Dongles
As a genuinely licensed user of our dongle-based
software product variants, you are provided with a small
sophisticated USB hardware device that unlocks the software and that
is required for execution of the software (a
copy protection method).
Our dongles have the following
advantages:
-
A dongle driver does not need to be installed.
No reboot is required after attaching the dongle. Since X-Ways
Forensics does not need to be installed either, that means you
can run X-Ways Forensics directly on a live machine from media
such as a CD or USB stick, without unnecessarily destroying data
by overwriting free space on the subject drive, without
unnecessary changes to the system registry, etc.
-
The dongle does not act as a USB mass storage
device, but as a human interface device (HID), just like a USB
mouse. Like that, the dongle usually is not affected by USB port
security locks enforced by administration.
-
The software may be installed on several of
your computers at the same time even if you only own a single
license, for your convenience. Attaching the dongle renders an
installation executable. A dongle can be quickly exchanged
between different computers.
-
Your license is represented by a physical
object. It is easy to connect to your system. Install or simply
execute X-Ways Forensics, plug in the dongle, and everything
works.
-
You can store textual information inside the
dongle from within X-Ways Forensics. Use this to have notes
always available when working with X-Ways Forensics or simply to
personalize your dongle with your name and address. The dongle
could thus be a good place to store some hints, best-practice
procedures or the like you wish to keep handy when using X-Ways
Forensics.
-
The dongle helps us to protect against software
piracy and consequently to keep prices reasonably low.
-
It can be
insured against loss or
theft, free of charge. If not insured, lost means lost and no
replacement. If you lose an uninsured dongle, do not ask us
about a new dongle and do not ask us to use the dongle of a
different license as a replacement for the lost dongle.
Questions like these are futile and only have disadvantages for
you. You will forfeit the chance of a good-will discount on the
purchase of a new license.
-
The software does not require Internet access
to authenticate the license.
-
Works in virtual machines. (If your dongle
repeatedly disconnects in a virtual machine, change settings to
use USB 2.0 instead of USB 3.0.)
-
Up to 16 dongles can be attached to the same
computer at the same time. (However, you may want to consider a
single multi-user dongle instead, see below.)
Weight: approx. 7 g ~ 110 grains ~ 1/4 ounce
Dimensions: 5.3 × 1.7 × 0.7 cm or 2.07 × 0.62 × 0.37 inches
Operating temperature: 0°C - 70°C
Storage temperature: -10°C - 80°C
Humidity: 20% - 80%
Certifications: CE, FCC
Material value declared when mailing the dongle
overseas: EUR 11 / USD 12
Price that we charge for a dongle: EUR 0 (we do not sell the
dongles, just "provide" them to unlock the software, 1 per license)
Delivery time overseas by postal mail: 4 days - 6 weeks
(varies greatly, no shipping charges, no tracking number)
Delivery time overseas via DHL Express or FedEx Int'l Priority: 1-3
working days (for a surcharge, please specify your phone number in
the order form!)
Surcharge for delivery of the dongle via DHL Express or FedEx Int'l
Priority: depends on destination country, please see order form
A malfunctioning dongle can be exchanged for a
new dongle. It must still be in your possession, including the
metallic plug. Lost, misplaced or stolen dongles are
not replaced, only if they were
insured. If you
lose an uninsured dongle, you cannot receive another dongle for that
license. You could purchase a new license, and in that case we may
be able to offer you a discount and apply the calculatory value of
unused access to updates of the previous license (only if you do not
ask us about a new dongle for the existing license).
Dongles have a serial number printed on the outer
case or engraved in the metallic plug, starting with the letter R.
However, we do not use that number to reference dongles. We use the
so-called hardware ID instead, which is displayed in the program if
the dongle is attached, in the Help | Dongle dialog. You can easily
copy the ID from there. The first 8 digits are constant and
sufficient to identify a dongle.
|
|
Two alternative to dongles
that may be available for certain license types are
BYOD and BYOD+. With BYOD there
is no waiting time before you can use the software! |
There are different types
of dongles:
-
Regular dongles
(color:
green) represent 1 license each and
allow 1 user to execute X-Ways Forensics on 1 computer at a time
each, locally, even multiple instances of the program. Multiple
dongles attached to the same computer are supported as of v16.5
to allow for multiple simultaneous users. The new "Smart"
dongles are supported by default as of v17.7 SR-13, v17.8 SR-16,
v17.9 SR-9, and v18.0 and later. They are labelled "R4 SMART".
-
Multi-user dongles
(color:
green) represent x licenses
each (more than 1, no more than 50) and allow x
users to execute X-Ways Forensics on 1 computer (e.g. via
Remote Desktop Services/Terminal Services) at a time.
-
Network dongles
(color: red) can represent 1 or
more licenses (depends on how many licenses you order/have) and
can be found by the software on the network. A dongle server
program (alternatively available as a service) that we supply
must be run on the machine with the dongle (a Windows machine)
so that the dongle can be found. Supported by v16.8 SR-10, v16.9
SR-4, and v17.0 and later. If a network
dongle with no more than 50 licenses is attached locally, it
works exactly like a regular or multi-user dongle (depends on
the number of licenses). With more than 50 licenses, it can only
be used through the network interface (i.e. the dongle server
program must be running on that computer). Multiple
network
dongles on the same or different machines on the same network
can be used at the same time, and if more than 1
network
dongle is found by the program, the user can choose one (if any
of the dongles are fully utilized already by as many users as
possible based on the number of licenses that they represent,
this is shown).
How many simultaneous users a dongle supports,
i.e. how many licenses it represents, can be verified in X-Ways
Forensics at Help | Dongle. When multiple users at the same time
share a
regular dongle (which in fact must not
be shared) or a multi-user dongle and
they exceed the maximum number of allowed simultaneous uses (1 for a
regular dongle), then the new user will
push aside a previous user, i.e. a previous user will be requested
by the software to save and stop his work and will eventually be
kicked out. The behavior may change at any time. With a
network dongle if the maximum number of
allowed simultaneous uses has been reached, new users have to wait
until the session(s) of a previous user terminates.
If you would like to exchange
regular dongles that you already have
for 1 network dongle, you can find
pricing and an order form
here (pricing subject to change). All the dongles that you
wish to swap must still be functional and returned to us upon
receipt of the network dongle, and they must actually reach us (you
can request deactivation codes for them and apply them to at least
make them useless when you send them out).
Important: If you wish to order your licenses
with anything other than
regular dongles, you must select that
with your online order/must specify that on a purchase order sent to
us, or else you will get regular
dongles!
Dongles may be sent out in an inactive or only
temporarily usable state and once received must be activated with an
activation code. All dongles remain our property. If you are
interested in a
multi-user dongle when buying multiple
licenses, please ask
first.
X-Ways dongles can be made available to a remote
system, e.g. a virtual machine in the cloud, where to run X-Ways
Forensics, through RDP (RemoteFX
USB Redirection). For instructions
please see here.
This can extend the range and flexibility of X-Ways Forensics for
data acquisition and analysis work. Other instructions for similar
dongles can be found
here. USB
Network Gate,
USB over
Ethernet and
Donglify
also work.
Returning dongles
|