Using Windows 8 RTM leak not all plain sailing


Recommended Posts

i'm sure by the time it goes on sale in october there will be working activation cracks like the windows 7 loader that has been out not many months after win7 went rtm.

Why crack it after it comes out? It's going to be so cheap.

i'm sure by the time it goes on sale in october there will be working activation cracks like the windows 7 loader that has been out not many months after win7 went rtm.

... or you could just buy the OS instead of worrying about activation cracks. $39 isn't exactly expensive.

... or you could just buy the OS instead of worrying about activation cracks. $39 isn't exactly expensive.

it could cost $2 and people will still want to pirate it :/, people dont like to spend money

it could cost $2 and people will still want to pirate it :/, people dont like to spend money

I know, it's pathetic how many think they're entitled to own the newest software - be it Windows, applications or games - for free.

  • Like 3

I know, it's pathetic how many think they're entitled to own the newest software - be it Windows, applications or games - for free.

When it comes down to Windows the mindset is usually "Crappy monopolistic Microsoft and their ****ty software, I'm just going to pirate it because it's so ****!" (Note the heavy amounts of irony in that statement).

40 euros is really dirt cheap for a Pro version. I'm going to bite... twice! For my Laptop and Desktop :)

Why crack it after it comes out? It's going to be so cheap.

I didn't say I was going to crack it, this thread is about win8 protection. No UK price has been announced yet btw. Also that $40 is for an installer, most likely .exe or .msi not for an iso, you have to upgrade from within windows, you can format from within that installer apparently which is pretty good. $60 gets you a physical disc, i'm not sure if you can format hdd then install or if you have to install from within windows again.

There's no price for new installs btw, the $40/60 is for upgrades.

If you hdd dies and you replace it you won't have an earlier install of windows and wouldn't be able to use the installer and maybe not even the physical disc.

We'll have to wait for more details from microsoft.

  • Like 1

... or you could just buy the OS instead of worrying about activation cracks. $39 isn't exactly expensive.

Most people who would pirate it wouldn't have legitimate Windows licence to allow them to upgrade in the first place.

  • Like 2

People can flame all they want but that's a seriously dog ugly, terrible looking UI. 7 looks so much more sleek, this windows 8 thing looks like X Window System or Win95 High Contrast on sterioids when not in Metro ( I'll hold my tongue on my metro views). I respect MS for trying to change things up but man they've got it so badly wrong in my view.

People can flame all they want but that's a seriously dog ugly, terrible looking UI. 7 looks so much more sleek, this windows 8 thing looks like X Window System on sterioids when not in Metro. I respect MS for trying to change things up but man they've got it so badly wrong in my view.

You act like metro is the whole O.S. When it's just an app launcher realistically.

it could cost $2 and people will still want to pirate it :/, people dont like to spend money

I'm not joking when I say this but there are people who pirate 99cent games - heck, there are people who will spend hours/days/weeks pondering over whether they should spend $1.49 on a game/app for their smart phone.

Regarding the price - I hope that they make the discount globally (adjusted for exchange rate of course) to really get the ball rolling because the latest screenshots really have me interested in Windows 8.

I'm not joking when I say this but there are people who pirate 99cent games - heck, there are people who will spend hours/days/weeks pondering over whether they should spend $1.49 on a game/app for their smart phone.

http://theoatmeal.com/blog/apps

:laugh:

Using the leak now and noticed some of the little changes since the Release Preview. "Metro" doesn't seem so annoying now for whatever reason. Not interested in cracks for it so now I have the "Activate Windows" hover thing now, very prominent compared to only on the desktop before but still doesn't matter. I plan on just running it till August 15 when I get my TechNet version to play with then I can do more testing and see if I really want it badly for the $40 which is nothing :)

So... correct me if I am misunderstanding something here: You applied a crack to Windows 8, and it is now not functioning properly? And somehow that's Windows 8's fault?

Sounds like the old joke "It hurts when I do this." "Well, don't do that."

Updated for this thread: "Stuff breaks when I apply a crack." "Well, don't apply the crack."

So... correct me if I am misunderstanding something here: You applied a crack to Windows 8, and it is now not functioning properly? And somehow that's Windows 8's fault?

Sounds like the old joke "It hurts when I do this." "Well, don't do that."

Updated for this thread: "Stuff breaks when I apply a crack." "Well, don't apply the crack."

He's not blaming Windows 8 O.o Where did you get that? He's merely informing us that the current leak has flaws most likely due to the applied workaround. XD

  • Like 1

He's not blaming Windows 8 O.o Where did you get that? He's merely informing us that the current leak has flaws most likely due to the applied workaround. XD

From the title of the thread. "Using Windows 8 RTM leak not all plain sailing". Definitely implies that Windows 8 comes broken out of the box in some way. 'Using Windows 8 RTM Activation Workaround not all plain sailing" would put the blame where it lies.

But yes, I agree with you on 'flaws most likely due to the applied workaround.' That was my question, *does* it work if you don't apply 'the workaround'?

From the title of the thread. "Using Windows 8 RTM leak not all plain sailing". Definitely implies that Windows 8 comes broken out of the box in some way. 'Using Windows 8 RTM Activation Workaround not all plain sailing" would put the blame where it lies.

But yes, I agree with you on 'flaws most likely due to the applied workaround.' That was my question, *does* it work if you don't apply 'the workaround'?

Maybe it's just the fact the we interpreted the title differently. Personally, I think that the mere mention of leak is enough to understand that the flaw is because of the fact that it's a leak and most probably not a problem of the OS itself.

I haven't downloaded the leak yet since my Olympic games downloads are my priority right now :p but iirc, the workaround is already on the image which skips the part where you need a key to install the OS. (those who have downloaded it can correct me if I'm wrong)

  • Like 1

Maybe it's just the fact the we interpreted the title differently. Personally, I think that the mere mention of leak is enough to understand that the flaw is because of the fact that it's a leak and most probably not a problem of the OS itself.

I haven't downloaded the leak yet since my Olympic games downloads are my priority right now :p but iirc, the workaround is already on the image which skips the part where you need a key to install the OS. (those who have downloaded it can correct me if I'm wrong)

It's all good. I'm just still shaking my head that an administrator of NeoWin is discussing and encouraging piracy and hacking.

  • Like 2

What is with you people?

Some of us want to crack because we don't want to wait until 26th October. Every single one of you is speaking as if you can already buy a legitimate Windows 8 key right this very moment. Newsflash: We can't.

Activation cracks for RTM are about unlocking the full use of Windows 8 RTM, not necessarily because we don't want to pay for it.

You act like metro is the whole O.S. When it's just an app launcher realistically.

Have you seen the main Desktop UI? It has ugly block colours.

What is wrong with you people?

Some of us want to crack because we don't want to wait until 26th October. Every single one of you is speaking as if you can already buy a legitimate Windows 8 key right this very moment. Newsflash: We can't.

Activation cracks for RTM are about unlocking the full use of Windows 8 RTM, not necessarily because we don't want to pay for it.

Did you read the posts? It started here:

i'm sure by the time it goes on sale in october there will be working activation cracks like the windows 7 loader that has been out not many months after win7 went rtm.

It's not about using the RTM ahead of schedule XD

Oh right. Well yeah, that's fair enough. I don't see how that guy specifically incited that he was going to do that though. We've heard activation cracks being discussed in the manner of "damn pirates, cheapskates" for ages. Can we not make a discussion on activation that relates to activating it before it comes out officially? That sounds much more fun to me.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Posts

    • The machines are starting to fight back any way they can.
    • No news articles about the Arch Linux repo being majorly infected with malware?!?
    • Waymo recalls self-driving software after cars enter closed freeway work zones by Paul Hill Waymo, the self-driving car maker owned by Alphabet – the parent company of Google –, has recalled some of its fifth-generation Automated Driving Systems (ADS). It did so after some of its cars drove through closed construction zones. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the affected vehicles were capable of driving through a closed freeway construction zone and continuing to drive at speed. The listing on the NHTSA website says that Waymo is currently developing a solution to fix this issue, but in the meantime, freeway driving is being restricted. Waymo will update its ADS software so that vehicles can detect when they can avoid entering construction zones. According to the Safety Recall Report, on April 20, 2026, Waymo’s Field Safety Committee began meetings reviewing an event from April 11, 2026, and five events from April 19, 2026, where Waymo’s autonomous vehicles didn’t recognize and drove past ramp closure signs into the pre-planned freeway construction zones. This took place in Phoenix, Arizona. Separately, on May 18, 2026, seven Waymo vehicles entered freeway lanes with active construction in the San Francisco Bay Area by driving between cones that were placed to show the lane was closed. On the back of both of these events, Waymo restricted freeway driving until it could address the issue. In June, Waymo’s Safety Board reviewed the issue and additional information related to ADS performances around construction zones; then, as a result, it decided to conduct a recall. This development is not good for Waymo as it adds to a growing list of technical hiccups its cars have experienced. Ultimately, it will lead to more scrutiny from lawmakers around the world who will be more cautious about letting autonomous vehicles on their roads without tighter regulation. For readers in areas where Waymo operates, does this news make you more wary about stepping into one of these vehicles?
    • I'm still on Windows 10 22H2 because I didn't want to deal with all the issues in Windows 11, so I waited almost a week before installing the latest Patch Tuesday update (KB5094127), I went ahead and did it, and it was a huge mistake—ever since then, my File Explorer has seen a performance drop of about 30% when transferring large files... Once again, Microsoft has outdone itself! This update cannot be uninstalled, either through the Control Panel (via Settings) or by accessing Advanced Startup Options. The only possible alternative would be to use system restore points, but I’d have to reinstall all app and driver updates (and there’s no guarantee it would work). Or there’s the “nuclear option” of a in-place repair without losing files or apps, but even then, all my customizations would be lost! Microsoft just can’t help but mess everything up! Way to go, Microsoft! But I still don’t want your c****y Windows 11!
    • Microsoft: Windows 11 could finally solve a major issue across AMD, Nvidia, and Intel GPUs by Sayan Sen While Microsoft has been trying to improve it, Windows 11 is definitely not flawless, as even today some issues are taking a year to publicly acknowledge. However, one area of trouble that may finally see much better results soon is graphics driver crashes. Work on graphics driver timeouts, also called Timeout and Detection Recovery (TDR), is not new as the latest WDDM 3.2 also has specific improvements regarding it. Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) version 3.2 is supported on Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2. However, with the upcoming version 26H2, TDR crash diagnosis could go to the next level as Microsoft is introducing a new DirectX 12 API feature called "DirectX Dump Files". Similar to how system memory dump files work when a system crashes or freezes or encounters any such major issue, DirectX Dump Files (DDF) will essentially record a snapshot of the GPU execution right at the moment a graphics-related crash or hang or freeze occurs, so that developers can better understand and diagnoze these TDR and timeout detection errors. The dump will be available as a .dxdmp file for analysis and it will be a comprehensive dump file generated with detailed insights about the hardware, drivers, Windows, as well as the affected application. This should be another welcome change in this department. Earlier at GDC 2026, when the technology was first debuted, Microsoft had shared more details regarding it. The company had explained how DDF is designed to gather data from every layer of the graphics stack into a single file, eliminating the need for developers to manually correlate logs from multiple tools. As mentioned above, the dump can contain a lot of useful details like GPU hardware state information such as register values, shader program counters, page fault virtual addresses, shader memory data, and command buffers. Alongside that, it also captures DirectX runtime and kernel information, including D3D objects, pipeline state objects, device error data, adapter details, and CPU call stacks. Microsoft says the feature has been built around two primary use cases: retail device removals and local device removals. The former allows developers to collect crash information from end users' systems in the field, while the latter helps QA teams and developers investigate issues on test machines. Developers will also be able to include up to 2 MB of custom application data through new D3D12 APIs, providing additional context for troubleshooting. In addition, Microsoft is introducing three dump collection modes ranging from zero-overhead capture, which has no runtime performance impact on supported hardware, to higher-detail modes that collect more vendor-specific debugging data. On compatible Tier 2 hardware, zero-overhead dumps will be enabled by default, meaning developers may begin receiving useful crash diagnostics without making any code changes. The table below explains the three tiers: Tier Description NO_OVERHEAD Enables crash capture with no runtime cost and is suitable for broad deployment MEDIUM_OVERHEAD Provides a balance, capturing additional diagnostic data with moderate impact HIGH_OVERHEAD Collects the most detailed GPU and driver state available, enabling deeper investigation at the cost of higher runtime overhead In terms of availability, the company expects broader release to be around the fall of 2026, which should be right around the time when Windows 11 version 26H2 lands. Right now, DirectX Dump Files are available as a preview and currently, only AMD has the compatible AgilitySDK Developer Preview driver version 26.10.07.02. You can find the official announcement post here on Microsoft's website.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      Eurosoft10 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Eurosoft10 earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Year In
      Skeet Campbell earned a badge
      One Year In
    • One Month Later
      Sharbel earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • First Post
      BizSAR earned a badge
      First Post
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      599
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      190
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      79
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      77
    5. 5
      Steven P.
      70
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!