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Microsoft Allows Pirates to Install XP SP2
mkraft writes "On the tail of the previously asked question on whether Microsoft should support pirated copies of XP, comes the answer.
According to Computer Times, Microsoft will allow SP2 to be installed on any copy of Windows XP including copies with invalid license keys.
Microsoft decided "that even if someone has pirated copy of Windows, it is more important to keep him safe than it is to be concerned about the revenue issue."
There is no news of whether or not pirated copies will be allowed access to the Windows Update site afterwards or just allowed to install SP2."
Microsoft service packs don't require the previous service packs (eg XP SP1) to be installed, they contain all the updates thus far.
Many corporate cdkeys were locked out of the last sp2 build to try to fight piracy. The build would allow you to install the service pack but immediatly after login it would force the activation screen to you which you can not get around. Only solution was to format and install with a different key. More info here.
For those that will say "big deal, we could've done this anyway", remember that while some people with invalid keys could install SP1 by just downloading the patch manually, many couldn't. Many of the pirated copies of XP used one of two keys (one of which started with FCK...), and Microsoft's SP1 download checked the PCs license number to make sure it wasn't one of these two keys. If it was, it wouldn't install itself. Trust me, I tried... I ended up having to change my license number by using a script provided by Microsoft itself.
Yes, all you need to do is get a valid CD key, then change it. Follow the instructions here.
Running a pirated copy of Windows XP Proffesional here.
.NET have patches for what breaks, those are rather vital programs for me.
All I had to do was search out a clean license key and instructions on changing it- that was trivially easy to do. 15 minutes of searching the web, maybe five of running the windows programs(all built into windows) that manipulate the license key and activation system. Anyone able to follow simple directions, they go step by step not leaving anything to your own prior knowledge. Well, you have to be able to read, but thats about the only skill you need. My mom could probably do it.
I've got SP1 and all the security patches, most of the general use patches as well.
I'm holding off on SP2 though until Visual Studio and
If you paid for a full retail version of XP, you would indeed be able to use it that way.
However, you didn't. You paid a fraction of the price for a limited license which allows you to use it on your laptop and your laptop alone.
Mmmm.. Donuts
It isn't just what he "meant" to say:
If you buy a full version, you have all these rights. What people fail to realize is they get an OEM copy of the OS with a new system. It is much cheaper than a full version, but also has 1 added restriction, it can only be (legally) run on that machine. If you want the full version, pay for the full version. If you only pay for a limited version (which is esentially what the OEM version is) then don't complain because you don't get the rights of the full version.
And before you say it, Sony has chosen to make it so you can only install the OS on a Sony machine, not MS. So the fact you can't install the OS on VMWare on the machine it came on is the fault of Sony, not MS.
"Information wants to be expensive" - Stewart Brand, the same guy who said "Information wants to be free"
As far as I know there are a couple different pirated copies of XP out there. There is the original DevilsOwn patched version, then there are the VLK/Corporate versions and so on. I am going to guess that the majority of people pirating XP are using the corporate version which AFAIK currently has no problem connecting to WindowsUpdate.
Now - even if Microsoft does block everyone with any kind of pirated version of XP out - what is stopping someone from setting up their own WindowsUpdate server (I have done so at my office) and allowing people to update themselves from there (unless of course the WindowsUpdate allows for the person to download and once it attempts to install finds the illegitimate key and then stops there).
With the piracy scene these days it shouldnt take but a couple days for someone to figure out a way around all this activation stuff and sometimes even MS makes it easier to get around. Take Office XP - it requires activation which can be gotten around and if you attempt to install updates (esp. Service packs) it will ask you for the original CD. However, if you just download the entire SP3 for Office XP you can install the service pack without ever needing the original disks for XP.
If you can program some sort of protection - someone else will figure out a way around it. MS Activation, PGP, etc, etc, etc. Almost everyone wants something for nothing and will spend a lot of time to figure out how to do it.
-
aphex
I Steal Music!
Actually, SP1 doesn't check the validity of the license. It simply denies those who have a CD key starting with "FCKGW".
The SP1 fix for pirated copies of Windows XP is a simple re-registering of a newly generated CD key. No need to activate.
So basically if you installed a pirated copy of WinXP (that has activation removed) and used any other key besides "FCKGW...", you're good to go.
Not much of a "piracy prevention" system going on there.
We have secretly replaced these Slashdot mods' sense of humor with a rusty nail. Let's see if they notice!!
Hmm. Maybe Apple ? Because, you know, there is no company called 'Mac' that creates operating systems, or applications. mac.com is a portal for .Mac.
And you can't really list a website for Linux, short of kernel.org. Maybe DistroWatch.
It's very possible to run XP unpatched. As long as you have a decent software firewall with inbound protection you're immune to all the worms.
Key? What key? I have never had a key on an Apple OS. Considering you can only run it on an Apple system there is literally no need for a key.
I'm looking at my Panther boc right now and no key is to be found, nor on the Appleworks box right next to it, and oh look, no key for my iLife 04 box.
Their Pro software does this (eg Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro...). Their OS and "commodity" software they'd rather see widely distributed by piracy than inconvenience those who do buy it with license keys.
raises hand
I read that he *did* pay for the licence needed to run it on his laptop. It was bundled in with the price of the laptop. He's using it on that laptop. That Sony has crippled the copy he had does not negate that he does indeed have a licence. It's a technical issue, not a legal one.
A firewall can not protect you from yourself. Turn off what you do not need. Do not use the firewall to do your work.
Site licenses are only 'upgrades' according to Microsoft. You cannot purchase a volume license and put it on a machine without a valid license for Windows to begin with. That also means that if you buy a PC for business use, you cannot buy XP Home on that machine, and then 'upgrade' it with your volume license, either. You have to get 2000 or XP Pro instead.
I used up all my sick days, so I'm calling in dead.
they offer security updates on a cd for free
Yes, they paid the built in sticker price for the OEM version, then they paid for the site license.
Same thing happens at my university, order from Dell, shipped w/ OEM license.
Why? Because people don't think...
"I am a patient boy. I wait I wait I wait. My time is water down the drain..." Fugazi
While 250 MB is a huge update, this is the first MS service pack (that I can recall) that actually consists mostly of new features and not just bug fixes...the security features of XP have been overhauled (new security "dashboard" control app, vastly improved firewall, and lots of "default off" security settings in Messenger, Outlook Express, etc.) and it includes a new version of IE with pop-up blocking built-in and extension management, a new bluetooth and 802.11x wireless detection/connection tool, and a number of smaller (but no less visible) enhancements (like a streamlined Add/Remove Programs tool).
Windows Update Privacy Statement (Last Updated 10/17/2003) Windows Update is committed to protecting your privacy. To provide you with the appropriate list of updates, Windows Update must collect a certain amount of configuration information from your computer. None of this configuration information can be used to identify you. This information includes:
-Operating-system version number
-Internet Explorer version number
-Version numbers of other software for which Windows Update provides updates
-Plug and Play ID numbers of hardware devices
-Region and Language setting
The configuration information collected is used only to determine the appropriate updates and to generate aggregate statistics. Windows Update does not collect your name, address, e-mail address, or any other form of personally identifiable information.
Windows Update also collects the Product ID and Product Key to confirm that you are running a validly licensed copy of Windows. A validly licensed copy of Windows ensures that you will receive on-going updates from Windows Update. The Product ID and Product Key are not retained beyond the end of the Windows Update session, unless the Product ID is not valid.
To provide you with the best possible service, Windows Update also tracks and records how many unique machines visit its site and whether the download and installation of specific updates succeeded or failed. In order to do this, the Windows operating system generates a Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) that is stored on your computer to uniquely identify it. The GUID does not contain any personally identifiable information and cannot be used to identify you. Windows Update records the GUID of the computer that attempted the download, the ID of the item that you attempted to download and install, and the configuration information listed above.
Well, I run Gentoo here. I don't really know about Slackware. On many distributions you can install with SMP by choosing the kernel from the menu that you get when you boot from the CD. In most the default is an UP kernel. Most also come with packages, kernel-image-2.6.3-1-686-smp in Debian.
/proc/config.gz. Then just:
/usr/src/linux/ /proc/config.gz > .config
/boot/
If slackware comes with a 2.6 kernel, then you might have your current configuration in
cd
zcat
make xconfig
(enable smp)
make bzImage
cp arch/i368/boot/bzImage
update grub/lilo
This way you can get your current kernel, just with SMP support without having to go through the whole config process.
BTW, Creative doesn't appear to support SMP in Windows. I think ALSA in Linux does though, and my sound card works fine in Win2K too.
The other issue is that if they want to keep all their workstations with the same OS company wide, they've little choice but to buy a volume license along with the Software Assurance. It's the only way they can be sure that they will be allowed to downgrade new machines or upgrade old machines to the standardized OS.
Like it or not, most Microsoft customers are stuck going in whatever direction Microsoft decides to drag them today.
I used up all my sick days, so I'm calling in dead.
But they should still bring up a single pop-up box/warning when it's installing/starting up. Many people who have 'pirated' copies don't know they were pirated at all. Often, a friend or relative builds them a computer, and just installs a pirated copy rather than buy one.
This one student at the college purchased the computer, and it had a pirated copy on it. Apparently, the person who was assembling computers was just installing pirated copies instead of buying a copy of windows XP for each computer he was making. Therefore, they bought a computer with what they thought was a legal copy and ended up getting ripped off.
I told them to contact the person and inform him that they would like a full registered copy in a sealed box that they could use with a non-activated key. Without attempting to install SP1, they would never have known.
-=Lothsahn=-
Not true. There's been criminals awarded tons of money from lawsuits because they got hurt or shot breaking in. There's some lady in jail because her dog held onto the leg of a burgler until cops got there. I say if someone breaks in, make sure to shoot them dead. Of course then you get families suing you. And yes, cases like this HAVE been successfully done by the criminals and families. Try google.
> (don't get me started on the pro-piracy bullshit...violating copyright holder rights is "justified," while violating the copyright of the GPL is "evil")
You're argument relys on the notion that current law serves its intended functions in terms of promoting the creation of culture and technology. Can you prove that recognizing copyright law in its current form is inherently 'right' any more so than some say it's 'wrong'? And whats to prevent a law coming into effect that abolishes copyright law in its current form while strengthing the legal protection afforded to those who publish their source code? In fact, what's so contradictory about a law that would put all works in the public domain by force so long as derived works are equally free? You may not agree that such a law would serve its intended function to promote technology and the arts, but I don't see what is hypocritical about denouncing current copyright law while promoting the important stipulations in the GPL. Are you saying that we had it wrong when copyright law was only 20 years? We got it right the next time when it was extended? How about after that when it was 75 years after the death of the original author? Should copyright be tranferrable?
> So much uninformed opinion, outright false memes that never stop spreading ("640K is enough for anybody" is just one example) and bullshit that I could start a manure farm...
I am interested in whatever technique you employ to elude this axiomatic claim, and would like to subscribe to your newsletter. The fact of the matter is that your opinion is no more or less valid than many other opinions on slashdot that you disagree with. And since when was the Windows world any less steeped in the burning desire to not conceed to the strengths of alternative platforms on the market?
Lets face it: diversity is good. You're essentially making the moot point that people are biased. I think I speak for all of us when I say: DUH!
"Old man yells at systemd"
the RESULTS of those lawsuits
The results seem to resemble a lottery. Most suits lose, but you still have the occasional jackpot. Witness Bernard Goetz. $45,000,000. It seems this is the case everyone has in mind when they say, "If you shoot him, make sure you kill him." Because you don't want a quadrapalegic testifying against you.
The young-ish crowd on /. doesn't remember these things, I suppose. It was one of the top news stories of 1984-5.