To activate Pedigree Forge, you will need to purchase the software, which will give you an activation key. This is done from the “Help” option of the main menu bar, by selecting “Register”:
This will show the register dialog:
Use the “Buy Registration Key” to obtain your activation key. Once this has been emailed to you, again go into the Register dialog where you can enter the same email used to purchase the software and the activation key provided. Then click the “Register” button. If the key and email are correct, your software will be activated.
Note: You must enter the email and key EXACTLY (including correct upper/lower case) as given in the email sent to you. It is recommended that you “copy” the key from the email and “paste” it into the Activation Key box.
Pedigree Forge can be installed in two different ways. The method recommended for most users is to use the “MSIX” installer. If this doesn’t mean anything to you, then you should use this method!
In this mode, updates are completely handled by Windows in the background, and updates will be applied automatically, and probably without you even noticing.
You can tell if this applies, as the “Check for updates” option on the “Help” menu isn’t selectable (greyed out) and the “Check for updates” frequency on the “Options” dialog is set to “auto”:
The MSIX technology on Windows also means that updates only change small amounts of the setup at a time, it cleverly only downloads the parts that have actually changed, so updates are quick, and download the minimal data necessary. These installed applications are safer on modern versions of windows, as they run in a containerised environment and uninstall cleanly.
If you are a power user or don’t want Pedigree Forge to be updated automatically by Windows, then you should install via the setup installer (executable program). In this mode, Pedigree Forge (rather than Windows) has to manage the updates. You can tell if this applies to your copy because the “Check for updates” option is available from the “Help” menu and you have the ability to set how often Pedigree Forge checks for updates, or even never if you wish, from the “Options” dialog, accessed from the “tools” menu:
Important: No technical support will be given for users who choose the executable installer. You will have to navigate the security warnings, and virus scan settings yourself.