quote:medovid: Isn''t it easy to simply change the date or delete the program and all registry info and then reinstall it.

quote:
Making the leap to Armadillo by Mike Stevenson
As a shareware developer, I''ve been finding my programs hacked within days of release for a few years now. I secretly admit that this is a little flattering, but beyond that it''s infuriating. Lets face it: most hackers are pimply faced kids who have never worked a day in their life. They think all software should be free, and can''t see why anyone wouldn''t agree. Well, I don''t agree.

My registration code algorithms have always been rather simple. A last step before release that I never put much effort into - just enough to keep the honest people honest. But increasingly, the dishonest people are corrupting the honest people. I see more and more people - from men to women, kids to grandparents - that think if they can find a code on the internet, they don''t have to pay. And codes are not hard to find, these days. No longer can we worry about keeping the honest people honest. It''s gotten to the point where we need to shut down the dishonest, as well.

For the newest release of my product, I settled on the Armadillo Protection System. Starting at only $89 to protect as many programs as you''d like, I only have to recover five sales to justify the costs. I posted a quick question on the ASP private newsgroup and was told that a program can be protected in a matter of minutes, and can be done well within a matter of days. Wow, were they right!

My initial test of Armadillo was the simplest that could be done. I pointed it towards my main executable, chose a 32-bit encrypted key, typed a few personalized messages, and chose a 30-day trial period, and hit Protect. In less than three minutes, I had a completely protected program with optional nags before and after the program, full key-based protection, and a sophisticated system for making sure that users don''t mess with the system clock to get more time out of your trial. However, my final goal was 100% integration with my existing dialogs, so I set to work.

Armadillo allows you to turn off the default notifications for expired trials and clockback errors. In doing this, Armadillo instead makes certain environment variables available to your program that allow you to determine when these events have happened. Then, with the help of a "virtual dll" (no installation is involved, as there is no physical dll), you make calls to check a key (aka, registration code), install a key, check for an fix clockback/clockforward errors, and a host of other features.

Total time to completion: 3 to 4 hours. Total time without a crack: 33 days - a personal record. I continue to be amazed by Armadillo, and plan to use it to protect things I never though I''d be able to sell, such as the games I write for my kids in Flash. Its ease of use, low cost and relatively small size (only added 200k to my app) makes this a must-have utility for any shareware author. There is a 30-day trial and more informatoin available from Silicon Realms at http://www.siliconrealms.com/.