NotebookForums.com › Forums › Off Topic › Desktop and Hardware Discussion › How to make a file expire.
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

How to make a file expire.

post #1 of 10
8/13/05 at 9:37pm
Thread Starter 
Ok here is waht I want to do I wan tto make a program that gets installed expire after a few days. My reasoning for this is I have a game i wan tsome body to try but I dont want them to have it forever. So if there is a way to get like a 10 Day period where it would work then some hidden file inside the install would then corrupt the data so that the game would no longer work after that date. Does any body know how or if this kind of thing is possible or how I could do it. I was thinking like a hidden batch file that on a certain date would uninstall the program. Any input would be great.
Reply
Reply
post #2 of 10
8/17/05 at 3:37pm
You could put a write a virus that reformats the drive after the alloted time expires
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 10
8/17/05 at 7:04pm
just give them the demo.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 10
8/17/05 at 8:04pm
why dont you just give them the game for a bit, then ask for the cd back later so they can't play?
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 10
8/17/05 at 9:21pm
I am not too into programming, but isnt there a way to use the system clock, and just like check the date and if the date is say after september 1st the game does not run, if it is before september 1st, the game runs. I don't know how, but it seems simple enough.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 10
8/17/05 at 9:24pm
That would require a bit of extra programming. The game would have to trigger a flag that would prevent the game to ever run again. Otherwise all they would have to do is change the date on the computer.
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 10
8/17/05 at 9:30pm
thats the idea though isn't it. A lot of the games back before the year 2000 did that such a thing. I still rememebr turning my comptuer clock backwards just so I can play soem random game again, before I got tired of it. I mean all you would need to do really is setup an If else clause that said basically is Variable equals #Date# then end program with a msgbox thats says something like "Your demo time has expired" or soemthing. Its not that hard to setup. We do it all the time for stuff here at work.

If it doesn't equal #date# then you let the program run...thats that.
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 10
8/18/05 at 2:57am
It would be fairly easy also to write the program so that the first time it runs, it dumps the current system date to another file and use that to allow the program to check that date against the current date. That way if the current date is before the day of the initial install, the program could detect that, as well as to keep track of the remaining trial period. The date the program was last executed could also be stored in that or another file so that it would detect if a user tried to set the date back to a time during the trial.

Thats assuming you're actually writing the program yourself though. It'd be a whole different story if its a program you didn't write that you just want someone to try.
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 10
8/18/05 at 8:32pm
yeah writing the program yourself makes all the difference, unless you write another program that accesses the other program in which you add the contingency for the "DATE" that way the only way he/she can run the program is start up your new program....and if its past the expiration date...well it wouldn't run.
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 10
8/18/05 at 8:34pm
It might be easier to do a per-use limit rather than a date range.


Allow 20 uses (or however many), then kill the program and pop up the "buy now" message. Much easier programming.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Desktop and Hardware Discussion
NotebookForums.com › Forums › Off Topic › Desktop and Hardware Discussion › How to make a file expire.