N A G - B U S T E R version 1.1d
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NAG-BUSTER is Copyright (c) 1992-1994 Erik Famm.
Programming and documentation by Erik Famm.
Introduction
What's a NAG?
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A 'nag' on PCs is a screen window that contains a message from the
author, often with a timed delay, begging you to pay for the program
if you intend to use it on a regular basis. The registered version
will not contain such a nag. The nag screens (there may be several)
often pop up at program start or exit and occasionally at one point
in the program. However, nags are not the contents of for instance
a Windows About Box. Such boxes appear on user requests and has no
effect on the program running. Nor are nags a one-line message in
a command line program that informs the user that registration is
this and that. Alas, nags annoy and disturb the user and hinder
normal program execution. Nags serve two purposes:
1) To remind the user to pay.
2) To annoy the user (so he will pay).
I think that you have the right to a trial version that is
identical to the program you are supposed to pay for. I also think
that purpose 1) above is obvious to most users - he will know that
the intention of shareware is 'try before you pay'. And purpose
2) is unlikely to work. A query made by me, states that users of
shareware programs with nags often throw them away instantly. They
will not even bother trying them. I think this is a rather
unfortunate consequense for the programmer.
What's the purpose of NAG-BUSTER?
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NAG-BUSTER is a utility that removes those 'naggy' windows that
tend to pop up at program entry or during program exit. These
windows contain information and requests that should have been
placed in a readable file included in the package rather than inside
the program. By removing them, you will be able to evaluate a program
more or less identical to the program you will receive after you have
paid for it. Normally, all naggy windows are subject to great
irritation rather than information, and the user will not even _try_
the program because of this, and this effect is not satisfactory
for either the programmer nor the user.
Some programs contain delays connected to these windows in which the
user sometimes has to wait for up to 90 seconds before the program
continues running. Other programs contain hidden 'bombs' that is able
to crash a machine if the code has been altered in any way.
What's wrong with 'naggy' programs?
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A shareware program in its unregistered form with all windows
popping up telling you to pay as soon as possible, is not identical
to the program you will pay for later. The registered version has
none of these windows, delays, checksums or limits. This means that
the user will pay for a completely different program than he
evaluated - which is not right, and gives me a legal right to inform
you how to alter the program to emulate the registered one, or even
register it.
Users from countries other than Norway must comply with the laws of
their respective country and must not use this program if the actions
taken by this program is against the law. If they are, then bear in
mind that it is you, the user of NAG-BUSTER and not me that is
responsible.
NAG-BUSTER is neither shareware nor public domain, but those who
intend to use it must register and pay for my program.
NAG-BUSTER doesn't contain a lot of irritating windows, begging
screens, delays and other forms of crippled procedures to annoy
the user. That's one of the reasons that NAG-BUSTER isn't a shareware
program. In fact, the only implemented feature that will show that
this is an unregistered edition, is the menu choice [Registration]
which is only implemented so that you do not have to fill out a form
manually. Besides, the form will hopefully be correct when I receive
it. Those who feel that upgrades (including lots of new patches) are
of interest, may pay the amount of
You may *not* pay by check, due to high fees in Norwegian banks(!)
(i.e. if you sent me a check, I would have to pay a fee of approx.
$30 to cash it!). You may pay by international postal money order or
using one of the following credit cards: Access, Visa, Eurocard,
MasterCard, or American Express. If you don't own a credit card, then
credit Erik Famm's bank account directly. Use the following address
and bank account:
Bank Name : DnB (Den Norske Bank)
Bank Address : Stranden 21
Box 1171 Sentrum
N-0250 OSLO, Norway
Name : Erik Famm
Address : Hertzbergsgt. 7 A
N-0360 OSLO, Norway
Bank Account : 7112.11.26952
I would prefer a postal money order of NOK 250,-.
Remember to fill in the Registration form found in the Main menu
in NAG-BUSTER.
You may NOT register by sending me shareware programs with nags!
(as you could before...)
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I permitted users to register by sending me programs with nags -
not listed in NAG-BUSTER. The result was that a lot of people sent
me the same programs, or they downloaded an old NAG-BUSTER program,
such as 0.66 and sent me programs that were already supported in
newer versions. I addition, some people obviously has a strange
opinion on what's a good program and what's not. I've received
a number of disks with completely useless programs, programs without
nags(!), duplicates on several disks, disks with bad tracks or bad
.ZIPs. Besides, I had expenses in returning registered NAG-BUSTER
disks. And finally, only a very small amount of people paid at all
for NAG-BUSTER. 80 per cent of you sent me disks. If you study the
newer versions of NAG-BUSTER, you can find out how many of your
programs that have been supported by NAG-BUSTER. Don't be surprised.
I received 25 programs from a user where none of the 25 reached normal
standard or weren't already patched in a newer NAG-BUSTER version.
Therefore, I have decided that this registration method must die.
You may now send me disks in *addition* to the registration fee
(I cannot return them, however)
If you enclose disks for implementation in NAG-BUSTER
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If you send me programs that are compressed, please enclose the
decompressor for these programs. I may not have this program, or may
not be updated with the correct version!) When you send me programs,
please let me know which programs are for DOS and which programs are
for Windows and what the patch is to remove/bypass (if this is not
very obvious). Remember also to find out what NAG-BUSTER version that
is the current. If you send me programs that are not listed in version
0.66 they may be listed in version 0.74!
I prefer 3.5 inch disks. You may send tapes compatible with the
Colorado 120 Jumbo (not the 250!) - QIC-40 (If you register NAG-BUSTER,
I will return the tape along with the registered NAG-BUSTER disk).
Remember: Only send me programs not listed in the latest NAG-BUSTER
version! (New NAG-BUSTER versions will probably be sent out each three
months).
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* IMPORTANT *
* I'm not interested in games, command line programs and shareware *
* upgrades from for instance 2.10 to 2.11, and all programs must *
* be english versions. .ZIP-files with a filesize of less than *
* 30K will automatically be rejected and not even looked into. *
* Nor may you send me duplicates, programs already listed in *
* NAG-BUSTER or .PRG files for DBASE and so on. These programs *
* will not be patched nor counted for if you wish to register by *
* sending programs. You may not send me duplicates, two versions *
* of the same program, or programs that are already supported by *
* your NAG-BUSTER version. All programs should have atleast one *
* .EXE or .COM file of a reasonable standard. You must enclose a *
* paper or text-file explaining what the programs do, what I *
* should patch, how I can simulate the problem and what *
* environment the programs are written for (DOS or Windows). At *
* present, only DOS and Windows programs are of interest. *
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* If these simple rules aren't followed, you will not receive a *
* registered version of the latest NAG-BUSTER edition or an *
* upgrade! *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The first upgrade will be sent you for free as you register. After
that, you download further upgrades from a BBS near you, fill in the
registration form, send it to me and pay US$15 or the equivalent in
your local currency. You will receive a registration code as soon as
possible. As you probably understand, upgrades are not and cannot be
free!
The registered version will have your name on the main screen of
NAG-BUSTER and the Registration menu choice will disappear.
After registering, you may, of course, send me more programs to
be patched in order to improve NAG-BUSTER and to give you
the patches you need.
NAG-BUSTER is intended solely for the use of legitimate owners or
licensees of shareware programs or for those who intend to buy the
shareware program later and is NOT intended for any use that would
deprive any software publisher of his rightful income.
The patched files that NAG-BUSTER create may NOT be sold, rented
out, given away, or uploaded to computer bulletin board services
(BBS's). The created programs are intended for your testing only
and should only be used until you register them.
You may not modify NAG-BUSTER in any way. You may not reverse
engineer the program by decompiling, disassembling or decrypting the
program.
NAG-BUSTER is provided for the purpose of allowing you to evaluate
shareware programs as they will appear when you buy them.
You are granted the right, and encouraged, to distribute unregistered
versions of NAG-BUSTER to others who may find it of interest, and to
upload it to computer bulletin board service (BBS's).
NOTE:
No warranty of any kind, whether expressed or implied, is attached
to NAG-BUSTER, including any claim of merchantability or
suitability of NAG-BUSTER for any specific purpose. No warranty
shall extend to any right to claim any damages from Erik Famm,
including but not limited to loss of profit, data, or use of the
software, or any consequential or incidental damages. You use
NAG-BUSTER entirely at your risk.
Pay for Shareware!
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I respect the shareware concept - try before you pay - and pay less
than you do for commercial programs. I recommend that you pay for all
shareware programs that you intend to use on a regular basis after a
trial period.
If you do not intend to buy these programs, NAG-BUSTER is not for you.
To keep up with shareware traditions, the authors deserve to be paid
the often symbolic sums of money for their products. A lot of work and
effort has often been put into the development of shareware programs.
How Do I Use NAG-BUSTER?
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When the main menu appears use your arrow keys or mouse to move the
highlight bar to any option and press the ENTER-key (or left mouse
button) to select it. Selecting DOS or Windows programs gives you another
menu, in which you can select a program for patching. Then you will be
prompted for the path and the patch will start. It's possible to stop
anywhere and you will be asked if you wish to continue. If the patch
is unsuccessful, you will be informed why. TIP: All patches are made
for one unique version of a program. There is no point in running a
patch on a different version than the version number listed in the
DOS/Windows-menus. This won't work. If you read ahead, you'll figure
out why.
For speed and elegance, NAG-BUSTER does not search through an
entire .EXE file for the specific bytes to change. Instead it goes
directly to the pre-set offset and looks at the bytes there. If they
differ from the pre-set bytes in NAG-BUSTER, the program cannot
patch your .EXE file. This means that your .EXE file is not identical
to the .EXE file that I used to test the patch. It has to be!
If it is not identical, then your version is different or it may be
patched already by yourself or others and should not be patched again.
Your program may be compressed. NAG-BUSTER willl automatically try to
decompress your program if it is compressed. NAG-BUSTER still needs
the correct filesize to be certain that you have the correct version,
so if the result of the compression of your program is a wrong file-
size - that's too bad! A window will pop up telling you this and
what you can do about it. In the DOS/Windows menus, you will now
see that I have extended the menus with information of what
compression program that (is likely to have) compressed your program
and a column showing what the patch does.
Due to the lack of space, I had to abbreviate some of the compression
program names: TINYP. is an abbreviation for TINYPROG. EXEP. as in
EXEPACK and COMP. as in COMPACK. The two latter are found in
parentheses, which means that NAG-BUSTER do not have to decompress
these programs in order to patch them. N/A means not applicable, i.e.
an unknown compression method was used (but the programs need not be
uncompressed in order to be patched successfully). On the far right
in the menus you will find a brief explanation of what the patches
will do.
If you encounter difficulties in decompressing programs with
NAG-BUSTER (due to lack of memory), try to decompress your program
manually. Then re-enter NAG-BUSTER.
None of the Windows programs from the Windows menu is compressed.
A + sign in front of the program name indicates that the patch for
this program is new since the last version.
If a patch is successful, you will get a message and NAG-BUSTER
will create (if not found), or append to a log file information on
what program is patched and when.
NAG-BUSTER removes protection by searching the program files for
the data that need to be changed, and then making those changes
with little or no intervention from you.
Once the naggy screens are removed, you need not use NAG-BUSTER
again on that particular program.
New versions of NAG-BUSTER will probably be distributed twice a
year, depending on the response from the users and the amount of
new programs that need patching.
And that's all there is to it! Remember that the altered files
created by NAG-BUSTER are for your own use only and may
not be given away or distributed to another person in any form!
Please feel free to contact me at my address (found under
Registration in NAG-BUSTER's Main menu). Or you may upload a
message to author Erik Famm at the following Norwegian Bulletin
Board Systems (please use the POST conferences):
Mike's BBS phone no. +47-22-337320
The board is open around the clock and supports the V.32bis and HST
standards.
Your opinion is always welcome. I will try to answer all *written*
questions and suggestions.
