AC11, AC9, AC7 on same machine

[David Bearss]

I had AC9 and AC11 on my machine for some time with no problems. I needed to re-open an old AC7 project and so re-installed AC7. All worked fine however now AC9 operates as default version. I.E. clicking on an archicad file should open up in AC11 but now file opens with AC9. AC11 works fine if I start from start menu however I would like AC11 to be default again.

I went to do a repair install for AC11 and stopped because did not want to have installation revert back to default state and lose all my preferences, shortcuts.

Can anyone recommend how to preserve my preferences?

[Karl Ottenstein]

David wrote:
I used to have an office in Big Sky and got my masters from MSU. Be interesting to chat.

I saw the Big Sky ref on your web site (I lived there for a few years). Look forward to getting in touch offline. 😉

Cheers,
Karl

[Karl Ottenstein]

Aaron wrote:
I would have installed older versions if I had some way of using floppies again.

Hey Aaron,

I've kept an older computer around with a 3.5" floppy drive just for that purpose. Have a 5.25" floppy drive in a box somewhere, and some old tape backup units (mountain, travan, etc) and Iomega disk drives too that I can put into it if I have to. Just discovered some old files on a 5.25" disk, so might have to do that one day. Thankfully, my archives don't include 8" disks. But, I've got a bunch of old 9 track tape that would be nice to read some time.

If you want to send me your disks, I'll try to get it converted for you...assuming customs doesn't get their hand into it. I've never seen 4.55, so it would be kind of fun, as nerd-fun goes. We're overdue for getting in touch offline anyway!

Cheers,
Karl

[David Maudlin]

Karl wrote:
I've never seen 4.55, so it would be kind of fun, as nerd-fun goes.

Will 4.5 run on the current USB dongle? I can't remember if the early versions ran in demo mode without the key. Enjoy.

David

[Aaron Bourgoin]

David,

Good question. Will it even run? Wasn't System 7 the OS back then? The Windows 3x version might be an option and wasn't ArchiCAD 5 the first NT (32-bit clean) version released.

Another one would be running ArchiCAD 2x on an emulated Apple LISA machine.

Does anyone have the floppies for that?

[Erika Epstein]

Karl & Aaron,
Somewhere I believe I still have the emergency 10 hour pre-usb dongle key from I believe 6.5. Let me know if you would like it.

[Karl Ottenstein]

Erika wrote:
Karl & Aaron,
Somewhere I believe I still have the emergency 10 hour pre-usb dongle key from I believe 6.5. Let me know if you would like it.

Thanks for the offer, Erika! Funny to think about what we each might have in our closet and the back of our file cabinets! (I've been shredding files from the 80's and 90's lately ... somehow kept putting it off .... so have been in office anthropology mode...)

I had forgotten about the switch to USB for AC 7 when we returned the old keys. The Wiki has this list of what versions require which key protection:
http://www.archicadwiki.com/ArchiCAD%20versions

And indeed, the USB key only lets us run back to version 6.5R5. Your 6.5 key will run back to Windows version 4.16 or Mac version 6 according to that page ... so Aaron would actually need at least a Mac ArchiCAD 5 key to run 4.55...or just put Windows in a VM.

Cheers,
Karl

[David Maudlin]

Aaron wrote:
Good question. Will it even run?

Just for grins, I booted up an old PowerBook G3 running System 9.2.2 (288 MB RAM). Using a USB adapter card (this machine had no USB ports), I was able to launch ArchiCAD 6.0, 6.5, 7 & 8 in full mode. ArchiCAD 4.55, 5.0 & 5.1 (TeamWork) do not recognize the USB dongle. ArchiCAD 5.0 & 5.1 would not launch (Warning: "The protection key is not responding.", no demo mode). ArchiCAD 4.55 would launch, and then give the option of going into demo mode (no Save, Save As, Copy, Print etc options) or quitting, so you should at least be able to look at and play with the 4.55 version.

David

[Erika Epstein]

It was a bit scary going into my closets, but I found that key; its for 6.0.
What a mess.