Archive for the 'Licensing and Piracy' Category
Microsoft turns to pirated Windows users to boost IE7 market share
Sunday, October 7th, 2007Microsoft is, for the first time, making Internet Explorer 7 available to users of pirated copies of XP. One thing’s been obvious since the release of IE7 — its uptake hasn’t been as good as Microsoft would have hoped, regardless of the spin the company has put on things.
Microsoft: Vistas Black Screen of Death Is a Hoax
Wednesday, September 12th, 2007Has Microsoft adopted an even tougher stance on piracy? According to recent e-mails warning of new, harsher anti-piracy measures in Windows Vista, that was believed to be the case. Australian PC World printed an e-mail Tuesday it says was sent from a Microsoft representative to an unspecified large Vista OEM distributor. The e-mail describes a [...]
Black screen of darkness to haunt Vista pirates
Wednesday, September 12th, 2007Microsoft Windows’ infamous "Blue Screen of Death" has become synonymous with an operating system crash or freeze, but that’s nothing compared with what users of pirated copies of Vista worldwide can expect from now - a black screen of darkness.
Microsoft closes in on Vista BIOS crack
Friday, April 13th, 2007Emulating a special OEM BIOS marker offers way to bypass Vista’s anti-piracy. Microsoft is studying a BIOS hack that allows pirates to circumvent the anti-piracy features that are built into the Windows Vista. Reports about the crack started circulation online a few weeks ago. The method uses a feature that allows system builders to qualify [...]
Microsoft still out on plugging Vista BIOS crack
Friday, April 13th, 2007Microsoft says it’s monitoring a method that allows users to install pirated copies of Windows without tipping of built in anti-piracy protections, but isn’t yet committing to closing the loophole. It all has to do with a feature dubbed OEM Activation: a method that allows system builders to verify the authenticity of a Windows copy, [...]
Vista phones home to check for piracy
Tuesday, April 10th, 2007When Windows XP first came out, it only checked online once after you installed it to check the key for piracy reasons, if the key wasn’t valid, you were asked to purchase a legal one and the copy of XP was deactivated. Things are different now, even for XP users. Usually when Windows [...]
How to run Vista legally without activation for at least a year
Friday, March 23rd, 2007Windows Vista can be run for at least a year without being activated, a serious end run around one of Microsoft Corp.’s key antipiracy 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 [...]
Its official: Pirates crack Vista at last
Saturday, March 10th, 2007A genuine crack for Windows Vista has just been released by pirate group Pantheon, which allows a pirated, non-activated installation of Vista (Home Basic/Premium and Ultimate) to be properly activated and made fully-operational. Unlike cracks which have been floating around since Vista RTM was released in late November, this crack doesn’t simply get around product [...]
Windows Mobile 6 pirated!
Saturday, March 3rd, 2007A modified version of the code for Windows Mobile 6, which Microsoft launched less than two weeks ago at the 3GSM mobile phone conference, has hit the Net. It’s the handiwork of ‘Kyphur’, a moderator at the discussion forums on XDA Developers site, who has released a hacked version of the code for Windows Mobile [...]
Half of pirated Vista is malware
Sunday, February 18th, 2007About half of the downloads claiming to be free versions of Microsoft Corp.’s Vista operating system are actually malicious Trojan horse software, security vendor DriveSentry Inc. warned Thursday. Hackers have been bombarding discussion boards with offers of "cracked" versions of Windows Vista, which are typically being distributed on peer-to-peer networks, said John Lynch, vice president [...]
