Does this type of software exist?

I am looking for a software that can make a full working copy backup of a installed software modeling program on my pc.Simply make the copy and for example if i reinstall windows i just copy paste the backup on my ssd and continue to work with the program without installing it or using passwords and stuff.



Let me explain why. I own a autodesk maya perpetual license, but since 2 weeks ago autodesk decided in a illegal way that perpetual licenses have a life span tied to your workstation life, and if your pc explodes, they will not provide you a activation key.

I am already in touch with a lawyer, but i really need to know if there is a simple way of making a copy of my installed maya and use it all I want without the need to search for keys again.

Not quite the same, but if you installed windows then only installed the software, you could then make an image of your entire windows install. Then if required just revert to that.

Edit..

You might find that the software detects installed hardware to work out if your workstation is different..

majic12 said:

I am looking for a software that can make a full working copy backup of a installed software modeling program on my pc.Simply make the copy and for example if i reinstall windows i just copy paste the backup on my ssd and continue to work with the program without installing it or using passwords and stuff.
Let me explain why. I own a autodesk maya perpetual license, but since 2 weeks ago autodesk decided in a illegal way that perpetual licenses have a life span tied to your workstation life, and if your pc explodes, they will not provide you a activation key.
I am already in touch with a lawyer, but i really need to know if there is a simple way of making a copy of my installed maya and use it all I want without the need to search for keys again.

Click to expand...

Application Packagers are what's typically used in enterprises for this sort of work - and I've done plenty of it in the past, but not for quite a few years, so I'm going to be a bit out of date with my current knowledge.

Intro document:
https://www.dell.com/downloads/global/power/ps4q05-20050175-Kouletsis.pdf

The Wise Application Packaging software has been around for a long time and is now owned by Symantec:
https://www.symantec.com/connect/articles/wise-package-studio-overview

AutoIT is another good tool for this sort of work and it's free. In my experience a few years ago, AutoIT was more flexible than many similar commercial products:
https://www.autoitscript.com/site/autoit/

SCCM is a deployment product used in large enterprises, but I think you'd be better off investigating Wise or AutoIT or something else similar, given the scope of what you're trying to do.
Your main issue is going to be tackling the authentication / activation. i.e. can that part the process either be automated or restored using a file etc.

Whatever tool you use or explore, you're going to need to do some reading - assuming you don't already know how to use it, or know someone who does.

If I were you, I would try to work things out in reverse.
i.e. investigate what tools (if any) people have successfully used to package and deploy whichever version of Maya you are running.
That way you can learn if it's something that can be done simply enough, or it there is a really show stopping roadblock that you can't circumvent.

Restoring the whole OS from an image file with Maya already activated may be an easier approach.

Regardless of approach - image based restore or packaged application, if I were you, I would create a Virtual Machine and try to get the software you have running within that. That way you've got a reusable sandbox to play with, you can roll it back to known states and you abstract anyway hardware, which should help confirm any dependencies you have.

Good luck...

Any interest in turning into a VM? Then you can just snapshot it.

Brian_B said:

Any interest in turning into a VM? Then you can just snapshot it.

Click to expand...

That's a valid approach - assuming it works happily (i.e. the product activation - I haven't played with Maya for a few years), but you can't avoid the performance overhead of virtualising the OS or application.
That's unavoidable regardless of hardware - and is the main reason a lot of 3D CAD and animation people always like to run directly on hardware (i.e. every bit of performance counts, especially when you're hammering the cr@p out of something to render a really complex scene or animation etc).

If you aren't running multiple VMs, and a thin Hypervisor Host, it overhead is pretty small. Sure, it's there, but not a lot compared to the convenience of 1-button restores. You can even get direct GPU acceleration these days.

All of this to skirt licensing? I think it’s simple. If a software package you use changes licensing to something you don’t agree with, use some different software.

Oh I know you’ll have 50 reasons why that’s not possible. And getting a lawyer, good start. Considering the license is likely less than the lawyer... oh and you bet the company has lawyers galore and has carefully thought out the licensing before they changed it.