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Vista Can Run Without Activation for a Year
An anonymous reader gave us a heads up on this article for people who like putting things off. It begins: "Windows Vista can be run for at least a year without being activated, a serious end-run around one of Microsoft's key anti-piracy measures, Windows expert Brian Livingston said today. Livingston, who publishes the Windows Secrets newsletter, said that a single change to Vista's registry lets users put off the operating system's product activation requirement an additional eight times beyond the three disclosed last month. With more research, said Livingston, it may even be possible to find a way to postpone activation indefinitely."
...does it run with activation key? SCNR :-)
Since microsoft have made it perfectly clear that they don't want anyone running their OS without paying, why continue to try, how about giving one of the many shiny desktop linux distros a go instead?
Software Freedom Day!.
Tag it: "defectivebyaccident"!
Seriously, they do have this little windows update thing that sends out updates, I'm sure it's mostly trivial for them to fix the flaw
I have no problem whatsoever with activation. If people do not want to pay MS prices then there are alternative OSes they can use. There is nothing at all wrong with a company trying to ensure that people actually *pay* for its products.
This is the first time I've heard of Windows Activation being referred to as DRM. I think your knee just jerked, or perhaps you thought blasting DRM would garner you postitive moderation.
What you *should* get is -1 (Offtopic)
for some twit to tag this either 'haha' or 'defectivebydesign'
Yes, delaying activation is fine, but why would you want Vista in the first place? My laptop died recently and I bought a replacement Thinkpad. It came pre-loaded with Vista Business. I gave it a try for two weeks.
- Despite having 1GB RAM, the laptop ran like a glued snail.
- Network speed was inconsistent and seems to be bound to movements of the sun.
- Many printers (including my HP 2600n) are still unsupported. Not sure if this is HP being their usual crap self or just a complete inability to get Vista to play properly with network printers.
- Aero. Why?
- So many features like "Map Network Drive" have now been moved so they can only be access from specfic areas like "My Computer"
- The updated XP style for control panel etc is really frustrating.
- When opening some MS Office 2007 applications, the screen would corrupt then everything would hang for about 3 minutes.
- Maybe a problem with Vista's sound libraries? Music sounded tinny through Vista, but cleaner in XP on the same machine.
Anyways, enough of that bollocks. I've wiped the whole disk and installed XP pro again.
Why don't they just change the system clock?
How can you not consider activation to be DRM? Activation prevents you from installing and using in a place without telecommunications, or where said communications are too expensive. It also has the small problem of how to activate when the company goes under (the company of course doesn't care about this aspect).
Win9X seems to have conditioned a lot of users to think that reinstalling every 6 months or so is normal anyway.
On the one hand MS tries to make life hard for the small time infringers (most of them), but on the other hand they still need to be number one of most infringed software, so there needs to be a backdoor. They need to be the most infringed because the infringers are the easiest turned customers. If there were no ways to get around MS licencing tricks, there would be no more potential new customers when the next release of Windos arrives.
My Father decided to buy a fresh Vista licence after using illegal versions before. That lasted about 3 days, then he decided to switch to linux (no, it had something to do with a 64bit intel compiler that was beer-free on linux only).
This space is intentionally staring blankly at you
There are hacks out there to modify the countthe activation timer so that it never times out. The cracking group Parardox also supposedly released a crack that is suppose to emulate a bios to bypass the activation process all together.
---I have no problem whatsoever with activation. If people do not want to pay MS prices then there are alternative OSes they can use. There is nothing at all wrong with a company trying to ensure that people actually *pay* for its products.
Registering a product (serial number or likewise) is one thing. Things can be made inconvienant for the casual copier. No technology will deter the big guys, not now, not ever. So, any sort of burden you set up will be absorbed by the honest guy. At worst, you'll alert the honest guy on how to use your programs the way the big pirates do.
---This is the first time I've heard of Windows Activation being referred to as DRM. I think your knee just jerked, or perhaps you thought blasting DRM would garner you positive moderation.
Erm, it IS DRM. Or have you been living in a cave when MS brags how they can completely revoke drivers for the 64 bit vista, or how they can deny activation by their many means.
When a computer gets "revoked" after I PAID my cold hard cash with, I WILL still have it work by hook or by crook. If you call or treat me like a thief, I will become one.
---What you *should* get is -1 (Offtopic)
But you should get a -1 (Retarded, didnt think it through).
defectivebydesign and haha. Quick, someone tag it!
Microsoft tells ya how to do it.
How long before we see this as a Slashdot user name? "Hi, I'm Skip -- Skip Rearm."
$nice = $webHosting + $domainNames + $sslCerts
My Linux box runs for at least a year without activation also.
One ring to bind them - should probably have more fiber and less rings in their diet.
When the Paradox bios emulator allows you to get a genuine registered pc.
The lazy bums who will not learn Linux... the resellers in Asian markets who cannot upsell the new OS which requires 8 times more RAM just so the home user can surf the web... the so-called sysadmins in Corporate settings who will not learn ipconfig, iptables and basic Unix commands... and prefers to get one more worthless certification on Vista instead..
The mindshare monopoly of the retarded lethargic users is critical to Microsoft.
If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
> With more research, said Livingston, it may even be possible to find a way to postpone activation indefinitely.
I wonder what will be pushed out in tomorrow morning's Auto-Update?
Digital? Check. Rights? Check. Management? Sure looks like it to me.
Given last weeks article about how ms want people to pirate their products and that they do it so that people would eventually turn to the "legal" route, does anyone believe this was found by "accident"?
seriously, hasn't this always been the way? give people a way to run MS's products pirated? maybe im just an old cynic..
You can activate by mail. Besides, so few people purchase computers in places where telecommunications are severely limited that the point's moot. As for Microsoft going under... I don't think we'll ever see that in our lifetime.
Because DRM is technologies that is used to control the usage of a product. If Microsoft added the restriction that more than one person might not use their operating system simultaneously and a system to control that, it would be considered as DRM.
Download size: 773 KB , less than 1 minute
A security issue has been identified that could allow you to compromise your Windows-based system using regedit and gain control of your licensing destiny. You can help protect our destiny by installing this update from Microsoft. After you install this item, you wil be required to restart your computer.
No technology will deter the big guys, not now, not ever.
Simply because a copy-protection system can be cracked doesn't mean that it won't deter piracy. Although a fence around my yard won't prevent someone determined from entering, it will keep most people out.
So, any sort of burden you set up will be absorbed by the honest guy.
If activation is handled properly (which Microsoft doesn't do) it provides no burden whatsoever. For example, the racing simulator Live For Speed uses an easy, painless activation scheme to deter piracy. Activation need not be a burden.
When a computer gets "revoked" after I PAID my cold hard cash with...
I wonder how often that happens to legitimate copies? Unless Microsoft isn't careful with its database of activated clients, I'm not sure how this could potentially occur.
Who's the real retard? The folks who pirate Vista or the geeks who can't understand why someone would want to pirate Windows over the oh so easy to use Linux?
Mac OS X and Windows XP working side by side to fight back the night.
Anybody know? One of the sysinternals utils to watch registry modifications during
use ought to pint it up...
But you're still stuck running vista.
The original generic sig.
now is we can just keep this under wraps, we can....
..
..
(looks around)
DOH!
"Waste not one watt!" - CZ
Look, the fact is, like many other sys admins, I work in Windows because it pays the bills, sure *NIX admining pays more, but there are few jobs and many university types gobbling them up as fast as they appear here in the midwest. also, my emplyer pays for MS training and certs, so I would be foolish not to get them as they mean the potential for greater money when my evaluation comes up...I like and use Mac OSX and Linux, but hey, MS pays the bills at this point, that is just how it is..
This may be off topic, but I think that this is the perfect time to switch to a new operating system. The menus and interfaces are so different in Vista/O2K7 that we all need to relearn how to use them anyway. This time could be spent with new users on Linux(or OS X)/OpenOffice.
Sometimes I wonder if these people aren't affiliated with Apple..
These Apple posts always read like an Apple "Hot news" testimonial;
"I'm a long time big business guy who researches cancer, is a long time software engineer, or applies computers to art, who has high standards and has tried everything.
What do I use you [don't] ask? Apple OS X; it's stunning, and the user-experience is breathtaking, it truly is the center of my digi-life. And, for a limited time only, it starts at only $399.
Your life. Your potential. Your Macintosh.
Think different."
// MD_Update(&m,buf,j);
Can anybody come up with a single good reason to install Vista?
All I see on the 'net are tales of woe from people who were unfortunate enough to install it.
Even the NBMers are complaining this time.
No sig today...
It doesn't stop pirates.
But it does deny access to paying customers... some of Microsoft's biggest and best customers.
So Microsoft needs to put in a backdoor so that their support professionals can take care of those customers over the phone.
But if you're telling hundreds of people about a backdoor, sooner or later it will leak.
So Microsoft will need to patch the backdoor.
But if they do that, once again, they'll be screwing their best customers.
So they'll need to open another backdoor. Quite possibly the new backdoor will be opened by the very same patch that closes the SkipRearm backdoor.
Microsoft doesn't benefit from this. Microsoft's customers don't benefit from it. The only people who benefit from it is the computer trade press and Slashdot, which is assured of an endless stream of news stories to talk about.
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
Apparently, about 6 minutes.
Don't worry if you're a kleptomaniac, you can always take something for it.
While I agree this is slightly interesting, it's not terribly useful, since it's likely that a mandatory auto-update will plug this hole soon. And without updates, the first of the many-to-be-found-exploits in all the new Vista code, will leave you vulnerable. It's rather ironic (and convenient for MS) that Windows' shoddy security, and the associate desperate need for updates, gives them a lot of control of forcing updates on you to plug activation and genuine advantage holes and such.
Thankfully for XP (which is where I level off anyway, why bother with Vista), there's Autopatcher and similar sites, which allow a *far* more convenient way of getting and applying patches than MS update. Don't know if there is anything similar for Vista, or if it's possible or will be permitted to continue by MS.
Love many, trust a few, do harm to none.
It's not impossible that the tech industry could change in a way where MS were entirely unable to compete. This is the tech industry, remember.
of disposable printers. You see, the color laser mfrs have gotten too greedy in the oem toner game, and too loose with the baseic hardware. It is cheaper to go buy a new 2600n (or the current flavor of the month) than it is to replace the toners. Also, as the printer ages, the quality goes downhill quickly - a brand new 2600n looks great, but with one set of toners through it will look pretty poor. Why drop $400 on a new set of toners when you can get a whole new system and engine for $300 or less?
FWIW, I have a 2600n on my desk, and a (10? 15?) year old HP5siMX that we use as the workhorse printer. Oh, and a Dell 5100n - which produces pretty poor output, but is good enough for color reports and is cheap for black prints. Once the color runs out, it's disposable, too ($575 for a new set of toners in a printer I paid $580 for is disposable in my book - luckily the black toner is $50/9000pgs, and the original color toners are good for 8000ea).
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Try $89...
Seriously, is it that much of an effort, to perhaps.... re install after 12 months, or at least
whipe all info related to time stamps if possible?
Its just as likely your HD will die, or you need to reinstall any way because of a new MB or CPU
regardless, so just keep the OS and applications seperate, ie roaming profile.
If people start writing better apps that dont depend on storing info in windows dirs or registry then its easier
to reinstall and run again.
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
Have you seen my brother Slmgr.exe, Slmgr.exe -rearm ?
If Microsoft wants me to DOWNGRADE from Linux (Slackware 11) to Vista, they actually needs to pay me.
Somehow they didn't understand the concept though:P
Now that Vista/IE7 is putting their pet operating systems to shame, Slashdot begins openly advocating the pirating of Microsoft's products.
How very "fair and balanced"!!!
You don't need to be 100% effective to stop 90% of piracy, and that is what the license stuff does. Everybody knows that you can get around Fairplay by ripping your CD's after burning them in itunes.
It's the same with most security measures. Take a wall across the southern border. Sure, you will have people who tunnel through or ladder over, but not the crazy amount that's crossing now. The point is to make the border MANAGEABLE.
Security is not a 100% secure or not all game as some would have you believe.
maybe because you can't get a piano except by actually buying one.
Don't forget to pay your $399 licensing fee, you cock-smoking teabaggers.
Hail Eris, full of mischief...
E pluribus sanguinem
In my school, we can rollout any software or OS to about 350 computers in 1 to 20 minutes, without ever touching any of those PCs - using the magic of (intelligent) imaging technology. We currently have about 12 completely different hardware configurations, grown throughout the years, but need only one image for all of them. With XP corporate, no problem; with Vista: No way. Nice "upgrade" there. This means twenty times the work, but perhaps we can get this down to only ten times if we finally master the crappiness that is RIS, MSI, etc., set up a shiny new 2003 activation server, ... Someone please shoot me.
I am sure you have a point in there somewhere, but if you cant be bothered to format and preview, I certainly can't be bothered to read it.
There is no right to feel safe thru security vaudeville at the expense of everyone's freedom, privacy and tax money.
Linux isn't all that different from Vista in one (very remote) regard, and that's the the whole thing of "the right distro for the right job".
:P
:) When they're done however, they'll have an understanding of how Linux partitions work, a minor grasp on how make, works, and that there are reasons some things are easy, and some are just plain HARD.
:)
Here we have a pretty simple philosophy - Mac OS X or Kubuntu for Desktops, FreeBSD or Mac OS X Server on servers. If Linux is required on the servers, then we use Gentoo.
Of course, if you're 'l33t' you can use the most powerful tool for every job. I *could* run FreeBSD or Gentoo on my own personal Desktop. Would I recommend anyone else do so?
Nope.
Actually, that's not true. When I first bring an employee on board, their experience with Linux will go like this (if they're unintiated): install Kubuntu on their desktop. ("Wow, that was easy!")
Install a few apps, Firefox namely if it isn't in there already (don't recall...), then pull up the Gentoo page, download the latest iso.
Now, install Gentoo on this box over here. Be sure to be meticulous about the instructions. Before you begin make sure you note what type of cpu you're using, vid card, sound card, etc. Call me when you're done. Not if you have problems, call me when you're DONE.
That usually buys me peace for a few days.
Anyhoo....those are the extremes. Fedora is cool in that it sets up LVM2 by default for you, which is pretty sweet. The day FreeBSD gets LVM2 capabilities I will cry. That is the one thing I really wish FreeBSD had, and the reason I went ahead and bought a Coraid unit running debian for our storage arrays.
Karma: Chameleon (mostly due to the fact that you come and go).
Tag it: "effectivebyaccident"!
You know, there is a difference between trolling and pointing out the flaws in your reasoning. Just saying.
"Windows Vista ... designed to ... prevent the software from working correctly".
Hmmm, wonder what it says when played backwards at 78RPM.
There is no right to feel safe thru security vaudeville at the expense of everyone's freedom, privacy and tax money.
... and it's ridiculously easy to bypass. It's all about timing and knowing which keys to press. I wouldn't be surprised if the same method can be used in Vista.
haha
You know, there is a difference between trolling and pointing out the flaws in your reasoning. Just saying.
Windows Vista can be run for at least a year without being activated, a serious end-run around one of Microsoft's key anti-piracy measures,
That's no accident, that's more like the time period to get you hooked on the drug even though you know it's bad for you. They figure that once you've been using it for a year, you'll pay.
Activation crack or not you probably need a new computer to run Vista. Perfect opportunity to get a Mac and start enjoying a completely new world...
I think that Microsoft going under is very unlikely.
I think that Microsoft deciding to no longer activate Windows XP is not nearly so unlikely. I still use MS-DOS 6.22 sometimes, and I don't need continuing permission from Microsoft to use it. Are you confident that I'll be able to install XP 10 years from now?
Exam 4/C again. Maybe I'll do better this time.
That's what these laws do: make it almost irresistible to commit the crime so that a vast majority of people do, and then you can selectively enforce the law on those you don't like. Classic totalitarian behavior.
It makes me sick.
6th Street Radio @ddombrowsky
It's certainly not DRM, but activation and DRM share a common trait: both are used exclusively to take control away from the user and gives it to the company selling the product.
Perhaps we should stop using DRM in favour of some arbitrary acronym, like Artificial Restriction Software, or User Restricting Measures, or something like that? Or maybe it should just be Defective By Design...
You know, there is a difference between trolling and pointing out the flaws in your reasoning. Just saying.
I wouldn't want Vista even if it were given to me by Microsoft for free. There doesn't seem to be anything that I would want with the new OS. I'm not into having tightly locked down DRM. I'm not into system reboots every few days. I'm not into having security holes big enough to drive a convoy of semi's through (sure they found a new security hole in OpenBSD, but...). No, I just don't see any reason. XP was my last MS OS, I think I'll be happier on OpenBSD; it hasn't failed me yet and I don't need the latest and greatest hardware.
...to make more people download and install it, and then with those infected computers take over the world.
Microsoft is not really saying black is white there, and I think it's because you've confused what they meant when they say "customer." They don't mean windows user.
If WGA flags your OS as non-genuine, there are two cases (well three). The first is that you pirated the software, and then you are _not_ an MS customer, and they don't really care about your benefit.
The second case then is that you paid money expecting genuine software, and apparently you got screwed. That non-trivially sized class of people is in fact interested in genuine software, which is why they payed money instead of pirating, and they are happy to be notified, assuming MS is reasonable and efficient about giving them the software that they really already paid for.
The third class is the class that are falsely flagged, and of course for them it's all bad, but to the extent that MS doesn't _try_ to code things poorly, this isn't an intending group, and hopefully over time is eliminated.
So I'm not trying to say WGA isn't to MS's benefit too, I'm just saying it's hardly Orwellian doublespeak. Let's be disciplined in our Microsoft bashing.
Relax I just want some peanuts.
OSX is $129, and a 5-user family pack is $199. So technically you could buy 10 licenses of OSX for the price of Vista Ultimate. Sometimes I wonder if these people are affliated with Microsoft.
I'm not not licking toads.
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
IIRC, the PET operating system was BASIC wasn't it? Then some shame is quite appropriate as I am ashamed to admit I still have a "cheat sheet" of PEEK and POKE codes around here somewhere that I used as a reference when writing my very first program. (A steerable rocket ship and asteroids made up of ASCII characters. The asteroids didn't break apart properly but I got an A anyway because I was able to squeeze the whole program into only three cassette tapes!)
I need a wheelchair van for my son. Help me get the word out. https://www.gofundme.com/wheelchair-van-for-jj
I think we can mash these up for a new Vista slogan: Defective by design, effective by accident!.
I use proprietary software both at home and work that will not run on Linux. Not being able to re-use Microsoft licenses eliminates the cost advantage of running Windows on homebuilt machines, when compared to more expensive Macs. Costs being equal, I dislike Microsoft more, so I will switch to Mac. It's pretty simple, but Microsoft continues to think that their Genuine Repudiation Tool is going to build their market, rather than lose it.
I know this is "the oldest troll in the book" ... telling people to "get a Mac!" when they complain about Windows.
But I was going to say a couple things about that.
1. SPSS is available for OS X on the Mac, not just Windows.
2. Now is really a pretty good time for developers to take the Mac seriously for gaming, and write some quality stuff in OpenGL. Microsoft has Direct-X 10 out as the "latest and greatest thing", but it requires Vista to work, not to mention an expensive new video card. (You can get a new nVidia GeForce 8800 series starting at about $300 that supports it, but no games use it yet.) There haven't been many really "big hits" released in the PC gaming market lately either. So an amazing new game title, available only, or even first on Mac could really convert some more folks to using a Mac. (Some developers are even saying pretty negative things about Direct-X 10 right now... a stark contrast to the level of interest previous updates seemed to generate.)
3. As Blizzard has, no doubt, learned -- writing for OpenGL means sales to users of both PC and Mac platforms is relatively painless. With Mac sales doing as well as they have the last few years, I can't see why you'd pick "Let's write for the new Direct-X and only be able to sell to Vista users." vs. "Let's write in OpenGL and sell to PC users running any of a number of versions of Windows, PLUS OS X Mac users!"?
but why would you want to?
"Windows Vista can be run for at least a year without being activated". OMFG that is so AWSOME! *n?x can do it for decades.
This is the incorrect procedure for installing Gentoo. Ok, first download Sabayon - a great XGL/AIGLX Gentoo distro then start it up and install from the icon on the desktop. Then use Firefox if you need anything else - there is a wealth of information online. I don't suggest Gentoo though for newbies - go with PCLinuxOS.
Assuming you already have a Mac. If not, the Mac Mini's start right about what the GP said.
My blog. Good stuff (when I remember to update it). Read it.
You don't need to be 100% effective to stop 90% of piracy,
Well, assuming you mean "90% of casual piracy" and accepting that the number is pulled out of the air...
No, you don't even need to be 10% effective. All you need to do to stop 90% of casual piracy is to put any kind of barrier at all, even just a CD key.
But to get much more than that, you need to be pretty damn close to 100% effective, because once you get past people who aren't stopped by an "honor system" reminder you're climbing a pretty steep curve... because it's a small step from using a stolen key to using a canned patch or script, and a canned patch can defeat pretty much anything it's possible to defeat.
So while it's not a big deal, it still demonstrates that Microsoft's customer bashing is futile.
IMHO, there will be a way to pirate Vista soon enough. Heck, if the pirates can't find a way in 6 months, Microsoft will probably push an auto-update through that leaves an obvious and trivial hole for pirates to do so.
The last thing Microsoft wants is for end users to switch to Linux or OSX. MS makes 10x more per user on corporate users than home users anyway. Home users eventually influence business users...
In fact, I'll bet that deep in Apple strategy rooms, they're plotting a timeline for releasing Mac OSX on generic x86 machines (with only reasonable *wink* anti-piracy measures).
How else is Microsoft going to get their product into the hands of people fed up with their crap except by promoting "piracy"?
Didn't somebody at Microsoft just say recently that they'd rather have the Chinese pirating Windows than using Linux?
Bill Gates is no longer relying on his monopoly contracts with resellers. Now he's actively relying on "piracy" to sell his crap - as long as it results in the same end-user lock-in he's been relying on for years with corporate systems.
This is how big a threat Linux is to his consumer base. Just because Linux only has two or three percent of the market, and Apple another two or three percent, doesn't mean Bill doesn't see this as his doom in the future. So he heads it off now by doing whatever is necessary to insure that people use HIS crap, and not somebody's else's.
That's why he's giving away his OS products to students for free, and even only charging Australian students $75 for Office whereas before Office was not included.
Lock-in. Monopoly.
It's the Microsoft way.
Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
Yeah, Microsoft-- just continue to make it difficult for even legal users to use your system, rather than getting smart and realizing that the OS is a fading revenue stream for you and consequently porting all your apps (which is where any future revenue stream lies) to Linux, before it's too late. If Microsoft actually had the slightest of brains, they'd make sure SQL Server and Office and their language products (which actually, aren't all that badly designed products) ran on Linux before things like MySQL, Oracle, DB2, OpenOffice, etc.. get too much of a foothold there, leaving no place for them when they finally see the writing on the wall.
Microsoft's OS products were never why people bought their computers. For the most part, it's the office products that were their gravy train, the OS was just a delivery system. Well, guess what-- the delivery system is heading towards common carrier status where the percieved value of it is dropping and ultimately must be both standardized and open, in order for the computer industry to grow. Microsoft is painting themselves into a corner, which at the moment is still a pretty big corner, but one that is trending smaller, and in fact, has the capability to even crash if the application sets elsewhere were to finally convince Big Business(TM) to jump ship-- and we all know that Big Business(TM) is not the type to feel any loyalty to Microsoft...
What do they mean by "it may even be possible to find a way to postpone activation indefinitely."? It already is possible, as a simple google search proves.
I'll just run out steal a copy and install it over my linux! Thank god for those DUMB microsoft fucks!
Crawl maby...