I can see several kinds of licenses to register my application (Single file, registry, text file..). Which one should I use to make my application more robust against cracking?

<< Click to Display Table of Contents >>

Navigation:  WinLicense > FAQ > Registration > Common >

I can see several kinds of licenses to register my application (Single file, registry, text file..). Which one should I use to make my application more robust against cracking?

WinLicense offers different types of licenses to satisfy different developers' needs. In all types of licenses, WinLicense offers a strong encryption algorithm to protect a license from being tampered with or faked. You can find more information here.

 

The examples below show how each type of license looks:

 

 

Registry license key

 

Registry keys are very easy to install in the system, without requiring computer knowledge for your customers and it's totally transparent for your application. To install a registry license, your customer has to double-click on the .reg file (created by WinLicense) and accepts the standard Windows message box to install the key in the Windows registry. After that, your application needs to be restarted in order to finish the registration process for your application.

 

Example of registry license (*.reg file):

 

REGEDIT4

 

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Company\Product]

 

"reg_key"=hex:38,4A,0F,10,C0,DB,C1,5C,04,82,31,7C,8E,CC,5B,2E,78,39,74,7F,5E,DB,77,C7,DA,39,B4,DD,F1,1E,10,70,1F,98,45,79,

 

4F,57,94,03,96,A8,98,27,B1,9A,6A,B5,9E,31,29,6E,8F,F7,DD,A6,CD,11,88,43,A1,50,28,14,89,0F,D1,BD,88,D4,A9,90,97,8B,77,00,00,80,

 

3F,9F,4F,27,13,DC,73,75,3F,E8,B7,A1,1F,CC,19,B6,9D,8A,D2,1D,C7,A7,8D,98,95,8D,93,7A,71,7B,00,80,3F,9F,4F,27,13,89,96,71,D5,

 

CD,DE,62,02,BC,1A,B6,B9,88,0F,3D,61,30,17,0B,05,02,01,00,FE,FF,FF,FF,FE,FF,FF,FF,EF,30,AB,20,D7,BB,98,08,97,2F,0F,CB,08,AF,

 

11,A2,CC,32,57,9F,B1,49,0D,19,55,06,4C,FE,09,67,6F,AD,7D,C5,7A,FE,3C,F0,5E,47,67,93,47,56,DC,32,3D,2D,08,CE,D5,35,C8,41,4C,

 

F8,39,C1,4E,CF,FD,44,94,CC,E2,5B,4A,46,86,18,89,2B,3A,79,AC,DA,AE,D7,B7,2B,6D,02,9C,74,98,A5,84,83,0D,45,7A,5A,39,E0,12,63,

 

F9,53,89,25,6A,D3,8B,FC,2E,57,D1,F9,13,6E,87,73,B7,2A,C6,58,6B,8B,E9,07,DF,E9,F4,58,9E,14,D9,A1,C9,B7,C1,B0,3E,57,B7,87,6A,

 

F2,4F,90,2A,66,C6,52,9B,E5,C8,29,5F,69,0E,27,44,80,C4,A0,E8,3C,03,86,9C,9D,26,35,10,FC,31,86,CF,26,16,CF,FA,C9,FE,DD,6F,69,

 

F4,B4,9B,04,8D,BD,5B,78,03,80,CC,F7,05,57,90,7B,4B,54,75,92,01,CE,19,4F,40,B3,CD,AF,63,62,41,0E,6F,B3,00,39,53,FC,2B,DC,3B,

 

0B,A0,7B,31,E2,CC,16,CA,EA,8C,8A,40,AD,FD,09,43,84,C1,8D,88,81,A6,A4,3E,FB

 

 

Text license Key

 

Text keys are convenient when you want to handle the registration of your application with a specific form inside your application. Text keys can be easily sent by email to be copy/paste into your specific registration form.

 

Example of text license key:

 

6DEA68EC78BD5B357EC6A4E8A91D018911A6B3F0691142B5EF65762145C7ADF7549B3F7FE39829E605F795C6C573BD90D928

 

2F6E8FF7DDA1417C3E9ECFE7F3F9FC084E6C0074777F900852602F170B0502803FCCE03394405CECC5295755686FC51644660

 

5A88B8494F950E92F170B0502803F1F3D377E9BB537EC395855846D82F6BEDF6F371B0D0683FEFFFFFFFEFFFFFFC3FC53DC913

 

F1D4B80AF3DDDBD297C5114849630F716E28EDA20CC81A89E5314060B0824DDC29347D386AD0F6DEB1703AB4E344E9ABE54E

 

0D73893542E93AD331126F991F42FE384C2AD6A17201A1F27F7D1AA4AED95C41287FA2E06C55D4B51B4CD6BE3F147AA5748A2C

 

4362B3510950E3FFA87DCBC811A3A29362A11E1C14D07A5DB15A1094609DF6C6254CEDC82E60B57C15A62B1DB394544279828

 

4E118BF6CB981D54384D2D2BF0D85021B4F218BB185D0CF97B7957E8EB99E92566D85D7CC0F23C5F533E9B425D288E10DBAF

 

206E47643045FFEF533BC3091CD527740F138B905A02FBB0EC3F75EF6096CF09407962559E

 

 

File license Key

 

File keys are special files that hold the licensing information for a specific application. To register your application with a file key, your customer has to put the file key in the same folder as your application. After that, your application needs to be restarted in order to finish the registration process for your application.

 

 

SmartActivate® license key

 

The SmartActivate® System allows an application to be licensed using a valid activation code that should be inserted in a dedicated form in your application. It is very popular now to use such keys when almost all registration data comes as plaintext and the key has a checksum for data and license restrictions.

 

Example of SmartActivate® license key:

 

Name: John Smith

 

Company: J.S. Software Development

 

Custom Data: MODE: Advanced

 

Key: 286D0394-87716B52-BC59FA9A-CAA8DE87-4881A155-BF450169-C590