Okay here is the deal:
I've created a standalone program using flash 5 that i plan on distributing. Right now I've compiled it as a projector file (.exe), because I want it to seem similar to any other program that would have been created in VB or any other language.

In any case distribution requires security, and that would mean writing to the registry the users name and personalized keycode/serial number (that I would provide.) And then each time the program runs it reads from the registry to make sure it is valid.

Now I've been reading on these forums and found some third party software that allows registry access (swf studio, flash studio ...)

But before I talk about that I would need some help with this idea of mine: I'm good at programming in Visual Basic, and I was wondering if I could use my flash program to execute a Visual Basic program that writes and reads from the registry, and then that VB program would send some data back to the flash program (essentially a true or false) to determine if the user's registry has the proper key code, and if so then the flash program will continue operations. Now the problem with that lies in how do i get flash wait for and accept the reply from the vb program, and how would vb send the code back to flash?

If that idea is not possible/or unsafe/unsecure, then I suppose my alternative is to use swf studio, or flash studio or something to build the registry access/encryption algorithm right into the flash program itself. (I'm only avoiding this because of the extra costs, I'm a small time programmer and don't stand to make much off the software i've created anyways.) SWF studio seems to be popular here (and the support seems good, and they're canadian, so would be nice to support my local economy) ... however flash studio seems like it will serve my purpose of registry access just fine as well and a little cheaper. I also need whatever program I use to be royalty free, and I need any modifications (if required) for flashplayer to recognize these thirdparty software's to be free for download/distribution.

Okay so does anyone have suggestions on my vb/flash interaction method of security. Or would they recommed going the swf studio or flash studio route instead?
And as a general question: is a simple registry entry security method safe? (obviously nothing is hack free, and honestly i don't need extremely strong security either, just something that keeps the everyday person from finding a way around the security.)

I know this is a long post, thank you for reading it, and thank you for any help you can provide. I hope to hear from the third party software makers too, so maybe they could show me how i would implement their software for my purposes. (but please no off topic insulting of other software makers...)

Thank you