Expiration date

[MrReds]

Hello there and Seasons Greetings to everybody !

Please, I would be extremely grateful if somebody could help me.
Following is the issue.
I'd like to realize an .exe file with an expiration date, let's say 30 days from the installation.

I have looked in the past threads, but I found thread222-1442102, that unfortunately is not clear to me.

Please, can anybody help me ?

Thanks in advance !

 

[TLowder]

According to the OP in the link provided, this direction is flawed and there is no solution provided to the flaw. Therefor, I'm not sure why this link would be the direction you would take. This subject has been discussed a decent amount, in many different approaches. The search term may be like "demo version", "trial version" or "(Others can always search better then me, so fill in this blank ___________) . I think (unsure), the jist of all the recomendations is to store a date, encripted, in a file, write to file on first load. Of course making sure not to overwrite. Read file on exe load or better yet a timer, to be sure the user hasn't changed the system date/time, test if time stored < current system time and < 30 days. Maybe store / read same value in registry and multiple files simultainously, therefore if one is hacked, shut the software down via flag in the other stored areas. I have not read a full proof example, its more like making it harder for the would be thief than the cost of the software. I won't get into how these are not full proof but at least they will deter. Or perhaps for demo/trial version, limit the features. With the right search words, you can find some examples here. I'd be delighted to be pointed to a full proof or almost full proof solution. But mainstream software, is still hacked today, even given the amount of money big business can pay programmers to try to prevent this. I think the key word is mainstream, a decent amount of coverage will deter most. Unfortuanately, the big dogs probably just right it off like credit card companies handle fraud - it's more expensive to fight, so just factor into cost and pass to the consumer. Anyway my 2 cents. Hey what ever happen to the cents key? I'm pretty sure they used to exist; perhaps on my old Comodore? And it still might be here, today, with the right key sequence.

Tom

 

[tedsmith]

The biggest problem is how to stop someone reinstalling the whole app each time it expires.

One way is to create a hidden variable in the registry but even that can be cleared by an expert.

You might get away with hiding a fake DLL file in the System32 and changing it's creating date to the same date as the windows OS files to make it harder to find.