The purpose of this page is to provide information about deploying licensed CambridgeSoft Desktop products to multiple users. This page also describes the different license types we offer. If you have a single-user license, and not a multi-user license, this information will not be useful to you as only serial numbers set up for multiple users can be used in the scenarios that follow.

Installation Options:

Citrix/Terminal Services: Cursory testing of our software was done on a Citrix Metaframe XPs (with feature release 2) Windows 2000 and 2003 server with the Citrix web client and 32 bit desktop client as well as with Windows XP Remote Desktop service. There were a few issues encountered in a terminal server environment: slow rotations of 3D models in Chem3D when using Citrix, and if Windows XP Remote Desktop does not display more than 256 colors, Chem3D is unusable. Once the software is installed on the server, it will need to be launched while in front of the server and activated a second time, otherwise all end users connecting to the server will be prompted to activate.

Push Install: The software can be pushed out to each workstation if you have a third party program, like WinInstall or Microsoft SMS, that can distribute software installations. Note that end users will still need to activate the software upon launching the software for the first time after the install (even if you activated the software before pushing it out). Users will need the serial number to activate the software. IT Staff can also contact Support@cambridgesoft.com for other activation options that may be available.

If our products are the very first products you are trying to distribute using push technology, we can certainly provide detailed assistance, but such assistance is outside the scope of our standard support. Please contact Support, and we will put you in touch with a Services representative that can help you.

Silent Install: We have MSI based installers for our Core products. These can be used with standard Microsoft command line switches to install the core products: ChemDraw, Chem3D, ChemFinder, the Plugins, and the Excel Add-Ins (depending on what your particular purchase comes with). The MSI installers will not install Microsoft .Net Framework, Microsoft SQL Server Express or E-Notebook, Inventory or BioAssay (again, depending on what your particular purchase comes with).

If you search for "Command Line Switch" on Microsoft's web site, you can see a list of the switches that we support. You must use the installation switches with our MSI files to install. You cannot simply run our MSI files without any switches or you will get an error.

Our MSI install does not have an option for incorporating the serial number and activation code into the install. Users would need to activate the software upon first launching the software. IT Staff can also contact Support@cambridgesoft.com for other activation options that may be available.

Manual Install: This requires the person installing the software to run the installer on each computer that is licensed for the software. Here you could either put the cd-rom into each computer or share the cd-rom on the network so it is accessible to all the computers where it needs to be installed or you could copy the entire installation folder on the cd-rom over to each hard drive or a shared network drive. This installation option make sense when there are only a few computers where the software needs to be installed.

License Types:

Annual Site License (ASL):

• Corporate: This license covers the entire organization. Users can either log in and get their own single user copy of the software or IT Admins can distribute the software using the methods detailed above with a single serial number.
• Academic: This license covers the entire organization. Users must obtain their own single user copy of the software and serial number. IT Admins can distribute the software using the methods detailed above with a single serial number for common computers not owned by any one person (like in a computer lab).

Multi-User Term:

A single serial number is provided. The software can either be installed on an unlimited number of computers as long as only the number of copies in use at any given time does not exceed the number of licenses purchased (Concurrent) or the software can be installed on the specific number of computers the software was licensed for (Fixed). The software will expire at the end of the term, but can be reactivated once the license is renewed.

Multi-User Perpetual:

A single serial number is provided. The software can either be installed on an unlimited number of computers as long as only the number of copies in use at any given time does not exceed the number of licenses purchased (Concurrent) or the software can be installed on the specific number of computers the software was licensed for (Fixed). The software never expires.

Single-User:

A single serial number is provided. The software can be installed on one main computer, and one home computer or laptop as long as only one copy of the software is used at any given time. If more than one copy of a single user version is being used on a local network at the same time, the software will detect that and alert both users that there is a license violation.

Notes: Our software does not currently determine how many licenses are in use either. Most customers use a third party application like KeyServer to monitor licenses usage.