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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$'s PR department! If there's someone out there that really wants a copy that badly, I'll trade my Vista Home Premium that was bundled with my new system for your XP serial number...
M$ 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."
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.
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?
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.
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