Autodata 3.45 remains one of the most popular and enduring versions of the automotive technical software used by mechanics and car enthusiasts worldwide. However, users trying to install or run the software on modern Windows systems often encounter a critical error message that prevents the program from launching:
"The hardware information does not match with your dongle."
This error effectively locks the user out of the software. In this article, we explore why this error occurs and the step-by-step solutions to resolve it.
This error rarely appears out of nowhere. It is almost always triggered by a specific change in your system. Below are the most frequent culprits. Autodata 3
Do not change your motherboard, CPU, or boot drive. If you must upgrade, create a full system image (using Macrium Reflect or Acronis) before swapping parts.
| Solution | Description | When to Use |
|----------|-------------|--------------|
| Re-activate the license | Contact AutoData support or use their license management tool to generate a new hardware fingerprint file. | After motherboard or CPU replacement. |
| Restore original hardware | Revert to the old network card, hard drive, or disable newly added adapters. | Temporary diagnostic – not ideal for long term. |
| Dongle driver reset | Uninstall, clean registry entries (using dongle removal tools like haspdinst.exe -remove), then reinstall. | When a driver corruption is suspected, not actual hardware change. |
| License transfer procedure | Request a "dongle reset" from AutoData. This erases the old hardware binding. | When moving the dongle to a permanent new PC. |
To fix this error, you first need to understand the security system behind older Autodata versions. If you formatted your hard drive, upgraded from
If you want, I can draft a concise email to vendor support with the details filled in—tell me the exact dongle IDs, software/firmware versions, and OS.
It sounds like you're encountering an error message from AutoData 345 (likely a diagnostic or vehicle data software) indicating that the hardware information does not match your dongle.
Here’s what that typically means and how to resolve it: If you formatted your hard drive
Modern antivirus software (Windows Defender, Norton, Avast) often identifies the dongle emulation software used by Autodata 3.45 as a "HackTool" or "Trojan" and deletes it or blocks its execution. This results in the "Hardware does not match" error.
If you formatted your hard drive, upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10, or performed a clean OS installation, the registry entries and driver signatures that link your dongle to Autodata are wiped. The software sees a "new" computer and rejects the dongle.