Needing to register/authorize every time you open Finale notation software

Finale v25.4 – Finale v27.3 on Windows

There is a setting on Windows called "random hardware addresses" that can cause Finale to drop its authorization. You can disable this setting by following the steps in this Microsoft support article:

• How to use random hardware addresses in Windows

If you have already disabled this setting and the authorization is still dropping, it's possible that third-party networking software is causing Finale to launch unauthorized.

The typical symptom of this is that the software will generate a new User Code each time you attempt to authorize. The authorization will go through but will not be verified on the next launch, given that the computer has been restarted and/or a different network is in use.

The reason for this is that the networking software is changing the MAC Address that Finale uses to identify the computer in our system. This will cause the User Code to fail verification.

Currently, we know that the Juniper Networks software will cause this issue, but there may be others. If you're using a Juniper network adapter, you can follow the steps below as a workaround to make Finale's authorization stick:

1. While holding down the Windows key, press the R key. The Run dialog box appears.
2. Type or copy and paste "devmgmt.msc" (without the quotes) and click OK.
3. Expand "Network adapters" and locate the Juniper device.
4. Right-click the Juniper adapter and choose Disable device.
5. Reauthorize Finale.

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Finale v25 on Windows 10

There is a known issue that has been reported for some users of Finale v25 (specifically 25.0 through 25.3) on Windows 10 where an authorization will not stick, and you eventually run out of authorizations. In order to rectify this, make sure that you are on the latest version of Finale. This issue and others related to it were resolved in Finale v25.4.

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Finale 2008 and previous

If you're using an older version of Finale (pre-2008), this behavior is usually the result of not being in an administrator account when you try to authorize. Regular and limited users do not have the necessary permissions for the authorization to hold after you close the program.

For authorization to hold, you must log in to an administrator account on that computer and perform the authorization. This authorization will also unlock the program for all other user accounts on this computer.

On Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10, you will need to open the program by right-clicking the Desktop icon for the application and selecting Run as administrator in order to authorize properly.