SYSTEM AND METHOD OF AUTHENTICATING LICENSED COMPUTER PROGRAMS

摘要

A system and method for authorizing access to programs and data on a computer system is disclosed. A license table contains entries for identifying programs that are authorized to be run on the computer system. The license table is stored in an area of the computer's hard disk that is not affected by disk operations and can not be accessed or modified by computer users. The license table entries are encoded to contain verifying information which is not based on the hardware upon which the program is installed. The license entries also contain usage restriction information to be decoded upon license verification.