Expiration date of free licence NT8

[marcus2300]

I have a trading account at Ninjatrader and pay the higher commissions because I did not buy NT8.
I see that there is an expiration date, but read everywhere that you can use NT8 for free forever.
Why is there an expiration date if the software is free to use forever?
I have bought third party software that is linked with my machine ID. What will happen when the free licence expires next year? Should I throw away the third party software that I bought?
If I can still use it after 2023, will the machine ID stay the same or not?

[NinjaTrader_Sev]

Hello marcus2300,

Thank you for the inquiry.

Free live license keys are generated to be active for 3 years, and then renewed upon request annually. There is no limit to how many times you may renew. Please contact our Platform Sales team at platformsales[AT]ninjatrader[DOT]com prior to your expiration date, and we would be happy to further extend your free license key.

You will need to contact your third party software developer for more information about their product. Your license key will remain the same after we have extended it.

Please let us know if you have any further questions.

[marcus2300]

Yes I still have one question: the software is linked with the machine ID, not the license key.
So if the machine ID changes, I lose all this software. The machine ID should stay the same.

[NinjaTrader_RyanS]

Hello,

If your machine ID has changed, NinjaTrader 8 will automatically remove your license key, username and password, and other sensitive information. This is a purposeful security feature. This feature prevents others from being able to access your personal information simply by stealing your files and loading them onto another PC.

NinjaTrader does not control your machine ID directly. Your machine ID is generated by NinjaTrader based on your PC's fundamental hardware (like RAM, motherboard, etc.) and fundamental software (BIOS/UEFI version, Windows updates, firmware updates, etc.). If any of these items change, your machine ID is likely to change as well. There is no way to manually change your machine ID.

If your machine ID has changed and it is affecting your add-on licensing, you will need to reach out to the add-on vendors with your new machine ID.

[marcus2300]

OK, so my machine ID will not change as I don't change my PC next year when my license expires and will be renewed.

[bltdavid]

NinjaTrader does not control your machine ID directly. Your machine ID is generated by NinjaTrader based on your PC's fundamental hardware (like RAM, motherboard, etc.) and fundamental software (BIOS/UEFI version, Windows updates, firmware updates, etc.). If any of these items change, your machine ID is likely to change as well.

Wait, what?

Windows updates?

Don't you mean Windows version?

Otherwise, a mere Windows update, which are typically
out of user control for Win10 & Win11 users -- my God,
could a Windows update really change the MachineId?

Such an event could affect hundreds or thousands of
NinjaTrader users all around the same time ...

That sounds like a nightmare waiting to happen.

[NinjaTrader_RyanS]

Though rare, Windows updates can cause a change to the machine ID, but typically this only occurs when a PC is multiple updates behind, i.e. they have not been done in many months or even years.