Compute Name , Is it a good idea to use it for copy protection?

[GiladP1]

Hi,
I want to copy protect my application. I want to limit its use for a
given period of time, say 30 days, after which a license key will be
needed.

There are various issues to consider here like:

1)
How to keep the installation date on the user's computer so that a
simple uninstall and a complete deletion of the application's directory
and then a re-install won't bypass the protection.

So my question here is: is there a way to locate the system folder from
code and to plant a hidden text file there? Is it a good idea or are
there pitfalls? I can then check for the existence of this file.

2)
Another issue is trying to prevent the user from copying the directory
that contains the application to another computer. If the user will
already have a password, then just copying it to another computer will
enable pirated copies.

I am looking for machine specific information. I plan on having the
application provide the user with the Computer name (by clicking a
button for example), and then asking the user to send their Computer
Name to me. I will use it to generate a code which I will then return
to the user. The user will use this code to unblock the application
after 30 days.

So my question here is: Is the Computer Name a good idea for this
purpose? Can it be changed? Can different computers have an identical
computer name? I have seen a post about retrieving information about
the hard drive serial number, but another post in the same topic said
this doesn't work and it only gets information about volume and not
about the drive. Can anybody make some order in this issue for me
please?

Thanks greatly

[Douglas J. Steele]

Computer names can be changed very easily. Simply right-click on My
Computer, select Properties from the context menu, select the Computer Name
tab and click on the Change button.
I think a far better approach is to limit how much data they can put into
the main table, rather than limit it by time.

--
Doug Steele, Microsoft Access MVP
http://I.Am/DougSteele
(no e-mails, please!)

<Gi*****@Barak-online.net> wrote in message
news:11**********************@g43g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...

Hi,
I want to copy protect my application. I want to limit its use for a
given period of time, say 30 days, after which a license key will be
needed.

There are various issues to consider here like:

1)
How to keep the installation date on the user's computer so that a
simple uninstall and a complete deletion of the application's directory
and then a re-install won't bypass the protection.

So my question here is: is there a way to locate the system folder from
code and to plant a hidden text file there? Is it a good idea or are
there pitfalls? I can then check for the existence of this file.

2)
Another issue is trying to prevent the user from copying the directory
that contains the application to another computer. If the user will
already have a password, then just copying it to another computer will
enable pirated copies.

I am looking for machine specific information. I plan on having the
application provide the user with the Computer name (by clicking a
button for example), and then asking the user to send their Computer
Name to me. I will use it to generate a code which I will then return
to the user. The user will use this code to unblock the application
after 30 days.

So my question here is: Is the Computer Name a good idea for this
purpose? Can it be changed? Can different computers have an identical
computer name? I have seen a post about retrieving information about
the hard drive serial number, but another post in the same topic said
this doesn't work and it only gets information about volume and not
about the drive. Can anybody make some order in this issue for me
please?

Thanks greatly

[rude person]

On 3 Sep 2005 04:59:06 -0700, Gi*****@Barak-online.net wrote:

Hi,
I want to copy protect my application. I want to limit its use for a
given period of time, say 30 days, after which a license key will be
needed.

There are various issues to consider here like:

<snip>

There are methods which verge on virus technology, one of the
reasons to avoid too much shareware.
You could search Google eg on "how protect shareware"

[osmethod]

Gi*****@Barak-online.net wrote:

Hi,
I want to copy protect my application. I want to limit its use for a
given period of time, say 30 days, after which a license key will be
needed.

There are various issues to consider here like:

1)
How to keep the installation date on the user's computer so that a
simple uninstall and a complete deletion of the application's directory
and then a re-install won't bypass the protection.

So my question here is: is there a way to locate the system folder from
code and to plant a hidden text file there? Is it a good idea or are
there pitfalls? I can then check for the existence of this file.

2)
Another issue is trying to prevent the user from copying the directory
that contains the application to another computer. If the user will
already have a password, then just copying it to another computer will
enable pirated copies.

I am looking for machine specific information. I plan on having the
application provide the user with the Computer name (by clicking a
button for example), and then asking the user to send their Computer
Name to me. I will use it to generate a code which I will then return
to the user. The user will use this code to unblock the application
after 30 days.

So my question here is: Is the Computer Name a good idea for this
purpose? Can it be changed? Can different computers have an identical
computer name? I have seen a post about retrieving information about
the hard drive serial number, but another post in the same topic said
this doesn't work and it only gets information about volume and not
about the drive. Can anybody make some order in this issue for me
please?

Thanks greatly

What I believe would be a better approach would be to have a counter
decrementing in the DB. Upon installation, set the date in a field in a
table and substract each day untill 30 days go by.

To possibly prevent the reinstallation of the DB on the same or other
computer create a form that asks the user to input their "MAC Address".
This is the physical address of their network card which is unique.
Store this in the table along with the date.

By typing "ipconfig /all" at a cmd prompt the user can get the MAC
Address, which looks as follows...

00-0D-85-8B-B2-0D

Maybe this will give you some ideas...

osmethod

[David W. Fenton]

"Douglas J. Steele" <NOSPAM_djsteele@NOSPAM_canada.com> wrote in
news:7p********************@rogers.com:

Computer names can be changed very easily. Simply right-click on
My Computer, select Properties from the context menu, select the
Computer Name tab and click on the Change button.
Er, only a user with administrative permission can do that. Your end
users absolutely should *not* be running with admin permission on
their workstations.
I think a far better approach is to limit how much data they can
put into the main table, rather than limit it by time.

I agree with this, but basically I don't think trying to restrict a
demo is even worth it at all, as there's absolutely no method in
Access that could never be circumvented.

--
David W. Fenton http://www.bway.net/~dfenton
dfenton at bway dot net http://www.bway.net/~dfassoc