Hardware: Ensure your PC meets Microvellum's minimum hardware requirements. Check the following article for the current specification list, as these are updated with each major version.

Admin rights: You are logged into Windows with an Administrator account or can launch programs as Administrator. Without this, installation and activation will silently fail or behave unpredictably.

Internet connection: You have a reliable internet connection for online license activation. An offline option is available if needed — see the 'Activating Your License' section below.

VPN / Proxy: Any VPN or proxy is temporarily disabled during initial activation. These can intercept the license check and cause it to fail.

Wrong key: The license key was entered incorrectly — check for common typos such as the number 0 vs. the letter O, or 1 vs. l.

Version mismatch: You are using a key for the wrong version of Microvellum — ensure the key matches the installed version.

Expired license: Your annual maintenance or subscription period has lapsed. Contact Microvellum or your reseller to renew.

Firewall block: Your firewall or antivirus is blocking Microvellum from reaching the software servers. See the 'Firewall and Network Configuration' section below for what to whitelist.

Hardware change: Major hardware changes — such as replacing a hard drive or network adapter — can cause the software to think it's running on a different machine, invalidating the license. Contact Microvellum support if this happens.

Location 1: Navigate to C:\ProgramData\Microvellum
Find the file with the most recent modified date — it will typically be a 6-digit number (e.g. 483921). Delete it.

Location 2: Navigate to C:\ProgramData\Bricsys
Delete the file named LicenseManager.cfg
Delete the file named toolboxV25.lic

Licensing conflicts: BricsCAD's license system is not designed for multi-user server sessions. Multiple users sharing the same server can trigger license conflicts, causing some users to be locked out entirely.

Graphics / GPU issues: BricsCAD requires a real GPU for rendering. RDS sessions typically use a virtual or software display, resulting in lag, graphical glitches, and crashes.

File path conflicts: Microvellum stores settings using paths tied to each user and their local file locations. When multiple RDS users share a server, these paths collide, causing errors, missing settings, or corrupted configurations.

Update instability: Running a library update on an RDS server can corrupt the shared installation for all users simultaneously, or cause version mismatches between sessions.

Project isolation failures: Microvellum uses internal sandboxing to keep projects separate. This mechanism does not behave reliably in an RDS environment and can result in data being mixed up between users — a serious risk for production work.

Dedicated local workstations (best option): Each user should run Microvellum BSB on their own dedicated workstation with a local installation and local Administrator rights. This is the configuration Microvellum designs and tests for.

VDI with GPU passthrough: If remote or virtualized access is required, use a VDI platform that provides each user with a dedicated virtual GPU — for example, NVIDIA GRID / vGPU. This resolves the graphics issues and provides proper user isolation. This is significantly more complex and costly to set up than local workstations.

Shared database on a central server: For sharing project and product data across the team, host the SQL database on a central server and connect workstations to it over the LAN. This gives you shared data without the risks of running the application itself in RDS.