Activation errors
If you encounter an activation error when you try to run Designer+, please try the following steps in order to gather relevant files and to allow our support team to assist you efficiently.
Setup
1. Reboot your PC2. Check your firewall and any other security software settings to ensure they are not preventing connections to Xara
3. Check Internet options > advanced tab to ensure TLS 1.2 (see below) is enabled and 'do not save encrypted pages to disc' is disabled
4. Download DebugView from Microsoft and run the program
5. Close any open web browsers.
Activation
1. Run your Xara program to see the Activation dialog.
2. Click the Activate Now button. Your default web browser should open directing you to the login screen.
3. Login to your Xara account with the email address and password you used to subscribe to this program and you should see a verification successful message.
4. Close the browser tab to return to the program and you should see a successful activation message in the activation dialog
5. Click on the Continue button to complete the activation.
6. Save the log file generated by DebugView .
Failed Activation
Activation symptom / message | Solutions |
You need to be online to activate Designer+ |
The program is unable to establish an online connection and the following dialog is displayed.
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Connection Failure |
The program is able to connect to the Internet but is unable to connect to either xara.com or a sub-domain or xara.com.
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ERROR_WINHTTP_TIMEOUT |
The program is able to connect to the Internet and the xara.com domain is also accessible but the program is unable to complete authentication.
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II have subscribed but my software remains in demo mode |
If you have an active subscription but you are still seeing the Upgrade button or you remain in trial or demo mode or otherwise cannot unlock, there are several possible causes;
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I see a message other than verification successful when attempting to activate |
Customers can encounter a variety of messages when an activation is not successful. These failure messages often relate to problems with your team:
You may see one of these activation failure messages if your team is not associated with an active subscription: Invalid subscription Your team [team name] does not have an active subscription. Please upgrade or contact support. This message is encountered if the team your device is associated with no longer has an active subscription and your member role within the team is 'admin'. Invalid subscription Unfortunately, [team name] does not have an active subscription. Please inform your team admin to upgrade, or contact support. This message is encountered if the team your device is associated with no longer has an active subscription and your member role within the team is 'member'. Request membership Unfortunately, [email address] is not a member of team [team name], which this device is linked to. Request membership or contact support. This message could be encountered if your account is no longer a member of the team which your device was locked to when it was activated. Device limit reached Attempting to activate Designer+ with the same email on more than 2 devices will result in this message. Please contact the support team if you wish to deactivate the software on one of your existing machines prior to retrying your activation. |
Error code 12157 when attempting to activate. |
Xara uses the TLS 1.2 protocol to connect securely to the activation servers. If these protocols are not enabled, or outdated, you may see this error.
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If problems continue then please contact the support team providing the following information:
1. Confirm you tried the Setup steps described above prior to activating.
2. The Xara program you are using along with the version of Windows you are running.
3. What security software you have enabled (firewalls etc)
4. Provide a screenshot of the message shown in the web browser when activating, and the message in the program dialog when the activation failed.
5. Attach the DebugView log file