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tim6389 · Professional Member Joined: 01 Aug 2002 Posts: 790

hello all

here is my other idea i'am working on making it so a program will only run so many times...this is set by the s/n the keygen makes so for a example the key gen would added the number of times (to the string) you want the program to run...( when the program gets to 0 times left it won't run, of course this can be reset with a new s/n) then the code that is in the "main" program will subtract the numbers in the string and the answer left is how many times it can run Smile

so if a person uses vdsinout for the encrytion this will make it hard to figure out what the "number" means Smile

only part that i don't like is that i will have to store this "number" to a file so the program can read it...i hope by using vdsinout this will make it harder for people to figure it out...program will have to make 2 ini type of files...if my thinking is right on this...

i will post code when i get it working...

any feedback on this idea..please post Smile

I hope i explained it well

thanks

tim6389 · Professional Member Joined: 01 Aug 2002 Posts: 790

here is part of the math for it (the encrytion part). only thing that is left is to have it subtract 1 each time the program is run

SnarlingSheep · Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2003 6:35 pm Post subject:

A few things to think about.
-If you use a file to store the data in(same basically applies to registry strings also):
--If you save one line of data in a file most people would probably realize that it's there to keep track of how many times the program was ran.
--What you will do if the user deletes the file.
--Hiding the file or putting it in a directory where you think it's safe won't work for very long. Anyone looking to disable it would watch the files your program adds to their system.
-If you are able to compile, writing the encrypted data to the end of your exe should be alright, once again it could be found and deleted though.
I believe that's all of my 2¢. If I think of anything else I will post back.

tim6389 · Professional Member Joined: 01 Aug 2002 Posts: 790

if a person del it will write a NEW file BUT it will have 0 in it Smile

and if i make the string big enought it (i think) will be hard to tell what it is i was thinking of having it make 2 ini files to Smile

this thought "-If you are able to compile, writing the encrypted data to the end of your exe should be alright, once again it could be found and deleted though." what you mean at the end???

thanks

please keep posting more feedback Smile

tim6389 · Professional Member Joined: 01 Aug 2002 Posts: 790

here is a expample of the code to make a "new" file if ini is del

SnarlingSheep · Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2003 11:30 pm Post subject:

Writing to the end of the exe means just that. Just like opening it in Notepad, scrolling to the end and typing something in.
I'm not sure you can do it anyway as vdsinout won't write to a file that is already open. This could corrupt the exe also, so unless someone has a foolproof way of doing it, it might not be a good idea.

tim6389 · Professional Member Joined: 01 Aug 2002 Posts: 790

FreezingFire · **Admin Team** Joined: 23 Jun 2002 Posts: 3508

SnarlingSheep said it probably wouldn't work with VDSINOUT but you might
be able to use BINFILE if you use VDS 4 or above for this job. Smile

tim6389 · Professional Member Joined: 01 Aug 2002 Posts: 790

hummmm part i don't understand is how will BINFILE or anything for that mater write to a exe?? can you please explain Smile

thanks

SnarlingSheep · Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2003 11:49 pm Post subject:

Well they can write to an EXE just like any other file.
Go into Notepad and open a file, where it says Files of type, select All Files, then find an EXE file and open it. I don't suggest writing to it or saving it..but you can.
Problem is, you can't write to your EXE from your EXE..because it's in use.
So basically scrap that idea.

tim6389 · Professional Member Joined: 01 Aug 2002 Posts: 790

hummm i like that idea...couldn't a person make other exe just for that? meaning have 2 exe one a main program and one that holds the info that is needed for the main program? cuase havimng it in exe form would be harder for people to firgure it out...i would think

what you think?

thanks

FreezingFire · **Admin Team** Joined: 23 Jun 2002 Posts: 3508

I think it would be better to append the data to the current EXE. A second
EXE would simply complicate things further.

To tell you the truth I wouldn't go ahead with this idea. I would use a
combination of the registry, encrypted files, etc.

SnarlingSheep · Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2003 12:02 am Post subject:

tim6389 · Professional Member Joined: 01 Aug 2002 Posts: 790

FreezingFire- i see what you mean in which case i will go that way BUT i still have to play with this exe idea now...lol why will cuase i have to see how this works....BUT you are right tho

i did however open exe in notepad it was a card game exe..and yes i back-up the exe first just in case Smile

to write to a exe do you have to do it in binary level?

thanks

SnarlingSheep · Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2003 12:08 am Post subject:

Although this goes into more detail than you need. It's some good info.
http://community.borland.com/article/0,1410,27979,00.html

If you write to the right position of the EXE you should be able to write Text or Binary without corruption.