How can I let my application run only three times?

Question

0.00/5 (No votes)

See more:

Maybe someone steal and copy my important application some day.
And I don't want him run it with endless times.
How can let my application run only three times? What code should write in the application?

Posted 11-Jul-10 1:23am

eagle_chen

Updated 11-Jul-10 1:25am

v2

Add a Solution

2 solutions

Add a Solution

Add your solution here

Treat my content as plain text, not as HTML

Preview 0

…

Existing Members

Sign in to your account

...or Join us

Download, Vote, Comment, Publish.

Your Email
Password
Forgot your password?

Your Email
This email is in use. Do you need your password?
Optional Password

I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Please subscribe me to the CodeProject newsletters

When answering a question please:

Read the question carefully.
Understand that English isn't everyone's first language so be lenient of bad spelling and grammar.
If a question is poorly phrased then either ask for clarification, ignore it, or edit the question and fix the problem. Insults are not welcome.
Don't tell someone to read the manual. Chances are they have and don't get it. Provide an answer or move on to the next question.

Let's work to help developers, not make them feel stupid.

This content, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

#realJSOP · Answer 1 · 2010-07-11T02:16:00

Solution 2

Maybe you shouldn't worry about it. Copy protection won't work because if your application is deemed to be important enough, someone somewhere will figure out a way to deactivate anything you might put in the code.

However, if you really think your application is worthy of stealing, you could:

0) Implement a counter that is actually stored in the executable.

1) Create/store a guid in the exe AND the registry each time the program is run.

As long as the counter is < 3 and the guid in the app matches the guid in the registry, you app will run.

Posted 11-Jul-10 2:16am

#realJSOP

Comments

eagle_chen 11-Jul-10 14:30pm

"Creat a registry as long as the counter is <3, the app will run!"That's a good idea! Thanks!

Emilio Garavaglia 11-Jul-10 15:50pm

Store a counter in the exe is not a good idea. The place the exe are stored may be not writable. And if I am a professional user (the only ones that can pay for a professional application) I'll not trust an exe that modify itself. The proper place is in "AppData", where a configuration file can be used for this purpose, or the registry.

Remember that - as said by the judge against Sony- "it is your software, but it is not your computer".

halabella · Answer 2 · 2010-07-11T02:26:00

Solution 3

- Writing "Starts left..." on hard drive(encrypted key in registry.. etc) (popular, but not secure).
- Writing "Starts left..." on server(enough get CPU-ID & write one short php-script).

Posted 11-Jul-10 2:26am

halabella

Updated 11-Jul-10 2:27am

v2