How to set up a program for Cracklock

Before anything, you must start the manager from the icon called MicroBest Cracklock Manager in the MicroBest Cracklock group of the Windows Start menu.


The manager

 

• How to add a new program ?

The first thing to do if you want Cracklock to supervise a program is to add this program to the controlled programs list. For that, you must :

- click twice on the Add program icon

- select the file corresponding to your program (generally it is a file with an .EXE extension)

- set up the parameters for this program

Note : Currently Cracklock cannot control 16 bits programs (those designed only for Windows 3.1). It only runs with programs designed for 32 bits operating systems, i.e. Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows NT.

 

• Configurating a program for use with Cracklock

The only non-optional parameters are the date and time settings.

Select the program to parameter from the manager list. Click on the "Program" menu then on "Settings..."


Program menu

 

A window appears which suggests several options to set up :


Settings window

 

You must use calendar and clock to set date and time you want select.

Use the "Current date/time" button to load respectively calendar and clock with current system date and time.

Use the "File creation date/time" button to load respectively calendar and clock with date and time where the program was installed.

You can choose if Cracklock must affect :

• "time" : only the time will be affected. The date will be the actual system computer date at the running time.

• "date and time" : Cracklock will affect date and time.

• "date" : only the date will be affected. The time will be the actual system computer time at the running time.

 

Most programs don't need further parameters. However, it is possible you need them in a few specific cases.

• "Affects system date and time"

When selected, this option make Cracklock less clever : each time you run the controlled program, the system computer time and date will be loaded with values you have specified. When the program ends, date and time will be restored to the actual date and time, taking account of elapsed time during usage of the program.

The drawback of this method is that all programs running simultaneously are affected together, Cracklock in its native method being precisely designed to affect specific date and time to each program running at one given moment and to avoid this inconvenience.

This option reproduces what you can do yourself manually without Cracklock, with the "date" or "time" commands under MS/DOS or with the configuration panel under Windows. In my mind, it has no real benefit.

• "Date and time remain constant"

This "freeze" option allows to set a date/time which never changes, as if the time was frozen. Useful for programs that work only during a few hours or minutes.

For example, if you set 10:00:00 09/22/1981 for this program, during all the run it will "think" the time is 10:00:00 09/22/1981. Ten minutes later, the time will be always 10:00:00 09/22/1981 for it.

At the opposite, if the option is not selected, at the beginning the program will "think" time is 10:00:00 09/22/1981, and ten minutes later it will "think" time is 10:10:00 09/22/1981.

• Advanced options

In the "Dependencies" tab of the configuration window, you have the ability to choose what file to be affected by Cracklock.


Dependencies window

 

By agreeing the licence of most of the softwares you buy, you accept not to modify executable files (even in the case of correcting a virus effect, as in our case). Since you signed, you must keep your word. To keep your quiet conscience, you can ask Cracklock not to modify any file by selecting "None".

In this case, you will not allowed to run your program straight from the Explorer neither from a DOS window. You would have to run it from the Cracklock manager, wich is the simplest way, or from the modified shortcut in the Windows start menu, or even using the contextual menu in Explorer.

 

• An other method to parameter a program for use with Cracklock without using the manager

You can use Windows Explorer to set up a program for use with Cracklock, without Cracklock Manager :

In Windows Explorer, go to the directory where the executable files of your program are located in.


Windows Explorer

 

In this window, click with the right button on the executable file of your program (VBDate.exe in our example). A contextual menu appears (depending upon the installed utilities, it can look slightly different) :


Contextual menu

 

In this menu, select "Properties" ; a window with several tabs is shown. Select the MicroBest Cracklock tab :


The "MicroBest Cracklock" properties sheet

 

If you want to enable Cracklock for this program, mark the "Activate Cracklock" option.

Select the "Show advanced options" option to access the same options as the manager ones.