shareware/demoware

[Extensor]

----- Original Message -----
> Using the drive serial number is a possible solution but you have to
> keep in mind that people do upgrade their hard drives and you'll
> spend time administrating reg codes instead of focusing on building
> your business.

I use the drive serial number and don't spend any time administrating. I
allow a certain number of unlocks from different drive numbers and after
that the account is deactivated.

> if the product lives on the internet, doing an internet password
> check is possible but you really want to make sure that people are
> aware that is what you are doing. People are very suspect of software
> that communicates out over the internet to be able to operate.

That is true, I got around that by writing an encrypted file when the file
is unlocked successfully. Whenever the game starts it checks to make sure
the game is still on the same drive. If not it prompts the user to unlock
it.

> One cool trick I liked is for you to issue a crack for your software
> to crack boards before someone else is able to do so. Make sure the
> crack works, for a time. That removes the incentive for someone else
> to spend the time to crack your software. Why would someone want to
> be the second person to crack your software?

That is a cool idea! :)