I have a client who hired a new employee. As part of his hiring process they purchased a \$3000 laptop for him and almost the same amount for a workstation. All to run Solidworks. We were told he already had Solidworks 2010 and would use his own copy until it proved worth the cost for the company to purchase. Until that point AutoCAD is the only drafting software used.
Fast forward 4 months. He starts having problems with malware, viruses, etc. And has had to have his Laptop and Desktop reimaged. Whe we were called in to do this we asked for Solidworks so it could be placed in the image he informed us he did not have Solidworks and it was pirated. Due to this our coverage of his machines ended and are no longer part of our contract.
Fast forward 18 months. Now 3 other machines are running a bogus copy of Solidworks and they are trying to get us to install something on the server the company rents from us and as part of our agreement with this company, all leased equipment can not have any software that does not have a valid license.
I have spoken with the owner about all of this as well as the possibility of getting fined or possible litigation if discovered and he told me not to install it on the server but it was ok on the machines they own. However there are constant problems, infections, lockups etc. We have spent more time fixing issues (out of contract) in the past 18 months with these 3 machines than we did the past 5 yrs working on 13 other machines, including 3 machines in a welding shop environment.
What I want to know is how can I disable Solidworks on each machine from the server so they are forced into making it legit or quit using it.
SolidworksGeneral