How to disable an exe file after first installation?

Question

Does anybody know the solution for this? I create an exe file of my software. After first installation I have to disable the exe, so it cannot be run again because when someone purchases the software from me they can install it only once.

Answer 1

To do this you'll need to store something somewhere, that something could be:

• A file
• A registry entry
• A call to a web service you own that stores a unique identifier for the machine, and is checked on subsequent installation attempts (Note: If you choose this method you must be clear and up-front with your users that it's what you're doing).

Bear in mind that a determined user will be able to circumvent file and registry methods and also quite possibly the web service method. The former two by using something such as Process Monitor to identify the files/registry entries you're writing to and clear them. For the latter, by using something like Fiddler to identify the web service calls you're making and replacing the responses with ones that allow them to bypass your protection.

Remember, ultimately the user can disassemble your code and remove the protection mechanisms you've put in place, so don't rely on them being 100% un-breakable

Answer 2

You could store the installation path in the registry or some secret location and have your .exe check that if it has started from a location different than the one stored, to simply exit, as you probably don't want to tell the user what you are doing.

Answer 3

Forget it, mate. It's software - you absolutely cannot enforce something like that because the user has complete control over the environment where the binary runs, including reverse engineering, virtualization, backups etc. etc. And the ones who you want to foil are precisely the ones who will go to any length to thwart any protection measure you could invent.

No, the only thing that works is to force an online connection and register, on your system, the fact that a particular binary was installed once, then forbid it the next time. That requires you to make each installer different and have a cryptographically strong key generator, and it's still susceptible to replay attacks - but it's the only thing that is not useless by definition.

(Well, either that, or make your software so insanely great that people will fall in love you and want to give you the money. That solution is probably even harder.)