the option "Skip initial training for this user," which will give you a quick new user so that you can import or restore your original user. DNS 9/9.5 makes this a relatively painless process. With DNS reactivated, everything should function properly and the activation should proceed normally. I say should because that precludes that you have followed the instructions above precisely. If you have, then the reactivation of DNS on your new hard drive will proceed normally. Nevertheless, if you have any problems with the reactivation, you can always call DNS technical support and you should not be charged for activation issues, and least not the first time. If you are charged, or if that's the only way that you can get assistance, write a letter of complaint to Nuance customer service or call them on the phone because you should not be charged for activation problems that are caused through no fault of your own. I do stress, however, that you should make sure that this is the first time that you called on something like this, because if it isn't, then you have no beef with Nuance over any charges. Bottom line is, if you are having problems as regards this issue, get help either from this forum or from Nuance. I've had a number of my clients stumble and bumble around with various problems until they have screwed up their system so bad that nobody can extricate them from the mess that they've created. General rule of thumb; "If you are not sure of how to proceed or how to correct a problem, get HELP!" Don't go diving over the waterfall until you know how deep the water is at the bottom.

Lastly, here are the general rules of thumb with regard to when you you should uninstall DNS as regards to making hardware upgrades.

1. You can upgrade your RAM without the necessity to uninstall DNS as long as you are not replacing RAM chips completely. That is, if your current system has 1 GB of RAM in 2 by 512 MB RAM chips and you upgrade to 2 GB of RAM using 2 x 1 gigabyte RAM chips, this will change your machine fingerprint and you should uninstall DNS first.

2. If you have 2 GB of RAM installed in 4 x 512 MB RAM chips and you go to 4 GB by installing 4 x 1 gigabyte RAM chips, you should uninstall DNS because your machine fingerprint will change.

3. If you have 2 GB of RAM installed into by 1 GB RAM chips (i.e., 1 GB in channel 0, and 1 GB in channel 1 of a dual channel memory system) and you add two more gigabytes of the same type, you should not have to uninstall DNS. The reason for this is that your original RAM configuration remains intact. All you're doing is adding 2 more gigabytes. The same applies even if you only add 1 GB to bring your system up to 3 GB. As long as you do not alter the original configuration other than adding new RAM chips appropriately (i.e., 1 GB and 512 MB RAM chips in both channel 0 and channel 1) and you don't change the original configuration (i.e., you only add the new RAM chips without moving the current RAM chips around) you shouldn't have to uninstall DNS.

4. If you change motherboards, as long as the rest of your system configuration (i.e. on the motherboard) doesn't change, you do not add new hard drives, you do not change the configuration of your hard drives, and you use the same RAM and RAM chip configuration, you should not have to deactivate (uninstall) DNS.

5. If you change hard drives or otherwise change your entire system hard drive configuration, particularly with regard to your boot drive, you will have to uninstall DNS and deactivate it prior to doing so. Changing drives or changing drive configurations will change your machine fingerprint. This is the most critical part of the activation process. Nuance's activation process is specifically looking for hard drive changers, because this is the most significant indicator that someone is trying to cheat by installing DNS on multiple systems (i.e., not particularly their own) using a single activation. The activation server will pick this up real quick and you will be grilled till the cows come home if you have to call Nuance technical support for a reactivation code. Nuance is particularly touchy about this one. So, this is the one condition under which you should always uninstall DNS and deactivate it before making any hard drive changes to your system.

6. If you upgrade your motherboard including new RAM and in such a way as to alter the drive configuration on your system, this will create a new machine fingerprint. Therefore, under this condition you should uninstall DNS and deactivate it before making these changes. However, if everything on your system configuration remains the same but your simply changing motherboards, you shouldn't have to uninstall DNS. On the other hand, if the reason that you're changing motherboards is because your changing CPUs, this requires an uninstallation and the activation of DNS.

Here are a couple other tips that will prove help old to most users:

1. Although Microsoft Windows activation is somewhat less intense in terms of getting Windows reactivated when some of the above changes are made, it is important to make note of the fact that major changes to your system may not prompt you for Windows activation right away. These types of changes that influence (i.e., require) Windows activation do not usually prompt for such either until you reboot your system or 3 days have passed since you made the changes. However, you will eventually be prompted by a Microsoft to reactivate your copy of Windows. It just doesn't occur right away as it does with DNS. Therefore, keep this in mind when you are making any major hardware changes to your system. You should, nevertheless, be able to reactivate Windows without wrapping your leg around your neck. Regardless, there are times when you will have to call Microsoft to get this done.

2. If you are using external hard drives or flash drives (thumb drives) intermittently on your system, you may be prompted from time to time with the DNS security dialog (i.e., DNS may detect a fingerprint change). However, in this case don't panic. This is relatively easily resolved if you pay attention to the following when using such an external devices.

– Make sure that all of your external devices (i.e., hard drives, flash drives, thumb drives, etc.) are assigned permanent drive letters. Don't allow Windoze to intermittently reassign drive letters to these devices. If you do, you will very likely run into this issue from time to time.

– If you change the default location for your user files to a removable thumb drive, make sure that it is inserted before you start DNS, or that inserting the some drive with your users automatically launches DNS. Nevertheless, this is one condition that should not cause this problem to occur.

– If for any reason you are prompted with the security code dialog after rebooting with one or more external devices installed and active during reboot, don't panic. Simply disconnect those devices temporarily and reboot your system. DNS should come up normally, after which you can reconnect them. This problem generally occurs because these are external devices are either not assigned permanent drive letters or because the manner in which they all are intermittently used changes the machine fingerprint. Although the machine fingerprint can change during an active session and not affect DNS use, it is the reboot with these devices active during reboot that causes the problem.

– The above problem does not generally occur if you have activated your copy of DNS using another computer to manually acquire the activation code, and the system on which you have activated DNS is not automatically connected to the Internet (i.e., using a dial-up connection that requires manual loading). Nevertheless, it can occur for the reasons specified above. The same procedure applies under these conditions. Regardless, this is generally a quick and simple fix (resolution) for these circumstances in which you are prompted with the DNS security code dialog.

Hopefully, this information will help most users resolve these types of issues and/or understand the activation process with regard to DNS. However, and this is the bottom line, if you panic under these circumstances you can dig a hole out of which you may not be able to recover without assistance from Nuance. The general rule of thumb for the average user is simply this: (1) When in doubt with regard to hardware changes, uninstall DNS first using the above procedures, (2) Otherwise, simply follow the above procedures for the other circumstances noted above that can cause this type of problem. That is, if you follow the procedures that I have outlined and you understand why and how the Nuance activation server works relative to your machine fingerprint and any changes thereto, you shouldn't have any major problems requiring you to contact Nuance in order to get them resolved.

Chuck Runquist
Former Dragon NaturallySpeaking SDK & Senior Technical Solutions PM for DNS

"Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored." -- Aldous Huxley