How to update after creating exe?

Dear All ,

After a developer creates a program with months toil & sweat, one fine morning he discovers that his program is running in several computers just by copying.

I have seen certain anti-virus programs update the .exe files , after getting updates from internet.
Now , my question is is it possible to get the computer details & impregnate it into the program.exe just installed ?

For Example:
I develop a program & then compiled it then I told my client this is a single user Program & installed it there.

Now if my client tries to copy & install it into a different computer ( actually the entire package is there in the hard disk ) . What I want to do is the program will modify the main Package Hence the software can not be running into any other computer.Or the .exe file will be modified after 1st time run & hence prevent it to run in other computers.
Possible?

Rahul

nope

What you acctually need is a Program activation, Copy protection.. A key is generated that is unique to each install and installing/coping it to another PC will not allow it to activate without a new Key..

have a look at Copy Protection Thread

Call me mustard after the meal, but, this should have been considered whilst planning the program. Now, you have a situation where you have to include that logic, then install the program(s) again.

Concerning your other question about updating an exe, well, how programs like anti virus programs do it, is, they don't physically update the exe file itself, they update all the DLLs that the exe file uses

The key/activation code is the route I would take,

@Hannes :
Right I was wondering something like that, they dont update the exe , just few dll files.
Regarding copy protection , I have tried many ways, but india, people are much smarter, after a month the program seems hacked !!

I install my programs from a Pendrive to client computer.I have another Idea !!

If I take away the hard idsk number into the Installer Package For Ex: HDD Number:0D0A-17F3
and give away the Installer to my customer, whenever he tries to copy or install it will check the VOL of the Hard disk, if it matches it will run else come out with message,will it be ok?

Thanks Friends.

Please help
Rahul

Check the Copy protection thread....

The KEY that is generated is based on the HDD Serial and other details of the PC, so when they send you the key to get an unlock code, you can check to see if it's on a new machine..

And if it's a new install you can invoice them for a new unlock code ... A unlock code from one machine WILL NOT WORK on another....

the .NET version i did is even tougher to break and even contains an expiry date in it..

Cloning the drive produces the same #, and utilities can SET the #, so that isn't always good to use.

Nope .. this pull's the hardware serial, not volume serial... Cloning wont copy that...

For most users even the volume serial is more than they can get around and for the serious hacker no key is fool proof.

Fantastic My Friends,

I see several consequences coming out.

Then Lets leave the HDD Part aside.
What if I keep a serial number check in the Program?, as because I supply a Video Hard ware with my Software.
How to retrieve the Video Cards serial number , no not the vendor Code.
If they buy another Video card even of the same company it wont run because the serial number wont match.
Is it Possible?
If not Serial Number then something else from the video Card which is unique for all cards??

Please guide.

Thanks
Rahul

Well DxDiag does not return the Video Serial etc.. and there's never been need for it, most app's are more interested in Make & model, so only that is available.

What you may need to do is get hold of the people that make the video card you supply and ask them it there is any way to identify the uniqueness of each card...

Gremlin,

Yes You are 100% right, But unfortunately the Video Card manufacturer is from China.
They never answer our mails.Hence details of their hardware is beyond my dreams.

Is there any way to find out all the details of the Video Hard ware Hardware ID,or anything which can do the trick?
Hardware ID : MS_MMVID <-- I dont think this will help.
Its better if we have a solution like digging out all the details of the video hardware then only
we can discuss.

Any Idea Bro?

Rahul

We could dig through the Firmware and memorylocations on the card for months or even years and not find the Serial ID, HardwareID will be the same for all identical cards (or even across different models) because that is what Windows uses to load the correct driver for it..

Best bet is if you can find a Firmware map, (IE. Call's and response's), Programming guide or something of the sort that you can dig through to see if there is a method to pull the Cards Serial from it's firmware.. Problem is that i dont think this will be posible, as there was never a reason to record the Serial in the Card memory, like with HDD's and CPU's ....

Gremlin,

I do agree what you said.:(
Well, then if that is the issue , lets forget the serial number, lets find the Chip Properties.
Like SAA7130 or Conexant 1066.
Will they be different too?

Thanks
Rahul

You can also REGISTER your program, and let others take care of the security. The harder you make it to copy, the harder the bad guys will try to crack it. Get a HARDWARE DONGLE, sell it to each user, and the program won't run without it. That's how MUSIC RECORDING SOFTWARE woks. Except that you can register a bunch of programs into one dongle, and move it to different devices (that you own and have another copy of the software)

Dlienna

Here dongles are very expensive & you have to pay a bundle to buy at the minimum 100 pcs.So is there any way to convert any USB drive to dongle?

Thanks
Rahul

Nope. You can erase a USB, but not a dongle. They update it's setting every day, which is why they are expensive to buy and utilize. It is foolproof.