BUG in GIF Animator Pro 5 Trial vs Registered Version

dondillin · Post by **dondillin** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 7:03 pm

If you load the GIF ANIMATOR PRO 5 "try-before-you-by (TBYB)" program, and abort the purchase process from the TBYB program, and then purchase the program directly through ULEAD.com, and try to load it, it will not run, generating instead a Dr. Watson error before the program is fully launched. Both registered AND trial versions of GIF ANIMATOR PRO 5 will be unusable on that computer from then on.

So far, no successful tech response from ULEAD. Does anyone else have any ideas?

The usual fixes of "a clean uninstall, registry cleaning, temp file dumping, deleting any ULEAD folders" do not work. The flaw is in the operation of the TBYB program and the way it interacts with the purchased program IF PURCHASED THROUGH ULEAD, rather than from the TBYB screen.

The following sequence will render the purchased program unusable on ANY computer (so don't try it unless you have a ghost image of your computer to restore back to its former state!!)

1) Load try before you buy "TBYB" version
2) After trial has ended, click "buy" from the TBYB version opening screen.
3) Cancel out of the resulting ordering screen
4) Go to ulead.com and purchase the product directly from Ulead
5) Install the purchased registered product -- it will warn you that a prior version is installed, and ask if you want to overwrite ... say yes.
6) Run the registered program.
7) The program will load, showing all the plug-ins and tools loading, but before being ready, it aborts with the windows message:
The application, ga_main.exe, generated an application error

This specific installation sequence leaves the registered program unusable on the computer on which this sequence is followed, and a normal uninstall and re-install, as well as registry cleaning, etc., will NOT allow recovery of the installation. It represents a serious flaw (BUG) in the TBYB program, *** since the user (me) did NOT follow the expected purchase step from the TBYB screen!!!****

Post by **VikingAnimations** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 7:49 pm

Not having any experience with using the trial, I really have no bright (or even dim) ideas on that one.

Ulead GIF Animator PRO 5? From what website/vendor is that? It almost makes one think they put a bug in the TBYB so that only a version purchased there works. I could be paranoid, of course!

If the TBYB was not directly from Ulead, I suspect you may get better answers from the site you originally got the trial from. Then again, maybe not...

Did you manage to get things working, or are you still stuck with an unusable version?

dondillin · Post by **dondillin** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 10:25 pm

Hi, Sorry, I meant GIF ANIMATOR 5 (don't know why I put the "PRO" in there!). ... and the trial was downloaded directly from ULEAD. Love the program, used the registered version for years, but lost use of the computer on which it was loaded and lost any way to recover my registered version, so downloaded the trial onto my computer, and that's when the "fun" started.

The TBYB version was produced for ULEAD -- apparently -- by softwrap.com, so they appear to be the culprits in the technical problem. Thanks for pointing me back to where I should be asking the question, though!!! Ulead tech support hasn't been able to resolve it, but perhaps softwrap can. Will post the outcome here.

Thanks!!
Don