As you might have seen, a new version of RAD Studio, Delphi and C++Builder was just released. When releases like this happen, we usually get a lot of questions from people on how to download and install the latest version.
This is understandable because these releases don’t happen that often, so with everything else going on you can easily forget what you did last time. Add into that the possibility that maybe you are a few releases behind, so it’s even longer since you did it. To top it off, Embarcadero have been making changes to this process (in an attempt to make it easier) so it’s possible that how you did it last time is no longer correct.
Whatever the reason, I’m writing this post to try and outlay your options in bit of detail.
Is your Update Subscription current?
So the first question that needs to be answered is whether or not your update subscription is current. New versions are only available to you if you are on Update Subscription, so if you’re not, the other sections below won’t apply.
If you know it’s current, then you can skip ahead to the next section, but if you’re not sure, how can you tell?
Probably the best way is to login to the Embarcadero Product Portal at https://my.embarcadero.com. Make sure you login with the same username/password that you used to register your product. On the left hand menu, select the Key icon to show your registered products. Then find the product (it should be in the first few items).
Notice in the Components column in my screenshot above, it looks like the top item is XE8. Hover over the description and you’ll see it expands and indeed covers 10.4. I think this is related to the version when this serial was first issued. Main thing is don’t be thrown off by this.
Once you’ve found the correct product, the Subscription Status column on the far right should tell you whether your Update Subscription is still active or not. If it’s not, it’ll look like this.
Note if it is showing as Expired but it has just been renewed in the last day or two, it might still be in process with Embarcadero. Contact whoever you renewed it with (here if it was Code Partners). If it is really expired, again, talk to whoever you bought it from, as they can try and work out the most cost effective way to get it re-activated for you.
Download the installer.
If you’ve got this far, you have an active Update Subscription. What next?
You need to download the installer from within the same Product Portal we were just using to check our Subscription status above. If you skipped that step, login at https://my.embarcadero.com and make sure you use the same username/password you used to register your product.
Then, click on the My Downloads icon on the left hand side (it looks like a Cloud with an arrow pointing down) and look for the correct item in the list.
Notice in this screenshot we’re looking at RAD Studio, Delphi or C++Builder 10.4.2 and it is giving us two options an ISO or a Web Install with dramatically different sizes.
The ISO is the full install image that you could mount or burn as a DVD. The downside of this is you’ll be downloading everything, potentially more than you need. Let’s say you are installing the English version of Delphi Professional. Downloading the ISO will mean you also download the installation for all the other languages (French, German, Japanese), all the Enterprise features, plus C++Builder as well. The upside is that you’ll have everything local so the actual install can happen without needing to download anything else. If you have unstable internet, this can ironically sometimes also be a a better option.
Conversely, the Web Install just contains the bare minimum, core pieces of the IDE, enough to bootstrap the process of downloading the rest. However it should only download the pieces you’ve selected during the installer wizard, so potentially will result in a smaller download.
Whichever one you choose, the end result will be the same. Note, this didn’t used to be true. For example, in previous versions if you chose ISO, you used to have to do some hand-waving to enable GetIt. In 10.4.2, this should no longer be necessary.
Where do I find my serial number?
Again, also in the Product Portal. If you look back to the screenshots from the first section, you’ll notice some big black blobs. This is the Serial Number associated with your License. Use that one. Note, you won’t actually see black blobs. This is just me protecting my serial numbers.
I still stuck. What next?
No worries. What you do next depends on the problem you are striking.
If you can’t login to the Product Portal, try the Change/Forgot Password link on the login page.
If you can’t find your License or Product listed, double check and make sure you are logged in with the correct username. It’s usually the same one you used to register the product.
If you are still stuck, or if you are experiencing errors during the install, Embarcadero offer free Installation support (that doesn’t use up your Tech Support cases under your Update Subscription). For Installation issues, or issues accesing the Portal, use this link and select the correct issue you’re having.
Your other option is to contact whoever you bought the license from in the first place. If you bought it from Code Partners, here’s how to do that. We can help with lots of things, but in some cases we’ll need to direct you back to the Embarcadero Support link above as we don’t have access to everything.
Bottom line, if you’re not sure and you’re started to get frustrated, contact us and we’ll try and help.
We’ll try and keep this document up to date, but if you find a gap or something has changed, let us know and we’ll update it.
