Cracking VideoSoft #2 - The Easier Way

Previously I explained a very simple way to crack VideoSoft ActiveX controls using RegMon. Using that method I can install and crack one of their controls in about five minutes. But there is an even easier way.

This method uses a small shell extension utility called which I consider another essential for cracking. This tool called Peek will extract all ASCII and Unicode text from a binary file and display the results in notepad. It attaches to your context-menu so you can easily take a peek at any file.

As I had explained before, VideoSoft controls look at the registry for the existence of a license key. How does it know which key to look for? That's easy. It's just hard-coded into their control. And it will look for that same key on every computer, whether you are in Mexico or Poland or China.

After I cracked three or four VideoSoft controls I realized that it was a real pain to install then go into VB the start RegMon, etc. So I decided to Peek into the EXE and... yep, there's the license key right in plain sight!

So here's the breakdown of the easier method. This is just to get the control and crack it. Of course, you can install the full demo if you want samples and everything else but here's the really quick way:

1. Download the demo
2. Run the demo from a command line with the /x parameter
3. Extract the OCX file and select a location to save it
4. Right-click on the OCX file and select Peek -> Binary Files
5. In Notepad open up the Find dialog box
6. Search for "License"
7. Scroll down a couple of lines
8. Copy the Registry key
9. Go into Regedit and create a new key and paste in the name

Now remember that VideoSoft controls are an exception and most controls aren't going to be this easy to crack. At least using this method. Next time I will explain how to do some easy cracks with license files.