Chief Architect 10 or 9.5 HASP/USB Drivers working on Windows 7 to 10 ?

[mthd97]

Has anyone been able to get Chief Architect version 10 or 9.5 working on a PC with windows 7 or higher?

 

I have done much research here and read the support information about this issue above.

 

I have been able to install CA version 9.5 and 10 on a Windows 7 PC and a Windows 10 PC.

 

I have downloaded the drivers from the Thales website and the dongles light up but they are still not being recognized by Chief Architect after I put the CD key info in. I get the usual prompt to run the trouble shooter etc.

 

I am not willing to go backwards to XP or Vista as those operating systems are not quite stable enough for my liking. I have heard of a user here being able to run CAV10 on a laptop with windows 10 on it.

 

If you have had any success with this issue please help. I have spent many hours trying to get these older programs to recognize the hardware locks.

 

Thank you very much for those who have posted in the past.

 

[DavidJPotter]

I have X1 through X14 on my Windows 11 PC, I have versions 7, 9 and 10 on an old PC that runs XP x32, that old versions were designed to run in.

 

DJP

[mthd97]

11 minutes ago, DavidJPotter said:

I have X1 through X14 on my Windows 11 PC, I have versions 7, 9 and 10 on an old PC that runs XP x32, that old versions were designed to run in.

 

DJP

Thank you for your reply DJP.

 

I had my old CA versions running on Windows 7 with XP mode virtual machine in the past but I dismantled that PC years ago.

 

I maybe able to still find the XP mode file on an old hard drive and re install it but I would much rather prefer to find the correct drivers first to install on the Windows 10 PC. Since others have done this with CAV10.

 

CAX1 and above Sentinel hardware locks or dongles are being recognized no problem with my Windows 10 PC and run fine.

 

I would hope that someone here might be able to tell me, by going into the device manager and clicking on the dongles and then tell me what driver is being used by the system to get Chief Architect version 10 or 9.5 to run on Windows 7 or higher ?

[MoeGia]

I was able to install version 10 on a Windows Surface laptop running Windows 10 but could not get it to install on my Windows 10 desktop.  I never figured out what the magic was.

 

You could download Chief Architect X8 to open those old plan files.  You can save them in X8 and then work on them in a current version.  There will be cleanup but you'll have access to your old files.

 

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/search/?default_tab=all&q=opening+old+files+in+x8

[DavidJPotter]

A concern about Hasp Drivers is that the company that made those products has since been bought by others and the current company no longer supports those old dongles with drivers. That is the main reason I did what I did as it was the most logical thing to do (use the Operating System designed for the drivers and software they were created for available from the Chief Website and installation materials). I mainly use the really antique versions for .pl1 etc files too old to be converted by X8.

 

DJP

[Bob_Medvetz]

I run Version 10 on Windows 10. I downloaded the Version 10 update (10.08b). Go to the site https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00569/troubleshooting-hardware-lock-issues.html for the site information on the Hasp Drivers. 

[mthd97]

13 hours ago, MoeGia said:

I was able to install version 10 on a Windows Surface laptop running Windows 10 but could not get it to install on my Windows 10 desktop.  I never figured out what the magic was.

 

You could download Chief Architect X8 to open those old plan files.  You can save them in X8 and then work on them in a current version.  There will be cleanup but you'll have access to your old files.

 

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/search/?default_tab=all&q=opening+old+files+in+x8

Thank you Maureen.

 

Does that mean that a correct driver for the HASP/USB dongle for CAV10 has been installed on your surface laptop with windows 10 ? Or is CAV10 running without a HASP/USB dongle on you surface laptop ?

 

I do have a surface pro tablet with windows 10 on it and it does have a USB port on it as well. I will try install CAV10 on it and see if this tablet will recognize the HASP/USB dongle or run without it ?

 

I have no problems opening the plan file with much later versions of the CA like X8. The layout files were many and quite complicated with this split level home. Since it was about 17 years ago that I did that job and I need to get my head around the plans before remodeling the house and adding new rooms to it. I need to open the layout file in the early version of CA if that is possible ?

[mthd97]

13 hours ago, DavidJPotter said:

A concern about Hasp Drivers is that the company that made those products has since been bought by others and the current company no longer supports those old dongles with drivers. That is the main reason I did what I did as it was the most logical thing to do (use the Operating System designed for the drivers and software they were created for available from the Chief Website and installation materials). I mainly use the really antique versions for .pl1 etc files too old to be converted by X8.

 

DJP

DJP, what will you do when your computer fails and XP will not load anymore ?

 

I think it would be fair to all us long time users to be able to run our software from CAV10 and earlier with no hardware lock required, just a CD key and maybe a software key as well ?

 

I propose that CA provide us with a patch to be able to disengage the hardware locks on any version of the old software from V10 and prior that we have owned so that we do not run into these problems again. Wouldn’t that be what software assurance is all about ?

 

Just a serious suggestion from me to support.

[mthd97]

13 hours ago, Bob_Medvetz said:

I run Version 10 on Windows 10. I downloaded the Version 10 update (10.08b). Go to the site https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00569/troubleshooting-hardware-lock-issues.html for the site information on the Hasp Drivers. 

Yes Bob, I have read this and CA support are asking us to go to Thales and ask them for support to get the old drivers for the HASP/USB dongles on our older versions of the program to work.

 

I haven’t asked them yet but I will if I can’t get it to work on my surface pro 3 tablet.

 

Thank you for your help.

 

Hi Bob, I was able to install CAV9.5 to MSSP3 tablet no driver was available for the HASP/USB dongle.

 

I tried asking Thales but they replied that I needed to contact the Vendor for support. The Vendor is Chief Architect in this case so they will need to help us with this issue if they are indeed willing and able to do so ?

 

Thank you once again.

[Bob_Medvetz]

I checked the Ver 10 Hasp driver on my system (Win10 64bit) and the driver is provided by Safenet. Google the following:"safenet sentinel" and it comes up with sites for driver updates.

[Dermot]

I think you are trying to do it the hard way.  Instead of trying to get your 17 year old software to run on a new operating system (one that didn't exist when it was written), you should try bringing your old plans into your newer version of the software that actually does run on your current system.

 

X14 should still be able to read all of your V10 and newer plan and layout files.  You should expect to have a certain amount of manual work though because I am sure there will be some "glitches" after 14 versions.  If you do find any serious problems, you should feel free to report these to our tech support team so that we can look into them further.

 

If you have plans and layouts that are older than V10, you will need to use an older version of the program to convert them into a format that X14 can read.  Any version between V10 and X8, including the client viewer, should be able to do this.  More information can be found in this tech article:

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00279/opening-legacy-files.html

 

 

[mthd97]

Thank your Dermot, my plan was done in CAV9.5 and the problem is that my layout files will not open in later versions of the program.

 

X2 will open the plan files right up to X10 so far but they will not open the layout file that I need because that’s where the plans are all stacked edited etc. 

 

A person called Bobby S had a driver ID of 7.92.0.0 from 2019. I managed to install that driver but the program didn’t run even though the dongle light was on. The operating system was asking for further installing of the driver or on another machine it was asking to troubleshoot the driver.

 

I download a diagnostics tool from Thales to test the drivers and they come up as not working.

 

My guess is, that they are old 32 bit drivers from the windows XP drivers cache ? These cannot be downloaded from Thales because they are out of date but if you happen to be a vendor you may be able to access those old drivers for us ?

 

I will give Bob Medvetz suggestion a try first.

 

The pictures below show the install error numbers, the first one is from the V9.5 install and the second is the V10 install. I have no clue what they mean because I am not an IT specialist.

 

A simple download link to the drivers needed would be enough for me and many others of us to use to get our old plans as drawn open including layout files.

 

I would then print the plans as a pdf and then work on them in my latest version of the program.

 

How hard is that for CA ?

[Dermot]

"X2 will open the plan files right up to X10 so far but they will not open the layout file..."

 

I can't think of any reason that your version of X2 will not open the layout files.  If your layout file is somehow corrupt, then you probably will not be able to open it up in any version even if you were able to get it installed and running.

 

[BenPalmer]

18 hours ago, Dermot said:

X14 should still be able to read all of your V10 and newer plan and layout files.  You should expect to have a certain amount of manual work though because I am sure there will be some "glitches" after 14 versions.  If you do find any serious problems, you should feel free to report these to our tech support team so that we can look into them further.

 

If you have plans that are older than V10, you will need to use an older version of the program to convert them into a format that X14 can read.  Any version between V10 and X8, including the client viewer, should be able to do this.  More information can be found in this tech article:

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00279/opening-legacy-files.html

 

To second what Dermot is saying...I have many, many, many Chief 9.54 files, and I still use them regularly in the latest Chief software.  As Dermot mentioned, the file will first need to be opened by version X8 and saved, then it will open in any software version after X8.  I have kept version X8 installed for this reason, but the viewer will work as well, as outlined by Dermot.  While I don't like the two step process, it's better than losing the support completely.

 

Your driver issue is a completely different issue and I highly doubt you will get that to work.  Many of us have done that dance over the years without success.  Occasionally someone will get it to work, but it's just a matter of time that it will be so outdated that it will lose all functionality and we will need to bring plans forward to the latest...and why not use the latest, most productive software?

 

In summary: the best answer is to use the latest software and bring the files forward.  If you need help with this, I or many on this forum would be happy to help you convert a file to X8 or later.

 

Hope that helps.

[mthd97]

11 hours ago, Dermot said:

"X2 will open the plan files right up to X10 so far but they will not open the layout file..."

 

I can't think of any reason that your version of X2 will not open the layout files.  If your layout file is somehow corrupt, then you probably will not be able to open it up in any version even if you were able to get it installed and running.

 

The plan file I opened was definitely a V9.5 plan and it opened it no problem with X2 and later.

 

I may have to do the X8 save the plan to see if I can also open the layout file as well ?

 

I have saved copies of the layout files on USB thumb drives as well as on older hard drives that I can access with a kit. Those layout files unfortunately didn’t open for me either.

 

I moved house recently and shredded the hard copy of the plans for this job. I may be able to search for a PDF file of the plans, if I indeed made a PDF copy that we should always do for backup.

 

As Ben Palmer suggested and he is right as I agree that it would be best to re do the whole plan in the latest version of the program. 

 

The reason being is that this house is split level and has half set down levels in it as well. Unfortunately very older versions of the program struggled with this type of design especially with external stairs and in trying to get the floor levels correct as well.

 

I know that Chief Architect works with room cubic modules that are all interconnected and that raises issues when these modules are set down or raised up. That’s why I had problems in the past with this type of design in the very older versions of the program. I hope that most of these issues would have been ironed out by now ?

 

I have been retired since mid 2014 and I have upgraded up to version X10 so far. I am coming out of retirement now part time to do some more work.

 

I am very tenacious and don’t give up easily but there comes a time when you have to give up or you will just waste too much time fighting an old operating system. If I had my time over again I think I would chose Macintosh operating systems rather windows. But having said that, Windows 10 is pretty good so far and I hope that Windows 11 would be on a par with Mac ?

 

Does anyone have a link to the “Aladdin virtual device driver for windows” for either windows 7 or 10 ? That’s what the install error messages are about with CAV10 & 9.5. 

 

I think it would be more than fair for CA to put this link on its support page for this issue above and please stop giving us all the run around. We use cad software to save our time and not to waste it. 

 

Thank you all for your input and suggestions so far.

 

[Dermot]

"I may have to do the X8 save the plan to see if I can also open the layout file as well?"

 

If your layout was done in V9.5, then you have to open all of your layout and plan files in any version from V10 to X8 and then save them in order to read them into a version that is X9 or newer.  You will probably have to relink your layout to your updated plan files after doing this.  Once you have done this, you should be able to continue to use your layout and plan files in your version of X10.  

 

 

[mthd97]

Thank you Dermot, I will definitely try that suggestion. I am not sure on how to relink the layout file to the updated plan file. If I cant figure it out, I will ask.

 

I will purchase a good small used gaming laptop here in Australia that runs XP 32 bit pro to view my old plan files from CAV10 and earlier. I can get one for under a $100 US. That’s the “Lew Buttery” method lol.

 

I tried to boot my old XP hard dive last night, that has all my old programs on it. It nearly started then stopped part way. I think I have to repair my Windows XP installation to get it to load properly.

 

like I said, I don’t give up that easily.

 

have fun.

[Bob_Medvetz]

Google the following for Aladdin driver information "aladdin hasp driver windows 10" It will give you some links to check out.

[mthd97]

Thank you Bob, I will give that a try as well. 

 

I decided against getting an old laptop PC with XP on it because they don’t quite have enough memory on them. Plus they are used and they will not last long.

 

I have managed to find a brand new PC with XP on it, probably leftover unsold stock ? I think the older PC’s were totally 32 bit architecture and I believe that’s where the problem lies ? Probably up for $500 US or more ?

 

I have a spare PC that I have tried to boot my old XP 32bit hard drive on it but it didn’t load properly. I think the problem is that is a 64 bit architecture PC and that’s why it will not work ?

 

Having sufficient back up is very important in this business. I have backed up my work on floppy disks, Zip disks, CD’s and USB drives in the past. I managed to find a CD with all my plans from V10 & 9.5 back to V6.0 on it, I will try those CD files and hope they are not corrupt ? 

 

I don’t give up easily and if I have to buy an old PC to back up my past work properly, then I will. Accessing some old plan files and remodeling them saves allot of time. Software providers just don’t care enough about that as shown by this problem once again,

 

I found  this site below but I think these drivers will only work on a XP 32 bit architecture not on a XP 64 bit architecture pc ?

 

https://www.rainbow.com.my/support.php?id=1

 

Thank you all for your suggestions. I will let you know when I have the problem fully resolved.

[Kbird1]

The Driver Issue is likely related to Win10 and Win 11 needing "Signed (Certified) Drivers" or they won't load, and that includes many 32bit Drivers from winXP.

 

Driver Enforcement can be temporarily disabled though..............

 

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/156602-how-enable-disable-driver-signature-enforcement-windows-10-a.htmlhttps://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/156602-how-enable-disable-driver-signature-enforcement-windows-10-a.html

 

Mick.

[mthd97]

Thank you Bob, I will give that a try as well. 

 

I decided against getting an old laptop PC with XP on it because they don’t quite have enough memory on them. Plus they are used and they will not last long.

 

I have managed to find a brand new PC with XP on it, probably leftover unsold stock ? I think the older PC’s were totally 32 bit architecture and I believe that’s where the problem lies ? Probably up for $500 US or more ?

 

I have a spare PC that I have tried to boot my old XP 32bit hard drive on it but it didn’t load properly. I think the problem is that is a 64 bit architecture PC and that’s why it will not work ?

 

Having sufficient back up is very important in this business. I have backed up my work on floppy disks, Zip disks, CD’s and USB drives in the past. I managed to find a CD with all my plans from V10 & 9.5 back to V6.0 on it, I will try those CD files and hope they are not corrupt ? 

 

I don’t give up easily and if I have to buy an old PC to back up my past work properly, then I will. Accessing some old plan files and remodeling them saves allot of time. Software providers just don’t care enough about that as shown by this problem once again,

 

I found  this site below but I think these drivers will only work on a XP 32 bit architecture not on a XP 64 bit architecture pc ?

 

https://www.rainbow.com.my/support.php?id=1

 

Thank you all for your suggestions. I will let you know when I have the problem fully resolved.

[mthd97]

On 7/5/2022 at 3:07 AM, Kbird1 said:

The Driver Issue is likely related to Win10 and Win 11 needing "Signed (Certified) Drivers" or they won't load, and that includes many 32bit Drivers from winXP.

 

Driver Enforcement can be temporarily disabled though..............

 

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/156602-how-enable-disable-driver-signature-enforcement-windows-10-a.htmlhttps://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/156602-how-enable-disable-driver-signature-enforcement-windows-10-a.html

 

Mick.

Thank you Mick, for this resource and information, I will definitely read up on this and test it out.

 

I have found drivers for Windows 10 & 7, the HASP/USB key lights go on but the program fails to recognise the hardware lock as per the error message again.

 

I will have to uninstall CAV9.5 and reinstall it again and hopefully it will load the correct drivers and the error message will go away during the loading process ?

 

If that happens ? I am back in business again.

 

“Windows 7 64-bit Disable Driver Signature Enforcement“

 

Here is a YT video link to a tutorial, Incase someone needs to try this as Driver Signature Enforcement applies as far back as 64bit windows 7, 8 & 10.

 

 

 

I will let you know if this fixes the problem for me ?

 

I tried this boot up option for my windows 7 64bit PC and tried to install CAV9.5 install was successful. 

 

I got this screen notification below, the problem was when I once again booted in DSE mode and put in the CD key in, the hardware lock was not recognized.

 

I booted it again normally and still had the same problem.

 

I installed Sentinel SDK 8.0.1 prior to installing CAV9.5 also in DSE mode and the light came on the HASP/USB dongle and pc notified me that it was successfully installed.

 

Please note that later version of Sentinel LDK may not have the legacy drivers as reported on the Thales website. Sentinel LDK software must be prior to version 8.15 as reported by Thales.

 

I may still have to find more Aladdin legacy drivers online for it to work ?

 

I will try CAV10 to see if that will work on this windows 7 64bit PC first. I will update this post with my results later on.

 

Just as well I am semi retired otherwise I would just buy an XP PC with 32 bit pro loaded on it and hope for the best lol ?

 

Thank you all for your help so far.

 

CAV10 installed ok on the windows 7 64bit and still the HASP key is not being recognized. Please see the first picture for the error message. I don’t understand why CA cant provide us with the correct drivers to be able to run this legacy software on our newer systems ?

 

We have all invested much time in drawing plans for previous clients and its common sense to go back to your older files and update plans from there.

 

Thats it for me, I am done. I am buying an brand new windows XP pro 32 bit gaming pc to do the job for me. 

 

Thank your for all your help fellow users. Have fun.

 

 

[mthd97]

Conclusion for all who are interested.

 

You must have a 32 bit operating system to install the correct drivers for HASP/USB key locks in order to run CAV10 or lower.

 

You can have a 64 bit PC with a 32 bit O/S but you probably need windows XP if possible ?

 

Please be careful when you google drivers because you end up finding driver scan programs that want to install their software on your PC.

 

This was the best site for me to find the old drivers. “DeviceInBox” website.

 

ALADDIN USB KEY DRIVER V.7.54 WINDOWS XP, WINDOWS VISTA, WINDOWS 7, WINDOWS 8, WINDOWS 8.1, WINDOWS 10

 

You may have to do a manual install and please note that there are two folders containing HASP drivers, 32 bit & 64 bit, for the download above.

 

I manually installed the driver for my HASP key lock and since all my PC’s are 64 bit with 64 bit O/S the 32 bit drivers would not install for me.

 

So if your PC can run CAV10 its probably because it has a 32 bit O/S and you have been able to install the correct driver ?

 

I chose to purchase a new PC with 32 bit windows pro SP3 installed from eBay Australia. You can find gaming PC’s in the US eBay site with windows XP installed on them.

 

like DJP did, you can have a dual boot with windows XP 32 bit installed. I tried to do that but my PC would not cooperate, probably because W7 64bit was already installed on it and it didn’t like the older O/S.

 

If you have IT experience you may be able get into the BIOS yourself to create dual boot ? I recommend you get an IT specialist to do that for you if you can’t because you can ruin the PC if you do not know what you are doing.

 

Have fun using Chief.

[mthd97]

Hi, I bought my new PC set up with XP 32 bit pro installed on it. I have never seen XP run so fast lol.

 

I installed CAV9.5 and the premium content CDs 1 & 2 and I manually installed the 32 bit driver for the HASP/USB key and the program would not recognise the key once again. 

 

Although this is a 64 bit machine or motherboard, it was able to run CAV10 from my old XP 32 bit hard drive that I connected with a USB adapter kit.

 

I was able to open the layout file from my old job that I did with version 9.5 with CAV10 from a back up CD that I saved all my plans and layouts on.

 

All the stacked layouts plans cross sections etc showed up fine. The font may have to be adjusted slightly but apart from that I am very happy with the results.

 

I think this worked because CAV10 was designed to run on XP 32bit and 64bit as well, from what I can gather ?

 

If you want to go back further than that, to open old plan files, you will definitely need an older O/S with a 32 bit machine to do so.

 

Read the program specifications for the older versions of Chief before you buy.

 

I am glad that it worked but because I have many plans that I saved and did with much older versions of Chief. That’s why I could justify the expense of a brand new gaming PC with XP pro 32 bit installed on it.

 

Gamers also like windows 98SE and they still have these machines running this old O/S just for pc games.

 

Thanks to them we can use much older versions of the program if we really need to.

 

Once again have fun using Chief Architect and the current version X14 looks great to me with all the improvements. 

 

Update: I did a fresh install on this new PC of CAV10 and everything went well and it’s working fine. I can easily open all my Chief plans & layouts from older versions with CAV10.

 

From what I remember, there was not much of a variation in the plan and layout files from opening them with V10. 

 

So I am content with that and if the re-modeling of this older house plan is minimal ? I will probably edit the plan with V10 so I don’t have to re create a new set of full layouts. All to save time.

 

Thank you to all for your suggestions.

[mthd97]

Success ! I was also able to get CAV9.5 working on the XPPC with 32bit windows XP pro.

 

The drivers above were not quite old enough to run the HASP dongle for V9.5 but they are old enough to run for V10.

 

I was able to manually install the driver for the HASP/USB key lock dongle for V9.5 from my installation CD, once I found the file.

 

This is a good security protection measure because if you don’t have the right CD key and dongle to go with it, you will not be able to run CA at all.

 

We paid big money back then to use Chief Architect and for the subsequent upgrades.

 

I am very happy with my brand new PC with XP windows 32bit pro on it. I can access my old plans from previous versions no problem now. I have never seen XP run so fast. I do have an I7 2600 quad core CPU with 4GB ram installed, as XP will only see 4GB ram.

 

My old 32bit XP PC was very sluggish and about to die so I upgraded for plan file storage of all my old plans and layouts. Cost me about $500 US delivered but it was well worth it. And of course my time but hey that’s cool.

 

I don’t even have to edit the font now, I am very happy with the results.

 

I am not quite sharp enough to start from scratch these days as I am retired.

 

I hope this post helps others out there who have been using CA for nearly a quarter of a century ?

 

Have fun using CA.