Home → Troubleshooting → All Products: Other Issues → "The deactivation cannot proceed because not enough time has passed"
Applies to:
All products, network server and standalone workstation, releases 6.x/7.x
(Does not apply to network clients.)
In License Manager or Server Manager, I clicked Deactivate and selected Automatic. The response was
Automatic Deactivation failed.
The deactivation cannot proceed because not enough time has passed since the last deactivation.
What is wrong? Why can't I deactivate? Should I try Manual Deactivation, or reinstall the software?
Please don't reinstall your software, and don't bother with a Manual Deactivation because it would fail with a similar message.
Here's the explanation: The license terms allow for one deactivation in any 90-day period, so you get this message because it's less than 90 days since the last deactivation.
Technical details: The 90-day clock runs between deactivations, not between activations, and it starts when you first deactivate a particular license (Activation ID). Thus, if you activate a license for the first time at the beginning of March, you can deactivate it as soon as you want, without waiting till June.
But once you've done that first deactivation — in May, let's suppose — then the next deactivation must wait 90 days from that deactivation. Whether you reactivate late in May, or in July, you can't deactivate it again till August, 90 days after that deactivation in May.
Though these rules can appear complicated, they ensure you're never without the software, because you never have to wait to activate it. However, you may have to wait to transfer it to another computer.
If you need to move a license less than 90 days after the last move, please send an email to Technical Support. Include your full Activation ID and explain the circumstances of why this move is needed. Technical Support may be able to grant a one-time exemption, depending on the circumstances and the history of this serial number.
But it's more than 90 days since I last deactivated!
Are you trying to move a 6.x license after upgrading to 7.x? Are you trying to move a 5.x license after upgrading to 6.x/7.x? An upgrade license replaces the old license. Though we do let you continue using the old license on the same computer, you can't transfer it to a new computer. For technical reasons connected with how FLEXnet Publisher works, we implement this policy by preventing any deactivations of the old license after the upgrade has been performed.
If this license hasn't been upgraded, did you previously request and receive an exception to the 90-day policy? If so, it may have been done by changing your policy from one deactivation in 90 days to two in 180 days. In this case, you could have done two deactivations within 90 days, but the third will have to wait till 180 days after the first, not 90 days after the second. If you think this may be your situation, please email Palisade Technical Support with your Activation ID to ask about your activation and deactivation history and when you will next be able to deactivate the license.
Last edited: 2016-05-13