FAQ - AutoCrypt - Automatic Software Protection

My Antivirus software detects the application I protected with AutoCrypt as infected by a virus!

I some cases Antivirus scanners - especially when heuristic analysis is used/activated - will treat the protected application as infected (False Positive).
Reason: Our AutoCrypt wrapper uses methods to encrypt and protect the application which are similar to methods sometimes used by malware to infect applications. Here are several recommendations to resolve this:

• Define a rule in the options of your Antivirus scanner to exclude your application from scanning.
• Contact the technical support of your Antivirus solution. The most manufacturers from Antivirus solutions offer to upload such false positives to their server to fix the issue with one of the next updates.

I protected my application with AutoCrypt. However, now I have an updated version of my application and I would like to protect it with AutoCrypt so that it works with an existing CRYPTO-BOX which is already in the field. How do I do that?

Open the existing project in the Smarx Application Framework (SxAF), and choose the application you want to update in the tree view under “Applications”. Now click the button “Update Application”, select the new application you want to protect, and click “OK”. Then click the “Protect Application” button to protect and store the new protected application.

NOTE: Do not use the "Application Checksum" DataObject if you plan to preserve compatibility with further updates! Otherwise, an update of the CRYPTO-BOX is required (e.g. with Remote Update).

I protected several components/modules of my application (several EXE and/or DLL files) with AutoCrypt. But the protected components do not work correctly: somethimes I get error messages, and licensing (execution counter, network licenses) seem to work incorrect!

Please note that certain protection and licensing options cannot be used at the same time for all components/modules:

• Activate the “periodic check” option only for one protected module (for example, only for the EXE, not for the EXE and further DLLs).
• Do not share partitions for applications/modules, if they are running at the same time – this may lead to unexpected behavior and error messages. See AutoCrypt Application Notes, section 2.4 for further information on sharing partitions.
• If you share license options such as execution counters for multiple applications/modules, it will be decremented for each application when it is started! Therefore it's recommended to use a separate partition in that case.

Which files can be protected with AutoCrypt?

AutoCrypt allows to protect Windows 32/64Bit executables and DLLs/.NET-based executables. For Linux, a command line based version of AutoCrypt is available which allows to protect 32 and 64 bit executables. 

Protection of RAD XE 64Bit applications with AutoCrypt was added to PPK 5.90. Since PPK 7.0, protection of applications based on the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF.NET) is supported.

If your application cannot be protected with AutoCrypt: please contact us - in almost every case we will find a solution!

Is it possible to automate the protection process? I have a lot of applications to protect, and it will be cumbersome to do it manually one by one?

The command line version of AutoCrypt, AC_Tool.exe provides a high grade of automation: the protection process can be controlled within other applications or batch-files. 

Furthermore with SmrxProg.exe there is another command line tool available which takes care of CRYPTO-BOX formatting. Please refer to the AutoCrypt Application Notes, chapter 7 for more details.

I protected my application successfully, but when I use “CB Format” to configure the CRYPTO-BOX I always get an error “Failed to format CRYPTO-BOX ...”.

Please make sure that you have selected the correct CRYPTO-BOX hardware profile. The standard profile “cbu_demo” works only with the unit contained in the Evaluation Kit. For your customer specific CRYPTO-BOX, choose "Import profile" to import the profile from the CDROM you received along with your customer specific units from MARX. 

Refer to the AutoCrypt Application Notes, chapter 2.3 for more details.

I protected my application successfully, but when I run the protected file, it does not start anymore, or shows some error message!

Please check also this FAQ entry.

If your application is a .NET application: Please check this FAQ entry.

If that does not help: Sometimes the protected application is not compatible with AutoCrypt. 

In this case we need more details on your protected application. Please contact us or use the Support Ticket System (valid Support Level Option required) to get in touch with us. In most cases we can provide a solution.

I protected a .NET executable, but when I run the protected file, it does not start anymore, or shows some error message!

Please check also this FAQ entry.

If this is not the problem, please try one of the options below:

• If your protected application is .NET, please have a look at "Dotnet options" (AutoCrypt SxAF) or "Application Settings" -> "Expert Settings" (AutoCrypt Wizard). Here you will find an option "Loader version". Try to select either ".NET Core" (für .NET 6 and higher), ".NET 4.5" or ".NET 2.0" and check whether your application starts
• Under "Dotnet options" (AutoCrypt SxAF) or "Application Settings" -> "Expert Settings" (AutoCrypt Wizard), enable the "Fix Assembly location" option.
• If your protected application is a console application (no GUI): Under "Dotnet options" (AutoCrypt SxAF) or "Application Settings" -> "Expert Settings" (AutoCrypt Wizard), enable the "Console Application" option.
• If you have protected a .NET 4.x application and you get the error that the file "VCRUNTIME140.dll" could not be found when running the protected application, please install the Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable Runtime.
  IMPORTANT: Depending on whether your application is 32 or 64 bit, you have to install the corresponding X86 or X64 redistributable!

If that does not help, we need more details on your protected application. Please contact us or use the Support Ticket System (valid Support Level Option required) to get in touch with us. In most cases we can provide a solution.

The protected application works fine on the same computer where I did the protection. But when I copy it to another computer, I always get an error “CRYPTO-BOX not found” or “Protection DLL is missing or corrupted”.

If you receive a “CRYPTO-BOX not found” error please check the following:

• Did you format the CRYPTO-BOX with your project settings using “CB Format” (or SmrxProg.exe)? Please refer to the AutoCrypt Application Note, chapter 4 for more details.
• Is the CRYPTO-BOX connected and is the red LED light "on"? If not, please click here.

If you receive a “Protection DLL is missing or corrupted” message: 
During protection process, a file fmteos.dll (resp. fmteos64.dll for 64 bit applications) is generated in the same folder where AutoCrypt has stored your protected application. Please make sure to deliver this file together with your protected application.