Trial for ever

Community Forums/Developer Stations/Trial for ever

Gord(Posted 2004) [#1]
Could a 30 day trial program be used after 30 days if you reformatted your hard drive every 30 days. It might be cheaper to buy an extra drive to do this rather than buy expensive software.On second thoughts I can't be bothered its too much hassle.


DNielsen(Posted 2004) [#2]
@Gord,
Yes, 30 day trial version of software can be re-installed and work for "another" 30 days after a reformat. I have yet to come across a piece of software that could not be "re-activated" after a reformat


MadJack(Posted 2004) [#3]
unless, I guess, it also requires an activation code that can be tied to a time and machine.


WolRon(Posted 2004) [#4]
But of course you have to reformat your OS drive which is the real kicker.


N(Posted 2004) [#5]
Too much hassle for what it's worth, but yes, you could do that.


Mustang(Posted 2004) [#6]
Yeah, what WolRon said... format c: and install windows... just to get trial work again? No thanks. Better solution would be to get somekind of registry spy/tool that can tell what keys were added when you installed this and that - then you just uninstall the prog when trial period expires and delete all it's related registry entries, and install the prog again. Without registry keys it does not know it's been installed before.


Barnabius(Posted 2004) [#7]
There's an easier and most satisfying solution - purchase...

Barney


Rob Farley(Posted 2004) [#8]
I think gords talking about software that costs �1000s though. Purchasing might not be an option. That said, there are usually cheaper options. Personnaly I don't download demos of really expensive software as it just depresses me by showing me the tools and features I could have if I had the cash. Pretty much anything over �20 doesn't get a download in my book.


Bob3d(Posted 2004) [#9]
there's no nag shareware : 3d exploration 1.5, and Accutrans do never end working, and fully functional..

But it does not mind, if ur aiming what is better : be legal.
As both versions are told not to be freeware, u legally need to pay for it if do more than a testing use. Again, neither allowed for comercial use. Though some shareware authors state in their license comercial use is allowed, but is more th elite-free formula. The functionality lowered version he makes it free.


There such many other ways...related to registry, anyway.

As said, even knowing how to do it (not needing even a crack) , is not worth the whole huge work, and ...the funy thing is the only advantage of several comercial tools over open source ones, use to be producitivity, and ecrtain extra features...then again, if u do a free project, u can live without those extras... and if ur into a coemrcial one, then I'd say the only safe way is use purchased or free tools....

So, is a dead end.

Funily, open source is taking an enormous strenght and quality, much more than before. Years back, there was NOTHING close to Blender for free...

BTW, formating a whole hd and os reinstall just for that, is something quite...crazy.. ;)

And...shareware use to be dirty cheap...having the license, and being in the right side gives a warm feeling, at least to me. Specially if I trully love the software, ie: Ultimate Unwrap, and think it's a jewel.


Diablo(Posted 2004) [#10]
you could just set the time back.


Dreamora(Posted 2004) [#11]
nope would not help
milkshape for example realizes that and blocks completely :)


Gord(Posted 2004) [#12]
I did not seriously intend to reformat a drive in order to revisit a 30 day trial piece of software, I just wanted to get some reactions. It is a waste of time learning to use a program that you can never afford as the learning curve is pretty steep and would take more than 30 days to learn.The price of the top 3d software is so exprbitant that you could probably buy 4 new computers and have a weeks holiday in Spain for less.Some packages have come down in price recently, such as Cinema 4d, but I don't know how usefull they are to game programers.


jfk EO-11110(Posted 2004) [#13]
You could create an additional (small) partition on your harddrive and then use eg. the paragon boot manager to hide all other partitions. Then install an OS and your app(s), then make an image of the partition. After that you only have to restore the image whenever the 30 days are over. But of course, the registry hack may be the easier path. Isn't there a tool named "total uninstall" or something?