WinXp System Restore can circumvent Trial Software?

Question

I heard a rumor that if I create a restore point before installing trial software (Photoshop, Office 2007 Trial, etc), I can just go back to the restore point and reinstall the trial software when the trial expires and to continue using the software. Is this true?

Answer 1

I had this trick work for an app but I've never tried it with the ones you are speaking about. I also didn't use windows to to do the backup/restore. I was using PowerQuest Drive Image which can create and later restore a complete snapshot of your hard drive. And when it runs, it's in DOS mode so it shuts windows down completely.

Although it worked, I had to do a restore once a month which erased anything I saved to the hard drive during the month. It is alot easier if you have a system with more than one hard drive because then you can have somewhere to keep your files.

Good luck. Ultimately, you'll find its a lot easier to just buy a legal copy of the software. But it can take more than 30 days to get good enough using a program to really make an informed decision.

I prefer demos that are not time limited but are save disabled instead. That's how I got hooked on Corel Draw years ago rather than Photoshop.

Answer 2

I haven't tried it but I doubt that it is true. The system restore points don't alter the system clock, just the state of the software. Figure that when XP is installed that it writes a time stamp somewhere on the system for when it was installed. This will be checked against to see when the trial period ends. For some applications, you can potentially reset the system clock to get around an applications expiration but more advanced applications will even check for tampering of the clock. I've even seen where applications write a time stamp to keep people from reinstalling the trial software (the stamp isn't removed when the software is un-installed).

Oh, for applications that write into the registry (or even a file on the system), the time stamp may not be obvious. They can encode the value to make it less likely to be found.

Answer 3

I don't think you can , not with trial software anyway. You can however reinstall it if you have bought the software. This is important especially when you have to reformat your computor, so having the software is a good thing- it will always be there for you to reinstall when needed.

Answer 4

for most softwares.. no you cannot...
a smart software puts it into its registry that the software has expired..
you can give it a shot.. maybe..

Answer 5

its not true and it is against the law also.