FAQ Group: Security

If you are experiencing issues with activating Server Check or getting Server Check to make a successful connection to some sites and servers, and yet connecting to other sites works perfectly, it is very likely that you are running an older legacy Windows operating system that does not (by default) use newer TLS protocols to make connections. Some sites and servers will still accept these connections, whilst other (more secure) sites will not.

Server Check uses the built-in SChannel component of Windows to communicate and connect. Some older versions of Windows, for example, Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2, do not enable TLS protocols by default and use older SSL protocols instead. We highly recommend upgrading your operating system to the latest version of Windows to benefit from the best security and compatibility with Server Check.

However, it is possible to enable more secure TLS protocols in Windows 7/Server 2008 R2 by following these steps:

Enable TLS 1.1 and 1.2 on Windows 7/Server 2008 R2 at the SChannel component level

For TLS 1.1 and 1.2 to be enabled and negotiated on Windows 7/Server 2008 R2, you MUST create the “DisabledByDefault” entry in the appropriate subkey (Client) and set it to “0”. These subkeys will not be created in the registry by default, since these protocols are disabled by default.

Create the necessary subkeys for TLS 1.1 and 1.2; create the DisabledByDefault DWORD values and set it to 0 in the following locations:

For TLS 1.1

Registry location:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.1\Client
DWORD name: DisabledByDefault
DWORD value: 0

For Server 2008 R2, create an extra DWORD value:

DWORD name: Enabled
DWORD value: 1

For TLS 1.2

Registry location:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.2\Client
DWORD name: DisabledByDefault
DWORD value: 0

For Server 2008 R2, create an extra DWORD value:

DWORD name: Enabled
DWORD value: 1

Yes, our site is a secure site and is only available over a secure TLS-encrypted connection (sometimes still referred to as SSL, although this is an outdated technology and is no longer used by modern servers or browsers). You can check for the “https” or the padlock icon in your browser’s URL address bar.

Payment details are processed by one of our secure payment processors, a third party who specialise in processing online payments securely. The entire Server Check team never see your payment details and these are never stored on our systems. Subscriptions are also handled by our payment processors, and you can cancel a subscription at any time.

We only store information that you have provided when downloading, purchasing or activating Server Check, and if you ask us to erase this data then we will do so (please note that your license key would no longer work with Server Check).

Your information is stored on secure servers and is made up of the same information that you would submit when making most online purchases, such as your name, contact information, and products bought. A digital signature generated by your computer (containing no identifying information) is stored alongside your Server Check license key so that your software license activates correctly and continues to identify as valid.

We do not share this information with any third parties and it will not be used to contact you for any reason other than to offer software updates, special deals that we think you might like, and to manage your software licenses.

No payment information is stored by us. Your payment information is handled exclusively by our payment processors and we never see it, including for all of our subscription packages. When it is time to charge your payment card, we simply send this request to our payment processors who will then handle the secure processing of the payment.