Creating a setup with expiry date ?
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Hi all, I am creating the setup for my windows application,i want to include the expiry date for it that means whenever the setup is installed it should run for the 30 days after installation. How can i do it ? Is there any script in c# ? Thanks in advance.
The way you could tackle this requires quite a bit of infrastructure you probably haven't got in place yet. Basically, when your application starts for the first time you would register it on a remote server (use a web service for this, and generate a unique ID for the app). Using this ID, every time the application is run, compare the expiry date with the current date at the remote server and return whether or not the application is run. The advantage of this approach is that it takes into account the user resetting their system clock trying to circumvent the time check.
Forgive your enemies - it messes with their heads
"Mind bleach! Send me mind bleach!" - Nagy Vilmos
My blog | My articles | MoXAML PowerToys | Mole 2010 - debugging made easier - my favourite utility
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The way you could tackle this requires quite a bit of infrastructure you probably haven't got in place yet. Basically, when your application starts for the first time you would register it on a remote server (use a web service for this, and generate a unique ID for the app). Using this ID, every time the application is run, compare the expiry date with the current date at the remote server and return whether or not the application is run. The advantage of this approach is that it takes into account the user resetting their system clock trying to circumvent the time check.
Forgive your enemies - it messes with their heads
"Mind bleach! Send me mind bleach!" - Nagy Vilmos
My blog | My articles | MoXAML PowerToys | Mole 2010 - debugging made easier - my favourite utility
Disadvantage for this strategy is that user must have a network connection which is always connected.
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Disadvantage for this strategy is that user must have a network connection which is always connected.
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Hi all, I am creating the setup for my windows application,i want to include the expiry date for it that means whenever the setup is installed it should run for the 30 days after installation. How can i do it ? Is there any script in c# ? Thanks in advance.
These may be a bit of overkill for your requirements but have a look at these articles of mine: DateValidator using SNTP[^] An SNTP Client for C# and VB.NET[^]
Dave
Binging is like googling, it just feels dirtier. Please take your VB.NET out of our nice case sensitive forum. Astonish us. Be exceptional. (Pete O'Hanlon)
BTW, in software, hope and pray is not a viable strategy. (Luc Pattyn) -
These may be a bit of overkill for your requirements but have a look at these articles of mine: DateValidator using SNTP[^] An SNTP Client for C# and VB.NET[^]
Dave
Binging is like googling, it just feels dirtier. Please take your VB.NET out of our nice case sensitive forum. Astonish us. Be exceptional. (Pete O'Hanlon)
BTW, in software, hope and pray is not a viable strategy. (Luc Pattyn)Better way is something like writing a hidden entry in registry or somewhere else.Keep updating the time at some events.Check whether the user is tampering with system Date , if he is doing some trick like this, expire the appln.Else run it for 30 days.
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Or they wireshark the "it's ok, run" response from the server, redirect the server domain to localhost, and then run the program forever using a fake server. Or they'll just remove that check from the program, which is probably a lot simpler.
Or share the ID amongst several installations.
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Hi all, I am creating the setup for my windows application,i want to include the expiry date for it that means whenever the setup is installed it should run for the 30 days after installation. How can i do it ? Is there any script in c# ? Thanks in advance.
It's not worth the trouble. Just write the first version of the application, give it away for free, and see whether or not anyone likes it. If it becomes popular, maybe see about adding such things for version two. If not, at least you didn't waste your time.
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Hi all, I am creating the setup for my windows application,i want to include the expiry date for it that means whenever the setup is installed it should run for the 30 days after installation. How can i do it ? Is there any script in c# ? Thanks in advance.
I would write a registry value somewhere non-obvious on first use of the application with an encoded timestamp in it. You could also write an opaquely-named file into a system folder but since UAC it is not a given that you will be allowed to do that. Any check of this kind you put on your application, particularly if it's written in .Net, will be pretty easy to find and remove, so don't put a lot of effort into it. But this kind of simple check is sufficient to tell people you'd rather they paid, and to protect the app from the vast majority of lazy users. That said, you should strongly consider releasing software for free these days. Payware stands a good chance of turning people away, and the goodwill and potential future work you get from a quality free tool may well be worth more than the limited number of sales you'll get. And there's no need to try to protect free stuff.
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Better way is something like writing a hidden entry in registry or somewhere else.Keep updating the time at some events.Check whether the user is tampering with system Date , if he is doing some trick like this, expire the appln.Else run it for 30 days.
This isn't a better way, just another way. It also isn't secure, it is possible to download free registry watchers to see what is being changed. Checking whether the system date has changed is a problem too, as this can be done via the BIOS. For .net apps there is no 100% way to secure against tampering, the best you can hope for is to stop the majority of users.
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