what is the way to generate serial keys and validate them at the time of installation in c#.

Question

what is the way to generate serial keys and validate them at the time of installation in c#.
please tell me way to check the serial key at the time of installation and suggest where to write code for it.
during making setup of project we have to maintain that record of serial keys.
All these should be wrote in source code as code will not shown to user.
please reply.
thanks .

Sam Hobbs · Answer

Do you want an activation key that is a secret or do you want everyone to know how to crack it? An activation key is unnecessary for people that are honest. Honest people won't use software they have not paid for. So you need an activation key only for dishonest customers and they will try to get around the protection they provide. The more you use someone else's idea for how to make an activation key the more likely that people can figure out how to get around it.

Mahesh Chand · Answer

To create serial keys or product keys or activation key (code) you must come up with some kind of algorithm. It can also be a combination of some random strings and numbers with some constants. Here are the steps: 1. Create serial keys using some algorithm that you only know. For example: Random String (4 Char ) + Your Secret Code (2 Char) + Current Month (2 Char) + Random Number (4 Char) + Current Year (2 Char) You get the idea. So generate these keys say 100 at a time and store them on the server database. 2. Create a Web Service or WCF service and have a method that verifies and validates the key is valid or not by checking your database. 3. When installing let your application call the service Alternatively (the old method): You can hard code the key logic in the application. I think I replied this before somewhere on these forums.