License Server Problem on Windows

Question

I have 2 softwares for my studies, Ansys Electronics Desktop 2024 R1 and Keysight Advanced Design System 2025 running on my windows 10 22H2 upto about 3 weeks ago when all of a sudden, both wouldn't start due to licensing errors. Both use flexnet service and the error is always a winsock 10049 or 10061. Every suggestion on their websites I've tried to use but still, no solution so I've concluded it's something to do with windows, possibly some setting somewhere. How can I solve this?

Thank you

M.N

*** Moved from Windows / Windows 10 / Settings ***

Answer 1

Hello ,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community forum.
Depending on the error prompt you are experiencing, here are a few possible solutions:

1. Make sure the FlexNet service is running.
   You can press the Win + R keys, type services.msc, and press Enter.
   Find FlexNet Licensing Service or a similarly named service in the list of services.
   Make sure that the status of the service is Running. If it doesn't run, right-click on the service and select "Start".
2. Ensure that Windows Firewall or other security software is not blocking the normal operation of the FlexNet Service.
3. Winsock errors are usually related to network configuration. You can try resetting Winsock:
   Open the command prompt as an administrator, enter the following command and press enter:
   netsh winsock reset
   Then restart your computer.
4. Make sure your network drivers are up to date.
5. Make sure your license file is not corrupted or missing. You can try reinstalling the software to make sure the license file is configured correctly.
6. If none of the above methods work, you can try uninstalling and reinstalling both software.
7. If the problem persists, it is recommended that you contact the technical support teams at Ansys and Keysight, who may be able to provide a more specific solution.

I hope the information above is helpful.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to let us know.

Regards,
Jill Zhou

Answer 2

Thank you for the help.

I've tried all the above methods and I'm confident I've exhausted most of them except for option 2 which I don't know if I've done all it takes. I've tried creating new inbound rules for the ports in use but that hasn't worked so I'm still thinking there may be something in those firewall settings I haven't worked.

I've done option 6 multiple times over the past 2 weeks, sometimes even experimenting with different versions of the softwares but it still doesn't work further convincing me it's something wrong with Windows itself.

At this point I'm wondering if a complete reinstall of Windows is the only option left but that would seriously set me back at this moment.

I believe network drivers would be updated through Windows update or HP support assistant (I have a HP). No updates for those and even a reinstallation of those drivers doesn't solve the issue. If you would be more specific about how to do this I could try it if it's different because I've just checked through windows update and hp support assistant. Resetting Winsock has not resulted in any difference in the error messages received when attempting to start the softwares.

Thank you

M.N

Answer 3

Thank you for your feedback. Now that you've tried most of the methods, we can check the firewall settings and network drivers more specifically:

Check your firewall settings:
Open Control Panel > System and Security > Windows Defender Firewall > Advanced settings.
In Inbound Rules, make sure that the rules for the FlexNet Licensing Service are enabled and create new rules for them that allow specific ports, such as 27000 and 27001.

Try running netstat -aon | using the command prompt findstr :27000 to check if the port is occupied by other programs.

About updating network drivers: Visit the HP official website to manually download and install the latest network adapter drivers.

You can try resetting your network settings, which may fix some network configuration issues:
Enter the following command in the command prompt:
netsh int ip reset netsh int reset all netsh advfirewall reset
Then restart your computer.

Try using the Event Viewer to view FlexNet or network-related error messages.

In addition, you can try to use the System Restore feature to restore the system to a point in time when the system was working normally.

If the problem persists, back up your data and consider reinstalling Windows.
Hopefully, these suggestions will help you solve your problem! If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me.

Answer 4

I reinstalled Windows and ran into a problem I had ran before with windows update about 2 weeks ago right about when my problems with the license servers started. I am even more convinced that this is an issue caused by Windows. One of your updates is what is messing things up, I figure it's the first update for this month