# How to know if an nki is locked?



## Hans Adamson (Jun 3, 2015)

Is there an easy way to know if a version of an nki is a locked "Player" instrument, or, if it is an unlocked Kontakt sample library, when you already have the instrument registered? 

Thanks,
/Hans


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## hawpri (Jun 3, 2015)

Forgive me if I've misunderstood your question, but I think what you need to look for is whether or not there are .nkx and .nicnt files. Libraries that aren't licensed through NI won't have those files.

You can also look at the .nicnt file for the library you've registered in a text editor to see if a certain patch is referenced there.


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## Hans Adamson (Jun 3, 2015)

Thanks Hawpri,

Well this is a specific situation, and unfortunately your advice won't help me this time. These are my own (Art Vista) Player instruments, and I want to know an easy way to see if I am working on a locked nki file or if it is an nki pre-locking. They will both appear the same for me when opened in Kontakt. I did all this work on what I thought was an un-locked file only to discover it was one of the locked ones...

/Hans


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## hawpri (Jun 3, 2015)

Oh! Sorry to hear that happened. What I'd thought you wanted to know was what users would need to look for on their HDDs to verify if a specific patch belongs to a locked NI library or not. For example, if a developer were to release additional content to an existing (and otherwise locked) library before rolling out a formal update with locked patches. I'm not able to answer your question, but hopefully someone who knows the answer will post here before long.

-Ben


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## mk282 (Jun 3, 2015)

Locked KP NKIs have a different instrument edit button. Looks like two gearwheels instead of a spanner.


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## Hans Adamson (Jun 3, 2015)

Thanks MK,

That's on a computer with only Kontakt Player installed, right? Because when I load these nki's on my system with Kontakt 5 the button looks the same. Am I mistaken? I can't see the difference.

/Hans


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## kb123 (Jun 4, 2015)

The only quick way of telling the difference is to open the instrument options and checking the info tab as that will show a serial number for an ni lib. You also can't create an nkr from an ni lib


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## RiffWraith (Jun 4, 2015)

You know if an nki is locked by looking at it. As in the pic below. Top instr. is locked; bottom is unlocked.


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## Hans Adamson (Jun 4, 2015)

Thanks guys,

Looking for a serial number is a smart way. Thanks. I was a little unclear when using the word "locked". I meant an instrument that has been encrypted, but not necessarily locked from future editing, so it can only be used by a licensed user, and does still show the wrench symbol on the button.

Thanks All,
/Hans


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## mk282 (Jun 4, 2015)

In that case, serial number, yes.


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