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Microsoft Acquires Winternals and Sysinternals
SJasperson writes "In a move that will be good for Redmond but may have consequences for the rest of us, Microsoft has acquired Winternals and Sysinternals. This gives them well-known developers Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell as well as dozens of well-loved and much-praised utilities, both commercial and freeware. Though Mark says on his blog that the Sysinternals site will remain 'for the time being,' this would be a good time to download the latest version of essential Windows tools like Process Explorer before they can go mysteriously missing or be locked up behind the wall of Windows Genuine Advantage."
Windows Genuine Advantage mistakes 20% of genuine XP operating systems as counterfeit. If you install the update, you have a 1 in 5 chance of kissing your operating system goodbye. The summary for installation says it will then "help you obtain a licensed copy of Windows."
The problem is that WGA enforcement sometimes blocks innocent users of ReactOS and other Wine-based software stacks.
No, it's not funny at all. Why would someone who spent time understanding something have to work for the company that made it? On top of that, few people at Microsoft would ever have to work with so many of the different parts of Windows to be able to be considered an expert in the internals of Windows. There are probably a tonne of people in MS that know a hell of a lot more about their part then he does, but have little to do with other parts.
"I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
Do not go thinking that even that technology cannot be without drawbacks to legit customers.
One case where I bought something, the cashier rang it up and put it in a bag. I got it home and discovered an antitheft tag still on the item. And it was the kind of tag that would wreck the item with dye if removed incorrectly. So I had to return to the store to get the tag removed. And this store was a fair distance away. That technology cost me money in gas and time.
There could be an analogy made for WGA. Analysis of the strings in WGA code leads to the conclusion that WGA code can shut down a windows install that WGA thinks is invalid. If WGA is wrong (Microsoft? Bugs? Never!) then a legit copy of Windows may go inactive with a major hassle to get it working again. Even if the owner has the Certificate of Authority. I don't blame people for opting out.
-- 3 events that reshaped the world in the 20th century: WW1, WW2, and WWW
Check out http://www.osronline.com/ . They have some similar utilities and are the place to go for windows device driver questions and debug. They are the folks that finally fixed much of the DDK documenation . I still have the mugs they gave away for finding doc errors.
By the way, I highly recommend their classes. I have taken a bunch of them and I am pretty sure that these folks know windows internals better than any other organization...maybe even MS.
-- soldack
http://www.winternals.com/products/repairandrecove ry/locksmith.asp
what a surprise... Microsoft takes down the locksmith. Anyone have it for me?
Thanks
stuff |
Complete list of the utility URL's -> here
You need to read the article again. Here's the sentence right from the top:
One in five computers labelled as counterfeit are running legitimate operating systems
This does not mean that one in five computers are flagged as counterfeit. It means that of all the computers that are flagged as counterfeit, one in five are incorrectly flagged. No percentage is given as to how many computers are actually flagged so we have no idea what the overall ratio is. Please work on your reading skills before making claims like you did.
I love my sig.
Most of those links are 404'ed now.
All you have to do is file a complaint under Article 82 or 81 EC Treaty:
Or just mail to COMP-MARKET-INFORMATION@cec.eu.int
What you need to provide about yourself and your enterprise and how to write a complaint see here
In case you are a Windows user wondering about the easiest, quickest way to download the files and are not familiar with wget:
Get wget from http://www.interlog.com/~tcharron/wgetwin.html (scan the binaries before installing and executing, of course)
To download the files quickly and easily just copy & paste the filenames into a file (call it utilities.txt), preferably in a new directory (make it easy to ID the files)
Go to the command line in that directory and type:
wget -i utilities.txt
This will download every file in the list to your current working directory.
I suggest you do so ASAP because when Microsoft says that something will always be free, they cannot be trusted.
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
Torrent is available and seeding.
http://thepiratebay.org/details.php?id=3504780
Single torrent containing all the individiual zip files as downloaded today.
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
If you're going to wget, may I suggest playing nice with rates, delays, and non-essential files:
t ml -X /Video,/Chat,/Forum,/Blog
wget -w 2 --limit-rate=5k -m http://www.sysinternals.com/SysinternalsSiteMap.h
A relatively reasonable 81MB and 553 files.
And don't redistribute. As a software author, beyond it being illegal I consider it to be quite disrespectful to the authors if you were to redistribute these files in violation of their license. On the other hand, it certainly seems like a good idea to make a personal copy at this moment, and that certainly IS in accordance with their license.
Looking for freelance Actionscript (Flash/Flex) or ColdFusion work and/or freelance developers. Email me, put Slashdot
For comparison, here are the EULAs from two versions of Process Explorer. The new one is far more restrictive, and over *10 times* as long.
Process Explorer 10.11 (old version):
This software is provided "as is" and use of the software is at your own risk. Sysinternals disclaims any and all warranties, whether express, implied or statutory, including, without limitation, any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement of third-party rights. Sysinternals does not warrant that the software is free of defects.
You are allowed to use software published by Sysinternals at home or at work without paying a commercial license fee provided that you downloaded the software yourself directly from Sysinternals, and:
* Use the software on computers for which you are the primary user; or
* Use the software on computers for which there is no primary user
(e.g. servers, including Terminal Servers) and you are a full-time
employee of the company that owns the computer; or
* Use the software on computers within your residence
A commercial license is required to use the software in any way not covered above, including for example:
* Redistributing the software in any manner, including by computer
media, a file server, an email attachment, etc.
* Embedding the software in or linking it to another program
* Use of the software for technical support on customer computers
Sales of commercial licenses support Sysinternals product development and assure that this Web site continues to offer valuable, up-to-date tools. Established software companies redistribute these utilities and incorporate the code into their products because this offers the potential to save significant development time. Sysinternals commercial licenses are priced according to the complexity of the licensed code and its role in the target application. If you are interested in licensing Sysinternals tools or source code for redistribution or for inclusion with or as part of a software product, please contact licensing@sysinternals.com.
10.2 (new version):
Sysinternals - Information on Terms of Use
ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS.
The services that Sysinternals provides to you are subject to the following Terms of Use ("TOU"). Sysinternals reserves the right to update the TOU at any time without notice to you. The most current version of the TOU can be reviewed by clicking on the "Terms of Use" hypertext link located at the bottom of our Web pages.
DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES.
Sysinternals provides you with access to a variety of resources, including utilities, download areas, communication forums and information (collectively "Services"). The Services, including any updates, enhancements, and/or new features are subject to the TOU.
PERSONAL AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE LIMITATION.
Unless otherwise specified, the Services are for your personal and non-commercial use. You may not modify, copy, distribute, transmit, display, perform, reproduce, publish, license, create derivative works from, transfer, or sell any information, software, products or services obtained from the Services.
PRIVACY AND PROTECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION.
See the Privacy Statement disclosures relating to the collection and use of your information.
NOTICE SPECIFIC TO SOFTWARE AVAILABLE ON THIS WEB SITE.
Any software that is made available to download from the Services ("Software") is the copyrighted work of Sysinternals and/or its suppliers. Use of the Software is governed by the terms of the end user license agreement, if any, which accompanies or is included with the Software ("License Agreement"). The Software is made available
The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.
--Aristotle
The torrrent referenced in the parent has a current set of the utilities. The last-changed dates are this month, at least on important ones such as Process Monitor and regmon. Also a new EULA.txt in each file as another poster mentioned.
There is a new torrent now, pre-MS versions. http://thepiratebay.org/details.php?id=3504886 See notes therein.