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  3. Keygens, Cracks, Etc.

Keygens, Cracks, Etc.

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  • W wlburgess

    Hi! Well, I've just been notified that two of my programs have keygens available for download. I look at this in two ways. 1st. It sucks. For obvious reasons. 2nd. Wow...somebody actually liked my software to waste a bunch of time tearing it up to figure out the registration algorithm. So, my question is...short of re-writing all my programs to use a shareware/release version (stripped down) and creating dual releases...how can we prevent this sort of thing? Its obvious that we as software developers are vulnerable to this sort of thing. How do we make our software crack proof? Fran

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    Gaz5700
    wrote last edited by
    #21

    We're facing most of the same issues that are being discussed on this thread. Here is a technical question that probably should be asked in a different forum: What is the best way to transmit user information via the internet to our web server where a database is accessed and a special code generated which is sent back to the installation program - all transparently to the user. I'm a C++/MFC programmer with no experience with ActiveX, Java, ASP, VB or any other internet language. Our install program is Install Shield. Thanks, Dave Saulnie

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    • A ardeva1201

      First off, I'm a veteran of shareware, both as a programmer and a user, having been "doing it" since the C64 days, and have done it for C64, Apple ][, Macintosh, Win3.1 and Win32. I’ve been around this issue for a very long while, and have done a lot of research into it. The bad news: As others have put it, if it's on the computer, it can be cracked, given enough time. Doing separate builds - one for trial, one for full - doesn't really solve anything. It may make your “manager” types happy, but someone will still buy it, get the full version, demand a refund, and then post the program everywhere. Yes, this has happened to me. Using a 3rd party protection tool is a SERIOUS waste of money - they all have a formulistic crack or patching method, and I haven't seen any pass a half-assed attempt. Examples: www.gamecopyworld.com, astalavista.box.sk, crackstore.com, suddendischarge.com, and w3.to/protocols - you can sadly find lots and lots of others. Anytime I hear about a game that’s “gone gold” on avault, almost always there is a crack ALREADY UP on gamecopyworld.com – and the thing hasn’t even hit my local MicroCenter’s shelves yet! As for people willing to use development tools and other stuff without paying for them: yes they do - check ANY of the binaries newsgroups if your ISP carries them. Borland 5 C++ compiler is free, yet people seem willing to trade VC++ and Metrowerks. Now, the good news: Generally, the reason people pay for a product is less than trialware and being forced to buy, than actually getting something for the money, be it continual upgrades, or helpful tech support (of course, if you did a good job on code and docs, tech support is probably minimal). If you find that people are ripping you off for a $30 program, try dropping the price to $20 - if they are still doing it then, then there is nothing you can do, and perhaps your program needs a re-write, if it's irritating people that much. Combating the cracks or keygens falls into two groups: if it's a patch (crack) to your program, simply make a new version. Hell, make one a week. I recommend using something like UPX or Shrinker to compress/encode the exe if this is a continual patching problem – this causes the exe image to change more than normal. If the problem is a keygen (making a new key), the crackers usually use something like "UpN Phrac-e" or “TNO-LamerBeach” or some such stupid thing. Gather all the keygens, and lock out the names. If you can det

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      modjtaba
      wrote last edited by
      #22

      I wish you could score conversational messages: 5+/5. ATL Student :rolleyes

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      • G Gaz5700

        We're facing most of the same issues that are being discussed on this thread. Here is a technical question that probably should be asked in a different forum: What is the best way to transmit user information via the internet to our web server where a database is accessed and a special code generated which is sent back to the installation program - all transparently to the user. I'm a C++/MFC programmer with no experience with ActiveX, Java, ASP, VB or any other internet language. Our install program is Install Shield. Thanks, Dave Saulnie

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        Tim Musschoot
        wrote last edited by
        #23

        Dave there are a variety of ways of doing this, One I can suggest really easy to implement is to host a hidden webbrowser control that posts data to a http: site and the site returns the data via a mini webpage to the users PC: A Hacker/Cracker can bust this in Seconds if they no what to look for, and if the user is operating behind a firewall, they'll have to set up a rule to permit your app doing this. Also have a look at this article and consider increasing the identification to the URLS Name Still a Firewall Rule will probably have to be set up for this to work ;-0 Regardz Colin Davies

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        • S Software Developers Journal

          I've recently noticed Microsoft using a new approach to prevent their Age of Empires II game from being pirated. They require the original CD to be in the drive for the game to start. If you make a copy of the CD and try it, it just prompts you for the original CD. This leads me to believe that they have something special on the original CD that the program looks for when it starts. So essentially, the CD behaves like a dongle. Pretty clever, don't you think

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          ardeva1201
          wrote last edited by
          #24

          Actually, pretty lame. See www.gamecopyworld.com for the crack. These "methods" are so trivial to break any more the cracks are calling them the "scratch and sniff" method

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          • W wlburgess

            Hi! Well, I've just been notified that two of my programs have keygens available for download. I look at this in two ways. 1st. It sucks. For obvious reasons. 2nd. Wow...somebody actually liked my software to waste a bunch of time tearing it up to figure out the registration algorithm. So, my question is...short of re-writing all my programs to use a shareware/release version (stripped down) and creating dual releases...how can we prevent this sort of thing? Its obvious that we as software developers are vulnerable to this sort of thing. How do we make our software crack proof? Fran

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            V Offline
            VS07
            wrote last edited by
            #25

            Quite honestly I never really bother with trying to make software I work on difficult to crack. Firstly, as many people have already stated, if somebody wants to crack your software, they will. Secondly, anybody who actually installs cracked software was never likely to actually purchase a copy from you anyway. When you want to buy the latest MS product, do you search all of the warez sites? - or do you pick up the nearest computer software catalogue? Saying this, I do frequently visit a whole list of 'top' warez sites, etc, to keep on top of what is happening to software packages I have worked on. I do laugh a bit when I see some software that I have worked on available to download - it is nice to know somebody out there liked it enough to crack it. Also, I have to admit that I 'leaked' a 'special' version of some software I was working on about a year ago to most of the warez sites, etc, that had a whole range of dead-ends for the crackers to follow. Even now that the final release has been out around 4 months, it has not yet been cracked. The crackers probably remeber the hard time they had with the 'dummy' version! This isn't to say that ignoring the possibility is good, but you lose more money trying to combat these cheaters than you'd ever making selling software to them

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            • W wlburgess

              Hi! Well, I've just been notified that two of my programs have keygens available for download. I look at this in two ways. 1st. It sucks. For obvious reasons. 2nd. Wow...somebody actually liked my software to waste a bunch of time tearing it up to figure out the registration algorithm. So, my question is...short of re-writing all my programs to use a shareware/release version (stripped down) and creating dual releases...how can we prevent this sort of thing? Its obvious that we as software developers are vulnerable to this sort of thing. How do we make our software crack proof? Fran

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              kriskris
              wrote last edited by
              #26

              Pretty simple: Try to be a cracker. Learn how crackers work, what tools they have (SoftICE), and crack some programs. Think as a cracker. You will learn how to protect your software. No need to 3rd party cracker-protection. Just some good ideas

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