Author Topic: MOVE: Quick Serial Number Copy (Read 37,869 times)

Carol Haynes · « **on:** November 30, 2005, 04:30 PM »

I don't know about others here but I have a heck of a lot of software and small utilities that requires serial numbers to be entered when installing. Usually they are buried somewhere in an email or text file and it takes a long time to do a new system install because you spend so long opeing up files and looking for numbers.

How about a little tool that does this:

(1) Create a "serial file" for a new application. This is an empty file with the serial number as its file name (would have to be manually entered when you buy the product). A suitable extension could be added to allow ...

(2) Double click on a file with a suitable extension (eg. .SERIAL) opens the app. The app reads the file name and copies it to the clipboard for pasting into the application.

That way as you add software to your library each folder would contain a .SERIAL file with the serial number. All you need to do to use it is double click and the serial number is on the clipboard ready to paste.

As an extension it would also be nice is, if the serial is broken into sections, the serial file would open to a window with the bits of the serial number ready to COPY one by one. The window would remain on top until closed.

PhilKC · « **Reply #1 on:** November 30, 2005, 11:28 PM »

How about:

A tray icon, Right Click>Serials>[The program you want]

And it would produce a small popup box with copiable text...

All the serials would have to be entered manually, but, is this the sort of application you're looking for?

PhilKC

mouser · « **Reply #2 on:** November 30, 2005, 11:50 PM »

perhaps what would be nicer would be a hotkey based app which grabbed the process name of current window when hotkey was pressed, and searched for a serial number in some file based on the process/application name, and pasted it in.

PhilKC · « **Reply #3 on:** December 01, 2005, 10:14 AM »

http://tanyvska.co.uk/DC
Have a play about with what I can only call a release candidate...
It's fully functional, but over the next day or so I'll be adding various 'User-friendly-ness' features...

PhilKC

skrommel · « **Reply #4 on:** December 01, 2005, 12:43 PM »

May I recoment one of my older tools?

AutoClip - Replaces text as you type with any formatted text, image or other clip.
Handy for instantly expanding your initials into your e-mail signature, with image and all.

It also sports a script section for sending macros, which easily supports sending serials.

You'll find the downloads and more info at Skrommel Software.

Skrommel

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #5 on:** December 01, 2005, 12:47 PM »

Thanks, that looks really useful.

I don't like the pop up window though - could the message "Copied to the cliboard" be suppressable or preferably just a note in the window of the item being viewed. Even better just have a copy button in the window ??

How easy would it be to allow multiple fields in the window (eg. Intervideo require 4 pieces of info to activate their software) and this could also allow serials that have to be entered in dicrete blocks of 4 or 5 characters, and don't tolerate pasting the whole thing, to be stored in an appropriate format. Each field would then need a copy button.

Another couple of useful features would be an EDIT tab and also sorting the list into alphabetical order.

Thanks though this is going to be really usefull.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #6 on:** December 01, 2005, 12:49 PM »

Thanks skrommel for the suggestion, but I can't see how AutoClip would help? Presumably I would have to store all the serial numbers with associated abbreviations. Trouble is I have hundreds of them and it would be just as hard to remember the abbreviations!

skrommel · « **Reply #7 on:** December 01, 2005, 12:51 PM »

AutoClip har two sections - one for clips and one for scripts. If you edit a scipt and add a tab between the sections of the serial, I think that should work OK. Both the scripts and clips can be accessed from the tray icon. Check out the screenshot in the previous post.

Skrommel

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #8 on:** December 01, 2005, 01:13 PM »

OK I see what you are getting at - preumably I would have to store a copy of AutoClip in each applications download folder with it's own INI file, otherwise I would just have a list of scripts as long as your arm

I know this is what I asked for but I think I am beginning to prefer the neat DB solution PhilKC has been working on. That has the merit that all the serials are stored in one place and are easily identified.

koncool · « **Reply #9 on:** December 01, 2005, 02:27 PM »

A nice customizable perfect serial number database was made by egis/CORE, called Serials 2000. As far as I know it was written in Delphi, with no public source, and came with ~100 sample numbers which can easily be deleted to make it fully legal.

mouser · « **Reply #10 on:** December 01, 2005, 02:34 PM »

yeah i think its important everyone involved in this makes clear: carol+philkc are not interested in illegal numbers, but rather just a way of keeping track of their own legally owned software information.

maybe philkc you should think about making it more general, not just for keeping serials but any info related to a specific program (forum url, hints on use, etc.)

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #11 on:** December 01, 2005, 03:30 PM »

I think any software that comes with 'sample' serial numbers would make me suspicious of what was going on behind the scenes ?

Mouser - I quite like that idea - in addition to the basic registration details it would be useful to store the following info for each piece of software:

1) Source website URL
2) Support forum/website URL
3) Contact email addresses (sales and support)
4) Contact phone number if telephone support is available
5) Purchase/billing source URL (eg. Digital river/Element5/RegNow type processing services) & Possibly login details (user name/password)
6) Puchaser receipt number and date

elpresi · « **Reply #12 on:** December 02, 2005, 11:33 PM »

Hi,
wouldn´t a password manager such as Keepass do the job? It has plenty of fields such as url, username, password (you could put your serial number here) and notes. A special "serials" folder could be created to separate the serials from the web passwords or simply use a distinct Keepass file for serials.
Double clicking on an entry column automatically copies the corresponding data the clipboard (such as user or serial). To facilitate pasting serial numbers into a multiple field entry, free DM2 (see dialog extenders review) comes with a very handy plugin that allows to paste (Ctrl+Alt+P) a serial number into a multiple field entry.
(better explained here: http://dm2.sourceforge.net/plug_pastesn.html )

:-)

Hirudin · « **Reply #13 on:** March 30, 2006, 09:33 AM »

what on gods earth happened with this post.

I left a "]" off the end of a [url=blahblah tag. I guess at that point the forum was trying to make the rest of the post a link, and freaked out.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #14 on:** March 30, 2006, 03:26 PM »

Can you remember what you were going to say Hirudin, we are all agog ?

Hirudin · « **Reply #15 on:** March 31, 2006, 10:26 AM »

Yeah, I think it has been e-mailed to me by mouser. I'll check my mail in a little and post again!

Long story short, I think it would be awesome to have a fSekrit tweeked for serials. The twist: it would have a marco (or is it macro?) function that would put in multiple field registration infos for you.

Hirudin · « **Reply #16 on:** March 31, 2006, 11:40 AM »

Sorry for re-hashing an old thread, but I have an idea that might be very cool...

Most of the programs listed require manually copying and pasting the serial once it's been found in the database. A more automated solution would be a lot cooler!

I don't have the details worked out, but it would be very cool if a program could "record" you entering a serial, then on demand replay the necessary steps to do it automatically.

Consider the nVidia PureVideo Decoder: It requires 4 pieces of information in 2 seperate windows to register.

Quote from: "the nVidia Website"

To activate the trial version please use the activation information below during the installation process.

First and Last Name: NVIDIA Trial
Email Address: dvdtrial@nvidia.com
Last 4 Digits of Credit Card: 2004
Activation Key: 7152-9346-DD6E-2CB0-79A3-5F08-AC23

Which when entered properly look like:

and

I know this isn't the best example, but I think everyone will see what I'm getting at...

The recording process would save 2 files:
The first would be a unique filetype like Carol suggested. Something like "nVidia PureVideo.SERIAL". This file would pretty much be a text file, that might contain something like the following:

Code

[Begin]
[Execute]nVidia PureVideo Decoder Serial.exe[/Execute]
[End]

The second file would be a recording of the necessary keystrokes to register the particular application. This info would be saved into an encrypted file (maybe by using f0dder's fSekrit) named something like: "nVidia PureVideo Decoder Serial.exe".
The recorded info produced from the nVidia registration might look something like the following:

Code

[Begin]
[WaitForWindow]NVIDIA PureVideo Decoder Setup[/WaitForWindow]
[FindText]Product Activation Step 1 of 2[/FindText]
[String]NVIDIA Trial[/String]
[Tab]
[String]dvdtrial@nvidia.com[/String]
[Tab]
[String]2004[/String]

[WaitForWindow]NVIDIA PureVideo Decoder Setup[/WaitForWindow]
[FindText]Product Activation Step 2 of 2[/FindText]
[String]7152-9346-DD6E-2CB0-79A3-5F08-AC23[/String]
[End]

Next time you need to install the nVidia PureVideo Decoder you would open the "nVidia PureVideo.SERIAL" file, which would in turn open the fSekrit file (after you enter the correct password) and wait for the appropriate windows and parse the info.

For programs that have multiple fields for a normal serial, the fSekrit file might look something like the following:

Code

[Begin]
[WaitForWindow]Whateva[/WaitForWindow]
[FindText]I do what I wan'[/FindText]
[String]7152[/String]
[Tab]
[String]9346[/String]
[Tab]
[String]DD6E[/String]
[Tab]
[String]2CB0[/String]
[Tab]
[String]79A3[/String]
[Tab]
[String]5F08[/String]
[Tab]
[String]AC23[/String]
[End]

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #17 on:** March 31, 2006, 11:44 AM »

Only problem I can see with that as an idea is that you are counting on software developers to keep identical registration processes between updates. Seems like quite a complicated thing to set up too??

Hirudin · « **Reply #18 on:** March 31, 2006, 12:07 PM »

Yeah, that is definately an issue...

I was thinking, maybe a better approach would be a little more manual, but still automated.
The fSekrit like part would have 2 modes: Edit and Play

Edit mode would pretty much be a text document, that would handle simple scripts, something like:

Code

[Begin]
[Name]First + Last Name[/Name]
[EnterString]NVIDIA Trial[/EnterString]
[End]

[Begin]
[Name]E-Mail[/Name]
[EnterString]dvdtrial@nvidia.com[/EnterString]
[End]

[Begin]
[Name]Last 4 of credit card[/Name]
[EnterString]2004[/EnterString]
[End]

[Begin]
[Name][/Name]
[EnterKeys, Delay=100]7152-9346-DD6E-2CB0-79A3-5F08-AC23[/EnterKeys]
[End]

The Play mode would pretty much have a column of buttons. Each "[Begin]" to "[End]" from the script would be a single button. Clicking the button would automatically enter that info into where-ever the curser is. The best part would be my made up "EnterKeys" command, which would type the keys out marco style for serial numbers that need to be entered into multiple fields.

To register your program you'd simply have to:
1. Put the curser where the info needs to be
2. Click the appropriate button on the fSekrit thingy
3. Repeat...

wr975 · « **Reply #19 on:** March 31, 2006, 01:11 PM »

Why re-invent the wheel twice?

Everything you ask for is already available in Keepass in a function called "auto-type".

Short example: (considering Keepass is launched and sitting in the task tray).

A website or application installer needs a password.
You hit the global auto-type shortcut.
Keepass checks if the title of the current window is a.) the title of a record or b.) configured in a record as "auto-type-window".
If there is more than one hit, a pop up appears, asking you to select the proper record
Keepass sends "auto-type" or - if not configured - USERNAME TAB PASSWORD ENTER.

You can of course also open Keepass, search your record and let "auto type" execute (on the last active window).

Auto-type is just like any macro language allowing to send any key + comes with some extra commands like

Code

[Title field {TITLE} or %TITLE% 
Username field {USERNAME} or %USERNAME% 
URL field {URL} or %URL% 
Password field {PASSWORD} or %PASSWORD% 
Notes field {NOTES} or %NOTES% 
{VKEY X} Sends the VKEY of value X. 
{BEEP X Y} Beeps with a frequency of X and a duration of Y milliseconds. 
{DELAY X} Delays X milliseconds. 
{DELAY=X} Sets the default delay to X milliseconds for all following keypresses. 
{APPACTIVATE WindowTitle} Activates the window "WindowTitle". 
{APPDIR} Will be replaced by the current application directory path. 
{CLEARFIELD} Clears the contents of the edit control that currently has the focus.

I think even complicated commands (like for nVidia Pure Video) should be possible.

Hirudin · « **Reply #20 on:** April 02, 2006, 11:09 AM »

Thank you elpresi and wr975 for pointing out KeePass! Sounds like what I want already exists...

I've now been using this for about 20 minutes, and I must say: "KeePass is awesome!" It's EXACTLY what I've been looking for and more!