SoftwareShield Implementation Details, Development Environment and Testing Questions

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• Using SoftwareShield, can I lock my program to a specific computer?

  Yes. You may choose to "Machine Lock" your Authorization Definitions.

  SoftwareShield provides you with 23 different finger-print options you can set that allow you to lock the application to a specific machine in numerous configurations. As well, if you devise your own system for uniquely identifying a machine, you can easily "plug-in" your own algorithm to our FingerPrinting sub-system. You have complete control over the type and sensitivity of the FingerPrint, from just being bound to the hard-drive serial number for example to full-on locking that binds to a dozen different settings in hardware.

• Is it possible for SoftwareShield to license several plug in DLLs (or other binary modules) individually, using only one license file for the complete installation?

  Yes. This is completely possible - provided that you control the source code for the plug-ins, or at least the source code for the plug in loader.

  This is possible because each individual SoftwareShield license file may have up to 64 different Authorization Definitions inside it that can each control completely different elements of your software (including controlling individual modules or DLLs).

  You could program each individual module to load/execute (or not) based on its own unique Authroization Definition - from a single license file. You also have the option of using logical "groups" of modules which are controlled by SoftwareShield, allowing you to activate more than one module at a time. All from a single license file you distribute with your software.

  Depending on how you wish to license the modules, you could individually license 50 to 60 modules - and many times that if you license them in groups. There are many possibilities here depending on exactly how you want to license them.

• I want to implement a leased software package. If I have my program expire some period of time from the date it was first run, can SoftwareShield allow the customer to be able to revive it for another period of time by entering an Activation Code?

  Yes. You may choose "Periodic Expiry" and set it to any number of days (up to 9999 days or about 27 years, which should be more than enough). Let's call this period X days. Then, you can code your program so that the user has the opportunity to enter an Activation Code that will reset the expiry period of the license through the SoftwareShield ClientProtector run-time component. This will allow them to get another period of X days of use before it expires again. You can repeat this process forever allowing you to implement a "lease period".

• I am developing my application with SoftwareShield, and when the object is created, I get an EOleSysError with message 'Class not registered'. What is wrong? How can I fix this?

  This error means only one thing - that the COM server that exports the class which your application imports is somehow not registered. If (somehow) the ClientProtector COM server is the offending dll then you must have somehow unregistered it or it failed to register when you installed SoftwareShield or your host application.

  If your installer is not built to register the ClientProtector component correctly, this error will happen on a freshly installed machine. If you somehow un register the component on your development machine, then you have somehow unregistered the server.

  To ensure the ClientProtector is registered with Windows either use the built-in registration function in the SoftwareShield License Manager, or to do this manually (on a test machine for example) use the following procedure:

  1. Open a command prompt. (Start, Run, then type "cmd" or "command").
  2. Change to the directory where the SSCProt.dll is located. (by default this is <Program Files>\SoftwareShield\Bin\)
  3. Execute regsvr32 on the dll to register it with Windows using the following command: 
     
     regsvr32 SSCProt.dll
  4. A dialog will appear indicating whether the registration was successful. This should succeed if you are in the correct directory, the COM server is in that directory and the Windows path to the regsvr32.exe utility is set correctly. You should have no trouble doing this in Win2k or XP.

• Does SoftwareShield support my customer moving their license between machines?

  Yes. SoftwareShield can easily be made to support activating a fresh copy on another machine using the same code; however, literally moving (copying) the license file will not work. They must install a fresh copy of your installer package on the new machine and activate it using a code you give them. This is a protection mechanism. Also, please see the help section on Deactivating Licenses for information on how to confirm that a single seat license has been deactivated before you issue a new code.

  Two key things to consider in this scenario:

  1. "System Finger-Printing" in SoftwareShield is what ties an activation code to a particular machine. You would want to simply turn off Finger-Printing so the Activation Code will work on all machines thus allowing the user to install your software on a different machine in the future, and activate it using the same code you provided. Of course this assumes that you wish them to be able to do this without your support. 
     
     Note that if you wanted to - you could enable Finger-Printing and instruct your customers that should they need to *move* a license that they need to install your installer package and contact you for a new code.
  2. Also, if you wish for your customer to *never* need a new activation code - then you must also ensure that the Activation Codes you supply do not have a "Shelf-Life". SoftwareShield "Shelf-Lives" are a hard date embedded inside an activation code such that when that date passes on the customers system, the code will cease to function - regardless of Finger-Printing.