If you get a trial version of a program, it will generally give to a certain amount of time to try the software and evaluate it before buying. What if the software’s 3-day trial period just isn’t enough for you to be satisfied? There are a few programs out there that will let you run programs as a set date to get more out of a trial period, but RunAsDate from NirSoft seems to be the most simple out of the bunch.
This utility is simple to use. Just install your trial software normally. Run it once to get settings and profiles set. Then close the program and open RunAsDate. From here, you browse for the program to be ran, usually under C:\Program Files\{Program name}\ or something similar. Set the date and time you want the program to think it is, which should probably be a later time in the same day you are doing this after opening the program for the first time. If there are any parameters that need to be set, you can do so here, but it more than likely won’t be needed unless you want to get into advanced settings. If you are unsure of what file to use, right-click on an existing shortcut to the program and open its Properties. In the Shortcut tab, you will see an entry for Target. This will tell you what to use. If you want, you can copy and paste from this shortcut and remove the quotes in RunAsDate.
To simplify the process later on, tell it to create a desktop shortcut. This way, you don’t have to go through this process every time. You will need to have RunAsDate installed as long as you are using the shortcut. Now, when you open your trial software, it will think it’s still the same day you installed it.
This could be a downside if the program actually uses the date and time for whatever purpose, but if you want everything to work properly, you might want to consider either buying the software or looking for an open source alternative.
Now for the caveats. This won’t work with all programs. Some software will actually check the date and time compared to a time-server. This is an extra step some software developers have used to prevent piracy. Also note that due to the nature of the program, some antivirus software will have a false positive. Don’t worry though, the program is safe.
You may want to remove all other shortcuts to the program from your desktop and start menu after making sure this tool works with the program you are using it with. If you, or somebody else, accidentally use the wrong shortcut, it will probably lock you out of the program because it just found out that your trial period has expired.
I do not condone piracy because writing software code is a job too, and the developers should get paid for their hard work. I recommend this tool only to extend trial periods. If you find that you like the software, you should consider either buying it or if you can’t afford it or can’t justify spending the asking price for the program, find a free alternative.
To simplify the process later on, tell it to create a desktop shortcut. This way, you don’t have to go through this process every time. You will need to have RunAsDate installed as long as you are using the shortcut. Now, when you open your trial software, it will think it’s still the same day you installed it.
This could be a downside if the program actually uses the date and time for whatever purpose, but if you want everything to work properly, you might want to consider either buying the software or looking for an open source alternative.
Now for the caveats. This won’t work with all programs. Some software will actually check the date and time compared to a time-server. This is an extra step some software developers have used to prevent piracy. Also note that due to the nature of the program, some antivirus software will have a false positive. Don’t worry though, the program is safe.
You may want to remove all other shortcuts to the program from your desktop and start menu after making sure this tool works with the program you are using it with. If you, or somebody else, accidentally use the wrong shortcut, it will probably lock you out of the program because it just found out that your trial period has expired.
I do not condone piracy because writing software code is a job too, and the developers should get paid for their hard work. I recommend this tool only to extend trial periods. If you find that you like the software, you should consider either buying it or if you can’t afford it or can’t justify spending the asking price for the program, find a free alternative.
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