Microsoft KB Archive/66488

Word 5.50: Word’s Copy Protection Scheme

PSS ID Number: Q66488 Article last modified on 11-02-1994

5.50

MS-DOS

= SUMMARY =

The Word 5.50 Setup program uses a “disincentive” or “guilt” copy protection scheme that encrypts a user or company/organization name of 30 characters or less into the WORD.EXE file. This name will be displayed in the copyright (logo) screen that is displayed on start-up of Word and when About is selected from the Help menu.

The Program 3 disk (5.25-inch) or the Program 2/Thesaurus disk (3.5- inch) contains an initialization file (SETUP.INI) that stores the user or company name. Before running Setup, the name stored in the SETUP.INI file will be blank. After Word is installed for the first time, Setup will write the user or company/organization name entered during Setup into the SETUP.INI file on the original Word disk. Any subsequent installations of Word will cause the name stored in the SETUP.INI file to be automatically encrypted into the WORD.EXE file.

= MORE INFORMATION =

When Word is installed, the following series of events will occur:

When the Program 3 Disk (5.25-inch) or Program 2/Thesaurus Disk (3.5-inch) is in the floppy disk drive, the following message is displayed:

Setup is combining the Word program files

After the program files are combined, Setup will search the floppy disk for the SETUP.INI file. At this point, one of the three following situations will occur:

  If the SETUP.INI file is blank (first time installation), Setup will display the following prompt: Type your full name or the name of the company that purchased this software. Once you’ve typed the name, press Enter. An edit box is provided for you to enter your name. You must enter at least one nonspace character in the edit box before Setup will continue. All characters entered are converted to uppercase characters. After a valid name is entered, Setup will display the following prompt: Do you want to change the name [name entered] ? If you choose to not change the name, the name is encrypted in the WORD.EXE file on the disk (hard or floppy disk) where Word has been installed, and the name is written to the SETUP.INI file on the original Word disk. 

-or-

 If the SETUP.INI file contains a name (Word has been installed before), Setup will automatically encrypt the name stored in the SETUP.INI into the WORD.EXE file.

-or-

  If the SETUP.INI file is corrupt or has been deleted or renamed, Setup will display the following message: Setup is having trouble reading the file ——– from the disk. Word will run without this file. You can bypass the file by choosing Ignore, or you can try the procedure again. If you do not want to continue, exit Setup. If you choose Ignore, Setup will display the following message: The initialization file has been corrupted or is missing. You can continue to set up Word, but you should be aware that this computer program is protected by copyright law and international treaties. Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this program, or any portion of it, may result in severe civil and criminal penalties, and will be prosecuted to the maximum extent under law. If you press ENTER, Setup will continue and Word will be installed properly. The copyright (logo) screen and Help About screen will not display a name under the “This product is licensed to” statement. 

KBCategory: kbsetup KBSubcategory: Additional reference words: ============================================================================= Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1994.