ed2k://|file|wga%20crack.legitcheckcontrol.really%20works!!.rar|316566|4FD60DCDA458DE38F27494B493FEFE05|/

Hey, just thought you should know...
My boss ran the validation tool on his pc. He bought Windows XP Pro Corporate from Office Max along with Office XP Pro from Office Max.
Both came back as invalid.

This is not working.

My copy of XP is pirated, and so is my copy of Office XP.

I ran the validation. It came back valid!

I guess Microsoft is not looking at the info they said they were.
Wonder what they know about me know?

People, you can whine all you want, but what it comes down to is business. Pure and simple. MS is not a charitable organization.

They exist because they want to make money. AND they will continue to make money for as long as their marketing is better than that of their competitors. It really is not a question of who makes the best os at the best price (or free), but who market their os for the masses.

Linux is a very good os (so I am told) but until they come up with a better marketing strategy MS will continue to hold the market share simply because people know the os.

The bottom line is that we as people don't like change unless it is for the better. Prooving that concept though is up to how you market your product.

Now I know a lot of you will say that other os makers don't have the budget to compete (marketing wise) with MS, but does that mean that MS must now practise bad bussiness just to give others a chance?

I understand the need to capitalizing on an untapped market, but geez... they already own a 90+% market share. I mean come on guys, this is like Standard Oil asking you to register your oil lanterns.

You may all see this as a technically legit move, but remember, Windows already has a timebomb in it to register, now you get a roadblock when you go to use the update tool. Quite honestly, this is a big pain in the neck to customers and people are going to get tired of this "big brother interface".

Get ready to public non-Microsoft SUS or WSUS servers ;)

''But does it come down to Microsoft not trusting its customers?''

I agree .

''Users who may have unknowingly purchased counterfeit software would be eligible for a free genuine copy at no cost as long as they fill out a piracy report as well as provide proof of purchase and surrender the counterfeit CDs.''

I see more hate for msn coming soon to a theatre near you !!

Get ready for a crapload of new costumers Mac and Linux !!

This will only make sales go up for apple and Linux distro's ..im actually excited . finally linux will get a bigger user base and push itself into the mainstream more .

I'm glad msn is doing this :D.. go for it ... screw yourselves over !! :)

Heil William : Are we, eventually, be assigned a Microsoft logo that we will tattoo on our chest, reminding the public that we have been validated as true Microsoft owners and not pirates. Long live Linux, and democracy !!!!!

I'm not using this validation at all. I don't know what MS is doing with this or what they are searching for, No way. Not going to let out any info. Time to switch os.

Guess you just proved the fact that you pirated it. Anyone using a legit copy wouldnt care about this added measure, just because you a paranoid person who cant seem to realize microsoft isnt stealing your info for some grand scheme, doesnt mean its not a legit service they've enacted

not really true . any info sent out is info to be cautious over .

its not the user aboves fault you are gullible .

linux is looking really nice right now .

Yeah, god forbid you'd give 'em a hash-code that contains no personally identifiable information.

But please, feel free to switch your OS. I've seen your type before and wish you the best of luck for the 20 minutes you'll spend away from MS Windows.

> not really true . any info sent out is info to be cautious over .

Bull. 'Yes or No'. Put simply, that is all that is being sent out. When you start the process, you computer downloads code, which it runs alone, to verify "genuinosity" (Like my new word?). It thens send that response to MS. That's it. No persoanlly identifiable information. Get over yourself, MS couldn't care less about who you are as a person.

> its not the user aboves fault you are gullible.

So, by your definition, informed = gullible? Nice. Get a clue.

> linux is looking really nice right now .

Yep. As above. Enjoy the 20 minutes you spend with it before you come running back to Windows. Most users who fall into the 'switching due to lack of knowledge' will not last more than that in an OS as complex as Linux. Good luck.

"Certainly for Apple, which doesn't require product authentication or validation and sells Mac OS X "family packs," maybe now would be a good time to re-emphasize the customer trust relationship,"

Too bad that no body wants to pirate Tiger.

Maxwolf: I reiterate your comment. Apple has survived without, and prospered without such lunatic schemes. I envision Steve Jobs chuckling as he collects his dividend cheque from Microsoft.I co-founded this idiotic Company. Well I should not be so critical since I am using Windows Xp to write this

Go internet explorer,tools,manage add-ons.
Windows genuine advantage and Disable.

Damn, take a pill people.

First, and foremost, there is almost no reason to be running at anything less than SP2 if you use WinXP. Microsoft made major improvements with respect to security.

Second, GenuineCheck.exe only needs to be run if you are manually downloading updates from download.microsft.com, and then only if you are not using IE on that site (Mozilla Firefox users can download ieview from ieview.mozdev.org and set it to automatically open that site in IE). Windows Update checks it automatically. You will only notice a difference if you are running a pirated copy.

Third @the people who for some reason think MS is spying on them with automatic updates.

If you are that paranoid then go fetch a copy of Process Explorer, Regmon, and Filemon from Sysinternals and have a look for your self. Do not go running your mouths off and scaring the inexperienced users (for whom AU was designed) in the process.

Great words! Ditto

"First, and foremost, there is almost no reason to be running at anything less than SP2 if you use WinXP."

...other than of course the buggy implementation of DEP (which if you have half a brain you disable in BOOT.INI), emasculated network connectivity (in the name of preventing the spread of WORMs) and a firewal that cannot completely be disabled and elaves a stub in RAM.

Can the party line fodder.

Next...

I sometimes wonder why Mr. Gates is the biggest donator of money in the world. Sure it is from MS money he earned and sure MS as company is donating a lot of money too. They should be ashamed daring to ask money for a operating system used in third world countries, from people living in poverty anyway (yes also Europe and the USA) and withholding the OS from them. Dominatating the market and this way withholding people to get better educated! As with a 80% market share you almost wont leave options open! Shame on you Mr. Gates! What's the deal of giving money for the good at the frontdoor if you try to get it back at the backdoor! It just stinks this way! And now wondering why piracy is taking such a big amount out of the MS business? It is what MS is creating. Here is a good link about sharing, about being open and how companies still can make a big load of money: http://webreakstuff.com/...emocratizing-innovation/

Why is it that people like yourself spout of not truly giving the full picture of the World.

People that have money are not obligated or should not be demanded to give their money to those others feel need it more. Gates gives money from the profits of his company as humanitarian efforts to benefit all people in that country.

If one of those countrymen(as you) feel that they should be given a free copy of WindowsXP because they are poor, I have to laugh. One is a luxury and not a necessity of life or critical to the higher educational needs of the individual. These people you say deserve a copy of WindowsXP will only sit on their new PC to surf porn, email, games,and then write in forums such as these condeming the very person that provided that luxury.

Why are you bashing Gates for providing and protecting a business that has put more people to work and a comfortable living to boot.

Please keep your comments on topic and not personal. Piracy is taking such in his business due to the moronic thinking of others like yourself. WGA provides a means of protecting what is his and will keep those employees working. America has too much corruption in corporate america and now it is spreading to the small shops riding larger companies. Though some practices are truly illegal, let him have his day in court and be happy with whatever the outcome may be. To say that it is OK to steal from him, is just plain stupid thinking.

Indeed Indonesia is not on the list it is is even hard to get official software here in Bali. If I go to the shops, shopping malls, all big official stores no way to get originals. Today a new security from Microsoft tomorrow already on CD in all the shops. MS is now trying to get the government using legal software. However we're now talking about MS Windwos not about all other pirated software running on those same machines.
It never will take off here for MS and they know. Income of average people is to low to buy expensive MS packages simply as that one of the reasons also why Linux is doing pritty well here in this country. Yes even DOS based software is doing very well. Most supermarkets, hospitals, governments offices using DOS based software. Imagine! But it works I have to say. Bar code readers in the supermarket and then a DOS screen on the register, funny to see.

Anyone can justify their reason for stealing, but in the end, you will have to meet your maker and settle up. Your "officials" are stealing and therefore passing it on to you.

You see...corruption is all over, not just America.

Additionally, not everyone needs to go out and buy the most recent software from MS. Maybe the DOS program is doing the job. The DOS software has nothing to do with the quality of care you are receiving in the hospital to begin with. Why should it matter that you see WinXP screen whey you buy from the supermarket. It has nothing to do with WGA and stopping theft.

quote: Customers who send in piracy reports would be eligible for a full copy of Windows XP Home for $99 USD or XP Professional for $149 USD.

Windows xp home it only $78 and windows xp pro only $143.

and it also did not apply in all countries.
example in Indonesia and China the pirated rate still high, and some big shop still selling pirated CD in big shop in mangga dua mall.

what could be wrong with a piracy check ? the "check" will be bypassed someway or the other anyway. I guess the real issue is the amount of money demanded for the operating system. since computers are being made and sold real cheap, so that the masses can have access to them, their bottelneck stays the os from ms. one can probably argue that living in the socalled "first world" piracy can be eradicated because of the high level of living and the high amount of cashflow. but for the "poorer" countries, can you simply state, well, if you dont have the money for an os dont compute ? I personally think that is keeping the good old division abolished by the french revolution in honour. so, coming to the part where it really hurts and seemingly nobody has enough balls to tackle the problem, how to convince ms to make less money ? (after all, ms has such ridiculous amounts of money, if they really wanted they could eliminate all piracy in one stroke while being far form broke or even in need of money !!!) or is it really true that GREED still is value number one in our esteemed "free democratic" world ? there is no future without computers anymore, so the importancy of any os is garanteed. and being it a "free" market, the discussion probably will go on forever: why cant ms lower their prices so this piracy will surely diminish ? in the mean time there are a few options: on can get another os, another computer, keep piracing, stop piracing, start piracing, or get cheap trimmed copys and (illegaly) update them. maybe if everybody who felt that these prices should be dropped wrote ms a letter about this subject they would listen. after all, their servers will be jammed by the sheer amount of received mail and they wont be able to say that its "another" "hackers attack" ! in the mean time, lets just see how this works out, I dont think too much will change...hopefully they nail companies that sell bootlegged copies of their os's, that will be something for starters !!!

nevermind, seems like last time i visited ms update today that new updater hadn't been made, also seems like the old 'previously bulletproof' 640 pid keygenned serials no longer work ;{

If only this would work, so many people would move to Linux! Alas, this crap will be broken in two days like every other copy protection crap.

I agree... You want a free OS that can do many many things, give Linux a try. Other than that, this protection will be BROKEN. Sure, the effort isn't worthless, they may gain a few users out of it, but it is not bullet proof.

any1 know exactly where on ms's website this validation proccess is, because all i see is some preview video

so what !!! i use linux and apple 98% of the time. 2% at work)and Apple's tiger's o/s is just awesome!!who the F' needs windows......please!!

Then why are you posting replies to a Windows-specific article?

Congratulations, i wish you all the best of luck in the future. But for the other 98% of the world who do use Windows, this is quite interesting.

LOL, that was good. I enjoyed that. He probably services windows PC's too.

There is not a damned thing they could offer me that I'd be interested in. Furthermore, I resent having them snooping on my machine. And yes, all my copies of Windows are legal.

Yhis mindset is as bad as forcing SP2 and the reason I turned OFF automatic updates.

"snooping"?

All they want to do is make sure your license key is valid. They don't take any personally identifiable information at all. Why are you so paranoid?

I mean jeez, how dare they want to make sure people are paying for their products? I resent that. The scumbags.

Also, you people whine and complain about windows insecurity, yet whine and complain that you dont want SP2 on your pc. Guess you cant please some people eh

I don't want SP2 until i'm ready for it! I have gone many moons without having to re-install windows now, in fact i'm on my record (if there was one). SP2 has chances of messing up your puter... better to have insecure puter than no puter.

Every service pack has a chance of messing up your computer. Just because you choose to be paranoid (because of stuff you've heard, not stuff you've experienced personally) isnt a very good reason not to install it. I bet you would be the type of person that wouldnt buy a specific brand of milk if your neighbor got sick from it one time out of the 900 times they've bought it. "Better not to drink milk, than risk the chance of getting sick once every 3 years with it" right ;-)

Good for you. . . Live long and prosper Spock!

Agree!

Yes, how dare they invade my proivacy to do so?

I'd love to see how that policy holds up against Canada's DTRICT privacy laws.

I'm an IT Security analyst and a CISSP. Anyone worth their salt in this business knows that you don't automatically implement a patch from a vendor until you feel comfortable that it won't impact your installation. I for one will NEVER feel that way about SP2 because it has too many anomalies to suit me. Aparrently many large corporations feel the same - I can't imagine why.

Thanks, I'll stick with prudence - your mileage and intelligence may vary.

what i don't like at microsoft is the branding with windows. we have home edition, professional, server, tablet, media center, embeded. why not all in one good product for $99? why? and longhorn will have two times more branding names for the same product. and don't tell me that that type do something and that one other things. this can be choosed at install. nothing hard to do

"why not all in one good product for $99? why?"

Because they are a company and the idea is to make money.

"and don't tell me that that type do something and that one other things. this can be choosed at install."

Huh??

Ummm, they do it because they serve different functions. Some you cant purchase, so you shouldnt worry about those unless you are into a tablet pc, home theater pc, or a embedded hardware version. Are you telling me that you actually spent time comparing windows 2000 pro server and advanced server to determine which one you wanted to buy? Its fairly obvious, to many users, what each version is for.

and ofcourse Linux doesnt eh? theres like 100 different linux distributions... why cant they all be ONE distribution for all computers? hmm... some of u guys just dont make any sense... I love M$ and i dont care what u guys say.. its not Intel inside.. its Intel OUTside.. if the user is stupid enough to F up the settings and cant really deal with it then DONT use it and blame Microsoft for what U cant use... how come every singel computer i have built for customers and installed windows XP on them they have run smoothely? of course some ppl accept spyware and stuff like that... but is that M$ Fault that the user is stupid enouh to accept stuff like that?

Anyways.. my point... dont blame other people for ur faults ;) just deal with it!

ooh.. and by the way... I LOVE LINUX too so dont call me a linux hater and a M$ A$$ licker aight?!? :)

since you love linux, i'm sure you're comment was not an ignorant one, but i will explain for your comment may throw others off. For 1, you can leagally get several different versions of linux for free - I wouldn't care how many different types of windows or macs there are, it would be nice to get one free. Also, when you do buy windows, you are limited to installing it on 1 machine only. Hey, you got a good idea to contribute to windows? go a head and make your modification and distribute it at whatever price you want... yeah right. you can do that with linux, and that is why there are hundredSSS of linux out there. It would kinda be nice if there was only 1 linux, but i think having much more of a choice is better.

My question is, why do people whine and complain about there being "SO MANY" versions of windows, what 5 or 6 of xp (not including XP N because I dont consider that a real competitor) and there are how many linux distros? Tell me, how would ma and pa using a pc at home for email begin to decide which linux was right for them, let alone going through a configuration process. The only VIABLE ones I would even begin to consider recommending to them would be linspire (which has a very nice automated install) and linux-mandrake (or whatever its called now). Windows can be installed by anyone, its quick, many of these linux distros require you be a techie to even begin installing. And god forbid something mess up (like you accidentally delete a filesystem you shouldnt like /home or /root), then what, they have to pay twice the price for a "Linux techie" to come and fix it. Because guess what, how many tech shops support linux around your neighborhood? Thats what I thought

Well put.

you want what?
people to not pirate, uh sure
lower the prices !

sometimes $99 is just too much to pay for winders, they could easily sell it for $50 & still make one hell of a profit.

A lot more time and money is spent in developing an operating system than some individual application or game that might sell for $50. $100 sounds fair to me...

Dude...compare $100 to the cost of a new PC. It's negligable. If you can't afford it, you can't afford a new PC. Deal with it.

I can't afford a Cadillac, I'm not going to steal one and then tell 'em I would have bought it if they'd just lowered the damn prices.

You think it costs $70,000 to build a cadillac??

Well damn, those guys that make OS's for free then are crazy.

$60CND, $50USD, I'd be in the store in no time.

Oh please. You must be smarter than that. Maybe not?

Those OS's are written by open source communities: a bunch of programmers that write the stuff in their free time and have jobs OTHER than programming that OS.

Get real.

stop comparing software copying to material theft. See if someone copies, a new instance is created... if you take something material, there's not going to be one more, it's going to be the same one. Your argument doesn't make sense.

THANK YOU!!!

And you can easily pay and not be a cheap arse. Get over the price, they are a company out to make money, just like every other profit company.

They charge what they believe is fair after a hell of allot of calculations. Its not as simple as lowering the prices, if the prices drop and the demand picks up, so high that they dont have enough resources to fulfill the demand, they will be in allot of trouble.

So please think before your talk.

Red Hat. Novell's SUSE. Mandriva.

N/C.

agreed

But its the same principle, you steal a car you cant afford, or you steal a piece of software you cant afford. Try and justify it all you want "Oh, another instance is created", its still stealing. And I am sure the police would agree.

"Oh but officer, I couldnt afford it so I should get it for free"

And look at this, many of them are starting to charge for their OS, great example. They are starting to realize that it does in fact cost money if you want to maintain a DECENT operating system

Idiot.

I cannot believe you people are still on that BS.

I couldn't care less how you *THINK* it should be. It is law. Software copying *IS* theft. It is viewed as such under the current laws regarding copyright and will remain that way until copyright laws are changed.

So stop telling folks it ain't theft. It is, and it's gonna get 'em in trouble if they read your BS and take it for truth.

Exactly. Law is law, wether you believe it should be, or not.

Stealing a car? Theft.

Stealing an OS? Theft.

Comparing the two makes perfect sense because under current laws they are both viewed as theft.

Deal with it.

and yet...wrong.

For telling you it isn't the same as theft? Ask any judge, they'll tell you otherwise. And I do hope you ask a judge, because if you don't and get caught, they ain't gonna let you go because, "Debonaire told me it wasn't theft!"

Where's my Cluex4?

I agree with you 100%. Even to say that the mere copying of software is not illegal and is deemed a legal process for backup purposes by software companies. Things do happen to disks.

The theft comes in when they install it on another computer. you are right - there are a lot of idiots posing as intellects on this site.

Christ... I forgot to mention backups. 'Scuse me.

We're talking about pirated copies. Not backups.

Didn't feel the need to mention that.

So making counterfeit money is okay then? Your logic is completely wrong.

Physician heal theyself.

The indiscrimate raising of prices by monopolies is one reason there are anti-trust laws.

I haven't bought a new PC in years. I do systematic upgrades of motherboard, CPU, RAM and peripherals as required. That costs quite a bit less than a new PC, especially since I do the labor myself.

If you get near a point, make it.

Let's give a full explanation of this statement. They ALL offer a FREE distribution and continue to do so. If you want the convenience of having a load of other applications included, so you don't have to take the time to find and install them, yes, you can pay. In my purchased version of Mandriva, for example, over 3200 additional applications are included..and I can decide which ones I want to install. I'm willing to pay for that luxury....but you can't compare a package like that to just an O/S, as you are getting with Windows. What would Bill Gates charge you for XP, along with 3200 other applications? And, how many computers can you LEGALLY install your Windows XP on? ONE. I can legally install my Mandrake distribution on as many computers as I like. There IS a difference, for sure! So, if you want to compare just an O/S with an O/S, Linux is free and remains so.

OK, so it comes with tools like tar, grep, ftp, a compiler, some rudimentary games and basic office applications, plus a few other miscellaneous scientific tools (which every home user needs Im sure). Tell me, how likely is a home user to decide to install an os which requires most of those 3200 tools to function? In windows, you arent required to download and install stuff for the command line, because almost 90% of what you can do in linux, you can do with stuff thats built into windows. OK, so you can install linux-mandrake (Mandriva) anywhere you want, they have a lax licensing scheme. But show many how many home users (the users linux is trying to gain) can take linux, and easily configure it like they can windows? Heck, without KDE or GNOME or X installed, they cant even get a gui. They have to have a 3rd party window manager installed to even get that gui. Windows has this functionality completely built in, and is designed to work as a GUI. Linux is free yes, but tell me why redhat no longer "OFFICIALLY" supports fedora (the original free OS it designed) and now leaves it to a special fedora team outside the scope of redhat? Tell me why they now have an enterprise workstation only, on redhat.com, and their servers? tell me how much a home user will have to pay when their linux box takes a core dump, and they cant recover it. explain this too me. Free is just that, free. And 90% of the time, as many consumers can atest to, you get what you pay for. I am not bad mouthing all open source initiatives, there are several decent ones (gaim, filezilla, thunderbird, firefox, etc), I am just saying that when it comes to the OS level, free doesnt always mean better.

The problem isn't the OS(which is a higher quality), but comes from the people that design the OS - they don't know how to make things simple for the know-nothing user. I have the same problem when trying to explain how to do things on windows, and people look at me completely clueless and baffled. I don't really know how to explain what files are if they can't grasp what a "chunk" of a harddrive is, let alone bytes and filesystems.

You forgot 7-Zip, btw. :P

Well, I'm certainly not an authority on Linux, but I use it and it works well for me on three computers on my home network. Works well for most of my customers who have switched, as well. (I'm retired and still do some computer repair from home). Perhaps much has to do with what you use the computer for. I'm not a big game player, but I understand that game players aren't satisfied with Linux applications, as not many are available to them. What does the average user do? Browse the web, maybe. I switched from IE to Firefox, long before switching to Linux and it was included. Email? I use Evolution, which was included and is every bit as satisfactory as Outlook, even with my PDA. I had stopped using Outlook and moved to Thunderbird, under Windows. GIMP well meets my photo editing needs. My digital camera downloads photos just fine. SANE scans from my HP scanner just fine. I had switched to StarOffice...and OpenOffice was fine. I'd switched from MS Office 2003 to StarOffice before moving to Linux. It does anything I did with Office..and more in many cases. I use included genealogy programs...astronomy programs for a bit of entertainment. I don't use IM programs, but they are there. My webcam works fine with Linux included applications. I haven't found anything I'm missing with included Linux applications, but again, I suppose that has to do with a person's interests.

Not only Mandriva has that licensing scheme. That's all the distrubutions I've used...including SUSE and the like. My example: I have 3 computers on my home network. 3 X Windows XP = about $400.00 While the same in Linux equals about $80.00, if you buy the top package.

Maybe it's just my experience, but I haven't run into a Linux distribution without KDE and/or Gnome included. More in many cases. And, they work well.

I can't remember installing a single application from the terminal. I've either installed them from the GUI to Install Software, or from an RPM...which is merely click and install. At worst, you'll be asked to log into root. Not a big deal. And, there is the simplicity of doing updates...all from one GUI screen. Not one application at a time.

I've had no experience with Redhat nor Fedora, so I don't have a clue as to the business plan of Redhat.

I agree that you get what you pay for, but 60 years of experience living on this planet has also shown me that price doesn't necessarily equal quality.

I spent a lot of years learning the Microsoft way...All the way from DOS 5.0 through XP. Certainly, anyone can install Windows...and it is no more difficult for anyone to install Linux, if you've checked any of the newer versions in the past year or so. As for properly configuring either, you have a learning curve. If one doesn't go through that curve to learn to configure Windows properly, they are going to have similar problems to one who doesn't learn the Linux curve.

The average Windows user doesn't secure their machine, because they don't know how. Then, I end up with those machines to remove spyware, adware, viruses and the like. I don't complain, as I make money doing so, but it's the price you pay for not learning the system. How many "average" Windows users even know to defrag the hard drive? I don't see many who do. They don't do system maintenance.

My personal reason for switching has nothing to do with security, ease or anything else. Ever since SP2, I've had problems with the BSOD on all three of my computers. They will run a couple of months...then the BSOD begins...with some obscure error...never the same one...every time it's different. That's not on one, but three machines. I've had customers with the same issue. With Linux, I've not had to reinstall, every couple of months to resolve a problem like that...only reinstall when I decide to update the version.

Most every Linux distribution has a Live CD, giving people the option to at least try the distribution, without wiping out their computer. That's a nice option, as well.

Also, I can carry a small Linux distribution on a 256M USB jump drive...go to anyone's house and plug it into the USB port on their Windows system...and have my own familiar desktop right there..all my email addresses, Firefox bookmarks and such...and it's just like being at home. Can't do that with Windows.

And at least for now, I don't spend time removing spyware and adware. I don't flinch when there's an attachment with an email I don't know about, thinking it may be a virus. I don't hunt the entire file system trying to remove tons of history that shouldn't be kept in the first place. It just works for me, but that's in my personal circumstances...and I wouldn't switch back.

You have it exactly right. People try to say that Windows is "easier" for the average user. No, it's not. Just as with Windows, the average user could install any of the major Linux distributions in the same way, by merely choosing a default install.

With Windows or Linux, if you're satisfied with a default install, so be it...but you will have problems, eventually. I've had Windows not recognize hardware about as often as Linux does. I can do a Linux install on any of my computers and every piece of hardware is recognized and configured.

The problem is that the "average" user doesn't take the time, nor want to take the time to learn anything about configuration. Would you send the average Windows user into the Registry to make changes? Not me!

If you're going to use a computer, either with Windows or Linux and you want to be happy with it, you'll have to take time to learn about it. Simple as that. I've seen people who've never used a computer of any kind learn Linux as quickly as they would learn to work with Windows. Personally, I'm not an expert with Linux, but I'm learning and usually can figure it out without help. I figure I have two handicaps...First, I'm 60 years old, so I just don't learn as quickly as I used to...and secondly, and the most difficult part for me has been "un-learning" Windows. Starting from scratch, it's about the same. And, a lot of people just don't want to deal with a learning curve...not to try a different O/S and often, not to even learn about the one they're using.

I don't think that either Windows or Linux is "easier" than the other. Anyone can do a default install. It's a matter of if you're happy with that. You won't become a great photographer just because you buy a particular brand of camera. It's the same with everything in life. It you want to get the most out of it, you're going to have to put forth some effort. For me, it's been Linux and no more BSOD issues.

Perhaps you weren't reading his post. He was talking about copying. Copying is not stealing and is the point I was trying to make. If you had read the entire posting, I agreed with you. Don't get so d*** defensive.

This has no effect on VLK's, of which can be made up and are the majority of pirated XP's out there. The piracy community will shrug at this, the consumer with little knowledge will freak. I still know many people afraid of XPSP2 and refuse to upgrade to it because they "aren't certain" whether they have a legit version of WIndows or not.

Wrong. Not only does it check to see if the VLK is valid or not, it now also checks to see if it was ever even issued by Microsoft to begin with.

MS needs to allay some fears here then. This program isn't going to lock you out of your Windows OS if you do not pass the validation. You may get a stern warning, you may be asked to submit information regarding where the OS was purchased, etc... You might even get a free legit copy out of the deal.

no-one should worry about this. the more I look into it, the more I see it as simply a benign method through which MS will be ableto try and get some of the casual pirate users onto a legit platform. Not through scare tactics or bullying, but through, what seems to be, a sincere effort to inform and validate.

I've seen nothing threatening about WGA. It won't hose your system, it won't deny you access to critical updates, it won't 'put you on a list', label you a bad guy, or kiss your daughters.

*shrug* Mostly harmless. Methinks they might be getting a clue.

No, you're wrong, actually. Tried and true, a VLK windows system will require download of the verification tool in most cases. It'll give you a validation number and that'll be it. Regardless of it's legitimacy or not.

VLK users, legit or not, will remain unaffected by this. (I am assuming non-corporate VLK users are already using SP2, and thus a 'valid' key...and by 'valid' I mean not.)

No, you are STILL wrong. Tried and true generated VLK numbers that fully work with SP2 do *NOT* pass the latest WGA check. While they worked with some early WGA checks in the past, the latest version that is accessed by going to the WGA "offers" page will fail every time simply stating that the number has not been issued by Microsoft.

Accessing other WGA stuff directly seems to still work just fine though. It's almost as if there are two different versions of WGA working on MS's site.

VLK numbers that have been actually issued by Microsoft are the only ones that will work now. Valid generated keys will fail now since they have not been actually issued to any company.

>> it won't 'put you on a list'

Oh yes they will. Most companies should always save atleast 7 years of receipts, to make sure they can't be screwed by return policies, or anything major.

Same thing with MS. You'll be on a list...but nothing will be held against you.

enter a time machine....

Microsoft makes windows 3.1
Microsoft strongarms pc manufacturers into installing only windows 3.1
Microsoft pirates their own windows 3.1 out to the "warez" community flooding the world with illegal copies of their own OS.

NO step microsoft does against piracy will ever be taken seriously by myself or any other serious computer history specialist.

Theres your clue

"VLK numbers that have been actually issued by Microsoft are the only ones that will work now. Valid generated keys will fail now since they have not been actually issued to any company."

Wrong. But the important thing is that people like you believe it, right?

Wheres the evidence to support your claims of MS pirating their own os out? Please, before you spread FUD, stop to think and prove your statements. Thanks

OMG....nice claims. Pull those out of your ass, did ya?

Wrong.

no personal data is on any list.

The key used for the OS and the hardware hash may be flagged, but your iddentity will remain unknown to MS unless *you* choose to divulge it to help them.

lol

computer history specialist?

Who is living in a time machine?

Well, you do have to send your information when you register and activate windows the 1st time.

Now, I do not know whether or not they do anything with that information, but it is required. You do not have a choice in the matter.

I do agree and feel that they are not doing anything(misuse) with the information though. I am not getting spammed by email(don't have to give them) or mail. I do not receive any phone calls from them either, so I don't think they are doing anything with the list - if they have one.

You also forget, the only info activation sends is a hash of your hardware, with that info they couldnt do anything anyways. The registration is OPTIONAL, you NEVER have to register your software with MS. So they never have to know you purchased it, until they go to verify your key, even then, they dont ask for your home address.

Gah...more misinformation.

No. There is no personal data sent. A hardware-hash. That's it.

Do some research, man.

You seem to be very defensive, and for what? I have installed the software as often as 15-20 times a day. No, you do not have to register, but I do it for every customer that I service the PC for. My point is that even though personal information is being sent, MS is not doing anything with it. So regardless if you do or don't register, your information is not being given out to other parties; and you are not being spied on.

Take a break dude! You need downers.

I know, but it is something that I do regardless.

Piracy Check my copy of linux. MS is just going down hill. Like I want to share my info with MS.

And exactly what info would you be sharing? AFAIK, it's simply generating a hash-key, and no *real* info is being sent.

MS is being very careful about it's privacy policies these days.

Exactly, the whole "I dont want Xp spying on me" is bs. Its a bunch of paranoid twits who cannot seem to grasp that there isnt really some big brother out there watching every move you make and monitoring every thing you do on the net. People please, if you have an illegitimate version of xp, dont bad mouth sp2 because it checks your key. I have had nothing but good things to say after my stints with sp2. It works flawlessly.

And no, I am not a MS junkie and supporter. I am just a realist, I dont let FUD run my life.

have u ever read the EULA for Media Player? Go take a look at it...

Have you installed it? Have you seen the screen where you can disable the sending of information about your music?

lol

I'm watching you right now. Don't turn around.

Perhaps you can tell me what color my butt cheeks are then ;-)

Most people don't know they can uncheck the box for sending information.

There is much paranoia about MS, only because of their hatred toward them. MS has specific criteria for privacy of personal data. However, I feel they crossed that line with their move on MS Antispy. In all, I feel my info is safer with them than any other company.

You give more information from the place you buy your PC from than MS and their software. They don't go searching your hdd in hopes to find illegal software on their PC. This makes me believe that those that are complaining have illegal copies of software and that is what they are afraid of. Ignorance is bliss.

Good for Microsoft. This should slow down rampant theft occuring in China and Texas.

LOL, are you kidding? (1) From what I've read this has no effect at all on the vlk releases using the latest keygen. (2) Even if it did work you could simply download the software from a legit machine and then copy and pass it around to your heart's content. This will have ZERO effect on piracy in countries like China, or even here. Just another hoop for honest customers to jump through.

Admittedly, honest custoemrs will only have to check their system against WGA once and then it will never bother them again.

You are right that this won't affect the pirates. They are beyond the scope of this project. This project is simply focusing on the mom&pop users who have either unwittingly, or via 'borrowing' a copy, installed a non-legit version.

It will allow them an upgrade path to a legit copy, as well as politely ask them to rat-out whoever gave them the copy they are currently using. I have no problem with MS doing this as it will not greatly affect anyone and may help them get rid of a few of those pesky wholesalers spamming my inbox with "Windows XP Pro for $10~!!!!!11!oneoneone!"

Oh, I thought you had to do the check every time. Well that's not so bad then. :)

See, ya learn something new everyday. Skies are brighter, birds are singing...

Oh wait, that's the kool-aid.

We get a new loveletter and a bug in WGA ... and the net is unsafe

COOL, I am glad that I bought my copy of Windows XP Pro.

This is fair to the paid-customers.

Good job Microsoft.

Agreed, maybe the price will come down for the product when there are less people stealing

I bought 2 copies, one upgrade, and then another copy they had for sale for $50 through a partner promotion program back around xp's release date. Plus, I have my OEM copy for the machine i purchased, and now a FREE COPY of XP X64 edition thanks to the technology advancement program microsoft offered. YEAY!!!

Easy enough to get cheap/free legit copies if you know where to look. Hell, almost easier than finding a non-hosed warez/pirated release, in some cases.

That said, I think a lot of peoples ideas of how many real "pirated" copies are out there are way off. MS biggest push here is for the "Casual" pirates, ie, the folks who are unaware they have a pirated copy, or who 'borrowed' it from a firend.

The first sentance of the Article, "software pirates beware" is complete bull. No warez kiddie is going to give a rats a** about WGA. It will not affect them in the least, they are runnning VLK copies with keys that are indistinguishable from their legit counterparts. As far as MS is concerned, when these folks hit WGA, they are legit.

w00t! Let the adware/spam/virus reign! Every pirated copy of Windows out there will soon be unable to defend itself against the next phase of exploits uncovered by hackers, and malware creators.

Let us be thankful that MS is protecting us legit users by unleashing hundreds of thousands of new zombie machines on the net.

What a load of crap. Someone will release the latest and greatest patches to the usenet, those will be distributed via P2P... This solves nothing.

Nice reading comprehension, 'Critical security updates will still be made available to users with or without WGA validation'. It isn't MS's fault if adware/spam/virus reign, try putting some blame on those who run illegal copies.

No joke, how about you read the article before you start the MS bashing. Critical updates are available for everyone still, legit or illegal. Wow.

Skimmed. My bad. The price of impatience...

*actually reads article*

So the benefits to end users are...?

The drawbacks to pirated users are...?

Really not seeing the whole point of this WGA thing here other than perhaps bringing to light a few 'casual' pirates (The folks who don't know they've got a pirated installation).

Don't see this having a real impact on legit or 'purposfully' non-legit users.

Not much of a benefit. You can download certain additional software if you are certified, like WMP 10, Photo Story, half price software. It is an incentive, not a solution.

Really, all of this information is provided if you don't skim and immediately jump on the MS bashwagon as soon as you see some news about MS.

Are you kidding? Thats what phoenixpath is best at. Just look at some of his other posts in the other articles. He is ALWAYS the first one there to bash MS for anything they do. At least this time he corrected himself and admitted to only skimming the article. Good for your phoenix, not trying to flame you, just pointing out my observation that you are always one of the first to bash MS for any move they pull.

Anyways, While this really wont stop piracy, they should incorporate it into the os, a check to see if you are WGA activated. if you are, then you can install the software regardless of where you get it from (MSDC, zdnet, etc). Most of these sites host the downloads on their own servers, thus bypassing the MS Download servers. That would provide a bit more of an impact, although still minor, to the illegitimate users (as I suspect many of the users of this site are, how many do you think actually paid for winxp pro ;-) ).

Actually, alot of the people will whine that it is MS's fault for spyware. They think that IE is the only way spyware gets into a system. they forget that many users WILLFULLY install spyware and adware supported programs, thus causing the damage themselves. yes, IE is a big hole for spyware in the pre-xp sp2 days, but I find it less of a problem since SP2, as I have yet to find a single piece of legitimate spyware on my machine.

I say legitimate because ad-aware, along with many other scanners only consider INTERNET EXPLORER COOKIES as spyware, not cookies from mozilla products or opera. Go figure :-/

Agreed. All of the spyware I see at work is from people installing software that contains spyware such as Kazaa. They even go as far as to bring it in from home on a CD-R because they think they can get better download speeds at work! I never see any IE related spyware and popups are no longer a problem with XP SP2.

We spent truck loads of money on software to stop spyware but it didn't work. Instead we tried training the users, explaining why they get problems (both at work and home) and since then we have had hardly any spyware problems!

Educating users has a much bigger impact on spyware than software to block it (although the software still helps!).

Also there are the same number of spyware problems with users running Firefox as with IE as we have no spyware issues with IE but with the applications users install.

First to read, not necessarily to bash. I haven't *really* based MS in a while, other than my false-start, jump-to on this one.

I can see your point though, a lot of people take any criticism of MS as bashing, since it is so incredibly prevelant.

It may amaze you to know that I, in fact, dont' actually have a big beef with Microsoft. I disagree with some of their tactics, just as I idsagree with many of Intel's tactics, but on the whole, (on the hole?) their software is market to the mass consumer and does quite well in that genre.

Matter of fact, I recently defended MS when folks were bashing the Alpha release of Longhorn and then again when the name 'Vista' was announced.

Many folks do blindly bash MS. And, on the other side, many blindly defend them. I think we'vve seen plenty from both sides.

And as far as paying for XP Pro? Few, most likely, considering most systems ship with XP home. Even with that in mind, I think the ratios are les skewed than you believe. XP isn't that expensive when tucked into the cost of a new PC, or when purchased at a deep discount along with hardware as an upgrade. I paid $130 for my last copy of XP Pro SP2 (At the same time I bought my first SATA drives).

Are we getting OT yet?

*bash*

No, seriously. This is true, for the most part, of SP2. And most new systems now ship with SP2, so the new users are safe.

The problem is with the same folks who 'Willfully' click the bouncing monkey are, very often, the *same* people who neglected to enable the auto-update feature pre-SP1 and simply have not taken the time to update their OS becauseit works..."well enough".

Mind you, I'm not saying these same people would be invulnerable running another OS or browser, because if they aren't motivated to fix the problems with their current OS/browser, why would they bother switching to another.

"Also there are the same number of spyware problems with users running Firefox as with IE as we have no spyware issues with IE but with the applications users install."

Not even remotely as much as with IE.

Then you are using s***ware. Programs like Ad-aware really don't do their job all that well...I use Spybot S&D, because it detects cookies from all versions of netscape and mozilla browsers. No idea about Opera though.

Personally, I only use ad-aware on XP and 2k computers, since it causes system instability. I've found that it conflicts and causes dozens of programs to crash if it starts at the same time. On my system these include:

AVG Free
Keiro Personal Firewall
Asus Smartdoctor
Azureus Bittorent(And java)
Spybot S&D
Spyware Blaster
Netscape 7.2.2
Paint Shop Pro 5
Paint Shop Pro 8
Virtual Dub
Windows 2k(if I have Ad-Aware starting at boot time)

So, given that, I only recommend Ad-Aware to people with WinXP, and people that only start one program at once.

>> Matter of fact, I recently defended MS when folks were bashing the Alpha release of Longhorn and then again when the name 'Vista' was announced.

I remember that - you insulted me a lot. :P

>> (as I suspect many of the users of this site are, how many do you think actually paid for winxp pro ;-) ).

I have a legit version of Win2k, and it plays games like 30% faster than XP does, so I use it for everything.(like posting this)

The only thing I really use XP for is testing to see if a program runs every month or so, and I don't see why I should have to fork out $200 to do that.

Edit: People that log on and send one email per month get more use out of XP than I do.

either way, i haven't had any problems either, since i started using linux as my main system to browse net on.