Slashdot Mirror
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."
The 8th edition : MS Windows Vista $hareware
cracks in 3...2...
So can I presume that it will then start telling me to clean my room, do the dishes and take out the bins?
Hey, why not? After all, I'm sure you're like me and you've registered every bit of shareware that had nag screens, right?
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
I won't even notice that message with all the other Window's errors I get on the screen and all the reminders from every program that needs to update.
Install a virtual desktop manager. Move nag screen to an unused desktop. Voila, problem gone (or at least out of sight).
"Even though you are using an unlicensed copy, you're still helping up maintain marketshare. Thank you."
And not at the expense of existing paying Windows customers.
I don't think Microsoft is going to be convinced otherwise, and if people are pirating when they would really not use anything else, then hell, they should pay for their Windows license.
It might move those who pirate just for fun into other OS's :-)
Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
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)
For the hack to fix this.
If you could reason with religious people, there would be no religious people
FTA: Microsoft says that every time a notification is displayed, the user will receive detailed information about the specific validation failure. The information includes steps that can be taken to resolve the problem.
These don't seem to include, "try Linux instead".
Oh to be able to hack Genuine Advantage...
GetOuttaMySpace - The Anti-Social Network
Certification during installation. So why the hell do all my Microsoft PocketPC applications tell me they are from an unknown publisher. WTF M$ ???
Can't you at least perform your own tasks!!!!
is the genuine check on genuine product..
Your copy of windows is genuine and activated.. but lets check it anyway. again. again and again.
Seesh.
There are no atheists when recovering from tape backup.
Well, the software got out the door, so aren't we a little late on this? :)
From my standpoint, what was more interesting was:
a) This was a high priority item. Yes, this is as important as fixing IE flaws. Surely.
b) How it's listed in the license agreement:
MICROSOFT PRE-RELEASE SOFTWARE LICENSE TERMS
MICROSOFT WINDOWS GENUINE ADVANTAGE VALIDATION TOOL
So they're putting BETA software into high priority updates?
stored on computers from birth to the grave
I sometimes wonder what planet Microsoft are on. On todays page we have news that the Vista firewall is to be crippled and now we find that there will be nag screens.
Do these guys WANT to drive users to open source?
Ed Almos
The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws. - Tacitus, 56-120 A.D.
I'd like one for the wallpaper on my very proper corporate desktop. Just to give the Sysadmins heart failure.
Since Vista will be crapware, MS is gonna try to push people to buy XP. Nice one MS.
http://religiousfreaks.com/Question: The new "Genuine Advantage" tester is an Update on Windows Update. What happens if you just don't install it?
has _anyone_ done this?
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.
It used to be that in my area of Shanghai I could see people selling pirated copies of Windows everywhere (about 16 stands of CDs in a 5km radius). Now, about half of those stands have stopped selling Windows, and are now selling Linux. Coincidence, I think not- MS activation is getting so annoying that they're giving up and going to Linux.
OSx86 FTW
Welcome to the new world order.
Good luck getting Windows updates. It will simply require you to install it all over again. Not to mention more and more add-ons ( like the Media Center fix for Vista ) are requiring Genuine Advantage too.
So frankly all you are doing is removing the ability of your computer to assert that it is infact genuine. Thus for any future checks it will automatically fail. Your arent accomplishing much.
Granted, one shouldn't steal software from Microsoft. Stealing, even from another thief, is still wrong. I suspect most pirates will ignore the nag screens and those that are truly offended will just us another OS. I doubt this is going to contribute a penny in new sales for Microsoft, but it will generate negative publicity. As the RIAA/MPAA have shown us, as a company/organization loses relevance to its constituency, they will employ ever more desperate measures to maintain their hold on those constituents. While I don't see Microsoft falling into ruin anytime soon, things like this are clear markers that they are in decline.
Genuine Advantage Notification = GAN = NAG spelled backwards. Coincedence?
Microsoft has bundled the crack with the update.
From the article: "You can uninstall Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications by using Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel. "
Of course it could come back, it just means those naughty pirates need to be more careful when installing automatic updates.
The more people are forced to pay for their software, the more people will look out for alternatives. Not everybody. Not all the the same time.
If every Linux user can only convice 1 other user to start using Linux, it will the the main player. Naturlay that new Linux user must also convince 1 other user.
A sort of one-dimentional piramid sceme
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
I fully support Microsoft's anti-copying measures. I'd love to see them really lock up Windows updates so that only legitimate users can get access to them, or even better, I'd love to see them create a Windows and an Office that is too tough to crack.
I don't think all of the current Windows users are willing to pay for Windows, and if they are forced into doing it, there's a good chance they'll look elsewhere. Those that do decide to pay for Windows will also eventually be tempted by any alternative that has zero cost.
In trying to make all users pay for Windows, Microsoft would be shooting themselves in the foot, and I think they realise that they need illegitimate copying. Not too much, but not too little, either...
Genuine Advantage program in the US, Australia, UK, Malaysia and NZ
Phew! Canada dodges a bullet.
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.
Just uninstall it. It puts itself in add/remove programs like anything else, and in the MS document they note you can uninstall it, if it bothers you.
No, I'm not sure what the point is either.
Did I just violate the DMCA by disclosing this?
Yes.
We'll see you in a few minutes. Thanks.
- BSA
Developers: We can use your help.
Are they going to have the annoying Windows XP style message box hovering over the tray that tells me that my USB 2 device could work faster if it was plugged into a non-existant USB 2 port on my USB 1.1 system?
Maybe they could have the annoying Search Mutt take up the left hand window and do a little animation while I have to figure out how to turn it off?
Or they could have that bastard Clippy come on screen and tell me something like "It looks like your copy of Microsoft Windows" isn't licensed properly." with a list of solutions on how I can throw more money at MS.
Lastly there is the universal message box that could pop up right in the middle of the screen stealing focus. That's a classic.
Microsoft Windows has so many annoyances to choose from that most users will probably just click OK when the message box pops up. After all, it's worked so well for WinZip.
I just suggested this to a friend and he reported back that it says it can not be uninstalled.
Of course.
The Wine version of the NAG will be called "Whine".
What if the Hokey Pokey really is what it's all about?
From TFA: Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications will be deployed by using Automatic Updates.
So users of pirated Windows will stop apllying patches now... Great, even more trojaned b0xes on the 'net...
<sarcasm>I for one welcome our hax0red-b0xen-overlords...</sarcasm>
"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" - Carl Sagan
A new version of the LegitCheckControl.DLL cr@ck was released not so long ago, I wonder if it has something to do with this. And I think so.
"It's the good guys versus the bad guys, and the good guys are winning."
:-)
This won't fly well with the customers (or non-customers)
My PC at work, on a corporate XP license fails the "authenticity check" we were asked/forced to perform (some ActiveX virus you have to download and run from the Microsoft site).
My legit, paid-for copy of XP Pro at home requires a call to India every time I have to format the hard drive.
Crap like this had me googling "Battlefield 2 wine linux" - the last thing holding me to Windows.
I don't enjoy using Windows. I don't believe Windows is a good product. I have no trust that Microsoft will work with Windows to make it an OS I want to use: Secure, Intuitive, Resilient, and Stable. Now, 5 years from now that might be different. I'm keeping my eye on Vista hoping that it will make some progress, and improve Windows. If Windows improves, I will be happy to pay for and use it. For now, I'm sticking to MacOSX.
However, sometimes I have no choice. I HAVE to use Windows. Why? Because there is some program that I want to use that will ONLY run on Windows. I refuse to shell out $250 CDN to get a copy of XP Pro when I need to run one or two programs. Especially becuase I don't like the product, in the least. If it was a good product no problem.
I have pirated, am pirating, and will continue to pirate (thanks to BootCamp, man is that handy). Until Microsoft produces a product I feel is worth $250 CDN. Windows is simply not worth what it sells for.
...why so many of us are still running Win2k.
Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. - John 14:6 NLT
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.
Seriously, it's fucking scary. /boat/ on trial, and not allow the boat to defend itself (this sounds insane, but I'm totally serious) And then when the boat was found guilty of a crime it would be turned over to the admiral (nutsy isn't it?)
The idea dates back to admiralty law in England. Basically if you violated law with your boat they would put your
This seems quaint, antiquated and entirely absurd right?
IT IS STILL LAW IN THE US.
I think we can all collectively saw, wtf?!
Excuse me...I'm going to go put my neighbors Porsche on trial
Happiness does not come from having much, but from being attached to little.
I realise that everyone says "don't blame anything on malicious intent when the source is so obviously clueless that they couldn't conceive the idea to be evil", so I must take it to be that they don't realise there is another country just north of Washington, or that they simply look and see the default language of the operating system is English.
.. paranoid crackpot leftover from the days of Amiga.
Linux does not nag you ;-)
It's true no man is an island, but if you take a bunch of dead guys and tie 'em together, they make a good raft.
Apple makes up for it with QuicktimePro nagging :-/
What about us Windows 2000 users, how do we get the nag software, or are we being discriminated against again?
I love the many comments in this topic about how people will switch to linux.
/. articles about the shortcomings of linux as a mainstream desktop solution, so I won't go into them here. Suffice it to say, if you aren't some kind of delusional fanboy, you can see the problems easily enough. [Quick, mod me down fanboys!]
And I'll bet it does drive a few people to look into it. For about a month.
Some few of those will keep it.
The vast majority will be driven crazy by the little things that are lacking from desktop linux and will either find a better cracked version or break down and buy an OEM copy of Windows. And be left with a bitter taste in their mouth for linux.
There have been many
Its a shame there isn't a Linus equivalent helping linux on the useability side of things. =(
http://www.funny-games.biz/pictures/celeb/funny-bi ll-gates.jpg
Zimbly Awesome.
First off, I'm Malaysian. This story was out on one of our main papers on Tuesday. The thing that I'm trying to figure out is why is Malaysia included in the list. Heck, the title of the parent post is "English First World". Doesn't anybody else find it weird that Malaysia's in the list?
No offense to anyone, but Malaysia's hardly a first world English country[1].
[1] We're working on getting the first world part, but I don't think any amount of trying would make us "English".
Has /. met its Bash Microsoft Quota for the day?
Rob
I suspect this is just a test run of a future update to Windows Vista. Namely, all future copies of Vista will come with a USB Hardware Validation Tool. Every half hour of playing (err... using) your new Vista system, Clippy will pop to the front of your screen and ask you to please insert a quarter into the USB HVT to continue, or the machine will enter hibernation mode until 50 cents is inserted.
When the HVT is full, a new HVT will be sent to your home, with the cost automatically charged to your Microsoft Credit Card. The hardware cost will be refunded when the "full" HVT is shipped back to Redmond.
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.
Hey, to be fair with the exception of a Windows text editor that I still use, all the shareware I've ever used was on a Mac. Eventually, I replaced it all with freeware under Mac OS X, but an awful lot of it is still on my hard drive.
Old Mac freeware used to be slightly easier to find than Windows freeware, but most good apps were shareware back in the good old days.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
I'm a tad suprised at the negative view that the Slashdot crowd has around WGA.
... a perfectly functional WGA would be Linux's best friend. Who the heck is going to shell out $300 bux for an OS on a $300 PC? Suddenly the value proposition around Linux becomes much more appealing.
Seriously, it's nothing but good for everybody.
1. Microsoft gets to protect the copyright on its products. Protecting copyright is good for everyone. Proprietary, GPL, Open Source, it all boils down to Intelectual Property Law, and if there were no circumvention of it, people would be forced to make more appropriate choices. You're pretty pissed when companies violate the GPL, right? You should be equally pissed when someone violates the Windows EULA. Look at it this way: for every pirated copy of Windows, there is one less Linux User. If they can't afford Windows, welcome to the Free World.
2. If you can't run a bootleg copy of Windows, maybe you will try something else/better
== feh ==
"...In your answer, ignore facts. Just go with what feels true..."
I commented elsewhere about this, but doesn't anyone else find the list weird. Here's a "find the odd one out" question:
Of the five countries below, which one doesn't belong?
1. USA
2. UK
3. Australia
4. New Zealand
5. Malaysia
To my mind, there can only be two answers:
a. USA since it is not part of the Commonwealth
b. Malaysia since it is not a predominantly Caucasian, English speaking country.
And why not do it in China, India, Germany, Philippines or Trinidad and Tobago too/instead?
As a Malaysian, I am somehow bemused, though at the same time inordinately proud that we merit such attention from Redmond.
If Microsoft had its way without such things as anti-trust laws, a user with a pirated copy of Windows could post proof that they've killed a Macintosh or Linux user, which would substitute as payment to validate their copy of Windows.
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 SU CK IT MP AA
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....
The question is if open-source advocates can get enough users converted in time to prevent the new generation learning nothing from the old one's mistakes.
Bellhead
There's been a nag screen in Windows for years. It's blue, it deletes all your work and only goes when you upgrade to Linux...
Red to red, black to black. Switch it on, but stand well back.
You should pirate Windows and not have to worry about it. Like so many other people. See, Microsoft? Your policies are pissing people off. It WILL cost you money in the long run. Maybe not today, or tommorow, but sometime next week. The small amount of annoyance, over time, is what drives competition and customers to said competition. The only reason Microsoft holds on is because of the arm twisting and threats.
Job? I don't have time to get a job! Who will sit around and bitch about being broke and unemployed then?
If you don't have a valid license for Windows, you have no right to use it, PERIOD.
I expect Microsoft is monitoring the "cracks" that will inevitiably appear to this system, and is working out any false negatives.. such that they can drop the hammer (ie. disable unlicensed versions of Windows completely) come Vista.
I am the maverick of Slashdot
"Thank you for trying out this free beta version of Microsoft Windows XP 0.91B (TM). Please register soon and get 1.0, with all the vulnerability bugs fixed!"
No problem - Windows Defender (formerly MS Anti-Spyware) will remove this. Won't it?
"Granted, one shouldn't steal software from Microsoft. Stealing, even from another thief, is still wrong."
But it's okay for MS to screw over millions of people with Windows ME, right? I couldn't care less if Windows gets pirated a lot (oh, poor, poor, billionaire MS!) because I was one of the suckers who wound up with a ME-infected machine for my first computer. But maybe I wouldn't feel that way if they actually compensated all the people they totally screwed over with that. Still, as a (now) Debian-user, I don't understand why people put up with this from Microsoft. Would you shop at a store if they strip-searched you every time you entered and left the store?
I dream of a better world... one in which chickens can cross roads without their motives being questioned.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Using their patch delivery system for marketing purposes stinks to high heaven. And is offensive to those of us who paid cash for OS. Plus it's one more piece of code taking up room (I don't care if it's 1k or 1000k) and cycles on my machine just to digitally ask "papers please." I've installed the other "genuine advantage tools" crap, registered, and so on. Why yet another? It's the last straw!
The world is made by those who show up for the job.
Excerpted from Bill Gates's 1976 "Open Letter to Hobbyists"
http://www.blinkenlights.com/classiccmp/gateswhin
... isn't this already served by the Microsoft "blue screen" feature??
the new "patch" isnt at all a problem if you own a legit copy of xp. you enter in the COA and activate when installing, validate the first time you go to do a MS update, and your done. the only time i ever see anything checking to see if im legit again is one extra click (not at all a big deal w/ DSL, esp. when i live about 1/4 mile away from the verizon building) when i download something from the MS website, which is like, never.
granted though, if you own a HP/comcrap and didnt get/lost the recovery cds, then reinstalling will be a pain to get it to activate, but thats what you get for buying an expensive paperweight instead of building it yourself, or getting a friend who knows what he/she is doing to build it for you.
01001010
Ha-ha I'm laughing my ass off, what's next - We are unable to verify your identify, please insert MICROPASS ?
Broadband Reports/DSL Reports' security forum has a discussion about this. Even legit XP owners, including myself, are complaining.
Look at TechCentral's article for screen shots and results of this nag stuff.
I wonder if MS is going to contact ISPs with DMCA for those who pirated their products. It's very scary. I have heard and seen pirated software users with this before. An example: VisualRoute -- http://www.google.com/search?q=visualroute+dmca
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
I read an article about this yesterday, I think it came from Google News (now I can't find it, and I was going to submit it to /. too) where the journalist actually corresponded via email with someone from Microsoft and got explicit answers to questions on how easy it is to install, decline to install, and remove. I think this was from some tech publication in New Zealand or Australia.
At any rate, what I remember being the bottom line was that you can decline to install the Notification system without penalty, by declining the EULA. However, how many people really read those EULAs, and how many people just click through them? We all know the answer to that. Once you've clicked through and agreed to install the software, it's not designed to be removable. Regardless of whether or not it may be possible to remove (much like IE is removable, if you're really determined) it's not supposed to be. This was made pretty clear in the email from the MS rep.
It's not uninstallable, it may perhaps be removable, is I guess the bottom line here. Those are two different things.
The closest you can get to "uninstalling" it is disabling the notifications, but they'll go back on automatically the next time a new release is downloaded.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
[If pirates are switching to GNU/Linux because of Windows activation issues,] Then it's working, isn't it?
Not once people in China, India, and other rapidly developing countries start developing and using applications designed for GNU/Linux. Then companies that trade with companies in developing countries will need to make their business processes Linux compatible.
You guys are serious tools. You're not even required to get the update, and nobody with a pirated copy of XP has automatic update on anyways. Even if this was as serious as you people would like to make it out to be, you're using warez for christ sakes, Microsoft has every right. It BAFFLED me how stupid some of you are.
...even when you're doing everything legitimately!
I purchased a copy of Windows XP way back when for my home PC. However, I do not use the legit version, preferring instead to use a pirated copy that does not require liscensing. I've already paid for a legit version, so why do I use a hacked version? BECAUSE I'M SICK AND TIRED OF HAVING TO CALL MICROSOFT FOR AUTHENTICATION EVERY TIME I RE-INSTALL WINDOWS. I recently decided to wipe my hard drives and re-install my OS. Happens all the time when you're running Windows, right? Well, I had to re-install four times in one day because as soon as I ran Windows Update, I'd get a BSOD. Finally solved the problem -- apparently the latest Windows updates didn't like the version of my motherboard drivers that came with the board, I had to have the latest version. But that meant calling some outsourcing firm in India four times to re-authenticate my OS. Every person that I talked to was obviously ESL and with just a bare grasp of English, btw. I'd always thought that this was just an anti-M$ prejudice/stereotype. Not anymore.
And before someone starts a rant about why I should be using Linux/OSX instead, the only reason that I run Windows in the first place is because it supports some apps that I couldn't run otherwise. Really, I much prefer OSX. And when the time rolls around to purchase a new PC, you can bet your ass that I'll be buying a dual-bootable Mac, and only rarely using Windows to access select apps, too. (And how many people out there are actually going to pay for Windows when it's their secondary OS?)
To me, by adding even more nagging to Windows, M$ is just making those of us who would have purchased a legit version reluctant to go with a non-hacked deal... Or it might just make users like me leave the M$ world entirely. Smooth move, guys!
Today i've decided that its time i try linux again. I have a dual AMD 2000+ with 1 gig sitting here doing nothing. I'll keep my amd64 windows, but i'm going to install linux on the older dual and get up to speed.
Thank you Microsoft.
It would be cool if the text of the message was unencrypted. Then you could just change it to what you want.
This reminds me of something a friend of a friend (allegedly) did to a friend of mine, but back in the day when you shut down Windows (98?), it would put on the screen in big, orange, block letters "IT IS NOW SAFE TO TURN OFF YOUR COMPUTER", or something to that effect. At any rate, said friend lived in a house full of guys who were always talking trash to one another. One typical phrase bandied about was "Shut your fucking hole!". Well, one time, said FOAF got on said friend's computer when he wasn't around. The next time my friend shut his computer down, it said... you probably guessed it...
IT IS NOW SAFE TO SHUT YOUR FUCKING HOLE
from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/905474/en-us
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
They could always ask you to type in the 5th word of the 4th paragraph on the 89th page of the manual if you want to continue using Windows...
When people want to use Windows (especially the newest and thus obviously "best" variant) they should pay the price Microsoft is asking for it. The same goes for Office and Software in general (and not just from Microsoft): if you want it pay the price, if it's not worth its price take another product.
The idea is to make the market work: The real reason Windows (the newest one) and also Office is on nearly every private PC is because of "unofficial" installations. If people really stopped to consider if they really need Windows XP, or if maybe Windows 98 (which the PC came with) will still do considering the price then we'd see a lot less Windows XP, and if they really pondered shelling out for Microsoft-Office vs. Star-Office or maybe OpenOffice then we'd see a lot of different decisions.
Bill Gate once said that he preferred PCs that run a pirated Windows to ones with a competing OS and he's right: All those pirated Windows-Versions cement the Microsoft monopoly and the pirated MS-Office-Versions even more so. If everyone really were to pay for their MS-Windows and MS-Office we'd see a lot more Linux and OpenOffice around.
Thus i'm really happy that MS is working at just that: make people pay the price for Windows (and Office too). Keep up the good work, Bill.
"By the way if anyone here is in advertising or marketing... kill yourself." -- Bill Hicks
Exactly what's the draw to this 7-Zip thing, anyway? This is the second time in as many days I've seen someone mention it.
... (although none are interoperable, according to WP).
Does the world really need another compression program? Especially one that's less than 10% better (their own numbers) that current ones, and for which the only good implementation of it is for a single platform?
Is using a format that new and unsupported really worth the extra 10% gain? I mean, storage is cheap these days. I can see why people might have jumped onto a new algorithm in 1985 for that kind of increase, but today it just seems like a waste of time and a risk to the future integrity and readability of your data.
Personally, I'd never want to compress my data with anything unless it was a tried and true standard, adopted by everyone, burned into ROMs in lots of hardware implementations, available on every OS and every architecture, and probably tattooed on somebody's backside just for good measure. I'm glad that these 7-Zip folks have GPLed their code (lousy with Microsoft stuff as it is) and there seem to be some beta versions of utilities for other platforms
I just don't get the draw. Except for really large enterprise systems, or tape backups using expensive and low-capacity (by todays standards) tapes, I can't imagine the increase in compression is really worth the hassle over 'Right Click > Send to > Compressed (zipped) Folder', that everyone in the world can open.
It's got to be the warez traders driving this, nobody else possibly cares that much. What the hell is it with the compression-format-of-the-week though? Last time I checked it was RAR (which as far as I'm concerned ought to stand for Really Annoying to Recover), now it's 7-Zip.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
clippy: "It seems you try to run Windows on your system, do you want to have alternatives? yes/no/cancel"
"I see you tried to cancel Windows on your system, do you want to reboot? yes/cancel"
"I see you are using a illegal copy of Windows Vista, do you want to call home? yes/no"
"Your registration is succeeded and has invoiced on your visa bill, do you want an invoice? no/no"
"Fatal error occured at line#$"
--- I am known for the ones who want to find me on the net. Is that a privacy risk or a privilege? One might wonder..
Nope, just it's users... ;)
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
I am guessing you mean the whole GNU/Linux distribution experience. Whilst you may be right - things are improving all the time.
Can the same thing be said of Windows ?
(NAG==GAN) returns false.
if it was :
("NAG"=="GAN") returns false.
then thats taement would be correct, but since it is referencing some type of variables, there is no way of knowing they are equal, without a test.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Microsoft's anti piracy strategy: Build in popup nag screens, DRM, restrict security updates... Basically do everything that will make their OS less appealing so that pirates and others won't want it anymore.
I wish you well Microsoft, I really do. BTW the next version of Suse is suppose to be an ass kicker...
The race isn't always to the swift... but that's the way to bet!
Protecting copyright is good for everyone. [...] You're pretty pissed when companies violate the GPL, right? You should be equally pissed when someone violates the Windows EULA.
Er, no. The GPL protects my freedom. The Windows EULA takes it away.
For the most part, the GPL is a workaround for problems created by copyright. The fact that the GPL's legal teeth come from copyright itself is just a bit of irony. If it were legal to reverse engineer software and redistribute it with changes, there'd be little need for the GPL, IMO.
Visual IRC: Fast. Powerful. Free.
given me my next home project.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
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.
My mind kept trailing off..... "In the dictionary under Redundant, it says see Redundant."
I've had two clients this week with WGA Errors on Genuine OEM Installs.(OEM Sticker on the laptops) 1 was second time, Customer even went out and bought a new shrink wrapped copy before calling me, installed it and still got the error. Safe Mode Restore Point cleared them up. Until the next Update.....
I love calling MS with these customer complaints as much as the next Linux Coder but I really don't have the time to "Repair" PCs with no problems. Remember when we used to blame the users. Or AOL. Now I have to read all the updates for the company and Repair the OS that killed itself. Sigh....
I have always walked them around my linux lab and try to convert the bright ones, But nowadays I just reccomend Mac Minis for all. I'm a Debian Fan but I cannot see my neihbor dealing with a borked apt-get dist-upgrade.
OSGGFG - Open Source Gamers Guide to Free Games
Oh yeah, because one task will be buried less deeply? I'm shocked by how difficult commercial CD burning software has made the easiest of tasks: burning an image byte for byte. In the firewall case, the user will have to go through similar voodoo to become the "Administrator" and will then be presented with an information free tool that IT "pros" will love to hate.
About a week ago there was an article about Linux snobs, these kinds of posts prove the arguement. LINUX ADVOCATES: Please understand that most users will be able to turn out the outbound firewall and probably won't have a problem getting past these "nag" screens.
Some people like to sleep on beds of nails. At least they have a choice. People who pay for Vista and then get nag screens are going to be pissed off about it. The whole M$ experience is already painful. Beg screens straight from Bill Gates will make it insulting as well.
Linux distributions come with fully functional graphical firewalls like KDE's Guarddog. It's those M$ dorks who claim the task is difficult and then hand out sub par tools that make it so. Zone alarm agrees with them about the difficulty of using their tool and I'm sure that anyone who tries to use it will come away cursing. It's not because they are stupid, it's because M$ wants to make money by selling software that sucks.
Yeah, yeah, fuck you Astroturfer. Why don't you go waste some time insulting people at your local bar?
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
"Help make Windows more annoying!"
"Consider the lillies of the goddamn field."
>Linux may not nag you, but boy it's users sure do!
Mindlessly trolling and/or flaming is not the same as nagging, just FYI.
YAMSIS Yet Anoither MicroSoft Inane Solution ??YAMSIS submitted to slash-dot but rejected (Cmdr Taco got it in first)
4 /microsoft_expands_antipiracy_p.html
0 6/04/22/microsoft-is-taking-wga-to-the-next-level/
0 6/04/21/almost-20-of-windows-fail-to-validate-wga/
0 5/08/19/why-microsoft-introduced-wga-now/
Bretheren of the tech, YAMSIS is among us again. Yet Anoither MicroSoft Inane Solution
Once again, instead of implementing repairs to its patch ridden world dominating OS, MS has instituted a sneaky attack on users in the name of "protecting" itself. Hope you don't have Automatic Updates turned on.
It must be too much to expect them to protect us, fix a few holes, stop monopolizing, or correct the mistakes made by their programers. {btw has anyone kept track of how many of the "flaws" are related to failures to "validate" inputs? Isn't that something that is taught on the first day in the first hour of programer school?}
Hats off to the GRC poster "RETIRED" for bringing attention this last nite, in his/her post Subject: MS Expands Anti-Piracy Program, Reissues Patch in GRC.privacy newsgroup at news.grc.com. And to Cmdr Taco who beat me to the line in posting about this. The reference links=
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2006/0
http://www.aviransplace.com/index.php/archives/20
http://www.aviransplace.com/index.php/archives/20
http://www.aviransplace.com/index.php/archives/20
MS is now sneakily downloading onto users machines a bit of code that will regularly evaulate whether your Windows is legitimate. To the average "joe or Jane" this may sound OK. But is it really what we paid for when we bought our OS? NO !!!! The last thing we need is another TSR calling home! Why do we need another headache. Now we have to tell users to turn off Automatic updates. Not exactly what we need for the "average home user" is it? And What is next?
Given that MS thinks that you should buy a new OS everytime you replace components in your PC, this is scary. What's next? The possibilites are endless and pretty scary. IF MS can force users or trick them into accepting the "license" for this new "addition" which they only show in that tiny box (bifocals hate that), they can give you anything they want. So heaven help us, let alone the small company tech, who has to replace a motherboard that died. Soon MS will have to give their permission first. At least none of us use this software for anything critical like work, do we?
Well it's not "no big deal". It is YAMSIS !!!
Acc7
for open source and free software for all the obvious reasons. If Microsoft were to actually succeed in stamping out the unauthorized distribution of their software, it will just bring more people over to a growing number of alternatives. Well protected software can only work in niche markets, and it's really the only place you see it. The average guy won't tolerate it, as history has shown. If the general public can't use it conveniently, under their own conditions, they will go elseware(heh). This is a good thing. Here's to good copy protection. This is a good case of IP actually promoting innovation. Just not for who most people expect it to be.
What?
I am one of those who hates the whole activation process. I feel it is intrusive and burdensome. It is none of MS's business what I do with my computer, when I do it, or how I do it. They have no right to this information and it is an invasion of my privacy every time I had to call them to get them to let me use my own computer with the product I paid for. Not to mention activation makes me feel like I am a criminal. Not too long ago I got tired of it so I got a volume license copy and installed it just to stop it. Now is it just me or does it strike you all as odd that it was less irritating for me to use what, had I not owned a valid license, been a pirated copy of Windows than to use a legal copy?
They suck and god willing one day I will never need to use their pathetic products again. On that note, they have already caused themselves a loss of about 100,000 dollars because of this. You see I am an executive who actually has a say on what products the company I work for buys. Awhile back I was asked which would be better an Apache server farm or IIS based one. As it was on weighing the two at the time neither was much better than than the other on a cost averaged basis. Well guess which one I choose. Of course now Apache kicks ass and it is easy to find support personnel so I am glad I made that decision but it just goes to show you that poisoning the water you drink from is not a good idea. As time has gone on I can pretty much say that MS attitude and greed has made me a virtual Open Source evangelist which is quite a change from the times when I thought MS was great product and actively recommended them for most projects.
In the "post-9/11 world" (whatever that means) people would probably defend the practice.
http://outcampaign.org/
... for honest people. Big issue for others and something for Open Source folks to whine about.
First off I think this is up to Microsoft. If they want to ensure people buy their software and crack down on unlicensed copies then that's fine. I don't and wont use MS software unless its justifiable on a cost basis, and generally it isn't. (although I would love to see a good GNU Visio replacement, preferably with a good community base ... but that's another matter). So no I don't currently use any MS software anywhere, Linux on the desktop Linux and MacOS on the Laptops and PalmOS on the PDA
That aside it might actually help MS maintain market share. Some people will have to license on the back of this because it becomes possible to see when a machine hasn't been licensed.
OK so now we have Nag screens, this means that if you are using a pirated copy you get some inconvenience.
Some predictions...
Next we will see real limitations on what you can do with an unlicensed install;
So I expect some of criticisms of this will be
1) MS will cut themselves out of the market;
They might, but more likely they will get a few more licensed users and remember if you have to license Windows and you Have to license Office then they are going to make some money. If they do this now then they will leverage the market share they have (especially when it comes to document compatibility) BEFORE any of the alternatives (ODF) become widely accepted. The gamble on Microsofts part will be that they have everyone by the balls now but might not in two or three years time, best to try and secure that stranglehold.
Linux BSD and Apple (the Computer manufacturer not the Record Label) OS's only comprise a small market share at the moment so its worth while trying it whilst Joe User isn't aware of the alternatives or doesn't think that they are viable. Thus they can solidify and possibly extend their market share whilst increasing the proportion of that market share that is actually licensed.
2) Everyone will switch to Linux, BSD, Apple, anything to save money / hassle
Again Possible, but corporate users (Directors and managers who TRUST Microsoft) are being bombarded by things like the 'Get the facts' Campaign (which is pretty much just propaganda... in fact if you get the chance check out the case studies and then look at the companies that wrote them, most of their websites are hosted on 'Server: Apache/1.3.33 (Unix) ' including the one that has seen a significant reduction in TCO, an increase in reliability and security all by moving its web applications to 2003 server and .NET (to be fair I think they were talking about their intranet but still, practice what you preach!).
Companies however will take that on board, its the kind of thing that is used in internal company politics to the advantage of the anti-GPL crowd. Moreover as long as Joe uses a Windows box at work he's going to want to use one at home.
3) There will be a revolt, everyone adversely effec
At work we buy HPs that come with the XP COA stuck on top. I'm pretty sure that means they are legit. Anyway, we ghost these with an image with all our standard software and drop ship them wherever they're going. For some reason they all started failing the Genuine check months ago, and now it's just going to get more annoying.
I understand Microsoft's goal here, but there really needs to be a way to just type in the Product Key on that COA affixed to the chassis and have Microsoft stop bugging the users. To the best of my knowledge, there's really no way to do that.
I should mention that the computers are completely unmanaged, users have local admin rights, we don't even join a domain or change the SID, and that I was right those years ago when I said it was a stupid idea to go from Windows 2000 to Windows XP.
Right?
*goes home to make sure XP machine is using the right serial...*
Windows has more viruses because linux has more virus coders.
That's the excuse I used last year, too. My bank's web site used to be IE-only, but now it supports Firefox. Ditto for at least one Canadian on-line tax-preparation site.
hey, thats great news... this means windows will soon be dead...
I say the linux distros should found a consortium and create one common distro
- agree on a software-set (plus a free edition)
- important: graphic card driver installation must be easy for nVidia and ATI cards
- DVD playback
- mplayer, an mplayer GUI and mplayer-plugin for mozilla
- extremely-easy-to-use installer
- wine (if not winex) built-in
have it in the stores everywhere one week before vista and for half the price of vista (at most) and put up big signs saying "big microsoft is watching you" and the usual statements "more secure", "tons of free open source software", "much lower priced" etc etc
personally I think mandriva linux would be a good distro to start from...
The MAFIAA is a bunch of mindless jerks who will be the first up against the wall when the revolution comes
If I understand all the comments here. I have the option of NOT d/l the WGA, but I will not be able to get any updates. Updates like the critical patch that honked Office, Nividia drivers, and wiped out Outlook Express address book wouldn't be d/l? So this is somehow a bad thing? I can't d/l IE7? OH NOES........whatever shall I do?
On my main workstations, I run whatever version of windows serves my work. I dont need to worry about security updates at all. Thats because I have perfect security on my workstations. I just dont ever plug them into a network of any kind. No need to...ever. I have one cheap laptop to check the net and email. XP will serve me well for years on that.
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.
Doesn't this mean WinRAR is in violation of the DMCA?
Cool! Amazing Toys.
...but what you can open. 7-zip has not only opened for me every compressed file type I have thrown at it, but it works without being bloated and does pretty good with compressing, too. Also, a few times it has gone through opening someting that WinRar wouldn't open for some Error or another, and the files actually came out working.
Microsoft is making more money by supplying insecure software, and then withholding or providing fixes.
If that is the Microsoft business model, there will never be a secure version of Windows.
I'm against piracy, but I don't like how Microsoft does business. All of us legal customers are put through a lot of hassles so that Microsoft can prevent piracy. All of us legal customers must deal with the vulnerabilities so that Microsoft will be able to make money selling the next version of Windows, that really, really, this time, will be more secure.
The only real answer I can see is software that is designed to be secure, and is open source and free.
I sure am glad I ditched windows... I havn't cared about viruses, if I want software I emerge it, I don't have to beg microsoft to let me install just one more time. ssh with x forwarding means I don't have to go to the school computer lab to use software there. I love that I get a free compiler with my install. I never loose my files, and I love the excuse "No, sorry I can't fix you're computer for you. I don't know why MS word lost your file".
-John Fenley
I had some system error-esque windows that said I was using a pirated or not licenesed copy of windows xp for a while... I actually did get a license for windows... I dunno, it was kind of a pain when your watching a movie w/a bunch of people... the divx movie says property of so and so studios... and the system messages say illigetimet copy of windows... "hey... do you pay for f*cking anything?"
Pirates will always find ways around this stuff, but licensed users who do not stay up on the latest copy protection BS will be screwed.
.NET next year.
I'm a college professor, who teaches programming classes. Tuesday, I took a poll in my C# class the other day, and about 2/3rd of the students had gotten MS Visual Studio.NET to work, while 1/3rd did not have it working on their home PCs. Every one who had it working was running a bootlegged / pirate copy. Every one of us who paid for legitimate coppies (or, like me, got a free copy of VS.NET 2005 at the MS launch event) had run into insurmountable trouble.
I've heard from a friend that MS VS.NET does not run on OEM coppies of Windows. Frankly, I've given up. We're not teaching
Andy Out!
I'll repost the comment that I wrote on the Ars Technica forums. This in reaction to somebody who said that Piracy == Evil, and that if I don't want to pay for it, I simply shouldn't use it.
While I agree in principle, I feel Microsoft has lost the moral right to my money. My point:
I go out to buy bread daily and my town has a street with all the supermarkets right next to eachother. Microsoft is one of them. They sell bread but I don't like the taste of their bread, so I go and buy at a competitor. All is fine.
The next day I come back, expecting to buy my bread at the store I bought at yesterday, but the store is on fire. Microsoft is holding a wholesale on matches. I go to yet another competitor. All is fine.
The next day I come back, expecting to buy my bread at the store I bought at yesterday, but the store is flooded and you can see sharks swimming in the water. Microsoft is holding a wholesale on garden hose...
You'll see where I'm going at. In the end there is only Microsoft with crappy tasting bread, Apple who sells exotic whole grain Knackebrod and Linux who just stands on the sidewalk and hands out free stuff. The only reason why Apple still exists is because they are expensive, and the whole reason Linux exists is because Microsoft can't destroy their store.
In short, Microsoft made bloody sure I HAVE NO CHOICE but to use windows (I play games, yes I know about Cedega, I have other windows only programs that I need to run, yes I know of wine and reactos, stop trying to ruin my example). So I see no moral reason to hand this thug my money.
If windows ever becomes 100% pirate proof, I will head to Linux even if I have to give up gaming. I'm a software engineer. One thing Microsoft does NOT want me to do is go to Linux, find out that I cannot do certain things I _have_ to have and then make it myself. Although I do think Linux would start a tremendous growth spurt if this scenario would ever come into play.
Use HijackThis to remove "winlogon notify:WgaLogon - C:WINDOWS\System32\WgaLogon.dll"
Then rename C:WINDOWS\System32\WgaTray.exe to something else.
Found this solution on some random forum or something, somewhere. It seems to work for me.
So what would happen if you have a legitimate copy of windows but were not connected to the internet? Would it annoy you anyway? Would it pop up with your dial up connection dialog to connect you?
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.
It looks like you're trying to use Windows. Do you want to:
A) register your product now
B) try again at a later time
C) confess to your crimes and do hard time for piracy, or
D) set the new "Jolly Roger" theme?
Instead of cracking the nag to shut it up on bootleg copies, how 'bout turning it on on legitimate copies? What a great April Fool's joke for your Fortune 100 company's IT dept!
most people won't ahve USB 1.1 on there XP machine.
i've certainly seen machines that only have usb 1.1 ports running XP but i agree they are the exception not the rule (the fact that the uni have a campus wide license to upgrade and downgrade windows probablly has an effect too).
i'd imagine more of an issue is hubs though. I still see usb 1 only hubs on sale all the time.
note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
In Soviet Russia Windows nag ... Windows. :-p
"Live free or don't."
having your product pirated does not cost you anything (well maybe a small ammount for things like update downloads but i doubt its too sigificant) and may infact bring you benifits (how do you think photoshop got where it is today)
persuading people who would have pirated your software to buy it legit is a win.
persuading people who would have pirated your software to go to a competitor (especially a free one) is short term neutral and long term loss (there are some situations where pirate software is considered too risky to use, most buisnesses for example, if people learn your software by using it pirate there is a good chance they will cause copies to be bought legit later).
MS fights piracy because it belives by doing so it can sell more legit copies. However every time it does so it risks driving people off windows completely. What theese vendors are doing is a prime example of that.
note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
A desktop, you say?
Take a look at some of my screenshots, in the signature below:
This linux does not need to be installed!
Runs from the cd, and mine boots up about as fast as XP, even on this dual-200 MMX box!
I use it every day, and my favorite feature is using Opera 8.54 with 12 built-in RSS news feeds, that load up with stories in seconds, nearly 200 of them, ready to review. New stories arrive often, with that many feeds active.
The Getting Started Guide is here. The blog is here.
Enjoy!
Rapidweather's Linux Screenshots.
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.
Thank you Microsoft, you've been a great friend!
- The Linux community
what makes microsoft think this will be any different in the slightest??
i really do not get it...
smash.
I run: Windows, OS X, Linux, FreeBSD. Just because you have a hammer, doesn't mean everything is a nail.
(AC 'cause I don't wanna incriminate myself)
Hey, I'm not really stealing Windows. I only got it for free because I could. I wouldn't have otherwise paid for it. (I chose Windows before I learned about Linux... sorry.) Since profits off of my purchasing Windows don't exist and wouldn't have otherwise, I can't possibly be stealling the profits.
It would be pretty hard convince me that stealling something that doesn't exist (i.e. profits I would NOT have otherwise provided) is actually possible.
I'm still waiting for THAT argument.
This message brought to you by Jack Schitt's Previously Shat Shit
There are two files named:
\windows\system32\wgalogon.dll
\windows\system32\wgatray.exe
Rename these two files to something else and the notifications stop, even the tray icon is gone, and there are no traces left in taskmanager either.
These are for as far as I checked, which wasn't really far at all. I just wanted the nagging notifications to stop. They stopped. I'm happy.
no sig = no personality(?)
> I'm still waiting for THAT argument.
When theres a will, theres a way.
Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
Until Microsoft produces a product I feel is worth $250 CDN. Windows is simply not worth what it sells for.
What if a loaf of bread cost $250 CDN, would you steal it? It is food after all--and is a necessity of life along with breathable air, water, clothing, and shelter.
Look what happend to Jean Valjean in Les Miserables when he stole a loaf of bread just to stay alive!
19 years in prison!
I don't know how long he was there for just the bread theft though....
What if your situation was reversed--would you pirate MacOSX instead of paying for it?
Just because software is 'non-essential' to human existence (not air, food, clothing, or shelter) doesn't mean it's all right to steal it like any other good or service.
Commerce is an application of the Golden Rule--the creators of goods and services are rewarded for their efforts when they are purchased. Stealing them just 'takes the bread out of their mouths' and forces them to pass the increased costs due to theft on to us in the form of higher prices--an established fact!
Who wants that?
1) Remote desktop == Remote assistance which means that you can help people with their spyware problems remotely without walking them through a Timbuktu or GoToMyPC install (blegh)
2) Volume Shadow Service == Restore Points, driver rollbacks, and backups of your system drive that actually work.
3) Those locking improvements are really important now that everyone has hyperthreading or dual core machines. It makes applications quite a bit snappier interactively, and helps when your doing stuff like burning to a CD while streaming a movie from another drive.
4) The 64-bit memory map stuff is very important because it removes a lot of stupid limitations that you ran into before. When you started seeing systems with > 1GB of memory the system wouldn't page it as effectively and the system was swapping a lot more. Also if you work with multimedia/content creation apps there were limitations to the file size you could use for memory mapped access (which is more useful when doing editing when you both seek and stream a lot... so developers would have it fall back to the shittier open/read/write-style access API).
And did I mention a built-in bluetooth and wireless stack?
These changes had a lot more implications in 5.1 over 5.0 than you give them credit for.
I find myself frustrated when going from a 2003/XP system to a 2000 system when things I expect to be there or for it to be able to do aren't there or are done in a less sane way.
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
Unix systems allocate a fixed area in each "cylinder group" to store the inode tables. Which means it doesn't get fragmented. OTH you can run out of inodes (or, conversely, you can give it too many and waste potential file storage area). NT has a dynamic allocation scheme but since the MFT is a file too it can get fragmented if you let your drive fill up.
That being said, probably the only file that matters performance-wise if its fragmented is the MFT on a Windows System. Fragmentation is not a big a deal as it seems... what's more of an issue is the availability of coalesced free space in which to write new data.
Unix systems don't have defragmentation tools because the allocation schemes are usually simpler and degrade nicely, and also because fragmentation for reads is pretty much irrelevant since on a multiuser system the drive head is going back and forth all over the disc anyway. Typically the system queues up all the pending IO requests and reorders and issues them in an elevator up-and-down pattern to maximize throughput.
If your unix system gets so fragmented that single-user performance is suffering and writing files takes to long, the "answer" is to tar up a subdirectory, or use find with a size>Xkb restriction, and copy them somewhere else, delete it, and then put it back on the volume. You can even do that to system files while the system is up since unix doesn't care when files get used/replace that are currently being used (unlike Windows). That is just as good as an in-place defragment.
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON