I want to avoid having my program installed on other PCs 3

[RussA]

I want to avoid having my program installed on other PCs. If I have the PC in advance, is there info I can get from that specific PC that my FP60 program can check for before it continues. This way the original install disk can stay with the PC.

Thanks in advance Russ A =)

 

[Mike Gagnon]

RussA

Use the fullblown version Installshield which I believe permits the use of a Key to install.

Mike Gagnon

If you want to get the best response to a question, please check out FAQ184-2483 first.

 

[RussA]

Thanks, but that does not stop the software from being lent out with the key.

 

[Mike Gagnon]

RussA

I want to avoid having my program installed on other PCs

Then, can you re-phrase you question.

Mike Gagnon

If you want to get the best response to a question, please check out FAQ184-2483 first.

 

[RussA]

OK, I want my program to run on one specific unit. I have access to this unit and could just install the software every time I make an update but that would be too inconvenient do to its location. I want to avoid sending the install disk to the user because there is nothing to prevent the user from sharing the program with others. So if I were able to retrieve some kind of specific serial number in that PC that FP60 can check for before it continues. It would make any installation on any another PC unusable. Maybe I should have said I don’t want my program to run on any other PC.

Thanks Russ A =)

 

[Mike Gagnon]

RussA

You could retrieve the MAC address or the Hard-disk ID number, but all these components could change. You could write an entry in the registry on the next install, and check for its existance everyt-time you install, if its not there don't install.

Mike Gagnon

If you want to get the best response to a question, please check out FAQ184-2483 first.

 

[BPeisch]

I use either the MAC address or the volume serial number of the C: drive, and do a checksum (sys(2007)) against it. The result is the serial number for that machine. It won't work on any other machine.


-BP (Barbara Peisch)

http://www.peisch.com

 

[dsauls]

If you are sending the user a floppy to install from. You can have the install program save sys(0) which is the current network machine name to a checkable file on the floppy. After install the file would exist and trying to install it on another machine would generate and error. If you have a CD simply ask the user for the machine name and incorporate the sys(0) check into your install program. It would only allow for install on that machine.

 

[dnormanf]

Why dont you use a hardware lock such as MicroDog. Check out

http://www.rainbow.com

they´ve got a whole range of products against software piracy

 

[craigsboyd]

If you want to create your own (and I would suggest you don't and get something like Armadillo and not reinvent the wheel) then use the MAC Address, Volume Serial Number of the C: Drive, and/or the CPU ID...the reason I say "and/or" is because some of these are not guaranteed unique. These are the three things that most Hardware Lock schemes are based on however. A workable scheme for this would be that the user installs the program...when they first run it it checks one or all of the preceding and then gives them a number that they then call into you. You then put that number in and a program you have written generates an ID that will unlock the system for the user. It could be a permanent unlock, an unlock for a period of time (90 days or whatever), or it could be an unlock that turns on just certain features of the system. Most of the Anti-Piracy software out there will handle all of this for you and the cost is usually less than $200. However, you may only have need for this this one time and never again, so then I guess I would create my own if I didn't have access to a third-party tool, in which case I would use the MAC address and be done with it, at least until the user changed NICs on me.

I don't like the floppy idea (no offense):
1. It feels antiquated and may shake user's confidence in your product
2. The disk could be write protected and so then how do you get that file on there?
3. If a user is trying to circumvent the process this doesn't seem like a really secure way to do it


Slighthaze = NULL
_{craig1442@mchsi.com}

"Whom computers would destroy, they must first drive mad." - Anon​

 

[RussA]

Thanks to all for the great suggestions. I just simply want the program to run on one specific PC I don’t have any plans for distribution. I like the “MAC Address, Volume Serial Number of the C: Drive, and/or the CPU ID” idea. What is the syntax in FP6 for reading the MAC address, and the CPU ID?

Thanks to all Russ A =)

 

[BPeisch]

See thread184-756938


-BP (Barbara Peisch)

http://www.peisch.com