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Download the Vista Loader (also known as a softmod):

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/03/10/vista-loader-20-oem-bios-emu-crack-softmod-update/

I know it would be the Slashdot way to convince you to move to Linux instead, but fuck that - you wanna use Windows, this will help you continue to do so. :)

I don't know if I'm just special or not, but if you go to Connect(.microsoft.com) and download the enabler for Service Pack 1 Refresh 2 and, well, enable it, you can get Windows Vista Service Pack 1 RTM. Microsoft has confirmed (I am pretty sure) that Refresh 2 == RTM: http://www.mydigitallife.info/2008/02/07/microsoft-confirms-vista-sp1-rc-refresh-2-rcr2-is-rtm-release/.

I'm not even a technet subscriber or anything... just a beta tester. :)

There is a way to remove it.

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/12/10/patched-user32dllmui-to-remove-evaluation-copy-text-on-desktop-of-vista-sp1-rc1/

Overriding autorun can be done in the registry, so you don't have to remember to hold down the shift key. Does it work for USB hard drives? Probably. These are the notes I have.

Works for USB drives and CD-ROMS.
[2007/10, from:
http://www.mydigitallife.info/2006/09/11/disable-auto-run-and-auto-play-of-u3-smart-drives-launchpad/%5D

      1. Click Start -> Run.
      2. Type RegEdit in the Open text box, then press ENTER.
      3. In the Registry Editor, locate and click the following registry key:

            HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\CDRom
      4. Modify the value of the Autorun to 0 (zero) so that CD-ROMs and Audio CDs do not run and start automatically when inserted.
      5. Next navigate to the following registry subkey:

            HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
      6. Modify the value of the NoDriveTypeAutoRun entry to 0xb5 value to turn off the AutoRun feature for CD-ROMs by right-click NoDriveTypeAutoRun and then click Modify to type B5 in the Value data box. Select Hexadecimal, and then click OK.
      7. Quit Registry Editor.
      8. Restart your computer.

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2006/09/11/disable-remove-and-uninstall-u3-launchpad/

Directions are listed above and I can't stand U3. I agree with Sans disk that is retarded to have programs on Windows dependent on the registry which means you can't run the same apps anywhere but U3 is a bad way to fix this.

Infact U3 is a security bug as you can't just delete it and it installs itself automatically as a driver. U3 installs itself with autoplay automatically and even after delete the program off the drive. Its like the movie click where Adam Sandler throws out the remote yet it keeps reappearing on his body.

See here : http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/02/26/oem-certificates-of-dell-hp-lenovo-asus-acer-and-sony-for-windows-vista-activation-crack/

and here :

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/02/21/sla-20-supported-bioses-for-instant-windows-vista-oem-activation/

Or request a Bios here:

http://forums.mydigitallife.info/showthread.php?t=3

I checked all the links (CDKey.txt) and the Digital Cert links... No 404 there..

See here : http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/02/26/oem-certificates-of-dell-hp-lenovo-asus-acer-and-sony-for-windows-vista-activation-crack/

and here :

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/02/21/sla-20-supported-bioses-for-instant-windows-vista-oem-activation/

Or request a Bios here:

http://forums.mydigitallife.info/showthread.php?t=3

I checked all the links (CDKey.txt) and the Digital Cert links... No 404 there..

See here : http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/02/26/oem-certificates-of-dell-hp-lenovo-asus-acer-and-sony-for-windows-vista-activation-crack/

and here :

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/02/21/sla-20-supported-bioses-for-instant-windows-vista-oem-activation/

Or request a Bios here:

http://forums.mydigitallife.info/showthread.php?t=3

I checked all the links (CDKey.txt) and the Digital Cert links... No 404 there..

"The OP in the article mentioned mentions a firmware hack... which does not exist"

See here http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/03/03/windows-vista-no-activation-oem-id-for-various-manufacturers/

Didnt look too hard now did you?

I doubt this will work against the OEM BIOS emulation trick: http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/03/04/bypass-vista-activation-with-paradox-oem-bios-emulation-toolkit-v10/

Well, I think it's time to put some flame retardant clothing on because I'm about to get all sac religious up in this post....

Although Apple does not have a bad track record, I would not argue that they have a good track record on security and here's why...

Appple's user base is incredibly small: according to a random blog 'Mac Intel OS usage is growing quickly, and currently has 0.62 percent usage market share, but overall Mac OS usage is slightly down.. Back in December 2005 total Mac OS usage market share was 4.35 percent, but August 2006 numbers show total Mac OS market share down to 4.33 percent.' The consequence of this limited user base is less people have less interest in actually finding the vulnerabilities that may or may not exist in the OS. I mean if I'm attempting to take control of another persons computer, I'm going to put my time in to the OS that has the most users not a niche user group (which Apple is).

It's analogous to saying that a fifteen year old with six months of experience, no tickets, no accidents and driving on a learners permit is a good driver; they haven't been put in nearly enough situations to make this kind of statement. And before you start telling me how OS X is based off of a Unix OS and how secure it is, look at the usage percents on unix/linux.

Now, please don't think I'm trying to say that I'd trust Microsoft over Apple, because I'll trust apple any day of the week in that battle. Anyways, mod me down, mark me as a troll/flamebait...just interjecting some thoughts before we start worshiping at the Altar of Steve Jobs...

It's kind of unfortunate that the Glass effect is transparent. If you take a screenshot of a single window, it will pick up whatever is behind the window.

(I don't have Vista, but surely there's a way to turn off Aero if it's that big a deal?)

Eh, the above link only takes you to the OEM BIOS hack which involves physically flashing the motherboard with a hacked BIOS. The solution in the GP is better outlined below...

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/03/02/windows-v ista-oem-activation-crack-vstaldr-without-modify-o r-flash-bios/

Hmmm, I wasn't aware of this. Then again, I haven't been paying much attention to Vista stuff anyways. A few minutes of digging around brought up this site, which looks to have links to modified BIOS files for quite a few motherboards. Pretty sneaky, sis...

Yup this method is working. This to Digital Life has complete instructions. The oldie but goodie is the Timer Stop fix which is working very well for most people. I'm fairly sure Vista's activation scheme will be cracked soon--I'm just surprised none of the big cracking groups are openly trying/releasing hacks.

Thanks to VMWare and Qemu yes, and that's the best place for it ;-)

Microsoft are fighting an uphill battle here

Latest Update: The patch no longer working. For complete listing of more ways to bypass the new WGA update, check it out here.

How to bypass and disable the Genuine Windows Validation Check (from http://www.mydigitallife.info/2006/03/07/bypass-an d-disable-genuine-windows-validation-check/):

1. Open Windows Explorer by clicking Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Windows Explorer.
2. Browse to C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Windows Genuine Advantage\data folder.
3. Delete (or backup or move to another folder, if you want) data.dat file.
4. Create a new empty data.dat: You can create a new text file by (make sure you are at the right folder at above) clicking File -> New -> Text Document or right clicking on Windows Explorer window then click New -> Text Document. Then, either rename the file to data.dat. The original .txt extention of the text file need to be changed too. You can disable the hiding of extension of known file types, or follow the following steps to create a new file out of the text file:
   • Open the text document you just created.
   • Click on File -> Save As.
   • Change the Save as type to "All Files".
   • In the File name, type data.dat
   • Click Save.
   • Go back to the Windows Explorer, at folder C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Windows Genuine Advantage\data, check that data.dat exists.
   • Delete the text file you created previously.
5. Set the attributes of data.dat to Hidden and Read-Only. Attributes can be set by right click on the data.dat file, and then click on Properties.
6. Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) validation check has been disabled.

Note: The data.dat that are replacing the original data.dat can be blank text file or empty, or you may type whatever you want there.

With this hack (or crack if you want), Windows WGA piracy check will be bypassed and you can now download software from Download Center or apply updates from Microsoft/Windows Updates.

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2006/03/20/ppstream- sports-channels-listing/
try the first station

"Too late for those who trusted Microsoft, though...now you have to do a lot of registry tweaks and stuff."

Or you can you can try this nifty little program that does it all for you. It's genuine advantage fix method number 13 of 16 from this page. That's probably the easiest method, but you might want to check the rest of them out, they're pretty interesting.