Save the file to a USB drive and take it to an online computer. Upload it to the BandLab Activation site.

Unlike the old SONAR days where you had a serial number, BandLab Cakewalk is free but requires a "handshake" with BandLab servers every six months. This validates your free license and ensures you’re running the latest version of the software.

This usually happens if your firewall or antivirus is blocking the BandLab Assistant. Add an exception for BandLab Assistant.exe and Cakewalk.exe .