I need help fast please. I have just set up a new computer. I have downloaded and installed Sketchup 2019 Pro. It will not accept the license and authorization code I received last October when I renewed my license. I used the License Manager to check my license. It gave me a slightly different one stating that my license had been upgraded. I had a new authorization code sent to my email. Now Sketchup won’t accept the new license and authorization code because it is looking for the one that starts with “UA”. This is VERY FRUSTRATING. I have wasted half of the day chasing this around in circles. The FAQ answers do not address this Catch 22. How do I fix it? I have an assignment due now.
What does your latest licence start with?
VA will only work on SU2020
UA will only work on SU2019
TA will only work on SU2018
etc…
The licences are not interchangeable. Only your highest activated version will be able to be activated again, previous versions will not activate once a later version has been activated.
That doesn’t work. I don’t know how to use Sketchup 2020 and I don’t have time to learn. I know how to use Sketchup 2019 and I need to use it. How can I do that?
Install it as a trial, it’ll run for the trial period (I think it is 30 days).
SketchUp 2020 and SketchUp 2019 are similar. What is it that is so foreign to you? You have tags instead of layers, but they work exactly the same.
I can tell you that it isn’t the same. I’ve been trying to use 2020 all day and it just bug splats every time. It doesn’t do that on my old computer with 2019. That works fine. The problem is that my old computer is very old and slow and is now out of disk space. I need a program that is stable (i.e. 2019) to run on my new computer that is fast and has lots of disk space.
Who came up with this idea that it’s okay to trash someone’s license after they paid for it?
Did you install SketchUp 2020 the correct way? Did you right-click and install as administrator?
I see your profile doesn’t mention which graphics card you’re using. Intel graphics (on CPU) isn’t supported and will be unstable. You need a standalone graphics card, preferably an nVidia one (GTX1060 and up plays nice, will work with some lower ones).
Make sure you have the latest graphics drivers installed.
I don’t have a graphics card on my old computer (that’s part of the reason for the upgrade to the new computer).
Yes, I installed 2020 properly. It has been bug splatting ever since I installed it whenever I load large files (>250MB). I’m not interested right now in fixing 2020. I know it doesn’t work well. I want to use 2019.
Can I do a 30 day trial with 2019 per your suggestion. Or is that going to put me into another Catch 22 where I can only trial 2020?
Check your email. Look for ‘license’ and ‘noreply_sketchup’ in the period of october last year.
If you have not activated 2020 it would still work.
That’s what I did. I have installed 2020 and activated it (how else would I know that it is unstable?). I need to activate 2019 on my new computer. It is activated on my old computer and now I want it on my new computer. Please help me find a way to do that.
Your license would have to be downgraded.
If not installed priorly, you should be able to run the trial of 2019.
Install it and enter a Trimble ID
Forget about the old computer, that isn’t why you’re here and getting help.
So, does your new computer have a graphics card?
As far as I know the system requirements between SU2019 and SU2020 hasn’t changed. What worked with SU2019 should also work with SU2020 (and the inverse). It’s been a couple of years that SketchUp has required a proper graphics card, why would you ignore the hardware requirements when putting a new system together?
Potentially yes, but you’ll have a little time to sort things out. Don’t put it on hold for long.
Except that it is installed on the new computer. It is running; but will not authorize because of this crazy policy about authorization codes. I paid for this software and pay for support. I do not understand who thought that it would be okay to trash an authorization code because you want to push out an “upgrade”. I spend thousands of hours getting the software configured with all the plug-ins etc. that make it productive and then you push out an update that wipes all that out and now, it also trashes my authorization code to use the older software. Whoever thought that this process is okay should have to try to use it to get their paycheck. When this was free software, I got better support than “you just can’t do that because we decided to not let you do it”.
I realize I’m taking it out on you and perhaps that isn’t fair. But I’ll tell you what is even more unfair: Paying for a license and support and then not getting what you paid for. I’m really upset and telling my multi-billion dollar customer that my software authorization got trashed so I can’t meet their deadline just isn’t going to work.
I will try the trial approach and hope that it works. If it doesn’t, then I’ll be back.
I have both 2019 and 2020 running on my old computer. 2020 is unstable. I have no interest in loading it on my new computer.
What do you mean by “Potentially, yes”?
Yes, my new computer has a graphics card. It’s a GEFORCE T-RTX.
I didn’t ignore the hardware requirements. I just didn’t have the budget back in 2015 when I started my business to buy a computer more expensive than the one that I purchased at the time.
Yeah, well I don’t know what else I can do to help here.
I understand your frustration, let this be a life lesson. Don’t upgrade either machines or mission critical software close to deadlines.
SU2019 and SU2020 are equally stable. Did you install the latest version of SU2020? It’s had two (one regular and one very tiny one that they’ve decided to keep under the same umbrella) maintenance releases since the major release. So, SU2020.1.1 is what you’re wanting, download fresh and install fresh. You will not be able to authenticate your serials pre SU2020 since you’ve previously activated SU2020.
The older serials are deactivated and shuttered to prevent abuse. Why would one run older versions of the software when you have newer versions that run just as well?
If you want your serial downgraded you’ll have to ask @colin very politely, he may or may not be able to look into it for you.
Except that 2020 doesn’t work as well as 2019 - and while you may think that it is easier to use than 2019, it does require a learning curve. 2019 had its issues; but I managed.
I have mission critical deadlines every other day so I don’t have the time to be re-learning just for the sake of learning. I wish I had the luxury of taking lots of time to do upgrades. My Sketchup license was renewed last September and after realizing that 2020 required re-learning how to use the user interface, I went back to using 2019 under my existing (paid-for) license.
I’m sorry if I’ve come across as rude. I’m just at my wit’s end with chasing around FAQ files and posts only to find that my problem was created on purpose! I get that you are trying to avoid abuse; but please tell you team and leaders that your first priority should be your paying customers. And leaving them in the lurch - on purpose - is not a good way to keep them as paying customers.
I have a trial subscription for 2019 running on my new computer. Thank you. Is there some way that I can speak to a person to help me sort this out after I get past my current deadline? I am not good (or fast) at typing and that doesn’t help my frustration. I didn’t grow up with texting etc. and am still learning what is etiquette and acceptable. For some of us, it is much easier to deal with humans that have voices than disembodied text messages that flash up on the screen while you’ve been waiting for the other person to prepare and type their response. It reminds me of when we used a telegraph to send messages. I suppose what was old is new again.
I downgraded your license and sent you a 2019 license that will work. When you have a computer that seems to run 2020 well enough, let me know (reply to my support email), and I can make it be a 2020 licenses again
Thank you. I will be in touch.
Unfortunately, there are issues with the 20.1.xxx versions. Several users have reported this in various threads, f.ex.
For 2020 I have seen these versions:
20.0.363
20.0.373
20.1.229
20.1.235
The latest version available just now is apparently 20.1.235.
The 20.0.xxx versions appear ok, the 20.1.xxx does not. This is why some of us still clings on to 20.0.363 or 20.0.373.