How can I start ContactsLaw if my computer cannot respond to UDP broadcast packets?
Background: ContactsLaw requires a connection to the DDM service (which checks licenses and handles inter-application messages) in order to start up. In order to establish this connection, ContactsLaw first sends a UDP broadcast packet on port 9600. This allows the server running the DDM service to identify itself, allowing a persistent connection to be established. In some computing environments (for example, if the network administrator disables broadcast packets, you are behind a firewall or connecting via a VPN), your computer may not be able to send or receive a response to a broadcast packet.
In this situation, you can bypass the process of discovering the DDM server by manually specifying its IP address. To do this, you must use the Windows Registry Editor.
- Type 'regedit' into the start menu (or Run command) and press enter.
- Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Overtech Technologies Pty Ltd\ContactsLaw
(on 64-bit operating systems, the key is found at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Overtech Technologies Pty Ltd\ContactsLaw)
- You will see a series of configuration settings for ContactsLaw. On the Edit menu, select New, then String Value.
- For the name of the entry, type "DDMServer" (without the quotation marks).
- Double-click the entry and enter the IP address of the DDM server (or, for dynamic IPs, the hostname) into the Value Data field.
- Start ContactsLaw. The discovery process will be skipped and ContactsLaw will connect directly to the address you specified in the previous step.
See also
Registry keys