Best Shareware lock for Delphi Win32

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

I've used ICE License in the past. Tool was easy to use - which is good, as the support was shocking!

None of these types of products is perfect, but, if you've decided that this is the route you want to go, you could do worse than this product.

Answer 2

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 3

I have used OnGuard by turbo power in several projects, but do not rely on it being the only method to protect the software. You can also use the LockBox library to encrypt data, such as a record stuffed in a database your app controls, containing license registration data that you emailed to the user and they applied via cut and paste into the about box.

The strongest way to protect things is to have a piece that the user doesn't have access to, and have your software "call home" to validate that its still valid (very DRM like). Unfortunately, this is easy for anyone to block by turning on thier software firewalls and excluding your application from using the internet. Of course DRM like systems have a bad name right now, but its partly because they are a frustration point to the end user because they work... as long as the service which validates the license is up.

Answer 4

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.

Answer 5

Oreans has very good production products(Themida & WinLicense), and recommended more than other products.

Answer 6

Having watched others have trouble in the past with third party licence & protection software, I think there is only one viable system. First, don't spend too much time on it, just make a good product, and update it often. Second, separate the install code from the protection. This way you can change the protection at the drop of a hat, without affecting any users. This basically means you have to write your own install code system, or use one like the old Turbopower one. Then use something that will protect your decoder a little. I currently use the Oreans Code Virtualizer which is quite sufficient.

Keeping them separate gives you flexibility, and less hassle.

Answer 7

I also not believe that it's worth to spend a lot of time and energy in a tecnical protection, the people who want steal your software wil doe it anyway.

Peldi Guilizzoni from Balsamiq have a nice blog post over this subject:

http://www.balsamiq.com/blog/?p=382

Answer 8

I can second the recommendation for Oreans' products. Their support is particularly good, too.

I also use Armadillo - which is ok, but I wouldn't recommend it anymore; and ASProtect, which I really wouldn't recommend at all.

Answer 9

I creating 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 10

I tend to prefer Armadillo from Silicon Realms (http://www.siliconrealms.com/). It has nice nice features and is integrated with Digital River/RegNow.com (being a subsidiary of them).

There are alot of Anti-Armadillo software available but custom builds a some additional prevention coded by you do magic.