Secure the installation of a software by prompting for a serial number

Question

I am working on a project (Java project) and using Inno Setup 5 to create an installer. How can I secure the use of the install.exe and ask a serial number during the installation?

Thanks for the help.

I want a way to secure the software : offline with use of a serial. I don't know the best way to do it. — user1571292
– user1571292, Commented Feb 15, 2017 at 12:39

Martin Prikryl · Accepted Answer · 2020-04-07 06:30:45Z

1

Inno Setup has a built-in functionality prompting for a serial number on the optional "User Information" page and verifying the entered number.

set the UserInfoPage directive to yes;
implement the CheckSerial event function to make the Inno Setup prompt the user for the serial number and to verify it;
use the {userinfoserial} constant in the [Registry] section to save the entered and verified number to registry.

[Setup]
UserInfoPage=yes

[Registry]
Root: HKLM; Subkey: "Software\My Company"; ValueType: string; ValueName: "SerialNumber"; \
    ValueData: "{userinfoserial}"

[Code]

function CheckSerial(Serial: String): Boolean;
begin
  Result := (Serial = '123');
end;

For a more advanced implementation, see CustomPage for Serial Number in Inno Setup.

edited Apr 7, 2020 at 6:30

answered Feb 15, 2017 at 12:53

Martin Prikryl

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5 Comments

user1571292 Over a year ago

Nice. Thanks. It's a first step. Then I need to avoid the copy/paste with a regedit key ?

user1571292 Over a year ago

If I secure the installer, it's a good thing. But someone could copy the folder and use my soft without any problem. I think I need to lock the software if a regedit key was not created during with the installer.

Martin Prikryl Over a year ago

So you want to store the serial number to registry? And make your application check the registry to be able to start? Or what?

user1571292 Over a year ago

Something like that, I guess.

user1571292 Over a year ago

I updated my last response to add some tips. Thanks for the help.

user1571292 · Accepted Answer · 2017-02-16 16:06:23Z

0

I works. I recommand to add in the InnoSetup script :

Flags: uninsdeletekey

When the program is uninstalled, delete the entire key.

[Registry]
Root: HKLM; Subkey: "Software\MySoft"; ValueType: string; ValueName: "AppInfo";  ValueData: "value" ; Flags: uninsdeletekey

I used this link to recover the key in my soft.

value = WinRegistry.readString (
                WinRegistry.HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,                             
               "SOFTWARE\\MySoft",          
               "AppInfo");

edited Feb 16, 2017 at 16:06

answered Feb 15, 2017 at 15:53

user1571292

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