Installer For Autodesk AutoCAD 2004 LT

[LindonP]

I'm currently struggling with some of the new PC's that my boss has bought. They're all Windows 10, strangely enough that isn't the problem as I've managed to get the program to work on windows 10 before.

My problem is at some point someone has deleted the company's copy of the CAD 2004 installer off the server. I've search the hole office and fount the box and CD case the original disk came in but not the CD-ROM it's self.

Does anyone know where I can re-download the installer? Autodesk don't store installers of Legacy products.


I do still have the Network licence thankfully, just need the installer for 2004 LT CAD.

as a side note there doesn't seem to be anywhere on the internet for Legacy copies of any of the CAD software. So it might be worth posting any you find not just the 2004 I'm looking for

[hugh.69031]

Check your server's backups?

[LindonP]

Yea, that was the first place I try'd before going through all the cupboards.

[cadtag]

I'm currently struggling with some of the new PC's that my boss has bought. They're all Windows 10, strangely enough that isn't the problem as I've managed to get the program to work on windows 10 before.

My problem is at some point someone has deleted the company's copy of the CAD 2004 installer off the server. I've search the hole office and fount the box and CD case the original disk came in but not the CD-ROM it's self.

Does anyone know where I can re-download the installer? Autodesk don't store installers of Legacy products.


I do still have the Network licence thankfully, just need the installer for 2004 LT CAD.

as a side note there doesn't seem to be anywhere on the internet for Legacy copies of any of the CAD software. So it might be worth posting any you find not just the 2004 I'm looking for

Contact your reseller, see if they will help. Considering it's been well over a decade since you bought it, I kinda doubt it. It's not going to be legal for anyone to post the installation software -- not worth the risk.

It might be time to consider purchasing licensed software -- if you're not into renting by the month/quarter/year, consider BricsCAD, Graebert, or one of the intelliCAD versions. At this point, a free AcadLT 2004 is not really worth installing, much less running a business off of. Heck, the free Draftsight has more capability than your old LT.

[cadtag]

As a side note, it's legal to resell the _physical media_, so if someone has a CD of the 2004 LT they're willing to part with, that would be legal and doable. since you stat you still have the network license server running.

[LindonP]

Ok, I get the general idea of the opinion round here. Although it not a licence, which would be illegal to share, that I'm asking for I can understand not wanting to get involved.

Thank you everyone for your time. I'm just gonna use the old PC till someone else sorts our problem.

Could someone please let me know how I get a admin to close this thread?

[rkmcswain]

I do still have the Network licence thankfully, just need the installer for 2004 LT CAD.

as a side note there doesn't seem to be anywhere on the internet for Legacy copies of any of the CAD software. So it might be worth posting any you find not just the 2004 I'm looking for

Wait a minute.... since when does AutoCAD LT support network licenses?

Also, why would you want someone to post "any you find", as opposed to the version you're licensed for?

[LindonP]

I said that as I there no longer seems to be a method to reacquire installation medium for any versions pre 2016.

I can understand Autodesk no longer hosting on their servers the legacy installers as they'll be infrequently used but the fact that there is no where seems stupid.
I thought if anywhere would start hosting legacy installers to cover for Autodesk no longer hosting them it would be here at the user group. Since there wasn't one I thought generating one would be a good idea.

There seems to be confusion here as if most seem to think that the installation media held your licence, which it dose not. Your Licence is often a set of codes you give after the install to initiate the software.

As I've not set most of the old computers, I don't care any more. So can someone please tell me how to close/archive/delete this topic.

[cadtag]

I think you're missing the point... the software itself is copyrighted, that means that the owner of the copyright sets the terms and conditions for _anyone_ to make a copy, With statutory damages up in the stratosphere, no one here is likely to bootleg a copy of the media or host iso images of the CDs. Its' really that simple -- autodesk owns the bat, ball, and playing field and they make no money by making old versions available. And money is the only reason the CEO has to do anything...

what is legal is to sell/transfer the original physical media, and if I had a 2004LT CD i'd be happy to sell it to you for a reasonable price -- say half what an annual rental fee would be. Sadly, I don't :(

[rkmcswain]

I can understand Autodesk no longer hosting on their servers the legacy installers as they'll be infrequently used but the fact that there is no where seems stupid.


It has nothing to do with how frequently or infrequently the data would be accessed.

It has to do with Autodesk wants you and everyone else on the latest version, period. If you lost your install media, then they look at it like "tough... now come rent our latest version."
They make zero money off your 2004 version today. They stand to make $$$ if you start renting the current version today though.



There seems to be confusion here as if most seem to think that the installation media held your licence...

No, I don't think anyone here thinks that. We all know that the media and the licensing are separate.

[dgorsman]

I think you're missing the point... the software itself is copyrighted, that means that the owner of the copyright sets the terms and conditions for _anyone_ to make a copy, With statutory damages up in the stratosphere, no one here is likely to bootleg a copy of the media or host iso images of the CDs. Its' really that simple -- autodesk owns the bat, ball, and playing field and they make no money by making old versions available. And money is the only reason the CEO has to do anything...

what is legal is to sell/transfer the original physical media, and if I had a 2004LT CD i'd be happy to sell it to you for a reasonable price -- say half what an annual rental fee would be. Sadly, I don't :(

Not quite. You are allowed to make back ups of the installers for recovery purposes. Prohibiting resale of the data is difficult to enforce, while it could be done its usually handled on the activation side which boils down to having a valid serial number etc. If the contract is current/up-to-date its easier for Autodesk to look the other way.

As for retaining copies... everyone is responsible for their own backups. I wouldn't (and don't) rely on anyone, Autodesk or third-party, to keep backups of something this critical. Ours used to be handled via our normal backups - if the building burned to the ground, we could be back up and running without any downloads.

While Autodesk makes little money on old versions, trying to support them with the high probability of compatibility issues is just throwing money down the toilet in support time. Not to mention the PR problems of people inevitably screaming that Autodesk software doesn't work (while conveniently leaving out what they're trying to do... but hey, we're in a "post truth" era, who cares...).

[cadtag]

Yes, the licensee can typically make a backup for their own use, whether that can/could include multiple copies, or can even be done, is a choices of the copyright owner. No-one is entitled to copy the software the licensed, even for their own use, unless allowed (generally through a EULA) to do so by the rights holder. While common practice, the privilege of making a backup is not an automatic entitlement.

I completely agree that any organization/person must take responsibility for handling their own mission critical backups. Expecting/hoping that vendor or third party will be able to come to the rescue is not being pessimistic enough. Murphy really was an optimist - everything fails and if you want to recover, you have to prepare before the future incident become a present problem.

Personal experience speaking -- a recent Win10 update conflicted with my Intel SSD boot disk, rendering my home PC unusable until I replaced the boot drive. biggest hassle was getting a new SSD delivered from Newegg, after that a re-install of Win10 from USB recovery drive, and migrating data files was simple. (on the plus side, that was one way (admittedly extreme) to clear out the registry cruf and odd-ball software that accumulates over time). The intel disk itself is fine as a data disk, and now sits in an external case, but there have been reports of Win10 crashing on those disks and I got to experience that first hand.