The image below is WinZip after the 30 day trial has passed, note the “Use Evaluation Version” is now grayed out. Using RunAsDate, you can set the date back to be within the trial period making WinZip usable again. RunAsDate can also have multiple instances of its program running at once, and each one can have a separate date, all different to the real one.Īs a simple example, if you’re using the popular archiver WinZip and its 30 day trial period has expired, it won’t let you use the program anymore, and you either have to purchase a license or uninstall it.

This has a similar effect to manually setting your system clock to a different time and date, but in this instance your real clock remains unchanged. Here’s a few simpler ways on how you can extend trial periods of software using various different methods.Īs the name might suggest, RunAsDate performs a trick on the trial software that has expired by injecting the time and date you specify into its process.

It is possible to find the location that records that information by using file or registry monitoring software including third party uninstaller software such as Revo Uninstaller but it can be tedious and frustrating work. You might think to yourself, how does the shareware knows how many days left in the trial period? Most of the time these commercial and freeware protectors drop some information somewhere deep inside your computer after installation so they know when it was installed and then comparing with the official current time pulled from the Internet.

In the earlier days, you can easily run the expired software by simply backdating the date on your Windows operating system but some software has got smarter to detect this and instantly ends the trial period. The amount of days given to try are normally around 30 days but it could be shorter or longer depending on the author of the software. The first one is the demo version with limited or crippled functionality that doesn’t have an expiry date and another type is the fully functional trial version that expires after a certain period of time.

Normally there are two types of restrictions for shareware.

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