Hi!!

I would like to create a deployment of the vb.net project. I have done it also!! But my problem is i want to make the setup such a way like suppose i am selling my product then it could be installed on that pc and they should not be able to make copy of that CD/ the setup cannot be installed on other pc. There should be the limited no. of pc's i could give the access. So how to work on this!!. I have heard something about the registry key management while deployment but actually how to do that can anyone help me out in this!!.

Plz if possible give the screenshots with an example.

Rgds
Prashanti

1) You are never going to get away from people making Copies of your CD's. Even if you spent thousands of dollars for research and development to get a technique that would, some young-punk out there is still going to find a way around it.

2) You cannot write back to the CD once the program is installed on a PC. So the CD itself (and the installer contained there-in) wouldn't know how many computer's it has been installed on. To get around this, you'd have to use a method to track when the software has been installed on a computer. In all cases, this is going to force the user to have to have the internet in order to install and the installer will have to send unique Computer information to track about the persons PC. If you allow them to by-pass that when they don't have the internet, then you provide them with a work around for installing on multiple computers which defeats the purpose of what you are doing.
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Users almost always feel burdened by copyright restrictions. The more you impose, the more likely that a user will hate your software before he even gets to use it. Even having to enter a CD-key is a burden. If your software never has a need to use the internet, rethink your desire to add copy protection to your deployment.
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There are many ways to tackle this topic, no one is going to be a best fit, but knowing what is practical and what is not is more than half of the battle.


-Sean Campbell

Instead of that... so how can i limit the setup of the application to be installed only on 4 pcs, like based on the licences which is tend to use by only 4 users. How can i do that?? Is there any way out for that..

There is no way to write back to a CD, so the actual installer itself won't know how many computers it is being installed on. In order to do that, you would have to:

A) Give a unique CD-Key for every copy of the CD
B) Once the software is installed, have it connect to a server to "activate" (like windows does).
C) You'd have to be able to grab and send unique computer information to track and compare when software is being reinstalled on a PC
D) The server can tell how many times you have installed the software based on how many times it has activated.
E) Once it activates you can use the software, if it fails then you cannot use the software.
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In this case, you require the user to have an Internet connection to use your software, regardless of whether or not the software's regular functionality requires it. Most PC users in the United States have internet access, but it's something to think about while you consider your audience for your software.