>Hi -
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>I'm creating a program that I want to give users a chance to try out that will expire after so many days or so many uses. If they purchase the program then all they will have to do is enter a license key and then they can continue to use it. What is the best way to go about it? Any suggestions or white papers to read?
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>Thanks
>
>Nichole Brelje

Hi there,

This is typically done in one of two ways, or even a combination of the two. The first is to bury your app registration and demo information in the users registry. Reading and writing the regsitry with VB code is pretty easy. You should be able to find code for this on the web. You should also use some type of encryption on your registry keys and values as well, so they are not obvious to end users.

Alternatively, you can hide your demo and registration information in a hidden file somewhere on the users PC (C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM for example). You could do both, if you are really paranoid... =)