Elizaveta Capelle 

Please make sure, you have the current installer for your version of Studio. Login into your RWS account and download it from there. Download MultiTerm too. Store the files on an external drive or on a local drive, which will NOT be affected by Windows reinstallation. Make a backup copy of all your work and private files! Copy this backup to another drive or USB stick, so you have TWO backups of all files.

Now, before reinstalling Windows, do the following:

• Deactivate Trados Studio on your machine
• Login to your RWS account and check, if you have an available license! Without doing so, you will have much more trouble activating the product after reinstallation of Windows
• If the license is available, continue with the next steps. Otherwise return here and ask for the license reset!
• Reinstall Windows
• Locate the downloaded Trados Studio installation file
• Copy the file to your desktop
• Right click the file and chose "Run as admin"
• Follow the steps to install Trados Studio
• Repeat this steps for MultiTerm
• Restart your PC
• Start Trados Studio and activate it with the license code from your RWS account.

Elizaveta Capelle 

Hi Elizaveta,

You will find your license number here:

My account

Once you've signed in using the email address you used when you set up your account, click on 'Licenses and subscriptions'

You will find any Trados licenses you have bought there (you may have to click on the filter downdrop menu to list your license if you have more than one).

All the best,

Ali

Thank you so much

thank you for your very detailed answer. I'm just worried about "deactivating" as I read in an older post (I think dated 2017) that deactivation made more trouble. Anyway, I'll follow YOUR steps and see.

Elizaveta Capelle Jerzy Czopik 

Hi Elizaveta,

Jerzy is right, it's better to release the activation from WITHIN Trados Studio, before you reinstall Windows.

That which you will have seen people having problems with is deactivating a Studio license AFTER the software has been removed or overwritten WITHOUT releasing the license from within Studio.

This is done via the Help tab > Product Activation > Deactivate.

That means that your license will be returned and you will be able to reactivate your new installation of Trados after you have reinstalled Windows.

The steps Jerzy has given you are good. I only answered your question about where to find your license activation code.

All the best,

Ali

Unfortunately no button to deactivate and a button saying "having trouble with online deactivation please make offline deactivation". When clicking on it, it says offline deactivation has begun.

I got an email with a code for deactivation as a confirmation I guess, but the page shows up an error message "offline deactivation failed". 

I'm lost

I hope that's OK despite the message and I'll see if I have trouble with reinstalling TRADOS on my PC normally next Thursday. 

I'll let you know then and maybe ask for help

Thanks again

Elizaveta Capelle said:

I got an email with a code for deactivation

Hi Elizaveta,

As Jerzy Czopik is probably wiser than me and is now asleep in bed...

When you say 'code for deactivation', was it a very long code? 

Either way, look here:

Offline activation and deactivation

The above link explains (among other things) how to proceed.

It also gives links to info on online activation and deactivation that might be helpful.

After you've sorted out the deactivation, follow the rest of Jerzy's excellent instructions...

I hope this helps!

All the best,

Ali

Elizaveta Capelle 

You do that from within Trados Studio. The screenshots are from Studio 2022, but the behaviour is the same:

So you should not need any offline deactivation.