X-Ways Forensics Dongle Insurance

By default, if your dongle for X-Ways Forensics is lost, misplaced or stolen, we do not send you a replacement, as the original dongle can still be used (by whoever) to run the software, even by yourself if it shows up again. You cannot buy a new dongle in such a case, only a new license! (Remember that even if you have to buy a second license just for that reason, in total you still pay less than for 1 license for competing software.) 

However, you can protect some or all of your dongles against that risk and run them in insurance mode. This mode allows you to report a dongle as lost if you cannot find it any more or suspect theft, and to order a replacement dongle. When used in insured mode, a dongle can only be used to start up the software a limited number of times, and must be topped up when it is close to running out of executions or has run out already. Topping up a dongle (i.e. increasing the number of allowed program starts) is free and a matter of a few seconds if X-Ways Forensics has an Internet connection (otherwise do it manually, see below). Once a dongle is reported as lost, it cannot get topped up any more because it is black-listed on the server, so the dongle's potential misuse is limited. 

Insurance mode is available only

• for perpetual licenses, not for non-perpetual licenses/dongles with an expiry date

• for licenses for X-Ways Forensics, not X-Ways Imager or X-Ways Investigator

• if and as long as your licenses have access to updates

Insurance mode is recommended in particular for dongles that you often use on site (not only in your own office), carry with you when travelling, or that you leave to contractors, consultants, auditors, lawyers, externally working or temporary employees, students etc. or generally if you want to reduce your risks or for peace of mind. This service has been available since August 2011, but continued availability is not guaranteed. A variant of dongle insurance is to mothball a dongle.

Enter Transaction Code or Dongle ID Here

How It Works

These are the rules that you accept if you use a dongle in insurance mode: 

• You can change the operation mode of your dongle to insurance mode at any time in X-Ways Forensics under Help | Dongle. Important: The dongle is actually considered insured by X-Ways only when for the first time you top up the dongle and get an activation code back from the server. You should do that very soon after changing to insurance mode.

• Transaction codes are produced by X-Ways Forensics, when you wish to change the operation mode of a dongle or choose to top up a dongle. You can either copy transaction codes in X-Ways Forensics and manually paste them on this web page to submit them, or click the button in X-Ways Forensics to send them directly if the computer on which you run X-Ways Forensics is connected to the Internet. You can set up a computer with Internet access and an installation of X-Ways Forensics which you don't actually use for cases, just for the purpose of reprogramming dongles.

• For any valid transaction code submitted to the server, you get an activation code returned. That activation code needs to be manually copied and pasted in X-Ways Forensics, except if you send the transaction code directly online from within X-Ways Forensics, in which case everything happens automatically.

• When the dongle is in insurance mode, you can use it to execute X-Ways Forensics only for a certain number of times. Once exhausted or when the number of remaining executions drops below a certain limit, you can top up the dongle with more uses, free of charge. You can do that as often as you like, unless you have reported the dongle as lost. After a top up, the dongle supports usually 40 new executions again. That number may change at any time without prior notice. It is greater for multi-user dongles and network dongles that represent many more licenses. The number might be reduced if you or many other users have previously reported one or more insured other dongles as lost.

• The number of supported executions left in the dongle is displayed in Help | Dongle. It is decremented some seconds after starting X-Ways Forensics by 1, and then again for each new day when X-Ways Forensics is still running.

• You can turn your dongle back to normal mode at any time, as always by generating a transaction code in X-Ways Forensics and receiving an activation code back from the server. Important: As soon as you submit the transaction code online, the dongle is already considered no longer insured by us.

• A thief might try to cancel the insurance of a stolen dongle in order to thwart the whole protection and be able to use the dongle for an indefinite time, thereby also preventing you from purchasing a replacement dongle (we will not offer a replacement dongle any more if the insurance was cancelled). To make sure that no thief can do that before you have a chance to report the dongle as lost, it is important to register your e-mail address(es) with the dongle in our insurance database. You will be prompted for that when topping up your dongle for the first time. Once done, you will receive the final transaction code for cancelling the insurance via e-mail, so that only you can cancel it.

• Submitting transaction codes requires an Internet connection and that the server is operative. If you have just loaded this web page from the web server and can read this, you know it is currently operative.

• You can report an insured dongle as lost via e-mail (we need the dongle ID), or (better) submit the transaction code that you can generate for that purpose in advance under Help | Dongle on this web page.

• Dongles must not be excessively converted from uninsured to insured and back too often. 5-10 times is considered out of the ordinary already. Insurance is for long-term use. You cannot request more than one top-up activation code from the server in advance for future use. Activation codes expire when used.

• This service may be discontinued at any time, in general or just for dongles of certain customers, so that no further top-ups or switches from uninsured to insured mode are possible any more.

What It Costs

The insurance itself has always been free of charge and is still free of charge until further notice (again: availability not guaranteed), except if you lose an insured dongle and actually require a replacement or if you require manual interventions/e-mail support from X-Ways with respect to the dongle insurance in any way.

Subject to change. All prices subject to VAT/GST/tax if applicable. Payments have to be made online to our online reseller Cleverbridge. Alternatively, if you are in the US or in the EU you can pay that amount to us by cost-effective bank transfer (or ask for an invoice for that first).

Examples of chargeable interventions by X-Ways: If you have a support request via e-mail message related to the insurance (other than to request an invoice to pay), if you need us to manually unblock a dongle that was accidentally reported as lost, if we need to check or correct e-mail addresses registered by you in the insurance system, or if we need to provide information to you that is already available on this web page.

Please be sure to include all necessary information immediately when you send us your first message (e.g. which dongle ID, which e-mail address etc.) to avoid that we charge you multiple times. Thank you.