In this post I’ll show you how to hack a Software and run the trial program forever.Most of us are familiar with many softwares that run only for a specified period of time in the trial mode.Once the trial period is expired these softwares stop functioning and demand for a purchase.But there is a way to run the softwares and make them function beyond the trial period.Isn’t this interesting?

Before I tell you how to hack the software and make it run in the trial mode forever, we have to understand the functioning of these softwares.I’ll try to explain this in brief.

When these softwares are installed for the first time, they make an entry into the Windows Registry with the details such as Installed Date and Time, installed path etc.After installation every time you run the software, it compares the current system date and time with the installed date and time.So, with this it can make out whether the trial period is expired or not.

So with this being the case, just manually changing the system date to an earlier date will not solve the problem.For this purpose there is a small Tool known as RunAsDate.

RunAsDate is a small utility that allows you to run a program in the date and time that you specify. This utility doesn’t change the current system date, but it only injects the date/time that you specify into the desired application.

RunAsDate intercepts the kernel API calls that returns the current date and time (GetSystemTime, GetLocalTime, GetSystemTimeAsFileTime), and replaces the current date/time with the date/time that you specify.It works with Windows 2000, XP, 2003 and Vista.

NOTE: FOLLOW THESE TIPS CAREFULLY

You have to follow these tips carefully to successfully hack a software and make it run in it’s trial mode forever.

1. Note down the date and time, when you install the software for the first time.

2. Once the trial period expires, you must always run the software using RunAsDate.

3. After the trial period is expired, do not run the software(program) directly.If you run the software directly even once, this hack may no longer work.

4. It is better and safe to inject the date of the last day in the trial period.

For example, if the trial period expires on jan 30 2009, always inject the date as jan 29 2009 in the RunAsDate.

I hope this helps! Please express your experience and opinions through comments.

Gmail is one of the major webmail service provider across the globe. But as we all know Gmail still carries that 4 letter word BETA. Sometimes we may wonder, why Gmail is still in the testing stage even after years of it’s emergence. Here is one small reason for that.

Gmail follows a strict rule that doesn’t allow it’s users to have their first or the last name contain the term Gmail or Google. That is, while signing up for a new Gmail account the users cannot choose a first or last name that contains the term Gmail or Google. You can see this from the below snapshot.

This rule is implemented by Gmail for obvious reasons, because if the users are allowed to keep their first or the last name that contains the term Gmail or Google, then it is possible to easily impersonate the identity of Gmail (or Gmail Team) and engage themselves in phising or social engineering attacks on the innocent users. This can be done by simply choosing the first and last name with the following combinations.

First Name Last Name

Gmail Team

Google Team

Gmail Password Assistance

From the above snapshot we can see that, Gmail has made a good move in stopping the users from abusing it’s services. However this move isn’t just enough to prevent the malicious users from impersonating the Gmail’s identity. Because Gmail has a small vulnerability that can be exploited so that the users can still have their name contain the terms Gmail or Google. You may wonder how to do this. But it’s very simple.

1. Login to your Gmail account and click on Settings.

2. Select Accounts tab

3. Click on edit info

4. In the Name field, select the second radio button and enter the name of your choice. Click on Save Changes and you’re done!

Now, Gmail accepts any name even if it contains the term Google or Gmail. You can see from the below snapshot

Allowing the users to have their names contain the terms Gmail or Google is a serious vulnerability even though it doesn’t seem to be a major one. This is because a hacker or a malicious attacker can easily exploit this flaw and send phishing emails to other Gmail users asking for sensitive information such as their passwords. Most of the users don’t even hesitate to send their passwords since they believe that they are sending it to Gmail Team (or someone authorized). But in reality they are sending it to an attacker who uses these information to seek personal benefits.

So the bottomline is, if you get any emails that appears to have come from the Gmail Team or similar, don’t trust them! Anyone can send such emails to fool you and take away your personal details. Hope that Gmail will fix this vulnerability as soon as possible to avoid any disasters.