Customer machines change often
Field engineers rotate laptops, finance teams replace dev VMs every sprint. Hardware fingerprint locking creates support tickets; a USB dongle moves with the user.
Dongle protection
A physical key
for your workbook.
For environments where online activation is forbidden or hardware fingerprinting is too brittle, XLS Padlock can bind the compiled workbook to a USB security dongle. Plug it in, run the workbook. Pull it out, the workbook stops. No network call, no fingerprint mismatch, no support ticket.
Four scenarios where a dongle beats an activation key.
Offline environments
Air-gapped trading floors, secure labs, government deployments. Online activation is not allowed. A dongle gives you physical proof of license without any network call.
Highest-stakes IP
Your workbook embeds years of proprietary modelling. A dongle adds a physical token an attacker has to actually possess: there is no activation code to leak or forward, the device itself must be plugged in.
Sites with strict audit rules
Banking, defense, healthcare. The auditor wants a tangible, transferable license artifact. A dongle ships, gets signed for on receipt, and can be reclaimed.
Provision, plug in, unlock, all offline.
- 01
Provision the device
Pick a supported device: an Enky CT or Enky LC dongle (from HS-Security Ware), or a generic USB stick. In XLS Padlock you set your Developer ID and a Product ID; for the Enky LC you burn the dongle to write those IDs onto it.
- 02
Customer plugs in
End user inserts the device. The compiled EXE detects it on startup and checks its IDs. The Enky LC is driverless HID, so there is nothing for the customer to install.
- 03
Workbook unlocks
License verified, the workbook runs. The dongle stays plugged in during the session. Remove it and the workbook refuses to continue.
Restrictions and remote updates
Add restrictions to the dongle.
Set restrictions directly on the dongle: limit how many times your Excel workbook can run, or make it expire after a number of days or on a specific date.
Remote dongle updates are handled too. Upgrade dongles already in your customers' hands by extending their limits, a new expiration date or more runs, through a request and authorization code exchange. No need to ship a new device.
Pick the one that fits your customer.
| Property | Hardware fingerprint | USB dongle |
|---|---|---|
| Bound to | The customer's PC | A physical token the customer holds |
| Reassign | Deactivate + reactivate | Unplug and plug into another PC |
| Loss / theft | Reset by you, on demand | Customer reorders a replacement; old dongle is useless |
| Network required? | First-time activation typically uses your server | Runs offline; no activation server call at launch |
| Audit story | Server log | Physical object, easy to inventory |
A dongle is a self-contained hardware lock. The same device moves from one PC to another, so a single license follows the user instead of being tied to one machine.