Protecting without EXE wrapping

[Jetheat]

Thanks for your reply and help.

I'm not going to make an image. I'm just going to send the master CDs to them for duplication.
On these CDs, there are a bunch of AVI videos. There is also an exe player for these videos (CamPlay) and there is another executable file which displays the files available.

So I can't just protect the 2 executable files because someone can just extract the AVI files and play them with some other compatible player.

I do intend for the files to be run directly from the CD because if they could copy them to the HDD, the customer can simply do that and return the CDs for a refund under my 30 day money back guarantee.

This is why I need them kept on the CDs. If they ask for a refund, they have to return the CDs to me and I can assume that they did not manage to break the protection and copy the contents to their HDD.

Starforce, Securom, Safedisc etc... generally wrap the executable in their own wrapper but in my case, the AVI files and other relevant files would remain unprotected.
Furthermore I would have to buy the CDs from them and then hand these over to my duplication company.

I don't mind paying for a solution but I need one which will work with minimal hassle.

I think the dongle solution may be best but I'm not sure how much it would cost. It may be cost prohibitive.

I'm expecting about 50 purchases or a little more.

Any suggestions?

JH