Running an EXE from memory?

[rnd me]

it seems to me:
that if it's on the HD encrypted, having the exe on the HD is not a problem.

so the EXE unencrypts itself on load?

or, in other words, the structure of the EXE changes upon load right>?

not sure how that would work...

if you are protecting demo exe you have a few options:
tie the encryption to a specific machine using the hard drive serial.

from gary bauer:

Public Declare Function GetVolumeSerialNumber Lib "kernel32" Alias "GetVolumeInformationA" (ByVal lpRootPathName As String, ByVal lpVolumeNameBuffer As Long, ByVal nVolumeNameSize As Long, lpVolumeSerialNumber As Long, ByVal lpMaximumComponentLength As Long, ByVal lpFileSystemFlags As Long, ByVal lpFileSystemNameBuffer As Long, ByVal nFileSystemNameSize As Long) As Long
 
Public Function SerialNumber(DriveLetter) As Long
    Dim Serial As Long
    Call GetVolumeSerialNumber(Ucase(DriveLetter) & ":\", 0&, 0&, Serial, 0&, 0&, 0&, 0&)
    SerialNumber = Serial
End Function
'syntax: MsgBox SerialNumber("C")

personally, i simply compile EXEs that expire a month or so down the road for my demos:

'in Form_Load
Dim expy As Date
expy = "04/15/2006 09:10:07 AM"
If Now > expy Then
MsgBox "Version Expired"
End
End If

i don't think an exe file can be changed around.
i also get an "accsess denied" when trying to delete a running exe file, so that probably is a wash as well.

if you are worried about decompiling, use sourcesafe or something like that. but that begs the question of who you are sending these apps to...

making another file at runtime, a long text file, based on usernames, windows install dates, HD serials, etc and requiring the presence of that file during run gives you mathmatically sound security. you can even verify this unique string (text file)'s date and size. also, that file can be deleted during runtime, causing the app to terminate the next time it is checked in a timer event, at the beggining of a common sub, etc...

let me know if any of this helps or not.

i am interested in the same thing.

$0.02