buying software online

[sash]

g'day all...just a few questions:

a) if i buy software online, what happens if i buy a new computer and want to transport that software to my new computer?

b) if my computer dies and i have to format the hard drive or something like that, how do i get my software back.

c) How does the software company know i've only downloaded their software to the one computer?

cheers
sash

[g]

a & b) you get a serial number and a download link. if you have to reinstall it, you re-download it and reauthorize it.

c) some don't, some do. some don't seem to care about installations, the theory/practice being that you are only authorized to use one copy at a time. others provide you a software authorization key when you install the app. the key is specifically for the computer you are installing on so the company then knows what computer (and how many) the stuff is installed on. native instruments komplete 2 works this way; i can only have it installed on 2 computers at a time. if i want to install on a third computer i have to first de-authorize one of the other computers. despite maybe being a little limiting, it actually all works very well.

and then some other companies give you hardware usb dongles, coded to the app you bought. the app won't run without the dongle. but this is generally only applicable for off the shelf software.

[sash]

cheers g

q. what if someone steals my computer? would i get another copy from the company?

q. How would the software company believe me that some prick stole my PC?

q. If i brought something like Ableton Live 4 from the shop, am i still able to upgrade my program online when a upgrade is available?

[g]

either you redownload it, reinstall it and you're done or you redownload it, de-authorize the copy that was stolen, and authorize your new copy. either way, i guess this means you should print out your serial numbers and keep them somewhere else.

upgrade a store-bought online: yes.