I hate programs that require indefinate upgrades and purchases.

[Pixel_Outlaw]

I REALLY hate programs like Norton Anti virus. Why? Well for one they try to take over your entire computer which is fine if you are some granny that never tries to run anything out of the norm. I also REALLY REALLY hate how they constantly disallow you to use a software that YOU have paid good money for. You constantly have to blow money because they lock out "outdated" versions and purchase the newest version that will become little more than a Frisbee 1 year later. I cannot fully expressive how enraged I am. I want to resort to physical violence. Also when scanning through the files there is no progress bar. You just have to sit and sit untill the lazy bastard finishes.

I paid 60 usd for this I want to go down to their offices and beat the ever loving sh** out of their marketing stratigists.

[benny!]

I just bought a Notebook - and what I think is really annoying - is that a lot of
notebooks has dozens of preinstalled Testversions running (e.g. Norton). When
I first booted the notebook / windows - I wondered why it takes a relative long
time for a fresh system to boot.

Then I saw all those shitty trial versions which were already pre-installed. I think
this is really annoying - and I had to throw them all. Most of them of course more
or less manually because the remove function was more or less hidden in
most cases.

[Shockwave]

It's well noted that Norton is not the best virus checker to use.

It's better than nothing to have Norton but I wouldn't piss on it if it was on fire.
I also agree with you about having to buy new versions of everything all the time... Owning a PC sometimes is like standing under a shower of your own money and watching it all dissapear down the plug hole.

[Pixel_Outlaw]

Does anyone know the main ways programs track your "days remaining" ?

I assume it is some sort of file embedded within your computer or perhaps some sort of internet user registration database. Basically is there any way to get around programs with a limited service span? Could one just delete a time tracking file located someplace?

[Jim]

Some programs yes, some no.  Some just put a date stamp in the registry, some put a date stamp in a number of files, especially in .ini files inside the Windows folder.  Some do other more clandestine things.
You can use Process Monitor to see what is accessing which files and registry keys
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/processmonitor.mspx
But I suspect you won't have a massive amount of luck.  Interesting data though.

Have you tried setting the clock back?

Jim