Prog's with a x day trial

YoungBlood · 19 Mar 2007 at 10:52

You know how it goes, you have a bit of software that has a few day's trial before it locks up. You then need to purchase it/enter a unlock code.

My question is when you uninstall said software, including any registry entries, then re-install the software. How does it know that it has been installed previously and straight away says you have zero days of trial left?.

Im not asking for any shady info here, the company I work for owns the software in question, and is of no use to any other company as it is designed around our machines.

I have just always wondered how it knows it has been installed before :confused:

jchiver · 19 Mar 2007 at 10:59

i think you will find that not all the files are uninstalled.

scratch · 19 Mar 2007 at 14:15

The uninstaller will leave behind files/registry settings containing information on when the software was initially installed.

Andy

the-void · 19 Mar 2007 at 15:27

scratch said:
The uninstaller will leave behind files/registry settings containing information on when the software was initially installed.

Andy

Which is why windows eventually grinds to a snails pace if you install or un-install programs all the time. (Vista is no different as it still relies on a registry.)

killer_uk · 19 Mar 2007 at 15:37

Well theres always the option of a registry cleaner, but thats like dicing with death.

YoungBlood · 19 Mar 2007 at 15:46

I did try to manualy delete any entries that could be associated with it (this is on a work pc, so has no relation to my other thread of .exe's not executing)
however it still know's it has been used before.

I have no idea what im doing but I got some programme off the net that "opens" the file in question into some sort of editor, so im trying to remove the whole trial limit from the programme.
Does'nt matter if anything breaks as we have it on CD, just something to mess about with to pass the time. Who knows it might just work.

The_KiD · 19 Mar 2007 at 15:50

Use Regmon & Filemon, and with it running install your prog.

Now you should have a nice log of all the entries that are added and changed during the install.

Uninstall the prog with Regmon and filemon running again and check out what it didnt remove.

job done!

regmon & Filemon

YoungBlood · 19 Mar 2007 at 15:55

The_KiD said:
Use Regmon & Filemon, and with it running install your prog.

Now you should have a nice log of all the entries that are added and changed during the install.

Uninstall the prog with Regmon and filemon running again and check out what it didnt remove.

job done!

regmon & Filemon

I shall try that now, but im thinking that the "timestamp" file is allready there so it proberly does'nt write it again during a new install. So how would those programmes lead me to the file? Im gonna give it ago anyway.

The_KiD · 19 Mar 2007 at 16:03

yes your right it wont, sorry I meant to say you should do this on a new machine that hasnt had this prog installed on it before.

mind you reg mon will show where it makes calls to in the registry so you should be able to see where it is finding the info at least.

Also make use of the filters in regmon and filemon so that it doesnt show you every single reg entry.

bledd · 19 Mar 2007 at 16:37

The_KiD said:
Also make use of the filters in regmon and filemon so that it doesnt show you every single reg entry.

this is important, otherwise the log will be mental!, your pc accesses files and registry a lot more than you might think!

z0mbi3 · 19 Mar 2007 at 16:41

the-void said:
Which is why windows eventually grinds to a snails pace if you install or un-install programs all the time. (Vista is no different as it still relies on a registry.)

I think this is more of a legend than anything else (at least if you format every 2 years or so).

A good defrag will have much more benefit than any amount of registry cleaning will (except in the case of removing startup items).

Dagon · 19 Mar 2007 at 17:15

Other posters are correct - regmon is your friend. You don't need to install the trial software onto a new pc. Just fire up regmon, then the trial software, and you should be able to see what keys it is reading in the registry. It must read a key that tells it how many days are left - oftentimes it will be some legacy stuff or something with a name that you'd never guess was associated with the trial software. All it requires is a vague idea of what to look for and some patience. You then just need to edit the offending key or delete it (may require using regedt32 to change some permissions).

M0t0r0la · 19 Mar 2007 at 17:36

I use the FREE 30day trial of DigiGuide on my PC and when it runs out each month I simply restore my Ghost image and away I go again with my free 30day trial. Takes no more than 5 minutes

Add/Remove/Uninstall programs SUCKS and always leaves carp behind. Restoring ghost images is the far better way to do things

the-void · 19 Mar 2007 at 19:50

z0mbi3 said:
I think this is more of a legend than anything else (at least if you format every 2 years or so).

A good defrag will have much more benefit than any amount of registry cleaning will (except in the case of removing startup items).

It depends on the frequency you install and remove applications.

If you only install office then your machine will be as fast as the day you installed it.

If you are forever installing demo's, beta testing, games, and a whole host of freeware then no amount of defragging is going to cure your ill's.

This is why I store all my documents separately. And have images of my machines that I can restore to every 3 months on the test machine (games, demos). Although my work machine has not been touched in 14 months (because I never install anything on that machine)

z0mbi3 · 20 Mar 2007 at 09:23

the-void said:
It depends on the frequency you install and remove applications.

If you only install office then your machine will be as fast as the day you installed it.

If you are forever installing demo's, beta testing, games, and a whole host of freeware then no amount of defragging is going to cure your ill's.

This is why I store all my documents separately. And have images of my machines that I can restore to every 3 months on the test machine (games, demos). Although my work machine has not been touched in 14 months (because I never install anything on that machine)

Hmm. If you were installing 10 different programs a day then I'd have to agree with you, but as it stands you're probably not and I don't so I think you're just wasting your time.

Defragging the registry is the way forward.

Ratbag · 20 Mar 2007 at 09:38

Or, download Powershadow and go into shadow mode prior to installing apps, demos etc.

This is an awesome program and is getting raved over at the Wilders Security Forums.

namdog · 22 Mar 2007 at 20:30

Thanks, Ratbag.

I tried Powershadow. Really powerful and amazing!

Ratbag said:
Or, download Powershadow and go into shadow mode prior to installing apps, demos etc.

This is an awesome program and is getting raved over at the Wilders Security Forums.