Hardware Locking

Prevent software piracy and unauthorized license sharing by binding your application to a specific machine. Hardware locking ensures that a license key generated for one user cannot be used on a different computer.

The process creates a unique “fingerprint” of the user’s computer, known as the Hardware ID (or System ID).

1. Fingerprinting: When your protected file is launched, VBA Padlock reads the machine’s hardware serial numbers.
2. ID Generation: A unique, non-reversible Hardware ID is generated for that specific machine.
3. Key Request: The user sends you this ID (via the activation dialog or automatically via Online Activation).
4. Locked Key: You generate a license key that is cryptographically bound to that specific Hardware ID.
5. Validation: On every launch, the software re-checks the hardware. If it doesn’t match the key, the application remains locked.

You have full control over which hardware parts form the “fingerprint”. You can configure these in the Hardware ID Options dialog.

There are several ways to get the Hardware ID from your users.

Public Sub ShowHardwareID()
    Dim hwid As String
    hwid = VBAPL_GetHardwareID()
    MsgBox "Your System ID is: " & hwid
End Sub

Sometimes, hardware locking is too restrictive (e.g., users working from multiple computers via USB).