Best Shareware lock for Delphi Win32 [closed]

Question

Same intro as my last question:

I am re-writing and/or consolidating a bunch of my "app framework" classes (basic mainform, about box, locking routines & purchase linking, auto-update, datamodule initializer, etc) -- Basically, I have a number of small potential shareware apps that I'm wanting to get out the door, and want to re-use code where I can, as well as build a framework for later apps to save time.

But different question: : )

What is the best shareware lock component for Delphi Win 32 apps? (I don't mind paying for commercial if that's best).

Clarifying -- yes, best license key verification / lock + trialware component.

Answer 1

There is no effective way to lock down an application, period. You can make it more difficult for users to use the program without a valid license from you, at the risk of creating false negatives, which can become a PR nightmare very quickly in the Internet age.

There are two ways to go about doing this. You can create some sort of DRM lock built into the software. These take no time flat for some talented hacker to reverse-engineer. (The best tend to last about 1 month.) Or you can create a validation system that requires the program to connect to a server. These are a lot harder to crack, but tend to have serious false-negative problems, and if your server ever goes down, all your paying customers are up a creek. In the end, neither is a good solution.

Long story short, if you want to make a program that will be profitable, make it of high enough quality that people will be willing to pay for it, and market it to the people who are willing to buy software instead of steal it. There just aren't any shortcuts.

Answer 2

I created a "self-modifying" EXE by appending a data record to the end of my compiled application. The first thing my application did was get the machine id and the bios date from the computers memory. I would then compare these to the machine id and bios date stored in the appended data record. Seek to end... back up XX number of bytes... read to end.

This worked great. If a buddy passed on a program to a friend and it didn't recognize the machine id or bios date and reverted back to trial-ware. When they entered the key successfully I would update the appended record with that machines user information.

Then Norton started flagging my software as a virus because it was a self-modifying EXE. That put a halt to my app locking days. I haven't tried since.

Answer 3

I tend to agree that aggressive DRM is really bad and annoys legitimate users, but, at the same time, an incentive to keep honest people honest isn't bad either, provided it doesn't get in the way...

Not a real component reference, but some interesting reading on protecting software:

anti-cracks tips:
Fravia's HOW TO PROTECT BETTER.
Pirate-Me-Not.

reflections on Piracy and DRM:
Piracy and Unconventional Wisdom.
Piracy & PC Gaming.