Linking Pre-Installed Software to User Accounts via Hardware IDs
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Solution Overview
Problem
The process of reinstalling or updating pre-installed software on electronic devices is cumbersome and time-consuming, often requiring physical media like CDs, which can be lost, and lacks efficient management of software updates and backups.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for associating pre-installed applications with a user account on an online store, allowing for easy updates, backups, and reinstallations by generating a unique hardware identifier and linking the application with the user account, enabling online management and preventing re-adoption by another user.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If pre-installed software is distributed using physical media (CDs), then software can be installed on electronic devices, but the process becomes cumbersome and time-consuming when reinstalling or updating, and physical media can be lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces physical media (CDs) with digital copies stored online. The system creates a digital record of the software license tied to the device's hardware identifier, allowing instant download and reinstallation without needing physical discs. This eliminates the need to search for or handle physical media during reinstallation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-registering the software license to the device's hardware identifier during initial installation. This advance binding of software to hardware creates a persistent link that enables rapid reinstallation later, eliminating the time-consuming process of locating physical media or manually re-entering license information.
2Productivity
If pre-installed software is not linked to a user account, then the software can be used freely, but updates and backups cannot be managed efficiently
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal licensing system that serves multiple functions: it tracks software installation, manages updates, enables backups, and controls reinstallation rights. By using a single hardware identifier-based linking mechanism, the system handles all these software management tasks through one unified approach, improving productivity without proportionally increasing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service software management by automatically linking software to the device's hardware identifier without requiring manual user intervention. The hardware identifier serves as a self-describing element that automatically identifies the device, allowing the system to autonomously manage software licensing, updates, and backups based on the device's own characteristics.
3Reliability
If pre-installed software is linked to a user account, then updates and backups can be managed online, but the software cannot be used without authorization
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary authorization by pre-linking the software to the device's hardware identifier during initial installation. This advance binding creates a persistent association between the software and the device, so that when the device connects online, the authorization is already in place. This eliminates the need for complex real-time authorization checks during normal use while maintaining security.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a digital copy of the license information stored online that mirrors the local software installation. This digital license record, tied to the hardware identifier, serves as a verified copy that proves authorization without requiring continuous online validation or complex cryptographic checks during operation, thus maintaining both security and ease of operation.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable storage media for associating an application that was pre-installed on a computer with a user account on an online store. A system configured to practice the method presents an application available for download, receives a request to download the application to a computing devices, determines that the application is a pre-installed application, presents an authorization prompt configured to request user authorization to link the application with a user account, receives the user authorization, generates a unique hardware identifier associated with the computing devices, determines that the application is linkable based upon the unique hardware identifier, and links the adoptable application with the user account when the adoptable application is linkable.