VB Product Activation Code

Question

Hi,

I have developed a small click once VB app with multiple Windows Forms & allow users to download & install it from a website. I would like to restrict its use to individual users but don’t want to restrict them to just one computer.

I would for example like to be able to do something like:

Check if the product has already been registered on a computer.
If it has then just open the app & allow its use.
If it has not already been registered, open a new form that asks the user to submit their email address.
Check from an online list to confirm that the user is authorised.
If they are, email them a product key so they can register the app on a new computer & open another form for them to enter the product key & confirm the activation was successful.
If they are not, direct them to a website so they can request authorisation.

I’m just trying to prevent my app being passed on to anyone without my approval.

Does anyone know if that would be possible, does anyone have a sample code that I could modify or any advice on how to do this?

I am new to coding & any assistance would be appreciated.

Thanks in anticipation of any hep provided.

Answer 1

Hi

There are mny levels to this type of thing. It is VERY difficult to protect code in a way that can prevent unauthorised use. Unless you are willing to pay for expensive 3rd party tools etc then some sort of simple method with only very limited protection will keep the honest users honest.

You could for example, store a value in the registry and interogate that value to check if valid user or not a nd kill the application if invalid. This would need code to do with the checking and for fetching a validation code and updating the registry value.

Something along those lines would cost nothing except a little time to write the code.

There are numerous other simplistic methods and none are paarticularly secure.