Macromedia Flash & Shockwave
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Description
Download Link
Runnable Demo - See it in action!
Runnable Demo (EXE file) (6MB)
Data Files, DLL Files, Thinstall Project - everything you need to build it yourself.
Project files (ZIP file) (11MB)



This sample demonstrates the following concepts:

· Packaging Macromedia Shockwave and Flash with an application so they can used without install or registration
1. Display your Flash & Directory content from Guest and Restricted User Accounts. Without Thinstall this is impossible!
2. Thinstall generates a single EXE which never extracts to the hard drive, your content remains protected inside.
3. Macromedia Flash and Director runtimes remain "embedded" into your EXE so they are always available.
4. Thinstall permits Macromedia to work without installation, you can even run directly from CDROM on a new computer.
5. Zero Install required - No filesystem or registry changes required

· Protect your presentations using security and licensing provided by Thinstall
1. Thinstall packages all of your content into a single EXE (Flash, Shockwave, Mp3s, etc).
2. Your content never extracts to disk and users cannot access your data files any longer.
3. Thinstall allows you to lock EXE files to specific machines so they cannot be copied.
4. Thinstall provides a wide variety of licensing options, from 30-day trials, to limiting to X number of executions
Thinstall can package HTML, Flash, GIF, JPG, etc (an entire website) into a single file. Using a secure browser, the files can be viewed by the user without ever extracting to disk. This means the user cannot copy your files individually. Because your EXE can be locked to a user's machine, you can limit access to your files and issue license keys that have specific time limits.

· Locking EXE and datafiles to a single machine so they cannot be used if copied.
Thinstall has Machine-ID locking technology that allows you to issue license keys that only work on a single computer. This means your license keys cannot be shared with other people and means you will get paid for every copy of your application out there. License keys can be issued over the phone, email, fax, web, or post.

· Allowing a 30-day trial period where files may be used.
Thinstall allows you to specify an initial trial period where users can evaluate your software/flash before purchasing. After this initial period is over, you can provide the user with trial-extension keys that last for a little more time, or issue a license key that last forever, 1 year, or however long you want.


How to build your own EXE

1. Download a Free Trial version of Thinstall (version 2.505 or higher is required for this demo)
2. Download the demo project ZIP file above.
3. Unzip the Project ZIP files and load the project "shocktest.tsp" using Thinstall (File / Open)
4. Click on the button labeled "Build!"



Special notes about Thinstall and Macromedia Shockwave
Macromedia shockwave presents some special challanges when packaging it using Thinstall. These challanges are discussed below as well as how to solve them.


Macromedia runtime must be located at %SystemSystem%\macromed
The first challange is that Macromedia Shockwave always looks under c:\windows\system32\macromed for it is required libraries and data files. To allow it to work under Thinstall, the shockwave files have been added using virtual path locations containing the macro %SystemSystem%. %SystemSystem% expands to c:\windows\system32 (or c:\winnt\system32 for NT, and c:\windows\system for W95, etc). Click here for information about additional macros available to you. If you open the Thinstall project file, you'll see the following contents:

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If you want to import Macromedia's runtime into your project you can use Menu -> Virtual Files -> Add Virtual Directory:

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Special Note
: This will recursive add all of the files under c:\windows\system32\Macromed from our computer. Each file as it is added to the Thinstall project will receive a virtual path starting with "%SystemSystem%\Macromed".

You must record virtual registry scripts for all COM Components Macromedia provides
After you imported Macromedia's runtime files into Thinstall, you need to record virtual registry script (.threg) files for each control. You can do this by sorting all the files by type, and selecting any DLL or OCX files. After you have selected all OCX and DLL files, right-click and select the following option:

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Special Note:
Selecting "Record Registry script now" option is only available for DLLs and OCX files that are COM or ActiveX controls. Recording a .threg causing Thinstall to capture all the registry information needed to allow the control to run without installation.

You must "virtualize" additional registry key from HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Macromedia

Because Macromedia runtimes also consult various registry keys located under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Macromedia, you will need to import these keys into your project. This can be done by:
1. Load Regedit.exe and navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Macromedia
2. Use Regedit to export HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Macromedia to a .reg file (let's call it shockwave_reg.reg)
3. In your Thinstall project, use Menu -> Virtual Files -> Import REGEDIT .reg script
4. This will generate the file shockwave_reg.threg and add it to your project