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Microsoft Genuine Advantage Cracked in 24 Hours
jrobie writes "It looks like mandatory validation of your Windows XP license is now voluntary again. A simple hack has been found that disables the check.
BoingBoing has the story. "
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Are they serious about security, privacy and piracy yet?
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MS continues to do its absolute best (or does it?) to prevent their products from being hacked to bits (no pun intended), and they have no choice. As part of their business, it's mandatory that they attempt to curtail software piracy. But they know, and we know, that it can't be done. It's like the terrorists (now, seriously guys, I'm NOT making a link between hackers and terrorists, I'm above that). But look at it this way. The US government has to protect against all possible terror threats, whereas the terrorists only have to find one single way to break through. That is, Microsoft will have to figure out every possible way that their products can be cracked and provide protection, but the hackers must only find one single weakness. So to speak.
A product with the market penetration as big as Windows is always going to be cracked, as soon as possible after it comes out. No matter what they do to try and prevent it, which is why some companies don't spend that much on anti-piracy for the product on release now, something microsoft can't do... so they have to try their best.
Business Voyeur
I'm with you. As far as a just plug in and there you go Linux distribution goes, I don't think that Mandrake (Mandriva) can be beat.. I'm loving Kubuntu, though, I think it's the tops... Despite some issues, since KDE really isn't the supported window manager for Ubuntu. Have you tried Cedega for running windows apps? It's not free, but it's CHEAP and it has worked for everything I've tried, most especially games. Photoshop works under it, and I do all my video editing with VirtualDub.. So I don't have to jump through any hoops for that one.
Each processor would proceed sequentially as if it had been better for them not to rise against Saul.
The irony of course is that because of security concerns, MS has been saying that to be safe don't run exe's off the net and disable activeX, and to ensure security, they're making you run exe's off the net and use ActiveX.
How long before someone creates a phishing site that lets people download a 'genuinewindows.exe' that's not so genuine?
This seems like such a amatuer web developer move that I'm led to think maybe they left it easy to bypass on purpose. Come on, if Microsoft eliminated all piracy of windows, people might actually try something else.
Is that anything like Military Intelligence?
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Somewhere in Redmond, a developer is emptying his desk.
I cant wait to see how secure the XBox360 will be
Fairly.
Don't mistake MS's "see, we tried" pretend attempts at security, and their "this hurts our bottom line" real security.
The original XBox still has no generally applicable software-only crack for it, after several years in the field. Real security.
This new "please don't pirate Windows" joke lasted 24 hours. Why? Microsoft WANTS people to pirate Windows. Very, very few private individuals would pay $300 for an OS plus $300 for an office app suite. However, if "everyone" uses it already, then the sort of customers who do buy, such as businesses and governments, will far more likely go with Microsoft.
Call me paranoid if you want, but NO modern attempt at secure authentication has any excuse for not using server-side verified, AES-encrypted communication. A pathetic little unverified Javascript toy? Gimme a break.
they would actually treat their customers like their legitimate users unless they give them reason to believe otherwise. Here would be a good idea for Microsoft: allow unlimited product activations if you buy a site license for your house and send them a registration notice in the mail. Then product activation is against others who might steal your serial number.
I have enough PCs that I'd pay $300 for a "home site license." Microsoft could create such a thing without any hassle because for many households, it'd be worth it. All they'd have to do is make you send a copy of your driver's license or something in the mail and then if someone tries using your serial number that doesn't share the data on your driver's license, they go after them for infringement. That way, product activation doesn't harass law-abiding users.
I'd love to use Longhorn because it looks like a good release, but damned if I'm going to buy it and get 2 "harassment-free" installs. If I buy it, you can bet that I'll only buy it after I've either gotten a cracked CD or found a site license serial that actually works like the ones that XP uses. Every windows license I have is valid, though I use cracked CDs just to get around the PA. Seesh, why am I forced to behave like a common criminal? I can't wait to be able to switch back to OS X at this rate...
Click here or a puppy gets stomped!
I've got a licensed, genuine version of Windows, but F them for making me jump through hoops to receive continued support.
..), then you would of course get updates for the life of the maintenance contract.
An interesting view point, which is quite pervasive.
So why should you get free continued support?
Now, if you had paid a maintenance fee (quarterly, yearly,
But free?
You could of course argue that the company has a moral obligation to provide updates, and in fact it makes good Public Relations sense to provide free fixes for broken software, but they are really not obligated to.
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I am a programmer. I am paid to produce syntax not grammar. Deal with it.
I agree with previous poster on VirtualDub, and I would add that you just need to give The Gimp a while to get used to its interface. I finally have, and it does everything I ever needed Photoshop for in the past. Unfortunately, I also play lots of video games like HL2/CS:S and Civ3 which are only available on Windows right now. Unfortunately, maintaining a video gaming machine on Linux is tricky at best - video drivers and other hardware stuff just isn't as easy to use in Linux as it is in Windows.
Jump through hoops? I was verified in under thirty seconds with two clicks,
Just because you are a fast jumper doesn't mean it wasn't a hoop.
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The US government has to protect against all possible terror threats, whereas the terrorists only have to find one single way to break through.
Which is much of WHY, in a race between weapons and armor, weapons always eventually win.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
So why should you get free continued support?
Now, if you had paid a maintenance fee (quarterly, yearly, ..), then you would of course get updates for the life of the maintenance contract.
But free?
It's supposed to be free because that's how Microsoft has done it. If they want to change it, change it. But define that change clearly and prominently at the time of sale.
Lots of smaller software companies sell you A & B & C packages:
If Microsoft wants to follow that model, fine. Do it... on all new copies of XP they've sold. But for the prior ones, stop adding hoops and checks to make sure I paid. I bought it, I installed it, activated it, I've done enough to qualify for my updates.
- Greg
Start a happiness pandemic
Which leads me to put my tin foil hat on and say: was this really a hack? Or is Microsoft happy to have this effect 99% of people on earth, and allow the 1% of techies who are unhappy about this either for privacy reasons, or because they have have a "pirate" edition of Windows, to get around it and stop complaining? I don't really see this as getting one over on Microsoft, smart authoritarian hierarchies often leave little safety valves for discontent like this around, allowing a few people to get away with breaking the rules, instead of them going about trying to change or get rid of the rules.
"You could of course argue that the company has a moral obligation to provide updates, and in fact it makes good Public Relations sense to provide free fixes for broken software, but they are really not obligated to."
If I buy a Television (OR motherboard, hard drive, child's car seat, shingles for the roof, combine for the wheat harvest, CNC press brake for the machine shop, etc.) that doesn't work I can get my money back.
If it works when I get it, I use it correctly, and it breaks in a short period of time (because of a hidden weakness in the product) I get it fixed for free.
In most industries, anyone who doesn't follow that rule goes out of business very quickly.
I think that we are just used to software being an exception.
Exam 4/C again. Maybe I'll do better this time.
You are quite correct. They're not targetting the people who download it off of a warez site. They're hoping to get the people who bought a copy that looked real with a manual and all that.
they probably figured a cheap, easy means to get people who otherwise did not know they had a pirated version...
I don't believe that there are many people who don't know that they are using a "quote" pirated "unquote" version of Windows. In the USA, it is extremely rare for unregistered versions of Windows to be used in Offices. And most people who buy PCs 'ready-to-operate' will have the Windows license included at a vastly reduced bulk price. People who build their own PC from components will know that the installed Windows is unregistered.
The only people who might not know that their Windows is unregistered are those who have had a friend or relative assemble a super-cheap PC from components for them. Or who have received a hand-me-down or secondhand PC from someone who installed an unregistered Windows, and didn't pass this piece of information along.
This is maybe 1% or less of all users in the USA. Outside the wealthy countries of the world, the situation would be that people would probably assume that either the Windows on the PC was unregistered or would not be aware that Microsoft was actually expecting to receive a large sum of money for every copy of Windows on every PC.
But Microsoft should lighten up about this policy. They are already the richest software company. Their chairman is the richest man in the world and possibly the richest man that every lived. They don't really do anything with the money that they already have. It would be in their best interest to lower the cost of their operating system in the developing world. Not by actually lowering the price, which would cause arbitrage from the wealthy countries, but by reducing the difficulty of inplementation of unregistered and by not penalizing people who use unregistered copies. They already have all the money that they are going to get from operating systems, so they should concentrate on preserving market share in the face of low cost alternatives like Linux.
- to prevent people who have no idea what they're doing from being able to break in
- to make the break-in appear dangerous enough that a large portion of those who could break in are too afraid to try.
Now, maybe some security measures will make it really hard for even those with quite a lot of expertise, but that's pretty rare. Most locks/alarms rely on fear and a lack of expertise, and that's pretty effective.Exactly. Softmods exist for all 1.x XBoxes and are as easy to use as transfering a game save to your XBox HD and then launching it from the game.
;-).
While there might be some that are specialised for XBMC all the ones I've seen launch a different dashboard from which you can run pretty much anything, inluding MythTV on linux which begs the question why would anyone settle for XBMC
They aren't actually punishing those people either. In the case where you unknowingly purchased an unlicensed copy of XP, they're giving you a free one if you can provide documentation. From a previous article posted here:
"Customers who discover they have a counterfeit copy of Windows will either be given a free version of the operating system or can purchase it for a discounted price, he said.
To get the free version of Windows, a customer must fill out a counterfeit report identifying the source of the software, provide a proof of purchase and send in a counterfeit CD of the software. If customers don't have all of that information, they can still fill out a counterfeit report and receive a copy of Windows XP Home Edition for $99 or a copy of Windows XP Professional Edition for $149, Lazar said."
So looks like even if you dealt in a shady off-the-truck operation, you would still be eliglble for OEM pricing.
Actually if you need to use the car comparison, a better representation would be this: It won't stop the professional car thief, but it will stop the person who unknowingly walks up to the wronng car in the parking lot and expects to be able to unlock the door and drive away.
Many, many people have bought pre-built PCs with Windows loaded on it by a PC builder that was pirating Windows to his heart's content They just have no idea it's not legit.
Actually, the main idea is to delay access. The harder it is and the longer it takes, the more likely it is that the perp will be noticed. Hopefully, they'll give up and go elsewhere rather than stand there and increase their chances of getting caught.
Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
Me thinks people at Microsoft know it can be disabled, they might be having a different reason for it. And no, I dont work for MS.
Microsoft might be stupid in a lot of things, but they know how to hold on to their market share. The last thing they'd want to do right now is start tracking down and prosecuting people with warez copies of windows. After a few test cases to let everyone know they're serious, some people would buy legit copies, but there'd be a big move by the people who know enough about computers to be able to buld their own machine and avoid the microsoft tax to look at the alternatives they've been hearing about but hadn't quite gotten around to trying out.
That group is the people that help out friends and family with computers. The people who everyone turns to and says 'is this worth x dollars? it's got 3 gigahertz of ram'. Somehow I don't think that scenario is worth the amount they'd get from those who chose to go out and legitimise their installs.
There's another reason for locks and alarms: To make your car (or whatever) more of a pain to steal than the next guy's. It's like the joke about the campers who hear a grizzly bear coming. One starts putting on his running shoes. The other says, "What are you doing? You can't outrun a bear!" The reply: "I don't have to outrun the bear. I just have to outrun you."
All of your analogies are flawed.
/. posts.. the fact that a) only new content is being withheld, not security fixes. So if your "vacuum" is broken, the manufacturer is still going to fix it for you. They just won't give you the new attachment. And b) duped computer buyers will have the chance to get a legitimate copy of Windows at no extra cost, albeit given a few hoops they have to jump through. Considering Microsoft is under no obligation to provide this, legal, ethical, or moral, it's a pretty good deal. They're not screwing any of their users, they're just trying to stop illegal distribution of their product.
If you buy a vacuum cleaner, you expect a working belt to come with it.
But people who buy an open-box vacuum off the back of a truck and discover that there is no belt probably aren't going to complain to the vacuum maker. And if they do, the vacuum maker is going to laugh in their face.
Without the CoA, a Windows license/installation is no better than a vacuum cleaner bought off the back of a truck.
You buy a fax machine, you expect a reasonable amount of toner to come with it.
You might expect it, but unless that's written on the box, you shouldn't complain if you don't get it. And again, we get into the "authorized retailer" game, where someone might sell you a used or stolen fax machine without the box and all the manuals. Microsoft is targetting people who bought a PC from a retailer who didn't give them all the manuals/CoA/License, etc. Everything you're talking about has the unspoken assumption that you've purchased it legitimately and from either an authorized retailer or the company itself. No one who buys Windows off the shelf from Best Buy is going to run into a problem with this security check.
It really is a smart way that MS is trying to catch the unscrupulous dealers but shitting on potential customers is just plain wrong.
Ah, so you prefix "customers" with "potential". That's good.
Of course, you still overlook the fact that's been pointed out several times in various other
It's like buying flood insurance for you house and your house floods and they don't cut a check for you.
That's not even an analogy to this situation.
Some people get very upset when personally identifiable data is sent to servers. Does Microsoft ever send the Windows serial number across the network today? I am guessing that they chose to do this client-side (knowing it would get bypassed) because they did not want to deal with the backlash from passing the data to the server.
It's good for Microsoft because they now know exactly who and where the shady dealer is and can go after him.
This policy wasn't intended to fight P2P piracy (not directly anyway).
Adversive
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