Sysquake Registration

This chapter explains how to register Sysquake. The details are specific to the registration application for Windows. The Macintosh appliction has a different user interface with a single window, but the steps are the same.

Remark: Not all versions of Sysquake come with a registration application. Please follow the instructions you have received with Sysquake. Licenses for multiple computers and site licenses do not require separate registration for each computer; the same registration file is used on each computer.

Please do the following:

Open Sysquake Register: The application Sysquake Register must be located in the same folder as Sysquake itself. To open it, double-click its icon.
Choose Start Again if you see the dialog box below: This dialog box is displayed only if you have already run Sysquake Register.
Type your name, company name (required for multiple licenses), number of licenses, and a password.: The first form let you enter the information needed to build the request. The license issuer may request that your name be correct. The number of licenses is the maximum number of computers you want to install Sysquake on. If you want a site license, which permits you to use Sysquake on all the computers of your company in a radius of 5 km (3.5 miles), click the Site License radio button. The password is a sequence of at least eight letters, digits and other characters, which you should note down and store in a secure place. You will need it should you have to register again Sysquake, for instance if you change your hard disk or you upgrade your operating system. Note that the serial number which you will obtain is linked to your name, the name of your company, and the number of licenses; you should fill these fields accurately, because the information is displayed in the About Sysquake information box of Sysquake.
Click the OK button.: Your private password is stored on your hard disk, and the information you should send to the license issuer is displayed with some explanations. Check the contents of the request: they must contain the information you have entered in Sysquake Register, except for your password which is replaced by an encrypted password. Thus even if your license request is intercepted, it cannot be used to steal your license key.
Click the Copy button.: The request which is displayed in the dialog box is copied to the clipboard, and Sysquake Register terminates.
Paste the request to an e-mail message, a letter or a fax.: Immediately create a new message in your e-mail application or a new document in your word processor, and choose Paste in the Edit menu. Check that the information corresponds to what was displayed in Sysquake Register. If it does not, you have probably cut or copied something else meanwhile; you should start again.
Send the request to the license issuer, and wait until you obtain a reply.: The request and the reply can be intercepted by a third party. Even if both are intercepted, this is not enough to unlock Sysquake, because both your private password, which is never transmitted, and the reply are necessary. There is no known way to compute your password from the encrypted password, except by trial and error.
If you have the reply in electronic form on the same computer as Sysquake Register, open it and copy it to the clipboard.: Select the whole message, and choose Copy in the Edit menu. The contents of the clipboard will be used by Sysquake Register to fill the registration form.
Open Sysquake Register.
Click the Register button.
Check the information and fill what is missing.: If you had copied the reply to the clipboard, all the fields should be filled with the necessary data. Otherwise, copy exactly the information sent in the reply. You cannot change your name or your company's name at this stage.
Click the OK button.: The registration data are written to the file SQ_Reg.key in the same folder as Sysquake. If you had moved Sysquake Register to another folder or another computer, you should copy yourself the file SQ_Reg.key from there to Sysquake's folder.

What's in the Serial Number

The serial number is not a random string of letters and digits. It can be decoded as follows. A typical serial number looks like

300349a-999999-0a20.a392

To decode it, split it into six parts:

vvvwwwf-yyyymm-ssss.ssss

Each group of characters has the following meaning:

vvv, a group of three digits, is the first version number for which the license is valid; 100 means 1.0.
www, a group of three digits, is the last version number for which the license is valid; 149 means 1.4.9. Note that this is not a commitment to offer free upgrades, or any upgrade at all.
f, a single letter, identifies additional capabilities of Sysquake; a means none. It is not used in current releases.
yyyy, a group of four digits, is the last year of the validity of the license; 9999 means no expiration.
mm, a group of two digits, is the last month for which the license is valid; 99 means no expiration.
ssss.ssss, a group of eight hexadecimal digits, is an encrypted checksum which binds the serial number to other bits of registration information.

Where SQ_Reg.key is located

The registration information is stored in the file SQ_Reg.key on the hard disk. Its location depends on the operating system.

Windows

On Windows computers, SQ_Reg.key is located in the same folder as Sysquake.exe, typically in the directory C:\Program Files\Sysquake.

Mac OS X

On Mac OS X computers, it can be located in three different places:

in ~/Library/Calerga, where ~ stands for your home folder;
in /Library/Calerga (starting in the boot volume);
in the same folder as the Sysquake application.

The registration utility creates SQ_Reg.key in ~/Library/Calerga. If Sysquake is used by different users on the same computer, you can move it to /Library/Calerga (you need administrator privileges to do that). The folder of Sysquake is usually not recommended to reduce clutter in the Applications folder.

Linux

On Linux computers, SQ_Reg.key is located in the base directory of Sysquake, typically /usr/local/sysquake.

Remark

The serial number is linked to your name and your company's name. The protection system is designed to permit you to reinstall the serial number easily, on the same or a different computer. You may even copy the registration file onto different computers if you have a multiple license for the same software. License files for Windows and Mac OS are compatible. Simply make sure you comply with the license terms.

When you perform a minor upgrade of Sysquake, you can keep the same registration file without running the registration application or contacting Calerga again.