After being a regular user of Battery 3 for over 10 years, I decided that it was about time I upgraded. I went ahead and purchased Battery 4. Unfortunately I skipped over reading most of the info on the website and completely missed the bit about installation of all current NI products now being online only. I hate online installations and I might have changed my mind about sticking with NI if I had read the blurb earlier. Too late.

So I went ahead and installed the installer "Native Access". It installed ok but didn't work properly, so I contacted support on the NI website. I asked whether an offline installation for Battery was possible. The guy was helpful and supplied me with a link to 2 ISO files. After a bit of downloading, etc., I had the Battery 4 installation files which installed easily and quickly. To authorize Battery I had to run the disfunctional Native Access, which didn't display properly and crashed shortly after launching. After that I launched Battery and it was no longer in demo mode, so Native Access automatic authorizating apparently worked. Sorted.

Now all I need is some drum maps.

Did they give you an upgrade price on version 4? I've had 3 for about 6 years. Glad they were able to help. I'm in the opposite corner, I had a Kontakt issue with 2 libraries not installing and switching to Native Access from the older Service Center fixed the problem. 

Helpful support from Native Instruments is often an oxymoron. Lucky for you.

It is interesting how people's experiences are different.  I have quite a lot of Native stuff and for me Native Access has been totally fine for me.  I am off line most of the time but it is a simple matter to go on line and log into Native Access.  You can click on an install in your installed programs area and get the full path listing for any installation too if required.  I have just  installed Arcane Attack as a source of sounds and grooves.  It all went very smooth.
 
For recently too I had to update Thrill which is now over 45G in size!  Native Access handled all that without a hitch for me.
 

emwhy
Did they give you an upgrade price on version 4?

 
Yes. 99 Euros or 159 AU$, which I believe is around half the full price.

kitekrazy1
Helpful support from Native Instruments is often an oxymoron. Lucky for you.

When I requested for an offline install file, I didn't really expect them to comply. I was intending to ask for a refund next.

Jeff Evans
...have quite a lot of Native stuff and for me Native Access has been totally fine for me...

 
On my system the GUI doesn't display properly. It's mostly blank with a few blue shapes and no text.

I love NI.  I own Komplete 11 Ultimate, Maschine Studio and The Komplete Kontrol S49.  I have in, the pass, had issues with some downloads but since they migrated to Native Access, I have not had any issues.  I really appreciate not having to wait for and email with my serial number to authorize.  I log in to my account through Native Access and choose the not installed icon and my new software is ready for download and authorization.  Updating software is a breeze as well.  I create in Maschine and export to Sonar.  I'm glad I'll be able to continue to work in this manner since SONAR or whatever it will be dubbed has been resurrected.  Check out my latest jam. https://soundcloud.com/quest-4-success/money-money-2/s-SOpj0
 

Helpful support from Native Instruments

 
5 words that I didn't know went together.
 
I also got caught with the NI Access thing when I bought Komplete 11. I'd had other NI things before that were easy enough to install offline and there was a deal on so I bit thinking all would be as I was used to. My DAW pc was not even online at this point and never had been - something that I intended to stick to and had steadfastly avoided buying anything that required being online.  I didn't bother to install it and intended to sell it on as unopened if I could, but then I was finally forced to concede defeat in my bid to remain offline as something else I had bought required a windows update. So I figured that having gone to the trouble of hooking it up, I might as well give the NI thing a go then. Despite me having hooked up the physical HD that I bought assuming it would take the pain out of the installation process, it then proceeded to download everything again even though it recognised that the HD was present and correct. When I say downloaded again, just about every single one crashed repeatedly just before completing the download, thus requiring a restart and even the ones that did complete failed to install properly......so many hours in I gave up and asked for NI help which turned out to be the Suckiest thing since Sucky the Sucker built the town of Sucksville in the county of Sucksboro, North Suckshire, Suckland. BTW at the border of this town is a welcome sign informing the reader that it is twinned with the town of Blowsboro in the county of Blowsville which is in the inhospitable northern region of the country named Blowsland.
 
Anyhoo, no response for days, then the ticket was closed as solved even though they hadn't replied. Tried again, pointing this out and got a response that suggested that whoever sent it hadn't even read the question. Tried again.....same. Asked why it was downloading all this stuff that I already had on the HD anyway, question ignored. Asked again....same. Asked why my questions were being ignored. I'm sure you can guess how that went.
 
Somebody shoot me if I ever express any interest in anything they offer ever again.
 
 

IMHO Native Access is just one of these half-cocked installer programs! And nowadays they spring up like mushrooms all-around!

Recently I wanted to install all my NI stuff on a 2nd PC. But I couldn't find a way to reuse the already painfully downloaded library files (many, many gigas) of my other PC. When I asked NI they told me to go back to an older Kontakt version for adding them!? It's unbelievable that they had just forgotten to implement something like that in NA!

But then I found out myself a solution by coping the downloaded library files to NA's download folder and starting the installation afterwards. Success! But note, it had deleted those "downloaded" files without notice! So you have always to download new versions on all of your PCs again! What a bummer!

So much said about those "professional" installation "services"! Well, I am yearning for those simple, transparent installations and activations in the early days. There was no danger that some servers (why do I think that?) or the internet would not be available for installation!