Problems with trial license when linked to a MAC address

System specs:

• Windows 10

• GraphPad is installed and requires a trial key

The issue arises because GraphPad ties trial usage to the machine’s MAC address. Cloning a Fresh Start machine usually gives it the same MAC address. Normally this isn’t a problem, but here the application says the license has already been used—just as it did on a previous clone. The machine could be on a different server or in a datacenter on another continent, and it will still report this error. 

The workaround? Change the MAC address. On Linux it’s easy and well documented, but on Windows it’s less straightforward.

Attempting to change the MAC address inside Windows using the usual approaches won’t succeed, because the machine’s qemu.conf file will override it. So even if you change the MAC in Windows 10, that alone won’t fix things.

That’s because the qemu.conf file includes a configured MAC address. You can modify that address to obtain a new MAC, which then allows a fresh license key. 

For this to take effect, however, you must set ‘Network Isolation’ to ‘Disabled’ on each machine. After that, the MAC address defined in qemu.conf will be applied.

If this issue comes up, reach out to DaDesktop Support for assistance.