Before activating, your Freedom Scientific software (JAWS, ZoomText, or Fusion) will run in 40-minute demo mode, after which you will need to reboot the computer to use the software again. Once activated, the software will no longer time out. Internet License Manager (ILM) allows you to quickly activate your Freedom Scientific software using the Internet. There are three types of ILM licenses available: single-user, non-network multi-user, or network multi-user.

Single and Non-Network Multi-User Activation

Since most companies and organizations most likely have several users who need to access JAWS, ZoomText, or Fusion, you will most likely be dealing with a multi-user license. For non-network licenses, you need to activate the license on each computer that will be running the software. For example, if you have a five-user license for Fusion, you will perform the activation process on the five computers where you installed Fusion.

Internet Activation

Before performing these steps, make sure you have the 20-digit authorization number for the license you are activating.

1. Launch your Freedom Scientific software.
2. Select Activate.
3. Select Internet as your method of activation.
4. Follow the instructions on the screen. A message will inform you when the activation is successful.

Manual Activation

If you do not have an Internet connection on the computer you would like to activate, the best option is to use another computer with internet access to get the activation license code required to activate on the offline computer.

1. Launch the Freedom Scientific software.
2. Select Activate.
3. Instead of selecting Internet as your activation method, select Manual.
4. Note the 9-character locking code (including the dash) from the Manual screen. You will need this in conjunction with the 20-digit authorization number.

You now need to obtain the activation license code. This is a combination of over 100 numbers, characters, spaces, and punctuation symbols. The easiest way to transfer that code is to copy it to a USB thumb drive, then bring it back to the computer you’d like to activate.

1. Insert a USB thumb drive into the computer with Internet access.
2. Go to fsactivate.freedomscientific.com.
3. Select the Retrieve an Activation License Code option.
4. Enter the 20-digit authorization number in the Authorization number edit field.
5. Enter the 9-character locking code into the Locking code edit field. Include the dash, for example, “100-D2C7F”.
6. Select the Submit license request button.
7. Select the button to copy the license activation code to your clipboard.
8. Open a text editor, such as Notepad.
9. Press CTRL+V to paste the license code into a new document. Do not add any additional spaces or text.
10. Press CTRL+S to open the Save As dialog box. Type a name for this file, such as JAWS Activation, and save it to the USB thumb drive.

You can now use the activation code you copied to the thumb drive to activate the software on the offline computer.

1. Insert the USB thumb drive containing the file that you created.
2. Open the file in Notepad and copy the entire activation code. If the only text in the document is the code, you can use CTRL+A to select all, then CTRL+C to copy it.
3. With the Manual Activation dialog box open, navigate to the License code edit field and use CTRL+V to paste the code.
4. You do not have to enter the 20-digit authorization code in the Authorization number field as it is not needed to complete activation.
5. Select Next to complete the activation.

Note: The activation license code always ends with the word “exclusive”. After pasting the entire code into Notepad, make sure you do not add or delete any characters or spaces. This will make it easier for copying and then pasting the correct code into the License code field of the Manual Activation dialog box.

Automatic ILM Activation

In situations where your non-network multi-user license uses the same 20-digit authorization code for all seats in the license, you can have the software silently activate following a clean install by providing the authorization code when running the setup package. If you are running the April 2023 releases or later of JAWS, ZoomText, or Fusion, you can do one of the following:

• If you are installing the software using the AdditionalSettings.ini file as described on the Software Installation Guide page, there is a setting called ILMAuthorize. This setting takes the product to be authorized and the 20-digit authorization code. For example, ILMAuthorize=[Fusion],[xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx].
• Run the setup package with the /ILMAuthorize command line option. This takes both the product being authorized and the 20-digit authorization code. For example, c:\package.exe /ILMAuthorize Fusion XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.

When the software is launched following the installation, and it detects there is no authorization available, it will silently activate using the information provided during setup without the need for user intervention.

Network Multi-User License Activation

A network license requires that you set up a license server on a computer that will be accessed by other computers on the same network running the Freedom Scientific software. The software installed on each computer will get its authorization from the license server up to the maximum number of allowed users. For example, if you have a five-user network Fusion license, up to five installations of Fusion can be running as authorized versions. If a sixth computer running Fusion attempts to obtain authorization from the license server, it will fail to authorize, unless one of the currently authorized copies of Fusion is shut down so it is no longer connected to the license server.

Refer to the Network License Server Activation page for more details on downloading and setting up the license server.

Use our Software Activation Troubleshooting Guide to help resolve any issues you may encounter during the activation process.