How to Disable and Uninstall Protexis Licensing Service (PSIService.exe)
If you have installed trial or paid licensed version of Corel software products, you probably may notice a third-party unannounced software application makes its way into your computer too. The program is PSIService.exe by Protexis, which installs a Protexis Licensing service or Protexis Licensing V2 service in Windows operating system.
PSIService is part of Protexis copy protection DRM (digital rights management) and license management software, which intends to protect a software or application from piracy and illegal copying. Thus PSI service is normally installed by another program, such as Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2, Corel Paint Shop Pro XI (X1), Corel Paint Shop Pro X, that uses its service to gather licensing information to send home much like spyware, ensure copy protection and authenticate user that uses genuine version of the program.
To make matter worse, the ProtexisLicensing service may make PC boots up slower, and when disabled, will cause Corel Paint Shop Pro to stop working, in addition to warn you of running illegal copy of non-genuine software. Besides, PSIService.exe does not uninstall together with the application that installed it, when the application is uninstalled and removed.
In any case, whether you want to get rid of Protexis while keeping the application that dependent on it still working properly and able to run (contrary to popular belief, Protexis Licensing service is not required for program to run), or now need to clean the Protexis PSIService spyware manually due to non-removal by original application that installs it, the procedures to complete uninstall and remove Protexis is easy. In fact, the instructions to uninstall PSIservice is provided on Protexis website.
If you are certain that no applications using PSIService are still installed on your system, and this service is still running, you can remove it manually by following these instructions:
- Remove the following registry entry:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\ProtexisLicensing]
- Reboot your computer.
- Delete the following files:
%windir%\System32\PSIService.exe
%windir%\System32\PSIKey.exe
Of course, in order to keep applications such as Corel Photo Shop Pro continue running without error, the complete removal instructions cannot be followed. Use the following workaround instead:
- Open Services (services.msc) in Control Panel’s Administrators Tools.
- Locate ProtexisLicensing or Protexis Licensing service. If you are seeing Protexis Licensing V2 service, use the next guide. Stop the service and then set the Startup Type to Disabled.
- Bowse to %SystemDrive%\Windows\System32 folder.
- Copy original PSIKey.dll to program folder of application that relies on Protexis, e.g. %SystemDrive%\Program Files\Corel\Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo XI\.
- Rename PsiClient.dll to PsiClient.bak, or simply delete it.
- Rename PSIKey.dll to PsiClient.dll
- Rename PSIService.exe to PSIService.bak, or simply delete it.
If the Protexis DRM softare installed on your system is of version 2, follow these steps instead:
- Open Services (services.msc) in Control Panel’s Administrators Tools.
- Locate Protexis Licensing V2 service. Stop the service and then set the Startup Type to Disabled.
- Bowse to %SystemDrive%\Program Files\Common Files\Protexis\License Service folder.
- Copy original PSIKey_2.dll to program folder of application that relies on Protexis, e.g. %SystemDrive%\Program Files\Corel\Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2\.
- Rename PsiClient.dll to PsiClient.bak, or simply delete it.
- Rename PSIKey_2.dll to PsiClient.dll
- Rename PSIService_2.exe to PSIService_2.bak, or simply delete it.
Now, Protexis Licensing Service is tamed and disabled properly so that PSIService no longer run in background, without affecting functionality of installed application.
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November 17th, 2009 17:04
Hi. It’s bad enough when a distracting animated banner won’t obey our “Don’t Play Animations” settings. It’s worse when said banner is “conveniently” located so we must grab the mouse to resize the window in order to hide the distracting thing; after all, we came here to read the material. But when, after all this, the imagery is pornographic (even so-called soft porn), that’s when I must make a decision: if a Web site that does this is the only way to procure a specific product or service, then said product or service is not available to me.
November 4th, 2009 18:53
This works great for Paint Shop Pro but stops CorelWord Perfect from loading at all
October 30th, 2009 00:25
Thank you very much, it worked like a charm!
October 26th, 2009 14:30
Thank you for the generous offering. This worked great.
October 25th, 2009 08:48
Wow, thanks for the scoop on PSIService and how to deal with it. Worked perfectly!
October 21st, 2009 06:17
Thank you so much. I can’t believe how much faster PSP loads now AND how much faster my PC boots up, too! I had just re-installed on a new hard drive; I suppose I had gotten used to everything being so slow on the old one but it was sure noticeable on the new. THANKS!
October 14th, 2009 14:44
It’s Work and… thanks
October 12th, 2009 10:53
Just tried this with the PSP Photo X2 trial software, on Windows 7 Ultimate RC. The only problem is when I close PSP; Windows Problem Reporting pops up saying “Paint Shop Pro X2 has stopped working”. If I tell WPR to not complain about the exe, instead when I close it, I still get a popup with the same title, and have to click the “Close the program” button to finish; and when I do that, another instance of the same popup appears and I have to click the Close button again….
October 2nd, 2009 10:29
WOW!!!! Oh How Much Faster PSP Loads Now!!!!!!!! Thanks a TON!!!!!!!!!!!
September 29th, 2009 06:07
Responding to PSI_d_off’s question, I found F9 (www.f9.com) uses Protexis.
Ann
September 28th, 2009 17:29
Try doing a file search for PsiClient.dll
If you find that in a folder, you’ve probably found your culprit.
September 11th, 2009 23:06
Thanks for this! Parenthetically, I find it mildly bizarre that Protexis’s clients are stupid enough to pay them (presumably) good money for copy “protection” that can be bypassed this easily, but that does not take anything away from my admiration for your skills and effort in working out what they were doing.
September 4th, 2009 15:27
Thanks! I was really getting tired of killing the PSI process every time I reboot. I knew it wasn’t supposed to be there but I wasn’t really sure what it was or where it came from. I got it from a trial of Corel Graphics Suite X4.
August 22nd, 2009 23:06
Never mind, it was ACT!. They have always been hostile to their customer base; as far back as 2002 I have had to “register” on their website in order to get software updates. I performed almost all of the updates to fix problems that either prevented key functions from working or caused my Outlook program to crash. I shoulda known. Time to switch to Goldmine or Sugar CRM (sugar is open-source).
August 22nd, 2009 22:53
Does anybody know what other programs may use this. I rebuilt my Vista-based Dell laptop by wiping the drive and using the OS install disk to get a clean installation. I have never installed a Corel product.
I did not see the PSI service running until I installed Vista SP 2 (thank you Micro-squash for yet another bleeping update that backdoors me). It is Protexis Licensing V2.
Once I know which application installed the !@#*ing PSI service I will follow the above to uninstall it.
August 4th, 2009 21:54
Great guide. Thanks so much for this!