Are there any good ways to limit the number of times an application can start or limit how long it can be used for under Windows 7 and using C#?
As far as I can see the registry can be easily edited, there are programs to report any kind of file access, virtual machines can be used to change the system time back to when the application was installed, etc. For every idea I can think of there is a (usually) trivial work around.
I want to avoid the need for an internet connection. I.e. I don't want the software to request permission to start each time using hashes, etc.
I see third party license systems that have this kind of functionality. If implementing these approaches is always lame, how do they do it so it isn't lame?
Note: I don't want to "crack" a third party system. I already have my own license system that I want to improve. Generic, plausible ideas are all that I am looking for.
thanks, Andy
This is not the answer to your question, just something to think about. No matter how complicated your protection system is, it will be easily cracked. Even with online checking, it can, and will be cracked if someone wants it really bad.
That said, the people who would want to crack your program AREN'T your customers, they never were, and they never will be. If you make your protection system ubreakable (and there are no unbreakable protection system), those people will just not use your program and will find some other which they can crack.
On the other hand, people who are your customers won't try to crack it and will buy the original. Ask yourself - do you really want to waste your time, energy and money for somebody that is not your customer, and probably slow down the system for somebody who actualy is?
That said, I believe you should make some kind of protection system, but go with that which is fast and easy to implement and least obtrusive.