Re: How to verify the current date?

From: Dr John Stockton (spam_at_merlyn.demon.co.uk)
Date: 10/19/04 

Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2004 12:29:24 +0100

JRS: In article <vpa4n0pm5e54ssk0b2teh74jf32fn18pad@4ax.com>, dated
Sun, 17 Oct 2004 10:30:11, seen in news:alt.comp.lang.borland-delphi,
Justus J. <JustEnMarjolein@SKIPTHIS.Chello.nl> posted :
>For a simple shareware check, I would like to add a function to my app
>to verify the current date. Say, the software is allowed to run until
>november 1st, 2004 (hard-coded date limitation), how can i detect
>someone has been messing with the system date/time to bypass this
>check?
>
>I assume unfair users will change the system date/time to prevent the
>shareware nagsscreens from appearing, so I was thinking of looking for
>the newest file in the Windows directory to detect this behaviour.
>However, sooner or later people will reset their system clock to the
>real date/time, for convience in using other software.
>
>Any other suggestions? It should work on all windows version since
>(including) Win95. I'm using D4.

I've only used Win3 & Win98.

You should, of course, arrange that your software does not fail without
due warning; but there is probably no need for it to fail on a precise
date.

You could use, in addition to the plain current date, the date of
Windows boot, which is more likely to be accurate. I don't recall an
official way to get this (without trusting the present date), but when
booting Windows probably touches or creates some files - for me,
apparently c:\windows\system.ini & c:\windows\sa.dat.

Note - there can be good reasons for having future-dated files.

  

-- 
 © John Stockton, Surrey, UK.  ?@merlyn.demon.co.uk   Delphi 3   Turnpike 4 ©
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