Nuance PaperPort Hell - Revisited

Link: Futurelawyer: Nuance - Paperport 11 - Just Say No!. A year after my first post about Nuance and the buyout of PaperPort software (which used to be a favorite of mine), I am STILL getting negative comments about Nuance, and its shoddy or non-existent tech support. Here is the latest, from reader, Randall Carter:

"I’m an independent software developer and IT consultant and up until now, a happy 10 year veteran of PaperPort. I have been using the product since it was first released and have happily upgraded with each new release, I have even developed products for customers that incorporated PaperPort in a paperless office system. With the release of PaperPort 11 Nuance implemented a new policy governing the number of activations allowed on the product after it is installed, three activations, at which point you must contact customer service to request activation of the product. All of this sounds like a normal and reasonable response by a company that is trying to protect its investment and limit or eliminate illegal copying. That is until you have a problem, the software fails to install or uninstall, the OS or some other application crashes your system and you have to reinstall. At that point you are hit square in the face with accusations and implications of improper use of the product, they stop just short of actually accusing you of illegal copying. Like a broken record they repeat that you are only entitled to three activations on the license unless of course you want to purchase additional copies. Even when I paid for technical support to trouble shoot the bugs in their software, I had to endure accusations that somehow I was at fault and not thier software. I own just two computers, my workstation and server, I am constantly tearing down and rebuilding both to create environments suitable for development and testing of the products I create. It is not uncommon to do this six or seven times a years. This activity combined with misbehaving application software or operating systems and you can see that it spend a great deal of time just trying to get a stable platform setup on which to work. As a software developer I support 100% what Nuance is doing to protect their products, but as a user of their products I resent the accusations and implications that I am using or illegally copying their software, or that I should only be allowed to install it three times on the same computer. Nuance installer takes the disk signature of the computer it is running on, sends this information to the home office where it is stored in a database, along with other pieces of information which Nuance hinted at but refused to disclose. I don’t know what other types of personal information are being collected, but a disk signature by itself in not unique enough to identify a single hardware platform. When you have reached the three activation limit, the software refuses to activate and run until Nuance flips a switch on their end. Adobe uses a similar method for licenser enforcement with one difference, their installer allows the user to deactivate the product when it is uninstalled, so that when the user decides to reinstall on another platform, the product can be reactivated. I believe the company has crossed a line by refusing to activate their product even when you can document and prove that you are incompliance with the license and running the software on only one computer. Like others who have posted here, I am now looking for an alternative and recommending the same to my customers. Whatever you do, don’t upgrade!"
Hear, hear, Randall. I am still using PaperPort 10, and refuse to buy another Nuance product.

Comments

[Alma]

I am so frustrated with Paperport 11 (Professional!) that I hope I never meet someone from Nuance. I might not be able to contain myself. I've purchased every version since I got version 1 with my first scanner. The crappy program won't do half of what the first one did. My secretary hates me because I "upgraded" her version from number 9. This is the worst advancement in software I've ever encountered. I can hardly wait till they destroy Dragon Naturally Speaking.

[Frank Meschler]

I avoided upgrading form PaperPort 9.0 for the sole reason of activation. After installing Vista's SP1, PaperPort 9.0 no longer functioned. I bought ver 11, my first problem was with activation when I decided to dump Vista and re-install XP Pro.
What I found most annoying were the pack of lies in Nuance FAQ's about activation benefiting the consumer. The second problem is Nuance total lack of concern and extremely slow and poor support. I use both Dragon and PaperPort from Nuance and have lost numerous hours directly attributable to activation.
Sincerely
Frank J Meschler

[Ian Caddis]

Until I actually experience the difficulties others are having with Nuance, I would like to try to resolve my Paperport difficulties with them directly. Does anyone have an actual e-mail address for their customer support?

Thank you.

IanC