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BioShock Revocation Tool
User Instructions
Version 1.00
09 October 2007
1. Contents
1.
2.
3.
4.
Contents............................................................................................................................................... 1
IMPORTANT NOTE............................................................................................................................. 1
Introduction........................................................................................................................................... 1
Using the BioShock Revoke Tool......................................................................................................... 2
4.1 Before running the tool......................................................................................................................... 2
Multiple User Accounts......................................................................................................................... 3
5.1 Revoking activations from multiple account on a single computer ...................................................... 3
5.2 Revoke tool requires elevation to Administrator when run (Windows Vista) ....................................... 3
5.3 Planned Improvements ........................................................................................................................ 4
Error Messages.................................................................................................................................... 4
6.1 This application is not activated on your machine, the revocation can not be performed. .................. 4
6.2 Revocation process failed! Internal Error: server error – unknown server error................................. 4
6.3 Revocation process failed! Internal Error: a connection error occurred............................................. 5
Exceptional Cases - Requests for Additional Activations .................................................................... 5
Online Activation Limits Explained....................................................................................................... 5
8.1 Installations on five different computers/hardware configurations....................................................... 6
8.2 Installations on the same hardware configuration five times ............................................................... 6
8.3 Activation questions & answers ........................................................................................................... 6
Personal Information ............................................................................................................................ 7
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
2. IMPORTANT NOTE
These instructions refer to a tool that is only for use with the Retail DVD version of BioShock, it will
not work with the Steam or Direct2Drive versions of this title.
3. Introduction
The PC Version of BioShock requires a live internet connection for installation and activation. Once the
installation is complete and the game has been activated you no longer need to be online to play or run the
game, though you will need to keep the BioShock DVD in the drive to start BioShock up.
Once an activation has been made, the number of available activations on your specific activation code is
reduced accordingly on the activation server. The BioShock Revoke Tool, is designed to clear the activation
license off of the user's machine and contact the activation server to free up the revoked license for future
use.
For a summary of the activation limits, please see the section named Online Activation Limits Explained
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4. Click the "Revoke Activation Online" button, see above
The Revoke tool will then attempt to contact the activation server and free up your license. When it
succeeds, you will be presented with a progress bar followed by a confirmation that the license was
removed, click OK and then Exit to close the tool.
At this point, BioShock has been deactivated on your computer and freed up the activation on the activation
server. If you want to run BioShock on this computer again, you will be asked to re-activate it with a valid
activation code.
5. Multiple User Accounts
5.1 Revoking activations from multiple account on a single computer
There is currently a limitation to the revocation tool that prevents it from deactivating multiple activations on a
single computer where BioShock has been activated in multiple User Accounts.
For example, if you have two user accounts on a single computer and have activated BioShock in both
accounts, using the revocation tool will only free up one activation. Using the revoke tool again on the same
computer to reclaim the second activation will result in either a Revocation process failed! Internal Error:
server error – unknown server or a This application is not activated on your machine, the revocation could
not be performed. error.
5.2 Revoke tool requires elevation to Administrator when run (Windows Vista)
If you run the tool in a Standard level user account and are asked to elevate your user level by entering an
Administrative level password, the license for the account that you are entering the password from will have
it's activation revoked. If there is no activation on the account that you are elevating the user to, you may
This is because the Revoke tool needs to remove a license file before revoking the license and when
elevated to an Administrative user level will remove this from the Administrator account and not from the
Standard user account.
If you are using Windows Vista and want to revoke the license from a Standard level Limited User Account,
you should temporarily disable the User Access Control (UAC), otherwise the revocation tool will request
elevation to administrator and may not detect the correct license to revoke.
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5.3 Planned Improvements
Both the issues above are being investigated and an update will be provided when our activation partner is
able to resolve them, or provide a workaround.
Alternatively, activations can be increased on individual activation keys on request, see Exceptional Cases -
Requests for Additional Activations
6. Error Messages
There are conditions under which the revocation tool may produce an error, these errors are explained in
this section. If you encounter any of these error conditions, please contact your local technical support
representatives as listed in the back of the BioShock user's guide.
6.1 This application is not activated on your machine, the revocation can not be
performed.
There are two circumstances why you may see the following error appear.
1. If you are running the Revoke tool on a computer / user account that has not had BioShock
previously activated on it.
The solution to this, is to log in to the computer, using user account that you activated BioShock on,
before running the revoke tool. NOTE: If you have the User Access Controls (UAC) enabled in
Windows Vista, you should also temporarily disable UAC before switching accounts and running the
tool.
2. You are logged into a Standard level user account, have User Access Controls enabled, and are
asked to elevate to an account that has not had BioShock activated on it.
In this case, you should disable User Access Control and try running the tool logged in as the user
that you wish to revoke the license from.
6.2 Revocation process failed! Internal Error: server error – unknown server error.
The following error message is know to happen when you have activated BioShock in two user accounts,
one with Administrative level rights and one with Standard level rights.
If you have logged into the Standard level user account and are asked to elevate the user, by entering an
Administrative password, the revoke tool will revoke the license from the Admin account that you enter the
password from. Attempting to run the tool again will give the error below.
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If you are using Windows Vista and want to revoke the license from a Standard level Limited User Account,
you should temporarily disable the User Access Control (UAC), otherwise the revocation tool will request
elevation to administrator and may not detect the correct license to revoke.
You will need to re-activate BioShock logged in as the Administration user before revoking the license from
the Standard user account.
6.3 Revocation process failed! Internal Error: a connection error occurred.
If you are not connected to the internet when you run the BioShock Revoke Tool, or your proxy settings are
not setup within Internet Explorer, you may see the following error message.
In order for the revoke tool to contact the activation server, you need to be connected to the internet, please
make sure that you are connected and try again.
If you are using an Internet Proxy and Internet Explorer is not your default browser, please transfer the proxy
settings from your default browser to Internet Explorer. Details on how to accomplish this can be found on
http://www.2kgames.com/bioshock/support under Game Installation Issues.
Note: the BioShockRevokeTool uses two standard internet protocol ports to access the activation server,
these are port 80 (HTML) and port 443 (SSL).
7. Exceptional Cases - Requests for Additional Activations
If you find that you have exceeded all your activations and the revoke tool does not help, please visit
http://www.2kgames.com/bioshock/support/revoketool for details of who to contact with requests to increase
your activation limit.
Each request will be reviewed on an individual basis, customers may also be asked to provide proof of
purchase before increasing activation limits. 2K Games reserve the right to refuse increasing activation
limits if it is found that the activation key has been abused, for example has had excessive activation
attempts from different IP addresses, indicating that it is widely shared.
8. Online Activation Limits Explained
The PC DVD version of BioShock requires online activation to confirm that a legitimate version of the game
is being installed. Activation is currently limited to a five by five scheme.
The five by five scheme limits the number of installations to five different activations, on different hardware
configurations and five activations on the same hardware configuration, where the license information has
been reset, either because the hard disc drive has been formatted/replaced, the license information has
become corrupt and cannot be read, or a major hardware change has been made.
As long as the license information is intact between installations on the same machine configuration,
BioShock will not ask to be re-activated between installations and therefore your activation limit will not be
affected.
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8.1 Installations on five different computers/hardware configurations
You can install and activate BioShock on 5 different computers (hardware configurations) before this
activation limit is reached. For example, you may wish to install the game on your desktop computer as well
as your laptop, which would count as two hardware configurations and therefore use up two activations.
Another case where you may be asked to re-activate BioShock, is when you have made significant
hardware changes to your computer's existing configuration, such as changing the motherboard or DVD
Drive, which will count as a new hardware configuration and therefore use one of the activations.
To play BioShock you will still require the original DVD in the drive of the machine that you are running the
game on.
8.2 Installations on the same hardware configuration five times
Re-installing BioShock on a computer that had already had a successful activation on it, and where the
license file has not been deleted, for example by formatting the hard disc drive, and is not corrupt, will not
use up an activation. In this case, you will be able to uninstall / re-install BioShock an infinite number of
times without affecting your activation limit.
To play BioShock you will still require the original DVD in the drive of the machine that you are running the
game on.
8.3 Activation questions & answers
Q: If I uninstall BioShock on my computer and re-install it again without changing anything, will I use
up an activation?
A: No! As long as you have not changed any major hardware component, such as a motherboard, hard disc
drive or DVD ROM drive, you will not be asked to re-activate BioShock as it will use the activation
information (activation license) from your previous installation.
Q: So I can install and uninstall it as many times on my computer without using up all my activations
if I haven’t changed anything?
A: Yes!
Q: Can I install BioShock on the same computer under different user accounts?
A: Yes, although you will be asked to activate it for each user account, which will use up one of your
activations.
Q: Will I be able to revoke the activations under each account and free up all the activations for each
user account using the BioShockRevokeTool?
A: No! Unfortunately, the revoke tool will only revoke the activations once for any given computer, the
activations used for any additional user accounts will remain active.
Q: So how do I get these activations from multiple user accounts on the same computer back?
A: 2K Games are working on a solution for this with our activation partner, as soon as a solution is found we
will make it available. For now, if you get stuck, please refer to the Exceptional Cases - Requests for
Additional Activations section in this document for more information.
Q: How many different computers can I install BioShock on?
A: Five, but each one will use up one of your hardware activations. For example if you wanted to install
BioShock on your main desktop gaming rig and also on your laptop, that will count as 2 different hardware
configurations and therefore use up two activations.
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Q: I installed BioShock on a machine which I no longer use or someone else installed a copy of my
game on their machine. Can I revoke the activation from that machine without having access to it?
A: No, you can only revoke an activation by running the revoke tool on the machine that it was activated on.
Q: What will cause me to have to re-activate BioShock?
A: There are a number of circumstances under which BioShock will require reactivation:
•
•
•
Changing any main hardware components in your system
Installing BioShock on new computer
Activating BioShock in a second user account, even if it has already been activated on and existing
computer/hardware setup.
•
•
Deleting the license information off your hard drive (say by formatting it or by re-installing Windows)
If the license information becomes corrupt for any reason and cannot be read.
Q: How do I know when one of my activations is being used up?
A: Activations are only used up when you see the activation request and are asked to input your activation
key. If you re-install and do not see this requester then, your activation count has not changed.
Q: How does the BioShock Revoke Tool help me with all of this?
A: The BioShockRevokeTool allows you to re-use activations by resetting and freeing them up on the
activation server. If you want to free up and activation at any time, say because you are uninstalling the
game and want to move it to a new computer, you can do so with the BioShock revoke tool.
Q: Can I use the revoke tool, even after I have uninstalled BioShock from my system?
A: Yes. The BioShockRevokeTool, does not require you to have BioShock installed on your system, just
that you have an active BioShock license to revoke.
9. Personal Information
The Revocation Tool does not collect any information that can personally identify an activation key to any
specific user. Any information collected is available only to 2K Games and their online activation partner,
Sony DADC (SecuROM) and will not be used for any purpose other than related to the installation and
activation of BioShock.
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