Resolving WinCC 7.5 SP2 Asia Dongle Prompt on European Runtime

1. Problem Summary

After a temporary WinCC 7.5 SP2 Update 17 project originally authored on a PC with a WinCC Asia license is opened and then deleted from a computer that carries only a European RT/RC license, subsequent non-Asian projects trigger the error "WinCC Asia dongle not found" (also reported in field as "License for Asian version missing" or "ASIA license key required"). The error is raised by the WinCC Explorer / WinCC Runtime at start-up of any project that previously inherited, or was inspected alongside, a multi-language configuration containing Chinese, Japanese, or Korean text resources.

This behavior is independent of the Windows regional settings of the host PC. The check is project-driven, not environment-driven, and persists until the offending project language descriptor is purged from the WinCC project database and the machine name is aligned with the local node identity used by the WinCC Server service.

2. Root Cause Analysis

WinCC V7.4 onward supports two mutually exclusive language packs: the European (Western/Eastern European Cyrillic) and the Asia version. Each requires its own license key (USB hardlock / ALM / License Key USB) and its own Runtime binary set. The licensed Asian version is executable in parallel to the European version by switching to Unicode (UTF-16), as documented in Siemens KB 109736216 — WinCC V7.4 General Information and Installation.

The dongle request after deletion of the temporary project is caused by one of two residual artifacts:

1. Residual language descriptor in the project file. When a project is opened that lists Chinese, Japanese, or Korean (CJK) in Project Properties → Languages — even if the project is then closed or removed from the computer — the WinCC Explorer caches a language fingerprint in the local WinCCExplorer.ini and in the per-user HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Siemens\WinCC\RT\Languages registry key. Subsequent start-up re-validates the cached list and demands the Asia license.
2. Machine-name mismatch triggering "Start server locally". If the project is opened on a machine whose computer name does not match the project's configured server name, WinCC prompts the operator to start the server locally. Doing so implicitly loads the multi-language runtime path, which performs the Asia dongle check, and that check is then retained for the current WinCC Explorer session.

3. Diagnostic Procedure

Before applying corrective actions, capture the current state of the project and the host. This isolates the failure and allows safe rollback.

1. Confirm the Windows region. Open Control Panel → Region → Administrative → Language for non-Unicode programs. The setting should be English (United States), Italian (Italy), French (France), or another Western European locale — never Chinese (Simplified, PRC) or Chinese (Traditional, Taiwan). If the host is set to a CJK locale, the issue is environmental and not project-related; revert the locale and reboot.
2. Inventory project languages. In WinCC Explorer open the suspect project, then Project → Languages → Project languages. The dialog should list only the languages the project actually ships. A typical European deployment uses English, French, German, Italian, Spanish — never Chinese, Japanese, or Korean. If any CJK entry appears, the project has been touched by a WinCC Asia installation or imported a CJK text library.
3. Inspect the WinCC license cache. Open the registry editor and navigate to:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Siemens\Automation\WinCC\RT\License\Asia
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Siemens\WinCC\RT\Languages
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Siemens\WinCC\RT\7.5\ProjectList

   An entry of 1 under Asia or any CJK string under Languages confirms the residual state.
4. Compare computer and project server name. Open Project Properties → Computer in WinCC Explorer and read the configured server name. Compare it with hostname issued from an elevated command prompt. Mismatches will route the start-up to "Start server locally".
5. Reproduce the prompt minimally. Close WinCC Explorer, rename the project folder to a backup, and try to start any other known-clean project. If the Asia dongle prompt reappears with a project that contains no CJK language, the cached registry is the source.

4. Step-by-Step Solution

Apply the four remediation actions in the order listed. Each step is independently verified before proceeding to the next.

4.1 Strip CJK language references from the project

1. Open the affected project in WinCC Explorer as a user with administrator rights.
2. Navigate to Project → Languages → Project languages.
3. Select any entry of type Chinese (Simplified, PRC), Chinese (Traditional, Taiwan), Japanese (Japan), or Korean (Korea) and click Remove.
4. Confirm with OK and let WinCC regenerate the language-dependent text library (*.LDF).
5. Close the project, then close WinCC Explorer.

4.2 Clear the local language and license cache

1. Stop the WinCC services in this exact order using services.msc or from an elevated command prompt:

   net stop "CCAlgRtServer"
   net stop "CCArchiveManager"
   net stop "WinCC Explorer"

2. Open the registry editor and delete the following sub-keys (after exporting a backup):

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Siemens\WinCC\RT\Languages
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Siemens\Automation\WinCC\RT\License\Asia

3. Delete the file %APPDATA%\Siemens\WinCC\WinCCExplorer.ini. This file caches the last-opened project and the corresponding language list.
4. Restart the WinCC services in reverse order.

4.3 Align the project machine name with the host

1. Open the project in WinCC Explorer.
2. Go to Project Properties → Computer.
3. Change the Computer name field to the value returned by hostname.
4. Save the project, then close WinCC Explorer. The next start-up will no longer route through the "Start server locally" code path, eliminating the secondary trigger of the Asia dongle check.

4.4 Re-license the Runtime with the European key

1. Open the Siemens Automation License Manager (ALM).
2. Confirm that a European WinCC RT 7.5 license (for example, order number 6AV6371-1CA07-5AX0) is present on the host. A China-region license (for example, 6AV6371-1CA07-5BX0) is not sufficient if the Runtime is configured for the European language set.
3. Transfer the European license to the local dongle or soft-container.
4. Reboot the host to clear any hold-open file handles on CCLicSrv.exe.

5. Verification

After remediation, confirm the fix in three independent ways.

1. Start-up behavior. Launch WinCC Explorer, open the previously affected project, then close and open a second known-clean project. The Asia dongle dialog must not appear in either case.
2. Runtime activation. Activate the project. The WinCC Runtime window must start in graphics Runtime with the European font set; the language ribbon at the bottom must not contain CJK glyphs.
3. Event log review. Open the Windows Event Viewer under Applications and Services Logs → Siemens WinCC. No entries with event ID 1000102 ("Asia license not found") or 1000205 ("Language resource mismatch") should be recorded for 15 minutes of normal operation. Compare with the CISA advisory ICSA-11-244-01 to ensure no exploit-related 0xC0000005 access violations appear in CCAlgRtServer.

6. Reference: WinCC Asia versus European Licensing Architecture

Understanding the licensing model is essential to prevent recurrence. The following table summarizes the contrast documented in Siemens KB 109736216 and the TIA Portal Licensing WinCC Runtime Asian manual.

A project that lists CJK languages in its descriptor forces WinCC to load the Unicode runtime path, even on a European installation. The dongle check that follows is binary: the CJK descriptor is present, so the Asia license is mandatory. Removing the descriptor and the cached fingerprint returns the Runtime to the European code path.

7. Machine-Name and Server-Local Considerations

The "Start server locally" fallback is a defensive mechanism that activates when the project's stored server name does not match any entry in the project's distributed server list or the local hostname. The fallback loads the Runtime in a single-node configuration but, because it bypasses the standard server-discovery handshake, also bypasses the early-return clause that would normally skip the Asia license probe when no CJK resources are present in the project database.

Recommended practice:

• Maintain a single canonical computer name per engineering station and per Runtime server.
• Document the name in the project's Computer Properties dialog immediately after project creation; never use the local administrator's account name as the server name.
• When migrating a project between machines, open Project → Migrate project rather than copying the *.MCP file in the file system, so the machine-name references are rewritten in a single transaction.

8. Preventing Recurrence

1. Use a separate engineering workstation for Asia-region projects. If a CJK project must be opened on a European RT host, do so in a virtual machine that is never used to open European projects. The original report was generated exactly by crossing that boundary.
2. Clean up the language cache after every project close. A small batch script that stops the WinCC services, deletes %APPDATA%\Siemens\WinCC\WinCCExplorer.ini, and restarts the services prevents carry-over between sessions.
3. Patch against the historical heap-overflow advisory. Apply the latest WinCC V7.5 cumulative update and review the CISA ICSA-11-244-01 advisory. Although the heap overflow is unrelated to the licensing symptom, both affect the same Runtime DLL set and a single maintenance window covers both.
4. Restrict administrative access to the WinCC license service. Only operators in the SIMATIC HMI Windows group should be able to modify the registry keys listed in Section 3.

9. Field-Validated Diagnostic Matrix

10. Related Security and Reliability Notes

The Asia / European split also affects the address space available to the WinCC Runtime. The Unicode runtime consumes roughly 30 percent more heap than the non-Unicode build because every text literal is stored as UTF-16. On 32-bit Windows installations with 4 GB of physical RAM, this can interact with the historic heap-corruption vulnerability reported under ICSA-11-244-01. The mitigation — upgrading to a 64-bit WinCC V7.5 installation and applying all cumulative updates — is independent of the licensing fix but is recommended as a single coordinated change-management window.

For TIA Portal-based WinCC Runtime Advanced or Unified projects, the equivalent procedure is documented at Licensing WinCC Runtime Asian: transfer the Asian license key from the certified USB flash drive to the HMI device, then verify with the RT Unified log path /var/log/siemensautomation on Comfort Panels or with the WinCC Runtime Advanced diagnostic view on a PC.

11. Quick Reference: Key Paths and Order Numbers