autocad lt 2008

[Anonymous]

I have a perpetual standalone version of Autocad Lt 2008.  I realize that this version is not supported anymore, however last week I could use it, but this week it does not open up.  The "Run this product" button is greyed out, where as last week is was not.  Can you help me to open it up again, as I have projects to do.

Thank you.

[steven-g]

Maybe you had a Windows update recently? but the bad news is as from August 31 2019 AutoCAD 2010 and all older versions have been retired, Autodesk will no longer authorize those versions. If your copy has "broken" then your only option is contact support only they can decide on a case by case basis if you qualify to get the software re-activated. You will need to provide them with all the details of your original licence.

[rkmcswain · Accepted solution]

The official stance is, you're out of luck. Autodesk says they are not providing activation for most applications version 2010 and older. 

You can

• Start a new contract with Autodesk and rent AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT for a period of time (month, 3 months, year).
• Download a trial version for 30 days (but I suspect you'd need different hardware).
• Look into alternative applications that can read/write DWG files.

Good luck.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

This feels like a real kick in the pants from AutoDesk. Just because they no longer 'support' 2008, shouldn't mean I can no longer use it on my computer. What are some other CAD programs people are using these days? I suppose this would be a good time to jump to sketchup if people are still using that.

[rkmcswain]

It has nothing to do with not supporting it. They want to get all historical perpetual users onto a rental plan.  So they decided to cut everyone off at the point where they need a new activation code.  Starting sometime in 2021, everything 2016 and older will fall into the same boat.

We can't mention alternatives here, it is Autodesk's forums after all.

[Anonymous]

hggg

[RobDraw]

Is that a hug?