install.exe

[NewsArchive]

Does anyone know of an install program which produces a setup.exe or a zip
file that restricts the number of installs and downloads. Thanks
Dick

[NewsArchive]

On 8/17/2011 2:28 PM, Dick Foster wrote:
> Does anyone know of an install program which produces a setup.exe or a zip
> file that restricts the number of installs and downloads. Thanks

not sure using the installer as the solution is a solution. how does it
know how to track different users? couldnt somebody simply copy the app
after install and run it on another machine?

take a look at armadillo. it allows you to expire and lock down the app
after x days or x uses regardless of who downloads it or which machine
it runs on - even if copied

pratik

[NewsArchive]

On 17 Aug 2011 14:28:03 -0400, Dick Foster wrote:

> Does anyone know of an install program which produces a setup.exe or a zip
> file that restricts the number of installs and downloads. Thanks

DLGuard has that feature but its not part of the installer.
--

Mark Riffey
http://www.rescuemarketing.com/blog/
Now featured on the Visa Business Network
If Guy Kawasaki, the staff of the Wall Street Journal,
Fast Company, Marketing Profs & Business Week read it,
maybe you should too.

[NewsArchive]

Dick,

> Does anyone know of an install program which produces a setup.exe or a zip
> file that restricts the number of installs and downloads. Thanks

From the technical point of view, it's not a problem -- but it's a complex
task. To handle this, you need a database running in the background to
track the install and uninstall actions. A few of our US government
customers are doing this to control the installation base of their product.

Similar to this. Customer launches install.exe. The install connects to
your database over the Internet to see if there are still free instances
available. If this is the case, let the install continue and after a
successful setup, increase the install counter. If there are no more free
instances available, the install terminates immediately. During the
uninstall, you have to connect again to the database to decrease the install
counter.

BTW, all this adds an extra level of complexity to the deployment strategy.

Friedrich

--
Friedrich Linder
Lindersoft
www.lindersoft.com
+1.954.252.3910

SetupBuilder is Windows 7 installation -- "point. click. ship"

-- Official Comodo Code Signing and SSL Certificate Partner

[NewsArchive]

could the install program be written in clarion?

Dick Foster

[NewsArchive]

Hi Dick,

>
> could the install program be written in clarion?
>

The SetupBuilder Installation System is written in Clarion, so the answer is
"Yes" <g>

Friedrich

--
Friedrich Linder
Lindersoft
www.lindersoft.com
+1.954.252.3910

SetupBuilder is Windows 7 installation -- "point. click. ship"

-- Official Comodo Code Signing and SSL Certificate Partner

[NewsArchive]

Friedrich....I just sent an email to your consulting company. Here is what
I asked.
If I want to limit installs to 1 or 2 only:
1: Can this be done with some sort of a global variable that increments
after a successful install without using a database perhaps using
preserve-globalvariable.
2. If so, can you do it and what would it cost to do?
Thanks

Dick Foster

[NewsArchive]

Hi Dick,

> If I want to limit installs to 1 or 2 only:
> 1: Can this be done with some sort of a global variable that increments
> after a successful install without using a database perhaps using
> preserve-globalvariable.

Without having a "database" (license management system) running in the
background, you can't control the install "limit". A typical setup.exe can
be used on an unlimited number of machines.

A "global variable" can't help you because users always have a fresh
setup.exe available (with an install counter set to "0"). And you can't
"manipulate" existing applications (e.g. write the install counter back to
the setup.exe) because this would invalidate the code-signature.

Having a license management system running in the background (to restrict
the number of installations) is a complex and expensive task. And please
note that a user can't install and uninstall if the server is down and/or
the Internet connection is not available. This can result in a support
nightmare if you do not have the required infrastructure!

--
Friedrich Linder
Lindersoft
www.lindersoft.com
+1.954.252.3910

SetupBuilder is Windows 7 installation -- "point. click. ship"

-- Official Comodo Code Signing and SSL Certificate Partner

[NewsArchive]

Hi friedrich,

Surely you could use the registry to retain info related to mutiple installs?

Sim

[NewsArchive]

> Surely you could use the registry to retain info related to mutiple
> installs?

1. local registry can be wiped easily
2. what happens when the app is installed on another machine. how does
the setup.exe get access to the registry of any other machine?

Pratik

[NewsArchive]

Hi Sim,

>
> Surely you could use the registry to retain info related to mutiple
> installs?
>

As an example, let's see what one of our customers is doing (US Government).
A department is allowed to install a software product (one license costs
$25,000 per-user installation) on 50 machines (in completely different
locations). The same setup.exe is used to install the product.

The setup.exe connects to the "license management system" on a server to see
if there is still a "free" license available. If this is the case, the
setup sends some "unique" machine information to the server and the server
generates and returns a validation code that allows the installer to
continue. After a successful installation, the setup sends a command to the
server to decrease the "license counter". During an uninstall, the
uninstaller application connects to the server to decrease the "license
counter".

The above can't be done with a simple registry entry on "Machine A" because
the setup can still be used on "Machine B" even if the install counter on
"Machine A" already reached its maxiumum.

Friedrich

--
Friedrich Linder
Lindersoft
www.lindersoft.com
+1.954.252.3910

SetupBuilder is Windows 7 installation -- "point. click. ship"

-- Official Comodo Code Signing and SSL Certificate Partner

[NewsArchive]

Dick,

You could come pretty close with Secwin and some programming.

I once wrote an app that was distributed to the field world-wide using an
early version of SetupBuilder. The app contained proprietary information
and the client was VERY concerned that it would be copied or they would lose
control of who/when/where. When initially installed, it "branded" itself to
a particular UserID and CPU and emailed home for a license. The home office
reviewed the request within 24 hrs and issued a license using Secwin for a
particular UserID and CPU for a certain timeframe w/ certain features
enabled. This response was encrypted and emailed back to the requestor.
Upon receipt, the application automatically read and decrypted the
particulars from the email and unlocked itself appropriately.

If the app was copied to another CPU, it wouldn't work. If another User
tried to use the app on the same CPU it wouldn't work. After the time
period expired, it wouldn't work. As far as I know, the app was never
hacked or misused (not saying it couldn't be of course).

Worked pretty well and the client was satisfied.

This was all home-grown long before the fancy SetupBuilder web license
installer thingy stuff was available. If I had to do it over, I'd probably
go that route instead and save a lot of time and effort.

Al

[NewsArchive]

BTW you could obviously download as often as you wanted and install on as
many machines as you wanted. They would all be "branded" on installation
and refuse to run until licensed. The "control" was with the home office
admin that allowed/disallowed the use upon receipt of an email.

Al

[NewsArchive]

Dick,

It won't be easy to limit the number of installs. I think you want to allow
installs but require some kind of registration before use.

Regards,
Abe