License Activation

Online Activation

1. Open MZAP and navigate to Settings > License
2. Enter your license key
3. Click Activate
4. The license is validated against the activation server and bound to your hardware

Trial Mode

MZAP offers a trial period for evaluation. During the trial, all features are available. After the trial expires, a valid license is required to continue using the application.

When a trial ends, the activation screen says the trial has ended rather than reverting to the first-run prompt. One trial is available per machine.

During a trial (or a license grace period) the status bar always shows the days remaining, for example "Trial — 12 days remaining · Activate". Click Activate to open Help → About with the license key field ready for your key. In the last 7 days of a trial a banner also appears; its Activate Now link opens the same dialog.

Playback and license state

Audio does not play while the license is not valid.

• Your configuration is preserved. Zones, players, and routing are still restored — players simply do not start.
• This applies however playback is started, including the scheduler, a workspace restore, resuming from sleep, and AI clients.
• Activating a license lets playback start again without restarting the app.
• Valid, trial, grace-period, and support-expired licenses all play normally — a paid key whose support window has lapsed is unaffected.

When a license lapses, the activation overlay reads "Playback has been stopped. Activate a license to resume." rather than the generic first-run wording.

Hardware Binding

Each license is bound to the machine it's activated on, using a hardware fingerprint derived from the motherboard and CPU identifiers. To move your license to a different machine, see Transferring to Another PC.

PCs without a motherboard serial number

Some PCs, mostly self-built or older OEM boards, report no real motherboard serial number, only a placeholder such as "To Be Filled By O.E.M." or "None". These PCs get a computer ID based on their Windows installation instead, so each one is identified separately.

• After updating to 7.3, such a PC asks for the license key once more. Enter the same key and it activates again; you don't need to contact support. An active trial may restart.
• Reinstalling Windows on such a PC changes its computer ID, so enter the key again afterwards.
• PCs with a real motherboard serial number are not affected.

Before this change, all such PCs with the same processor model shared one computer ID, so they were treated as a single device. A trial started on one was refused on another, and uninstalling on one affected the others.