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Windows Nag Windows to Counter Piracy
Vicegrip writes "Microsoft is enhancing its Genuine Advantage program in the US, Australia, UK, Malaysia and NZ to now include persistent nag screens to remind that your version of Windows is not licensed. These nag screens will keep appearing until you license your version of Windows or, presumably, convince Microsoft they've made a mistake."
These nag screens will keep appearing until you license your version of Windows or, presumably, convince Microsoft they've made a mistake
Or until you remove the notifications program. From Microsoft's Genuine Advantage KB article (i.e. TFA):
You can uninstall Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications by using Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel.
-- Andy Jeffries Scramdisk for Linux (Change the orgy to org to reply)
Use this as [a, another] reason to STOP using Windows, and not as another reason to feel justified using a cracked/pirated version. Only when we reduce their install base will we force them to do the right thing.
Its simple really .. if you don't load the new "Genuine Advantage" tester, you don't get access to any software updates.
This adds another subtle way to force you to change by keeping your computer in a vulnerable state when future exploits are plugged.
I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
The moral of the story? Take your PC off of auto updates and instead set it to ask permission first!
(btw, my copy of XP is legit.)
This space available.
Question: The new "Genuine Advantage" tester is an Update on Windows Update. What happens if you just don't install it?
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Nothing, for now. But it will be manditory soon.
For the moment, users can decline to download and install the pirate alert. But that may not last long. "While the program is presently opt-in, as it expands later in the year, it may become a requirement for the AU [Automatic Updates] service," Microsoft said in a FAQ on its Web site.
From the article here: http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.j
"Microsoft is limiting IE 7 and Windows Defender updates for non-genuine users," the company said on its Web site. Windows Vista, scheduled for general release in January 2007, will have an even bigger carrot: its Aero Glass interface will run only on valid copies of the operating system.
Enjoy,
It's just the normal noises in here.
It's cracked already.
;)
There's a LegitCheckControl.dll floating around that you dump into c:\windows\system32 whilst in safe mode, give the PC a reboot and all is well. Windowsupdate etc work fine.
Not that I've tried it or anything...
Or simply flag the ActiveX as disabled. No need to download 3d party (unsafe) hacks.
First, the title is "Windows Nag Windows to Counter Piracy." What does that even mean?
Second, as nearly everyone has already noted, as designed this will not "keep appearing until you license your version of Windows or, presumably, convince Microsoft they've made a mistake." It is uninstallable.
Xbox reviews.. We think they're funny.
A palindrome is a word that is spelled the same way forwards and backwards.
(NAG==GAN) returns false.
The point of this program is not to nag people who knowingly pirated Windows. They're just going to uninstall/hack it or whatever. It's to notify people who DON'T know that they're using a pirated XP install. Then they know not to buy computers from "John's Shady Computer Store" in the future.
They already fixed that ActiveX control disable.
... and here I thought being root/admin meant that you could modify and generally fuck up everything if you so chose. Now MS is telling you 'I'm sorry, we say you can't do that...'
Now it tells you that "This add-on is managed by your Administrator", and the button is grayed out. I guess BillG and/or Microsoft is my 'Administrator' now, as I can't change it while being logged in as LocalAdmin.
MS is slowly but surely pissing off the clueful audience by taking away control. Just wait for the boos with Vista when you can't install unsigned kernel drivers, plus other 'security features' that ensure you can't just crack the thing in 2 seconds by replacing a key DLL with a modified one.
How to uninstall Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications
You can use Add or Remove Programs to view Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications, but you cannot use Add or Remove Programs to remove the notifications.
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
You can still do it (if you are admin) through gpedit.msc.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Whoo boy!! Have i got a registry key for you!
Create/set a new DWORD: enableballoontips=0(hex value)
I once set my clock to the year 2200 before installing a shareware application that had a hard and fast 30 day trial. It set the trial expiration date almost 200 years in the future and I am still using it to this day many years later....
Or you could actually read the f-ing article and find that it actually says:
"You can use Add or Remove Programs to view Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications, but you cannot use Add or Remove Programs to remove the notifications.
You can temporarily disable Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications. To do this, right-click the Notifier icon in the notification area and select Change Notifications Settings. Then, follow the prompts. This will disable the Notification Prompts until a new release of the Notification Update is released."
Notice the first sentence where it cleary states you cannot use Add/Remove to get rid of notifications....
"But this one goes to 11!"
The IE7 installer has already been already cracked and genuine advantage bypassed when a XP build of IE7 was 'leaked'. Essentially the method was to decompress the installer with something like WinRAR, replace a dll and away you went.
What is ironic is that Win2k was actually Windows NT 5.0, and when XP came out, it was Windows NT 5.1. That was not publicized much for obvious reasons. "...and now you know".
And since the read bit is still there, you won't trip Windows Update to force you to reinstall it; the DLL still matches with the WU catalog and all the WGA registry keys are still in place.
You win. And yes, it's 4.12.
Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
I've seen this happen on an older version (think Windows 3.1) of Paint Shop Pro. Except I had a much higher number than 1200 come up.
There is very little in the userland side of an operating system that cannot be easily removed... likely this will be the same, they just won't provide a mechanism or instructions on how to remove it.
There is already a way to modify the registry to remove the system tray warning balloons.
Tips & Tricks: Kill the System Tray Balloons
(I am not sure why there is no UI for this. You'd think it'd be a common request).
i am a soviet space shuttle
I have to wonder about the users on Slashdot sometimes. In my years here I've seen all kinds of people complain that they have to re-install ever six to twelve months.
Why?
Maybe the PEBKAC? I've got an Emachines I use daily (right now!) that has had Windows installed, since it left the factory, with no re-installs (or even repair installs). That has been almost three years ago. (Model T3025)
Get your Unix fortune now!
As far as usability goes, there's only one reason to use XP: ClearType font smoothing.
That's it.
How many escape pods are there? "NONE,SIR!" You counted them? "TWICE, SIR!"
Now, let's change the permissions for WgaLogon:
Now we have a local copy of the ACL which we can modify.
You can now turn "Use simple file sharing" back on, if you want.
Strangely enough, I got a new PC in work today that was the most recent XP build our IT dept has put out. On the search page there was a new "link" at the bottom saying "turn off animated character". I clicked on it and the dog walked off into the distance, never to be seen again. That damn mutt actually made me smile! Nice new feature, not sure if it was M$'s own, or something the IT guys put in.
I prefer to turn off the whole "search assistant" thing entirely and revert to the older "I how a file system search works" one. For reference:
once you strip it down. I don't bother and just install server 2003 (same thing really)
XP adds over 2000:
*) Volume Shadow Service (finally...)
*) MFT defragmentation support
*) 64-bit virtual memory support and 64-bit file mmaps
*) application prefetch
*) better page retiring algorithms and PTE management
*) new (faster) locks for kernel objects for SMP
*) Built-in Terminal Server and detachable console (nee remote desktop)
*) support for read-only NTFS (like on a CD or ZIP disk)
*) redesigned registry and configuration subsys (much faster, less mem, mostly lockfree)
*) slow int 0x2e syscalls replaced by sysenter/sysexit (big difference in context switches)
and a bunch of other little things behind the scenes.
So its worth going to NT 5.1/2 if you can whip it into shape.
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
I didn't know what the original poster meant at first either. Thanks for clearing this up. The only contigency is that the file system must be NTFS in order for this to work. FAT32 does not support ACLs.