Pirated Vista may be useless, Microsoft says


Recommended Posts

Ms is protecting their property?! When I pay for it, it's MY property and I should be able to do whatever I want with it! If I don't want WGA installed, I should be able to remove it! The only one it hurts is the paying customers.

What is that you say, "Don't buy it if you don't want it"? Well, I don't intend to, and thrust me, I won't have WGA installed in my Vista. I will pay for it once that **** is removed.

I for one hope that Microsoft WIN the piracy battle. More people will either stick with Windows XP or learn Linux than will fork out for MS Software. As such, they'll exert a market pressure which will mean Windows XP will be around longer :)

(I intend to use XP for a long while yet btw :yes: )

Microsoft will never get their software pirate-free!

And that the code (i mean build compile n?) most people are using (or downloading probably) now isn't final, is just ridiculous...

Ms is protecting their property?! When I pay for it, it's MY property and I should be able to do whatever I want with it! If I don't want WGA installed, I should be able to remove it! The only one it hurts is the paying customers.

When you buy most software, they still are not yours. You only buy the right to use them on your computer. And by installing it you accept the licence agreement which one of says that MS have the right to install software to ensure the software is legit or other software to do with their software. Don't like it? Easy...don't install it and try a different OS.

WGA does not hurt legit customers, it hurts pirates. I am yet to see anything to do with WGA on my legit install of XP. So how is that hurting me? Pirates have to do some effort to get their stolen copy of XP to work like as if they bought it.

Ms is protecting their property?! When I pay for it, it's MY property and I should be able to do whatever I want with it! If I don't want WGA installed, I should be able to remove it! The only one it hurts is the paying customers.

Read your EULA again and then try to tell us you own their property. What you own is the media and a license. If you wanted to actually own Windows it would cost you more money then you'd ever see in your life.

Why don't you apply for a job at Microsoft?

Why don't you try to focus on the topic?

Edited by C_Guy

im sure vista will be cracked, but currently what microsoft says is accurate, the current crack will stop working whenever microsoft wants it to (i think its not until may or june) and then the pirated copies MAY stop working if the pirate hasnt updated to a new crack so that it continues to work. as far as i know there isnt a proper crack yet.

I don't know why everyone assumes activation will be cracked - it never was for XP, right? Pirates just used the VL version. That won't be so easy with Vista, especially if you want Ultimate or any edition that doesn't have a VL version.

It's so funny to see people in this board get upset at Microsoft for protecting their property and rights. Here's a newsflash: If pirates didn't rip off what doens't belong to them we would never have heard of WGA or activation or any of the anti-piracy measures beyond maybe a keycode.

If you don't like it, that's fine. But don't blame Microsoft, blame the pirates; they're responsible for it all.

First of all, nobody is blaming Microsoft for protecting their software from piracy. It's their right to do so. OK maybe some legit users are not very happy that they have to deal with WGA. They just need to stop crying about it and maybe grow up a little and maybe realize that WGA is necessary. But you need to grow up too. What you think that if we didn't have piracy, WGA would no longer be required? Get a reality check. Without WGA everybody would be a pirate because let's be honest nobody wants to pay for something they can get for free. Yes everybody and even you. You can deny it all you want I don't really care. But once people realize that they can all use the same key to install Windows, no one would even bother going to the store. People would share their windows CDs with friends and neighbors the same way they share music. Nobody would even care they are supposedly breaking a law because it would be that easy. WGA ensures that this doesn't happen. And professional piracy is only part of the problem.

I don't know why everyone assumes activation will be cracked - it never was for XP, right? Pirates just used the VL version. That won't be so easy with Vista, especially if you want Ultimate or any edition that doesn't have a VL version.

Nobody said it is going to be easy. Nobody bothered cracking XP because of VL keys. Vista will be cracked just like every software that ever existed, it's just a matter of time.

I don't know why everyone assumes activation will be cracked - it never was for XP, right? Pirates just used the VL version. That won't be so easy with Vista, especially if you want Ultimate or any edition that doesn't have a VL version.

But is that because it was there to be exploited? With the VL versions needing activation there is now a reason to find a way to crack it, and crackers do love a challenge :)

Edit: Damn, remix17 beat me to it

I don't know why everyone assumes activation will be cracked - it never was for XP, right?

It was - search with suitable keywords in suitable places and you can find multiple activation deterrent systems.

And as for the EULA - it has no worth - it is _not_ a legal binding agreement. It has less legal power than my toilet paper where I wipe my butt and no, you're not a lawyer so don't bother yapping to me how it has legal power somewhere - I don't care.

Remove crack pipe from mouth, kthx.

At work I had 20-odd boxes all with legit keys that refused to validate.

Seriously, theres are a very small number of legit keys that have failed validation, MS have admitted that, but the other 99% of keys that fail are due to them being leaked or the user not knowing that they are running pirate software. the 20-odd boxes that you have had fail are either (1) running pirate versions (2)there using keys that have been leaked or (3) your full of it like most people who say "my legit key failed validation" bla bla bla.

At work I had 20-odd boxes all with legit keys that refused to validate.

Don't lie. Legit copies activate just fine. And if for any reason you change hardware several times in a short period of time, and need to reactivate, you can call Support and they'll activate you over the phone in a couple of minutes.

I see the main issue being: Running a cracked version is a pain, I used to run a pirated XP but purchased a legal one one WGA was introduced, it became too much hassle to keep up with it, MS only need to make small changes to make the current cracks obsolete.

WGA did the job on me and made me buy a legal copy as I'm sure it did many other people. As mentioned earlier in this thread, all of the ultimate extras and downloads from the MS site will be blocked (If not already)

I don't really agree with the prices, so I have bought another copy of XP OEM with a Vista upgrade voucher for ?100, I'm set and ready to go.

Every one is looking at the retail prices and forgetting there are upgrade options and OEMs and going straight for the Pirated version

<snipped>

I wonder what other pointless and never-coming-true things you hope for....

Noone, not Microsoft, not Steve Jobs, not Bush, not Einstein, not god, NOONE/NOTHING never, can, or will ever stop piracy. End of topic.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Can confirm, I've built stuff for others and no complaints using their products.
    • Yes I agree, it's annoying. You can now miss tabs unless you point low enough.
    • Sysinternals Suite 2026.17.06 by Razvan Serea The Sysinternals Suite is a comprehensive package of advanced Windows utilities created by Mark Russinovich, who launched the Sysinternals website in 1996 to share his system tools and technical resources. This suite combines a wide range of troubleshooting and diagnostic tools, including Process Explorer, Process Monitor, Sysmon, Autoruns, ProcDump, the PsTools collection, and many others. It provides everything IT professionals and developers need to manage, monitor, and troubleshoot Windows systems and applications. The Suite bundles all of the core troubleshooting utilities along with their help files. Non-troubleshooting extras—such as the BSOD Screen Saver or NotMyFault—are excluded. In addition to the well-known tools, it also includes AccessChk, Autologon, Ctrl2Cap, DiskView, Disk Usage (DU), LogonSessions, PageDefrag, PsLogList, PsPasswd, RegMon, RootkitRevealer, TCPView, VMMap, ZoomIt, and more. Sysinternals Suite 2026.17.06 changelog: Autoruns v14.3 - This update to Autoruns, a utility for monitoring startup items, adds bug fixes and improves the command-line application autorunsc. ZoomIt v12.1 - This update to ZoomIt, a screen magnification and annotation tool, adds image backgrounds, webcam background blur and microphone noise cancellation support. Coreinfo v4.01 - This update to Coreinfo, a tool that reports processor, socket, NUMA memory, and cache topology of a system, as well as processor features supported, adds support for new processor features. DebugView v5.02 - This update to DebugView, a tool for displaying both kernel-mode and Win32 debug output, adds Ctrl-Shift-A support for selecting all output, and agent skills support for the CLI utility. LiveKd v5.64 - This update to LiveKd, a utility that allows running the kernel debugger on a live system, fixes a debugging privileges issue. ProcDump 3.5.2 for Linux - This update to ProcDump for Linux, a tool for capturing process dumps, adds .NET counters and a custom core dumper. Process Monitor v4.04 - This update to Process Monitor, a utility for observing real-time file system, Registry, and process or thread activity, adds some bug fixes Sysmon v15.21 - This update to Sysmon, an advanced host security monitoring tool, adds some bug fixes. Download: Sysinternals Suite 2026.17.06 | 168.0 MB (Freeware) Download: Sysinternals Suite for ARM64 | 15.4 MB Link: Sysinternals Suite Home Page | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Given only Volume license customers and specific resellers can obtain the LTSC versions legitimately it seems likely that this has been tinkered with quite a lot!
    • Apple CEO Tim Cook confirms looming price hikes due to memory shortages by Hamid Ganji Image via Apple Memory and chip shortages have led to significant price increases for electronics over the past year, and it seems that more hikes are on the way for upcoming smartphones and computers. Apple CEO Tim Cook has confirmed that the company is planning to increase the prices of some of its products due to the ongoing memory and storage shortages. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Cook confirmed the looming price hikes for Apple’s future products, adding that “Unfortunately, price increases are unavoidable.” He also said the company is doing its best to “mitigate the huge increases that are being passed to us, and we’ve been trying to shield our customers from the increases, but the situation has become unsustainable.” The Apple CEO also noted that the allocation of a large portion of memory chips to AI companies has contributed to shortages in the market, resulting in lower supply at a time when demand for devices remains high. “We definitely need memory pricing and supply to return to reasonable levels for consumer products. That’s the bottom line,” Cook said. Cook also added that Apple is ready to use its vast cash reserves to help boost supply in the market because additional production capacity is needed. While he declined to specify how Apple plans to do that, he said the company will not build its own memory and storage factories despite its financial resources and silicon expertise. Cook did not provide further details on the scale of the price increases or which Apple products would be affected, though iPads and Macs could see higher prices sooner than other products. Apple’s next product launch event is scheduled for September, when the company is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and its first foldable iPhone. It remains unclear whether the upcoming iPhones will be affected by the price increases, but given the current memory shortage, higher prices seem increasingly likely. There is currently no clear timeline for the end of the memory shortage. Samsung, one of the world’s three largest memory chip manufacturers, recently said the shortage could persist for several more years.
  • Recent Achievements

    • One Month Later
      eurospharma62 earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      With What earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Week One Done
      Harris Gilbert earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Vincian earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • First Post
      Jocimo earned a badge
      First Post
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      542
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      167
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      85
    4. 4
      ATLien_0
      64
    5. 5
      neufuse
      64
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!