How do i make my program work for 5 times and then Expire

[Beginner]

How do i make my program work for 5 times and then Expire and will never work again ? In which i'll have to rebuild a new one using VB so that it will work for another 5 times more.The approach i used is as follows.

I created a text file with the name zxs.txt and set it as a counter for the program:

So now to make the program open i'll have to open that text file and set the value to zero. Now what im after is:

I want the program to run for 5 times, when it expires i want to manually create the zxs.txt file run the program so that the number of trials is back to zero."Then i run the program so that it resets the trial from the text file".Then safely i can delete the text file , moreover i want to make this step as a secret. Now what happens when i run the program without that file is:

Instead i want the program to run and make the zxs.txt a secret way to reset the program. If anyone how any idea how to do so please come forward. Any other suggestions are welcomed.

 

[JohnH]

If IO.File.Exists(path) Then ....

 

[Beginner]

Come again please i have no idea about that..

 

[Icyculyr]

Lol, hey,

Depends how you want to do it, do you want it to be secure, like impossible to crack, or just fairly difficult, if you hide a file hard enough, it can't be found, and you can make it tamper proof by encrypting it, and writing the first line like [THISISVALID] and then how many attempts you have made underneath,

and compare the first line read to that string, disable your application if it doesn't match correctly...

Need any more info?

Cheers

 

[ghostpally]

To not get that error that it cant fine you file. do this
If System.IO.File.Exists("Here you put you patch of the file.") Then
Else
MsgBox("Sorry But you Trial account has expired")
application.exit()
End If
End Sub
So say your file in the the same folder as your EXE then you would use this code

If System.IO.File.Exists("zxs.txt") Then
Else
MsgBox("Sorry But you Trial account has expired")
application.exit()
End If
End Sub

 

[Beginner]

I found an Application Trial Maker about how to create the trial application. This article supplies serial maker dll for the application. I got the source code about how to use it. It is a C# example. Is there any software for converting the code to get VB.Net code?

 

[ghostpally]

I dont belive there is a convert beginner. i think that you should just try my example. its not so hard

 

[Icyculyr]

He wants something "hack proof" ghost, and why don't you convert the C# example yourself, people on the forums will probably help if you post...

Cheers
Icyculyr

 

[Beginner]

He wants something "hack proof" ghost, and why don't you convert the C# example yourself, people on the forums will probably help if you post...

Cheers
Icyculyr

My post wasnt meant for beginners.

Chill man

 

[daniel02_0403]

hello beginner ....

why don't you try using the registry to put your counter with ....
although i haven't tried it yet .. but it might help ....

hope this can help you ...

 

[Xancholy]

If you're looking for a 3rd party solution, try PC Guard .NET

You can protect your app by numerous methods.

 

[FreeriderUK]

I'd give VBOLock a try.

http://www.moonlight-software.com/vbolock.htm

Very reasonable price. Good customer support.

 

[cjard]

Didnt Microsoft recently provide a framework for this? I think it's called Sharepoint Services but i'm not sure. It was in the News channel of VS2005

 

[cjard]

SOrry, my bad memory.. it's called SLP Services:
http://www.microsoft.com/SLPS/visualstudiousers.aspx