Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft Changes Tune Again On SP2 Installs
KidHash writes "Following on from last months Slashdot story, it appears Microsoft has changed its tune with the BBC reporting that SP2 will not install on XP installations using the '20 most pirated product IDs.'"
Just go here: http://omnitechdesign.com/cdkey.html
By Larry Seltzer
May 11, 2004
Despite reports indicating that Microsoft Corp. was planning to allow users with pirated copies of Windows XP to install Service Pack 2, the company has confirmed to eWEEK.com that this will not be the case...
How is this going to help when there are programs that search for keys?
I'm not sure how they work but I am *ahem* aware of one that finds keys for home, professional, corporate etc
Takes a while but they keys seem to be random.
SP2 is not a car wreck, and it installs fine on the wdr2y keyset....
what sp2 ___IS___ is effectively a set of patches and updates to cover existing vulns and perhaps more importantly the installation of a new system service that monitors 3 items
windows updates
windows firewall
anti-virus (3rd party)
left to defaults it will enable auto update and do all critical updates, enable the windows firewall, and check you have installed a current working AV application.
left to defaults SP2 is something that will increase security and workability for the vast majority of winows users.
left to defaults SP2 will be a complete pain in the ass for all clueful windows users who religiously replace IE and Outlook with better options, run behind a hardware firewall, do not just download and run software blindly, etc, and scan all new files with a decentish free AV package such as http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php
Bear in mind that compromised windows boxes are extremely likely to be running warezed copies of windows and operated by people who habitually use sites like astalavista to download cracks for software, never suspecting, despite their leetness, that a significant proportion of cracks and exploits contain malware of their own.
HTH etc
http://slashdot.org/~GuyFawkes/journal
that they did the same thing with Service Pack 1. Service pack 1 didnt install unless you had a valid key.
I also wonder how many people here realize that a Service pack is usually nothing more than a collection of security patches and bug fixes that you install in one shot instead of downloading 50+ updates from windowsupdate.com
When SP1 was released and if you couldnt install it, you could still damn well download every update that SP1 contained as a seperate download and install.
The big difference here is that SP2 will add new functionality to IE, WMP and a couple other included applications. Any other update (Security and bug fixes) will always be available seperatly on windowsupdate.com, just as they've always been
I follow the SDK and GDN principles.. Spelling Dont Kount, Grammer Dont Neither
Several very serious holes were only patched with the SP1 bundle as an incentive to get people to upgrade.
XPKey.exe no longer works with XP SP2, because they aren't just banning certain CD Keys, they are banning most possible corporate keys, which works out to 99.99999% of the ones XPKey makes.
:D
/rO25zSA8Vrpwwfy5Gdbq86j3
They are bannign them based on Product ID. All non-640 PIDs are banned, and most of the ones in the 640 group are, as well.
To find your PID, right-click on My Computer and hit properties to bring up the System control panel. The PID will be right under the "registered to" section. It will be, e.g., aaaaa-bbb-ccccccc-ddddd. If bbb is not 640, you or definately out of luck. If it is 640, feel free to give it a shot. Or, you can slways make you a new CD Key that works.
Yep, there's a new keygen (which, BTW, also makes keys for Win Server 2003 Corp, but we aren't concerned with that right now). It's called MSKey. Start it, set Product Family to "Windows XP Pro. VLK", set Product ID range from 640-500 to 640-600, and gen away.
Here's the keygen in Base64 format... I hope Slashdot doesn't mangle it.
Begin MSKey4in1.zip
UEsDBBQAAAAIAFBHpDAN2TO4Do8AAAFwA QANAAAATVNLZXk0aW4xLmV4Zex9C3xU5Zn3TOYk
OZADc4Q RRhnLuI4aDWI0VIOH2gRCEpHLTCYzo3KzW20VrVAyY8WGwTCZT 49vx2prr7u9fL38
1m3rsq62onZrhpEM4Mq1IkpF0K0eGJE AJYncZv/Pey6ThNqv26LD7/sxmjnnvJfn/jzv8144
M+uWR 20Om80m4C+ft9lW2/RPne3//dmBv5Hjnx9pe2bYKxeuts985cL WO+5s8y5ZuviLSz/3
Je/nP3fPPYuj3n+83bs0do/3znu8D XOC3i8tvu32iSNGDPcZMP6lbd7Jd0Zd/aT51zHiwiff
w/X WkVOe3I1rxYhrnnyX19U8+RX+PPnJP/Jr7ZPbcJ3rmvTk27i23 Pn5O6i/SZt/us020y7Y
Rv1mjsXKbpvTXmEvs9lkOxroZb+ vwL2MG6+duKZ7/ifw2sLVtsRoh08J/viDbF3NEuuzeYbd
d hvd3Gq3+Z220/cBnTNLPrp6YvT2+6K4PmU36JXpOgQEqJq49Lb PRT9ns3VfafBerV8Hfurw
/0RqRvcSCdWA5T+lXdfEpW1LP 09VTuKZ2tH1VHi2s5+zn7Ofs5+zn7Ofs5+zn7Ofs5+zn7Of
s5+ifIJhFvXJEdbuc7MFEmuSajLRxuTOaBnrZn2sPxLW9t1ps yVeEpNdy8dSWxeKrrVTkZTs
il2zcMHcTITK3WHNaxVfObB 4ss0sFqgYwOVso2RH6cIFq+kyN4Nn28DnR60Pa/BJwVCY+QWd
xjmCsmH5cLaJ9aszfR6WZosFIordJLDZYmq6XUmvEFh3brg
COyz7BpWEvSDjx+JNltK+ oGNEyg7Djo+THaxbdEq5c3lY1n51ERWSHQLqWa7Ovu4sq7Npbz a
vhf0uLJlRCWq8nWC0hcdrby63Fm1j5WjvVqG4lmxw2ymz wWk2XrO1wCuEu+LBCIYYndDNhE2
X2D3Ccpb6jyfV233uZY PR6+arrmgOwO+PMoCUecnGNbOsfgR0Yg3ARofm25jY2p62WU16 5P5
+BcAxQfx1LL5tkSXkFgrJHsBXI7KylvjehMv56vw0Og 4lhOVY+N6+3ZVHVOvY+iSWCPMoa6x
tQykJHujF0yeB3LGs up6gEFtKp5X7z+u9H1FUF6GGIi2zdHPsg/rlWPLa1ktoPDbK8C Oer+g
P3jZfaJ6v6g/jGb3SYkuWb1fSqyReVH7uuROdYFgK D/uYWNS875/nDkSOQFMjmCzhRtYWp2N
hxX7wDGXImf70cI nCHIlbpdsmhSB+hql6OXJruh4lmG7WA+bJgAMjKKEpcGmrDSJK yaxbO66
FwlYrgwt/1CT5/0h4a+fyOcHWKoalyyL9Ee0x/6 Ry9+sDQe1TV8wXeOiYDiieU8O6p5tGmTk
6BDRTpwY0mSo3 UOjUk1Xcv0Ke8awEfZmpOMdWppL75dR62bnsA3pfXLHHipjh9g WdtK56lXn
qmOO15yrXnauOqK81lbW0W2z2W3saPptOX1Ad mxw9Ckb2uyNjnXsJCzZkYrbWStEVuJYh0d7
kzockD03sCw 5lbNzEahBvZvNEFg6vVe+mFAB0Tp2yLnqFeeqw46NzlUZYFU2A tUajupgeo+c
/kB2pB3blXSbfWpKqlVbfV5lU1vpVLrh+KY KHKGQb0AB/lQgIMQ62sOQAUrdrFn8m9GyKCAf
TUnVaONI3 W/X0YomnzPEQYx2ACOX6Q3S38MoO6RsAralBjZJx9aozpB0bN2 ELTqWwmGiW4b5
q7hT0XZvFUwGpm1GvE9a/1koviD/Brsp/ 9Or9lM1/cbHpemsqWEu8Xt1HH+XbsEJcK0h6NBn
Afb5pM3 nZDCCcWOLpdBbLIUW4pMcCid3RpyP7EFj6sXaQekYtkFXIXTJ0 s5V652r1jhXbWVa
evc56f1OxzrHq2REU29UnWpEcHb+jDq Hhb+61xxRjUjRL7Ow+Nd3kdWIK3o9C0t/fRe3GvFE
K8iqs 969l+YHM8/HO4nM2JPcn23wiRTscBVKcI2JiXX5+QiGGcTOkJa 4BfxhAHrey0djoWqz
cmJpSdWJ5NboRVCjj23Y9sfnqI71V G3Y9gHboN7tq9z2XsXJbbtVqn4znZM7/khEo8LLsmlN
VjK x8tUoQZxn2ZqtfYfZZrbJuWobQYCf9KVpyyP2aZDng2+hmzsnk MvBCCpeUQ7eO5YBUtU2
tqm5akOV0Ty6C20IwUaYlGMLDcD pd2VlI6RRtVE52lYOBVc6TjbjIs9W8RWtTO+WQaGLrcFN
1 Rq2xZHFDeuHbCuOApUKEHtnQnJ6zjC3Is2FUogHMqKBo6YL8UD PvyAlDytj
The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.
--Aristotle
Because that is using their bandwidth and services.
You can get linux patches anywhere, just not from RH unless you pay for using their service.
If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. - James Madison
I can see you've never had the joy of coming into work one morning and seeing that your machine did an auto-update sometime during the night and upon reboot comes up with the lovely 'Blue Screen of Death'.
Auto-update suxs!
http://labmice.techtarget.com/windowsxp/articles/
ed2k://|file|-MSKey4in1-.zip|39027|7FD0D67CB1C0DB
obviously run it at your own risk,virus scanner,worms yada yada
Indeed! No one gives a shite about this. There are key generators for xp out there!
Will they publicise which keys are affected by this "Feture/Bug"?
Probably. They reported which keys were banned by SP1. Probably keep an eye on Q328874 as it will probably link to a KB article about SP2 as it already does with SP1.
As of build 2142 of SP2 (the latest release to beta testers), setup won't install on an installation that doesn't have a 640 ProductID. This has been tested with randomly generated keys, so it's more than just the top 20 pirate keys.
They're not always illegal copies. I've known a number of techs who, at their jobs, used the Devil's Own key to install purchased installations of WinXP from their corporate CDs, often because they could not, for one reason or another, find the company's actual key, though sometimes it was out of sheer laziness. This was apparently a larger problem than was expected, because Microsoft published a KB article describing how to enter an alternate key without reinstalling after SP1 was released.
You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
Microsoft releasing that KB article, is in fact, how crackers figured out how to change their CD key when SP1 wouldn't install.
If the same technique doesn't work for SP2, Microsoft will probably let "companies" know how to change their CD key again, leading to the exact same thing that happened with SP1.
Microsoft didn't "change its tune." Slashdot reported on a rumor that SP2 would install on pirate copies. Immediately afterward, Microsoft stated at the WinHEC that the rumors were false. Wininformant reported it the very day after.
Slashdot is reporting this like Microsoft just now changed their decision. For one, they said this already LAST MONTH, and two, they never said SP2 would install on pirate copies anyway.
"Sufferin' succotash."
-
They're not always illegal copies. I've known a number of techs who, at their jobs, used the Devil's Own key to install purchased installations of WinXP from their corporate CDs, often because they could not, for one reason or another, find the company's actual key, though sometimes it was out of sheer laziness.
Additionally don't forget all the techies who don't want product activation popping up everytime they change hardware around (or they think it'll do that) who have a legit copy but use a downloaded corporate no-activation install with a generated key. Technically you could make a case for it being an illegal copy (they bought XP Pro, this is XP Pro Corporate), but they DO own a copy, they just don't want to be hassled using their legit copy.At one place I used to work we used to re-install every machine that came in with a clean, no-OEM crap install based off our MSDN version of Windows 2K. We did this because Dell doesn't really provide a "clean" image to install from. All our machines ended up with the MSDN install key (it wouldn't take the legit keys we had for the machines), but each one had a sticker on them showing a legit copy was owned and the key for it. Of course this can't be done with MSDN XP, so I suspect there are departments using slightly illicit corporate images to do essentially the same thing.