System for selectively preventing a software program from being operable

摘要

A system for selectively preventing a primary computer software program from being operable until a separate, secondary computer software program posing questions to the potential user of the primary computer software program has received answers to the questions using the keyboard of the computer. The system visually displays the questions from the secondary computer software program, determines whether the answers to the questions have been entered through the computer keyboard, verifies the format of the answers, records the answers for transmission to the software producer and then transfers the primary computer software program from a non-executable code form on one or more floppy disks to an executable code form on the hard disk drive of the computer. The user responses are recorded in some convenient form for transmittal to the company. The form of transmittal may be printed, though recording on magnetic media or transmission by other electronic means is preferable.