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. "

Comments

It works... for now

[gbulmash]

Just tried it and it works (after Microsoft forced me to download the Genuine Advantage update).

Sadly, Microsoft will issue a new version of Genuine Advantage that disables the hack and make you use the new version before you can use Microsoft update, so I believe this is only a temporary reprieve. I guess it will be a back and forth between MS and and hackers until MS has secured Genuine Advantage.

I've got a licensed, genuine version of Windows, but F them for making me jump through hoops to receive continued support. I paid for this and I shouldn't have to keep wasting my time to soothe their paranoid brows.

Just another reason to keep trying new Linux distros and updates on my testbed system until I find one I like enough to switch (tried so far: Ubuntu, SuSE, CentOS 3.3, Linspire, Knoppix, Mandrake 10). Already using OpenOffice, Firefox, and Thunderbird and have a WAMP (Windows, Apache, MySQL, PHP) set-up for development work. Going to Linux is a small step, but there are a few apps (like video editing, graphics editing) where I just don't have the patience to spend a whole bunch of time learning Linux apps that are 'almost' there in terms of their UI. Maybe I'll hit the Crossover Office site to see if they've gone to gold level support on some of my must-have Windows apps yet.

- Greg

Re:I can't believe I was actually worried about th

[Zzesers92]

the kids over at Microsoft who decided to implement an anti-piracy measure utilizing javascript without any input validation.

In a cost comparison, they probably figured a cheap, easy means to get people who otherwise did not know they had a pirated version to purchase outweighed trying to lock out people who knowingly run a pirated copy (i.e., people who will use this hack).

Re:only for the geeks

[mark-t]

I bought my copy too... an OEM version of Windows XP Home edition that came bundled with my Toshiba laptop. The certificate of authenticity label is attached to my laptop, and I have all the original manuals and CD's.

But for some inexplicable reason, Microsoft is unable to authenticate my info. Which leaves me with no alternative but to use the crack if I want to continue to use XP on that system.