Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Product Code?

A Product Code is a string that identifies one product from another. This makes it possible to have some dongles that protect one piece of software and other dongles that protect another piece of software. For Dinkey Lite dongles you need to specify the Product Code when ordering. For other dongle models you can specify the Product Code when you program the dongle.

Can another software developer purchase Dinkey Dongle and re-program my dongles?

No! Each of our customers has a unique SDSN allocated to them. This is burnt into each we dongle we send them. It is also used to encrypt the SDK software so that the SDK is unique to each customer too. This means that you cannot access another customer's dongles and vice versa. For each SDSN we have a registered postal and e-mail address(es) and we only send a customer's dongles to their registered postal address and send SDK updates to their registered e-mail address.

Has anyone beaten the Dinkey Dongle system?

Whilst no-one can claim to have produced an uncrackable protection system we are not aware of any copying or emulating software that has ever beaten Dinkey Dongle. However, there are many techniques you can use to increase the protection we offer and we recommend that you follow these. More details are in our manual.

Is it possible to add protection to my software without modifying the source code?

Yes, using our "shell" method of protection you can automatically add protection to most exe files. Not only that but it also encrypts your file to make it much more secure and prevent de-compilation. The Shell Method also works with Microsoft .NET executables.

Does Dinkey Dongle work with my programming language?

Dinkey Dongle is a very flexible system that will work with just about any programming language or even files that have a programming element e.g. Access databases. Please see here for a list of languages.

Which operating systems do you support?

All our dongles are compatible with all versions of Microsoft Windows (including Windows 7 and 64-bit versions but excluding CE and PocketPC), Mac OS X (Tiger 10.4 and higher) and Linux 2.4 and higher (32-bit and 64-bit).

Do I need to install a large framework or drivers in order to access the dongle?

Unlike some of our competitors you do not need to install any drivers or frameworks for the Dinkey Pro and FD dongles to work with your software.

What if I need to send out an upgrade to my program?

You can protect upgrades to your software without having to issue new dongles or ask for the existing dongles to be sent back for modification.

What if I want to change protection parameters after I have sent the dongle to the customer?

All our dongle protection systems allow you to modify the protection parameters stored in the customer’s dongle by issuing the customer with a secure, once-only update code on a per-dongle basis.

Can I get full technical support if needed?

All registered users have unlimited technical support, free of charge, for life.

Can I upgrade a Dinkey Net so that it allows a greater number of network users?

Yes.

Can I order specific dongle numbers?

Yes, for a small extra charge you can specify your own serial numbers. However, it is not normally necessary because each dongle contains a unique software developer's serial number in addition to the dongle number.

Do Dinkey Dongles work with PC emulators such as Virtual PC?

In general we cannot guarantee that Dinkey Dongles will work with emulators because for security we do many things close to the operating system level. However, we do work with some virtual machines e.g. VMWare and also Parallels. We do not support Virtual PC because it does not support USB devices.

Do your dongles contain their own real-time clock?

You can use our dongles to securely set an expiry date limit on your software. However, our dongles do not use a real-time clock. This is because it would require extra chips and a battery - which would make the dongle larger, more expensive and have a limited lifetime. Instead we use software methods which are just as effective. One very simple technique is to store the date and time the dongle was last accessed and make sure this does not go backwards but we also use other more sophisticated methods.

If I use a Dinkey FD and just copy a file to the flash disk is it automatically protected?

No. The FD dongle is comprised of a dongle and a normal flash disk in one unit. Files can be copied to and from the flash disk in the usual way (you cannot stop this - if a file is to be run by the operating system then it must be read and if it is read then it can be copied). However, if an executable has been protected by the Dinkey Pro SDK then it will not run unless the dongle is present. You can use the flash disk to distribute your software or store files specific to the user.

If you have a question that is not covered above, please click here to contact us and we will be happy to answer your question.