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SP1 Unsuccessful in Preventing Vista Hacks
"The other A. N. Other" writes "It seems that Microsoft has been unsuccessful with SP1 in preventing hackers from turning a pirated, non-genuine copy of Vista into genuine copies that pass activation. The article initially looked at two of the most popular hacks (OEM BIOS hack and the grace timer hack) but after a little digging ZDNet were able to transform a non-genuine install into a genuine one. 'After a few minutes of searching the darker corners of the Internet and a few seconds in the Command Prompt I was able to fool Windows into thinking that it was genuine.'"
So, if the screen goes black on users who have a genuine copy, maybe they can use this hack? Or would this be illegal? Although it would then be like tricking Windows into -realizing- it is genuine...
MS doesn't want to stop all Vista piracy. Sure, they want to stop commercial outfits producing fake Vista DVDs but stopping all Vista piracy is bad business. Using Vista (even a pirated copy) keeps you locked-in and makes it easier for MS to get people using more MS software. After all, Vista was an industry-wide attempt to get everyone buying new hardware. Yeah it failed (hardware sales have been well below expectations) but using free Vista still encourages you to get new hardware like DX10 video cards & other DRM-riddled hardware.
Simple solution: pay for a copy, throw it in the bin, and install a stolen copy instead.
You mean, someone would actually want Vista so much they'd pirate it?! These allegations surely come from M$'s PR department! If there's someone out there that really wants a copy that badly, I'll trade my Vista Home Premium that was bundled with my new system for your XP serial number...
Sure, they've always found a crack. And every time you try to get updates, the crack will break and you need to find a new one. It's not about making it impossible, just about making it annoying, timeconsuming or scary because you don't have the latest security fixes. To paraphrase a little: "pirated Windows is only free if your time is worthless". While I'm sure it makes some people pay for Windows, I do hope it also brings some people over to Linux mhere apt-get distupgrade "just works".
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
M$ could lock it down and make it much more difficult but why? With everyone using it because it's easy to pirate they maintain their market share, and it appears there is no shortage of people willing to pay for that crap called Vista.
I have to say the other post about "the ones that steal it making it harder for everyone else" is one of the most naive and ignorant post I have ever seen.
It isn't "stealing" it's copyright violation, and you have fairly naive view of human behavior.
Relax there are more important things to worry about than some crappy OS.
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
If they tighten it down too much, everyone bitches that they can't get legitimate copies to pass. If they don't tighten it down enough, people like this find ways to pirate copies and chide MS for it. So how are they supposed to come up with a happy compromise in a no-win situation?
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
This is ZDNet we're talking about here. When he says "searching the darker corners of the Internet" he's probably talking about his cluttered address book, looking for the phone number of his friend who knows how to hack vista.
Well... it's more like from the beginning, not in the end.
Basically its just another example of how even elegant code is unnecessarily costly when used to stupid purpose. Trying to prop up a 1989 business model with the likes of WGA, DRM, etc is just stupid. Find another business model. It isn't like there is some worldwide shortage of them.
I, for one, hope that MS is entirely successful in their (alas futile) search for the means to stop piracy.
If people actually have to buy Windows and Office for what MS is charging for them, maybe they'll stop for a second and finally realise what it means to enter into business with a monopoly: high prices and low quality.
There's no doubt in my mind, from the sample of people and businesses that I know, that they'd take a long hard look at Linux if they were unable to pirate MS products so easily.
Does anyone think MS really cares?
In an age of copy protected floppies and copy protection on games and virtually every type of software, MS still shipped DOS and Win 3.1 unprotected. Friends would install it, and even geeks would go, wow, a GUI that works and I can even multi-task my DOS applications.
Corporation and distributor fraud has been at the heart of the MS movement for Geniune. Yes, they are stupid about it, as WGA has screwed users more than it ever should have with XP and Vista, but prior to WGA, even if you were a legit OEM MFR of computers you often had a 50% chance of getting pirate copies of Win9x/Win2K and especially Office.
I know from being an OEM and buying through distribution channels that 50% of the product that came through the door was not legit. It was so bad that even employees at some of the larger vendors, would place your MS software orders to their 'friends' and invoice it separately without your knowledge or the knowledge of some of the distributors.
This also wasn't from fly by night wholesalers. Our corporate IT people also had problems, even orders from companies like CDW and others had a large chance of being fake.
So MS added WGA and activation, this cut down the problem, but put a strain on legitimate users. MS would have been served to just put more monitoring and pressure in the distribtution channels, but again there are retailers and OEMs that would take advantage shady 'good' deals, and the customers would again be using forged copies, not even knowing that their local shop was screwing over people.
SP1 lightens WGA, and MS has internal plans to further lighten WGA on the websites and for allowing updates. They are looking into taking the burden of WGA off the end-user. I would look for more OEM tools and OEM activation, and keeping Corporate IT activation systems intact and WGA for consumers going away eventually.
This is a good thing and now SlashDot makes the article read like Vista is 'hackable' in a 'bad' way, instead of a 'good' way.
Also remember MS has already put out enough copies of Vista, that they probably don't care about the few *nix users hacking it for a VM or dual install, nor even the OSX Mac base.
Counting the entire sales history of Macs as total base, and the entire *nix installation base, Vista is still millions of copies ahead and still growing, and THIS is even if you only count the retail copies sold, not even the OEM portion which is substantially even larger.
MS can afford for people to Hack Vista, especially when there are cliches in the Mac community that love the hardware, but like Vista better than OSX and use it as their primary OS and great if they hack and install Vista, and find out that it runs better on Mac hardware than OSX. MS has a win win, even if the people don't like Vista, and it didn't cost MS anything for the % that did prefer Vista. (See online articles comparing Vista to Leopard or running native Intel binaries under OSX compared to Vista. (Adobe products and OpenGL games are great selling points for Vista, all running faster under Vista than OSX on the same machine.)
You've been modded funny, but that's how I run half my software. By running a cracked copy, I never have to worry about WGA, (re)activation, etc. I could do things completely legitimately and call up India every few months, or just install from a different disc despite owning a legal, shiny, "do not make illegal copies of this disc"-hologrammed copy, and never have to be bothered with any of it.
It's been working well for me for years, and I see no reason to stop. They have my money, I have their software, and I get to use what I paid for. Problem? Didn't think so.
How are sites slashdotted when nobody reads TFAs?
The ORIGINAL real XP WGA crack still works and still can not be defeated by Microsoft. It has been a solid working crack for over 2 years now.
That is the funny part. WGA is a solid failure, yet Microsoft will not give up on it. It only get's in the way of legit users and eats up processor cycles for no useful reason. Yet they insist on making life hell for everyone that is a legit user while all their attempts no not even bother the stolen software users.
It's getting as bad as Games, Legit copies are more of a PITA than a cracked copy. Which is why as soon as I buy a game, I go searching for the cracks, no-cd patches, etc... to give me back control of the game I bought.
BTW, the cool part of the XP WGA crack, I can reinstall XP on my machines at will without calling Msft. I simply use the crack to insert the COA sticker's number inot XP and it instantly becomes that copy, WGA is happy, the "you must register" crap goes away. I have a better experience.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Funny. I ran Linux on my server for about a decade, and Linux on the desktop for three or four years. I now happily pay for Windows to use my computer instead of fighting with it. The quality is about the same, its just that I don't need to research 20 hours to figure out why my printer isn't working.
I started doing this a year or two back when the latest and greatest copy protection broke a game that I had legitimately purchased. It wouldn't run at all. No matter what I did it told me I didn't have the disc. So I grabbed the no-CD patch and had no trouble with it.
Ever since then I've made it a habit to crack/patch every game I purchase. Not only do I no longer have to dig through my discs to find the right one when I want to play, but it seems to me that the games run better too.
All these assorted copy protection schemes only affect those of us who actually pay for the software. The folks who are pirating the stuff are already bypassing it all anyway, so they never get inconvenienced at all.
"Work is the curse of the drinking classes." -Oscar Wilde
As a representative of the PADL (Pirate Anti-Defamation League), I protest to your inclusion of rape in the list of activities characteristic of pirates. According to Captain John Phillip's Pirate Code,
Article IX. If at any time you meet with a prudent Woman, that Man that offers to meddle with her, without her Consent, shall suffer present Death.Please cease and desist from further defamation of pirates. Or prepare to be pillaged yourself! (And note that the article only applies to the prudent Woman.) YAAAR!
"Anyone who [rips a CD] is probably engaging in copyright infringement." - David O. Carson
Sure, some OEM versions don't need activation, all they need is the correct SLIC table embedded in the bios to tell vista that it is a OEM computer and a OEM product key.
With that you will not need activation and you will be Genuine. So you are right it does not pass activation, just like the VLK keys of XP don't pass activation, because it is not needed.
There are tons of sites about it
On a side note if you buy a computer that is OEM Vista Home Premium you can use the SLIC table in your BIOS and get Vista Ultimate, just by changing your key. Once again no activation
Dan
Of course he didn't.
He was frist!!
I don't have a sig.
That's an unpopular sentiment around here, where the upgrade-Vista-by-installing-XP +5 funny post apparently never loses its humor, but there's a lot of truth to what you said. Linux has come a long way towards desktop/user friendliness and distributions like Ubuntu are a huge leap forward, but they still haven't achieved the holy grail of but-can-my-grandmother-use-it. Getting closer, though.
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.