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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-11T22:02:18+00:00

I have an assignment, and it has (amongst others) two demands: make an installer

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I have an assignment, and it has (amongst others) two demands:

  • make an installer
  • make it so that if it is installed on one computer, anyone trying to run the same files on another computer will fail.

I’m using VS9 (2008) express, I think I can do the installer part, but I’m not sure how to do the “security” part. I don’t need any hard to crack safety, just a dumb condition that will stop most users from copying the files to another computer. (Like checking the MAC address).

Any ideas?

EDIT:
I would like to check the MAC address but I want the program finalized during installation. Meaning that after I install I can’t move the program to another machine. It also does not have to be a very smart or difficult condition, just bare minimum. I just don’t know how to do it in the installation.

EDIT:
It’s sad I don’t have the complete VS then I would be able to do it easily.

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    If you’re looking for some way to mark the first computer as the “authorized” computer, then you need some external service you can ask for permission to launch.

    The first person to ask permission would be allowed, the rest would be prevented.

    You’ll also need to come up with some way of identifying a particular instance of your application that’s different for every install.

    If your app needs to be authorized for the machine, then you will need to calculate some fingerprint for the machine it can use each time (eg across installs).

    [Edit]
    This approach is useful when you’re worried about copies of the installer being distributed as well. You did specify that its ok to install on multiple machines, so in that case MasterMind‘s approach is superior. It will work, and does not requires a 3rd party server

    [Edit 2]
    If you’re looking for info on how to build a custom installer, try here

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