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Railmaster Register Code lost due to Hard drive crash


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customercare@hornby.com or call 01843 233525.

These are listed within the help options within RailMaster itself.

If you download a new version for a replacement drive you'll see these within the Help dialogue window. You should also be able to deregister from there too via the web. It takes a few minutes to receive a return automated mail to say the software has been deregistered which then allows you to reregister. This is the quickest option but you do need the original license code.

Otherwise you would have to call or email them.

If there is another way I haven't mentioned then another member will tell you.

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When you say "with a registrated railmaster code going with it." do you mean that you have lost the RailMaster Activation key itself because you never wrote it down and kept it safe somewhere. Or do you mean, that because of the hard disk crash you just can't access the activated version of RailMaster.

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If you have lost any record of the code itself, then depending upon how you originally obtained it, you may be completely stuffed. If you purchased it over the phone from Hornby sales desk, then they may be able to advise what it was from the sales record against your name. If you obtained the code from a CD, but haven't kept the CD, then there will be no record of it kept by Hornby against your name.

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If you have the code written down, then you just need to e-mail Hornby RailMaster Support (HRMS), not Hornby Customer Care as AC suggested to ask them to deactivate the key for you, quoting the key in question. Hornby Customer care will only pass on your request to HRMS anyway, so you are better off contacting HRMS direct.

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The correct e-mail address for HRMS is support@rail-master.com

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If you install a fresh copy of RailMaster onto your recovered or replaced PC. Then the inbuilt key deactivation request feature will not work until it has been activated first, but you can't activate it on the new (repaired)  PC hard drive until it has been deactivated from your old account first. This is what we call in the trade as a 'Catch 22' situation. Thus, your only recourse is to send the e-mail to support quoting your original activation key if you have it.

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If you don't have any record of the key, then support may (but this is a long shot) be able to cross reference the key to your e-mail address that you may have used when you activated it the first time. I can't remember if the acrtivation process asks for an e-mail address or not (I have a vague recollection that it does, so that an automated activation confirmation reply can be sent, but that doesn't automatically mean that HRMS have kept a record of it against your activation account), if the activation process doesn't log your e-mail address then there is unlikely to be a record of it held by HRMS to check against.

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You're quite right Chris... the email address I put up is wrong. Must be late at night!!! 🤐

However, are you absolutely sure about having to activate the software before deactivating on a new PC? I am positive I had a failure similar to ineedtrains and installed Windows on a new drive plus a latest version of RM. Then deactivated the key via that new install. Or am I going nuts tonight and need a long rest? lol

I would suggest the thread starter should go by your words on this occasion... I'm going for a cuppa... 😎

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Another possible fix is if you have PRO enabled you can fully back up RM,  so after installing a new hard drive and reinstalling RM to demo status from the top of page link, it may be that restoring a backup may also restore RM to activated status.

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If, like me, you are worried about losing bits of paper with codes on them may I suggest something like Evernote or MS OneNote. You can copy/paste, scan or screen clip to both and, in the case of OneNote anyway, set everything up to sync with the same app on another machine (iPad, tablet smartphone etc.). I have a Mac, Dell Laptop, iPad and iPhone all syncing OneNote. Within that, I keep one tab just for "train" stuff. There is another tab for receipts for major purchases, appliance instructions and guarantees and some others that I can't recall just now (need coffee). No need to keep anything or write anything down unless you want to. My RM codes are a copy of the RM screen shot which shows you all your licence details. R-

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@AC

"However, are you absolutely sure about having to activate the software before deactivating on a new PC?......................................................Then deactivated the key via that new install."

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Think about it logically AC.

If it was possible to deactivate a previously activated key on a brand new install of RM which would be in 'Evaluation' mode because it hasn't been activated yet. Then WHY do all solution replies to this commonly reported problem advocate requesting deactivation via an e-mail to HRMS. If deactivation could be done from within a clean fresh install of an 'Evaluation Only' copy of RM, then sending an e-mail to support would be completely unnecessary.

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Also, since the 'Evaluation' copy installation file (as downloaded from this website) is a common file (exactly the same file for all who download and install it) and doesn't contain any activation key data within it. Then how would the activation servers know what key to deactivate. The key once activated on the installed RM version would then be coded within the activated user's copy. Thus in a subsequent request to deactivate, RM can then include what key to deactivate in the data it sends to the server. Thus my 'Catch 22' comment about having to activate first, before you can deactivate from within the RM application.

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Its very simple.  

The activated version has to de-activated on the original PC before the code can be used on a new PC setup.  If this is not possible, due to a PC problem then contact must be made with HRMS to have it de-activated at their end.

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Well... after having a dodgy night trying to remember how these things and life works in general I have arisen this morning with a semblence of normality around my soul...

 

What I actually did to get my own deactivation when needed was to install the software on a second laptop, deactivate on the original and reactivate on the second.

 

Now, quite HOW I mixed up that with the scenario I was giving above is beyond me... and how I can remember that clearly this morning when I couldn't last night!!!

 

Roger, you said you needed a coffee... should I join you and we can have two each just to get our mind cells back on track? lol

 

Odd how when one thinks too hard about stuff one tends to make more errors... sheesh... 😳

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