I haven't had to use the disc for over a week. I'm not sure how long it will go without inserting the disc. Some people claim to have to use it every time. Others occasionally, and never in a month or so. I'm not sure why the difference in experiences from different people other than this program can download into the wrong place on your C drive and then the disc has to be in every time you run it (my first experience with the app on first load. Had to clean off the mess of files and reload). I'm not sure, but you might be able to load the demo and get the program to work for a while.