XL FEEDS

Yes.
The Setup of a Free Trial Version page contains detailed instructions.

Choose the button that matches the bitness of your Excel installation. Note, this may differ from the bitness of your windows operating system. Most windows operating systems today are 64 bit, but the installed Excel is often 32 bit.
If unsure, start your Excel and try to reach the About section.
In Office 365, for example, you start by clicking on the Account button, as shown below:



Then on the About Excel button:



The Excel bitness will then appear similar to this screenshot:

All Excel versions from Excel 2000 to Excel 2021 as well as Office 365 are supported.

The corresponding installer file will be downloaded from the xlfeeds.com server to your download folder of you local device, provided your antivirus software does not raise any false alarms thinking the file might set your computer at risk.
If this happens, you would need to pause your antivirus for one minute and repeat the process.
After the download is complete, your browser may ask you to run the installer file.
You may answer yes and run the installation immediately or defer this action to a later point in time.

Yes. You may run the downloaded installer file at any later time.
It is actually a good idea to keep the file in some external storage device so that you will be able to reinstall XL Feeds if your windows system is reset.

Yes, you can. It is actually recommended to install and run XL Feeds before purchasing a license so that you can verify that everything runs smoothly at your device as no refund is possible after purchasing a license.

Without a license, you can use XL Feeds indefinitely, albeit with several restrictions on the range of features that will be available to you.
Every time you start Excel and enable XL Feeds, you will be given the option to either purchase an activation code or request one for a free two-week trial license.

No, but you would need to fill out a user form in Excel with some valid email address to which the activation code for the trial license will be sent.
Personal data, such as name, birth date or credit card number, are not required in this process.

You will receive an email with the activation code immediately after you have filled out the user form in Excel.
This process is automated.

You will still be able to use XL Feeds indefinitely under certain restrictions with regard to the range of accessible features.
But at any time you may purchase a license to lift all restrictions.
For your convenience, there exists a button inside the Excel ribbon that allows you to complete the purchase.

Please refer first to the TROUBLESHOOTING section below.
If you don't find a solution to your problem there, please contact Support.

No.
XL Feeds installation is user-specific and requires no admin rights.

More than one users on the same computer will have to install their separate user-specific XL Feeds Add-In but they can benefit from sharing the same license.

You can easily uninstall XL Feeds at any time through the windows control panel as you would uninstall any other windows application, as this screenshot shows:

If you start Excel and enable XL Feeds, you will see at the bottom of the wizard a message notifying you that a newer version is available for download, as this screenshot shows:



Simply follow the instructions to upgrade to the latest version from within Excel.
Alternatively, you can uninstall the old version through the Windows panel and then install the new version.
Note that antivirus protection programs often misidentify apps as if they carried potential threats and issue false positives that obstruct the installation. If that happens, you can pause the antivirus for a few minutes until the installation is completed.

Please contact XL Feeds Support and let them know of the situation.
If you don't remember the exact version number associated with the installer file, you would need at least to provide them with the approximate installation date.
Nevertheless, we cannot guarantee, we will be able to respond to that request properly and therefore we recommend you maintain a safe copy of your original installer file.

Sometimes an older Java or Flash Player installation may interfere with the XL Feeds GUI part (the com addin) which handles the display of the XL Feeds taskpane.
The problem is often resolved after refreshing your Java and/or Flash Player installations.
You can find here English instructions for downloading the latest Java version compatible with your operating system.
You can download here the latest Flash Player.

When XL Feeds is activated for the first time, a file named xlfeeds.cdm is stored in your computer at one of the possible folder locations below:

%programdata%\Xlfeeds\
%UserProfile%\Documents\XlfeedsConfigFiles\
%UserProfile%\Desktop\XlfeedsConfigFiles\

After a major windows upgrade or other action, it may happen that this folder or its content gets corrupted.
The solution is to remove this file and restart Excel so that you will be asked to enter your license credentials like when you activated the license for the first time.
IMPORTANT: You must provide the exact same email and password that you used during your first activation of that code.
If you have forgotten any of these, you may recover them here

The easiest way for removing the cdm file is to go to the XL Feeds ribbon and select the menu option shown below:



Alternatively you can delete the file manually by searching the above folders, as described below.
1) Open the Windows Explorer and type %programdata% inside the top row where normally the full path of the current selection is shown, as sheen below.



2) Hit the ENTER key.
3) You should now be at the location where your standard ProgramData folder is kept at your machine. You should normally see a subfolder named Xlfeeds, which contains your license CDM file.
4) If you see the Xlfeeds folder, simply remove it! You can do so, for example, by selecting that folder and hitting the DELETE key.
5) If you don't see it, the license CDM file should be located in one of the other two possible folders. Go to these folders and look for a file named Xlfeeds.cdm. Delete that file, if you find it!

This failure may be due to the fact that your license does not support the installed XL Feeds version.
At the present time all new licenses come with a free upgrades period of one year, but you need to consult your purchase records, since it is possible that your particular license was issued with a different period.
If you have accidentally installed a new XL Feeds version on a date after the end of your free upgrades period, you would need to do the following:
1) Close Excel
2) Uninstall XL Feeds through the Apps section of your Windows Settings
3) Install XL Feeds using the installer file that you used for the installation of your most recent properly working version. The installer file is the file that is downloaded from the xlfeeds.com server when you click on the Download button. It carries the .exe extension and its name looks like XlfeedsInstal_1.1.7583.35107_9.1.0.exe, where the actual shown numbers indicate the respective time and version. In this example, the version is 9.1.0, from the last 3 digits.
4) Start Excel. If the problem persists, see the Remedy Effort below.
In case you have not kept a copy of the installer file, let XL Feeds Support know so that we can send it to you.

From time to time the XL Feeds taskpane may turn into a corrupted state.
The easiest remedy is by displaying the taskpane by clicking on the Use Wizard button
Then click on the Tools button inside the taskpane and select the Refresh Task Pane/Clear Cache element as shown below:

If this does not work, you would need to restart Excel.

A common reason for the sudden XL Feeds taskpane's disappearance is an Excel feature called AutoSave.
If AutoSave is enabled, the taskpane disappears every time the spreadsheet is autosaved.
Simply turn this feature off.
If the unstable behavior of the XL Feeds taskpane persists, this will be likely the result of an "unhappy" coexistence with some other loaded Excel or COM Add-In.
It has been observed that the two COM Addins Microsoft Power Map for Excel and Microsoft Power Pivot for Excel may under circumstances interfere with the XL Feeds taskpane.
The only remedy to this problem is to disable the problematic Add-Ins so that they are not loaded together with XL Feeds.

Sometimes XL Feeds may misjudge the installed Excel version as not supporting dynamic arrays.
If you know that your Excel supports dynamic arrays, you can force XL Feeds to paste all new formulas so that they are dynamic.
Start by displaying the taskpane by clicking on the Use Wizard button
Then click on the Tools button inside the taskpane and select the Settings element as shown below:

You must now see the following screen:

Next click on the pen-on-a-pad icon next to the SPREADSHEET element shown in red circle above.
You must then see the following screen:

Once more, click on the pen-on-a-pad icon next to the INTERACTION WITH TASKPANE element shown in red circle above.
You must finally see the following screen:

You must change the value shown to the right of Use Dynamic Arrays.
Click on three-horizontal-lines icon and select the "Yes" element.
Finally click on the "Apply" button and then on the "Exit" button to close the taskpane.
Now any new formulas will be pasted in dynamic style.

Yes.
The Setup of a Free Trial Version page contains detailed instructions.

After you have ensured XL Feeds runs properly using the Free Trial Version, you can click on the Purchase button, which will take you to the corresponding checkout page where you can review the total cost associated with the chosen license, enter the desired number of seats (users) and the required information (credit card, banck account etc) in order to finalize the purchase order.
The process is fully automated and you will receive an email with the license activation code as soon as you have submitted this information online and your account has been successfully debited with the corresponding amount.
Provided you have installed XL Feeds prior to purchasing a license - as adviced in order to ensure that XL Feeds runs properly on your device -, you will then be able to start Excel and enter the activation code in the special window that pops up when you enable XL Feeds in Excel through the ribbon button Load XL Feeds

If you already have some older license - perhaps the trial license - that is currently active on your device, you must first click on the ribbon button Remove License (shown below) and then restart Excel in order to have the special license window appearing after you click on the Load XL Feeds ribbon button.

As soon as you have paid for a new license, you will receive an email by the payment processing company FastSpring that will contain the activation code and a link to the corresponding invoice.
You may then download the latter as a PDF file.

All amounts are paid in advance.
You will be charged only once immediately after the transaction is complete.

XL Feeds outsources all license-related payments to the third party company FastSpring that is based in Santa Barbara, California, exists since 2005 and is considered very reliable.
More precisely, FastSpring acts as an XL Feeds license's reseller so that the client buys the license from FastSpring.
You will also notice that the URL of the check out page is part of the onfastspring.com domain, which should make you feel assured that any account data you input in that page are handled directly by FastSpring.

In general, various types of credit and debit cards, PayPal, Amazon and wire transfers.
The exact supported methods are country depended.
As you proceed to the checkout page, you will see them listed.

In general, you are not entitled to a refund.
More details can be found at the XL Feeds's Refund Policy

No!
Any conceivable future change in the performance of your installed XL Feeds Add-In can only be caused by changes affecting the service delivered by the Live Feeds providers (such as Yahoo Finance) or by updates in your Windows environment including your Excel installation.
The XL Feeds Add-In is locally installed and its contained software does never change until it is replaced with a newer version.
Since XL Feeds cannot be held responsible for such unanticipated third party changes, no refund can be justified.

Free upgrades are granted only during an initial period of one year since the license was first activated.
Look at the question titled "How can I install the latest XL Feeds version?" in the DOWNLOADING & INSTALLING section above for details on how to upgrade.

If you want to upgrade past the first one year, you will need to purchase a new license at the then stated price.

Technical support is available only during an initial period of one year since the license was first activated.

You ought to be able to use XL Feeds - albeit in restricted form - immediately after installation, even in the absence of any license.
After you have placed an order for a license, you will receive the license code by email instantly.
You may then start Excel, enable XL Feeds through the ribbon button and enter the license code to the corresponding entry field of the popup dialog.
You will need to follow the above procedure only once.
When you restart Excel, XL Feeds will be immediately available.

Primarily individuals who need a low cost solution in keeping track of the value of their stock and currency portfolios within their trusted off-line Excel environment.
Many also use Excel as a calculator of quantities based on historical and current quotes that help them decide if it is the right time to buy or sell certain securities.

XL Feeds can provide you with live feeds automatically updated every second and historical data extending to several past decades for a fraction of the cost asked by competitors.

After installation XL Feeds will appear in the list of installed apps shown through the Apps section of the windows Settings of the device where XL Feeds has been installed.
It may then be uninstalled in the same way as any other program, i.e. by selecting the XL Feeds entry and choosing the Uninstall option, as this screenshot shows:

No.
Apart from the acquisition of live feeds from the servers of the selected providers (such as Yahoo Finance), no remote servers are involved since all required XL Feeds dlls are locally stored in your pc.

Quite easily, provided that the other IT systems interact with Excel in a sufficient extent, since then Excel may be used as the interfacing medium joining XL Feeds with those IT systems.

When XL Feeds is installed, a new folder named Xlfeeds is created in a location chosen by the user, which by default is the Roaming subfolder of the user's AppData folder.
Then several DLLs are stored in that folder and appropriate Registry entries are created so that these DLLs are linked to the Excel app.
If the installation is successful, Excel will load two Add-Ins at start up: A com Add-In named XlfeedsGui and an Excel Add-In named XlfeedsXLL. Both will appear in the list of active Add-Ins shown under the Options tab in Excel.
The XlfeedsGui is responsible for the wizard and ribbon user interface while the XlfeedsXLL powers the functions exported to the Excel spreadsheet.

Both C++ and C# have been used in the implementation of XL Feeds.

The license verification is accomplished through the License Activation and License Validation.

License Activation occurs when XL Feeds is accessed for the first time on some device, during which the license's credentials entered by the user are sent to the servers managed by the license management company softworkz and - if the activation is legitimate and successfull - a special encrypted CDM License file named xlfeeds.cdm is created and stored in a read/write directory on the user’s device.
The CDM contains licensing information and must remain in place. If it is deleted or modified in any way by any means other than by the softworkz server, it will be rejected and the software will need to be re-activated.
All communication between the user's device and the softworkz server is encrypted using secure PKI algorithms.

License Validation is a background process triggered at random times but at most once per day.
It is a 2-step process which includes Local (offline) CDM-Validation and softworkz server-Validation.
The local (offline) CDM-Validation authenticates the CDM on the user’s device / browser (i.e. verify signature, machine ID, etc.) and verifies the license rights and conditions (such as expiry period).
The Validation process queries the softworkz Server to do a complete verification against the piracy protection rules and returns a new encrypted CDM License file.

During the validation process, a special locally stored file named xlfeeds.cdm is transmitted to the servers managed by the license management company softworkz using the standard web browsing communication port 80. Typically, if a web browser has access, then communication with the server for validations will be successful.
The CDM file is typically less than 2K Bytes. The CDM file contains information required for the softworkz service such as:
License Activation or Evaluation Code
activation dates and other dates used for the protection rules
protection level and specific counters
a <machine_ID> which is a hash (created locally) of several elements of information from the user’s computer, and is used as one part of the protection solution
the Computer Name
There is no possibility of deriving any specific information about the user’s computer from the <machine_ID> Hash code or reconstructing any such information. Aside from the Computer Name, no private information about the computer or the user is communicated at any time to the softworkz Server during the validation process.