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Get help and support for our wide range of products and services. If there's another problem you may be experiencing, and our support topics do not cover it's scope, please feel free to contact us, or ask as a question.
How do I recover my license information?
I need help with an incident, and support does not cover its scope, what do I do?
How many computers can I install a single license key onto?
Where can I download trial / freeware versions of Element Software products?
How do I upgrade from a trial version to a full version?
When I try to activate a product, I receive an error message. What do I do?
How do I recover my license information?
License keys and registration information is processed by Avangate upon purchase. After successful purchase of our software, Avangate automatically send you your license key information to your e-mail address that you entered when purchasing the product. If you have accidentally deleted your activation e-mail, please do not panic, just send us your purchase details (including only your name, e-mail address and country, please do not send credit card information) through our contact page. As soon as we receive your request, we will, through Avangate, resend a copy of your activation e-mail. For the future, we recommend that you keep a written down copy of your key just in case there is a time when you are unable to reach us.
I need help with an incident, and support does not cover its scope, what do I do?
You can personally contact us through our contact page, and we will reply as soon as we can with a solution.
How many computers can I install a single license key onto?
Our license policy allows up to 3 computer installations per license key. If you accidentally installed a license key on another computer after the limit, your updates / and or support may be stopped by Element Software. However, you can request an unblock of your key, by contacting us of this incident and explaining what happened. As soon as possible, we will remove the block on your key. You will NOT be required to re-purchase your key; although you will be required to purchase a new license key if you wish to license more than three computers.
Where can I download trial / freeware versions of Element Software products?
All of our products can be download from the relevant product page. Click here to go to our products pages.
How to I upgrade from a trial version to a full version?
Trial versions are the actual versions that are available to everyone, even if it has been purchased. In order to enable all features, and to keep using the product after a specified amount of time, simply enter your license key that you purchased from us to activate the software. Once activated, you will be able to use all features of the application.
If you purchased our software for a CD delivery, a trial version will still be included on the CD, but you will also have a physical copy and document of your license key and registration details included on the CD.
Some promotional materials that we give out to media (e.g. magazines) are already pre-activated.
When I try to activate a product, I receive an error message. What do I do?
Contact us personally. Send a full error report and / or screenshot of the detailed error message and we will tell you steps of how to fix the problem. Alternatively, we may provide an alternative activation method or provide a hot fix. Also note when sending a message to us that you include your name and e-mail address so we can retrieve your license details.
Element Browser crashes upon start-up or it displays an error message. What do I do?
A certain feature is missing or is working incorrectly, What do I do?
How do I insure that I have the latest version?
I am trying to play YouTube videos in Element Browser, but they will not display? What do I do?
Element Browser is running slowly on my computer. What do I do?
Element Browser will not install properly. How do I fix this?
Can I run Element Browser 4.0 on Windows XP?
Fonts in the user interface appear garbled or mis-aligned. What do I do?
Does Element Browser run on Windows 7?
How do I install add-ons and themes?
What is the Microsoft.NET Framework? And how do I get it?
Element Browser crashes upon start-up or it displays an error message. What do I do?
If you are running Microsoft Windows Vista, or Windows 7, make sure you restart your computer before attempting to start Element Browser for the first time. First try restarting your computer, then try running Element Browser again. If you are running Windows XP, please insure it is not the 64bit version since Element Browser does not support Windows XP X64.
If you are certain of the two above, make sure the Microsoft.NET Framework 2.0 runtime is installed, or try re-installing Element Browser again to see if this changes the condition. If your Windows Vista or Windows 7 computer is hardware DEP capable, and it is 64bit based, your computer may be incompatible and may not be able to run Element Browser successfully.
Alternatively, an antivirus program not produced by Element Software may be conflicting with Element Browser. We recommend turning it off when attempting to run Element Browser for the first time, or try installing Element TotalProtect from us to insure maximum compatibility.
If Element Browser 4.0 is crashing upon start-up on Windows Vista, this could mean that you do not have the Visual C++ 2005 SP1 runtime update installed. Use Windows Update to install this important update for Windows Vista. Alternatively, a re-install can resolve issues.
If Element Browser 4.0 is crashing upon start-up on Windows 7, this means your configuration files could be corrupt. To reset settings, simply navigate to C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Local\ and delete the Element_Software folder. Please take note that this will reset all Element Browser settings.
A certain feature is missing or is working incorrectly, What do I do?
Report this issue using the Bug Reporting Tool, and wait for us to resolve this problem. Or, you can use the 'Check for Updates' feature to see if there are any updates available for Element Browser which may resolve your problem.
Switch to compatibility mode. To do this, simply click the Broken Page icon on the Element Browser address bar. To resume normal mode, click the broken page icon again. Note that some Element Browser features may not work while you are in this mode.
How do I insure that I have the latest version?
Since Element Browser 3.0, updates are automatic and you will be prompted to update to a newer version. If you have turned automatic updates off, simply turn them back on, or manually select Orb > Safety > Check for Updates and you will be updated to the latest version available. Alternatively, you can visit the Element Software site to manually download newer releases.
Hint : You can download beta releases of Element Browser from here.
I am trying to play YouTube videos in Element Browser, but they will not display? What do I do?
You need to install Adobe Flash player in order for YouTube videos to play in Element Browser. For the majority of windows computers, Flash is already installed. In order to install Flash manually, simply click the Element Browser Orb > Select Settings > Content > Extensions, and select plug-in. Adobe Flash will be offered to you. Simply clicking download, run, then following the on-screen instructions will get adobe flash quickly installed onto your copy of Element Browser.
Element Browser is running slowly on my computer. What do I do?
Check that you are running a modern operating system and a modern specification computer system. Element Browser delivers acceptable performance on a computer with a 800MHz processor with 512MB RAM and a broadband connection, but we highly recommend a computer with at least a 1.2GHz Intel Atom Processor or higher with 1GB memory available. A dedicated graphics card with 128MB of RAM is recommended for OpenGL based graphics rendering of Web Pages, which dramatically improves rendering speeds.
Hint : You can turn OpenGL rendering on by selecting Orb > Settings > Enable graphics powered rendering.
Element Browser will not install properly. How do I fix this?
Temporarily turn off any antivirus programs that may be running, re-download a copy of Element Browser again, save it to your desktop, uninstall Element Browser completely, then run the downloaded package to install again. Always insure you download Element Browser directly from our website to insure maximum safety.
Can I run Element Browser 4.0 on Windows XP?
Yes. Windows XP with Service Pack 3 installed is an officially supported operating system, for using Element Browser 4.0 with. However, in order to start the installation process, the Microsoft.NET Framework is a prerequisite that must be installed on your system first before using Element Browser.
Does Element Browser run on Windows 7?
Yes, and newer versions are optimized for use on Windows 7.
How do I install add-ons and themes?
There are three ways. One is to open the settings pane in Element Browser, and clicking the 'Get more Extensions' button, which will take you to the extensions store in Element Browser, where you can choose what you wish to install, be it a plug-in, widget, accelerator, or theme.
Another way is to go to the Element Browser Extensions Store directly, to browse for additions to install on your new browser.
Last but not least, you can visit one of our partners which offer collaborative efforts in producing new additions for the browser.
What is the Microsoft.NET Framework? And how do I get it?
Put Simply, it is an engine which many modern applications, such as Element Browser, run on top of. All of our products that run on Microsoft Windows have been written to utilize this technology since it provides many performance and security benefits, but best of all, user experience benefits.
Usually .NET 2.0 is installed alongside our products automatically for you, but if, for some reason, you wish to download and install it manually, you can download it from here.
.NET 2.0 can be installed on Windows versions as old as Windows 98, so, theoretically, you can run a vast majority of our applications on older operating systems if your business or family computers are not upgraded to newer operating systems. Just don't ask for support from us from doing this.
Element Anti-Virus will not activate my license key, what do I do?
Element Anti-Virus will not accept my license key, what do I do?
I cannot perform a backup because the software is reporting an error. What do I do?
An update failed and I can no longer run a system scan. What do I do?
System Restore is not working, what should I do?
Element Anti-Virus will not start up, what should I do?
Getting Started (PDF document)
Element Software distributes a PDF document which aids with the Element Anti-Virus installation process, and helps the user to get started quickly with Element Anti-Virus. You can download a copy of it here for later reading.
Element Anti-Virus will not activate my license key, what do I do?
You must be running under an administrator account in Windows in order to activate your copy of Element Anti-Virus. If you are running Windows Vista or Windows 7, and an activation error occurs, please download the guide mentioned in the earlier topics to resolve this issue.
Alternatively, your license key may have been blocked because it may have been installed on more computers than Element Software allows. View How many computers can I install a single license key onto? topic.
Element Anti-Virus will not accept my license key, what do I do?
Check that your license key matches the information that was sent to your e-mail address upon purchase of the product. Please make sure you omit the hashes when entering your key, since it will automatically be filled for you. Check that the name is correct, and if company is none, leave it blank.
If activation wizard still does not accept your license key, please contact us.
After installing Element Anti-Virus, I can no longer use some internet resources? How do I resolve this?
Uninstall all third party firewalls and antivirus software prior to installing Element Anti-Virus, since it causes conflicts. Element Anti-Virus automatically turns off Windows Firewall during installation, so a manual disabling of Windows Firewall is not needed.
If you continue to receive problems after re-installation of Element Anti-Virus, you may need to flush your firewall rules. To do this, Go to the Element Anti-Virus Centre, Click Tasks and Settings, click Advanced Settings, click Firewall, then select Firewall control panel.
Once the firewall control panel is displayed, click the delete on ALL rules in this window, then click flush, and restart your computer to rebuild the firewall rules. You will now be able to connect to your internet resources successfully.
(If you still encounter problems, please contact us and we will supply you with a hot fix.)
Other antivirus software is reporting a virus in my Element Anti-Virus folder? How do I resolve this?
Uninstall all third party antivirus programs before installing Element Anti-Virus. You should never run two antivirus programs alongside each other, since it is known that it causes conflicts. Element Anti-Virus does not contain any malware, it is the algorithms used in the product that some vendors flag, because of the ways that Element Anti-Virus must analyze individual file's executable code to see if it contains malicious code. We have full laboratory and third party awards that guarantee 100% clean files in all of our products.
Element Anti-Virus protection centre will not display and shows an error message. How do I resolve this?
Simply restart your computer, since some components may not be running properly. If this does not help, a re-install of the product or the .NET Framework will almost always resolve start-up issues.
If there are still issues, please contact us.
Element Anti-Virus reports that my computer is at risk, but all settings are normal and scans are up to date?
Restart your computer, since a component may have failed or shut down abnormally.
I cannot perform a backup because the software is reporting an error. What do I do?
A bug that is present in Windows 7 and Windows Vista may prevent you from performing a backup in some cases. To resolve this issue, simply run Element Anti-Virus as an administrator by right clicking the shortcut on your desktop and selecting 'Run as administrator', then try running the backup again.
Contact us if you still encounter problems and we will resolve this issue for you.
A firewall is a crucial security essential to protect your PC and your valuable information from hackers. For this reason, we have only allowed the firewall to be turned off from its own control panel. To do this, open advanced settings, click Firewall settings, and flush all rules from the window. This is temporary of course, since restarting your computer will allow Element Anti-Virus to rebuild its firewall rules.
An update failed and I can no longer run a system scan. What do I do?
You need to repair your installation. To do this, go to the Windows Control Panel > Add / Remove Programs, click Element Anti-Virus and click Repair. This will repair your installation while retaining of your current settings.
Simply closing the protection window or restarting your computer will resolve this issue.
System Restore is not working, what should I do?
System Restore is a windows system component, not developed by Element Software. It may have been disabled before installing Element Anti-Virus. To enable it, simply visit the windows control panel, Click System Settings, and allow system protection on your hard drives.
Element Anti-Virus will not start up, what should I do?
Simply restarting your computer, reinstalling the product, or checking the .NET 2.0 framework is installed will resolve this issue.
Users of Element Photo Gallery have experienced no or little issues that were resolved easily by contacting us personally. The general help and support guide will get you up and running with Element Photo Gallery quickly.
However, if you are encountering a technical issue with Element Photo Gallery, please contact us.
Element Mail crashes upon start-up, what do I do?
I can not connect to my Hotmail account through POP settings, what do I do?
Upon start-up, a message that shows 'DAO.DLL was not found', what do I do?
Element Mail crashes upon start-up, what do I do?
Check that you are running the latest version of Element Mail, and are running it on a supported OS with the .NET 2.0 Framework installed. If you are certain that you are running Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7, and that your computer has required updates installed, please contact us, and we will try to resolve this issue for you.
I can not connect to my Hotmail account through POP settings, what do I do?
Element Mail does not support POP based connection to Hotmail services. You can only access hotmail through the web version provided in Element Mail.
Upon start-up, a message that shows 'DAO.DLL was not found', what do I do?
Your computer is missing a Microsoft JET software update. Because of legal issues, we cannot distribute this file with our software. In order to resolve this issue, please consult Windows Troubleshooting or use Windows Update to install the latest updates for your operating system.
eRecords says that there is an SQL application running and will not start up. How do I resolve this?
I receive an 'Object Reference is not set to an instance of an object' randomly.
eRecords says that there is an SQL application running and will not start up. How do I resolve this?
Applications such as the Windows Live ID Sign In Service, Windows Live Messenger and Network sharing service can interfere with eRecords startup. This is because only one version of the SQL Lite component can be loaded in memory at one time, and eRecords can only utilize a specific version of this library.
In order to fix this issue, shut down all applications that use SQL lite, restart eRecords Player, then start these applications again.
This is caused by a bug present in the Windows Memory Manager, which we are unable to provide a quick fix for, so, if you do encounter this problem, please use this workaround.
I receive an 'Object Reference is not set to an instance of an object' randomly.
This could be a programming bug on our end, or it can be a generic .NET access violation message. Usually these messages are rare, but if you do encounter one, simply restart eRecords Player to continue normal operation.
Users of Element Paint Studio have experienced no or little issues that were resolved easily by contacting us personally. The general help and support guide will get you up and running with Element Paint Studio quickly.
However, if you are encountering a technical issue with Element Paint Studio, please contact us.
Visit the developer connection to get technical support and walkthroughs for using the AniCore SDK.