Pirated Vista may be useless, Microsoft says


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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

Where can I get the OEM xp with vista upgrade voucher?

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.

Hardware in these boxes had been untouched for months. I'm getting sick of you people who go around claiming that WGA is failproof.

I support WGA/OGA....just to prove that crackers can crack that bull**** too...

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.

Because if you can make it, someone can break it...

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....And professional piracy is only part of the problem.

*sigh* That's not what I meant. I meant that if we lived in a world where piracy never existed in the first place then there would be no need for anti-piracy measures. Therefore, if no one ripped off Windows Microsoft would have no need to add in WGA or activation. This is, of course, not how it is. It's very easy to pirate Windows and people do it, whether they know its illegal or not. Therefore, Microsoft takes steps to limit it and boom, we have WGA and activation thanks to who? The pirates.

Legit customers such as myself (yeah I guess you got that wrong didn't ya?) aren't really affected though and hence don't hold much against Microsoft for protectign their property.

The VL versions will now require activation... either by MAK or KMS.

MAK is a Multiple Activation Key that a business can buy and it will have so many activations associated with it. Once the activations are used, the company will need to buy another.

The second form is KMS. Key Management Software will be available from Microsoft, and a company will install this on their domain server. Every 180 days, each machine will have to contact the server and locally reactivate. Plus, Microsoft set a constant minimum to 25 machines must need activation before the KMS will actually activate...

Once again, both methods are probably going to be cracked, but this does tighten the noose... I think the days of getting Windows from your company are over, unless you regularly can connect to their KMS / get your hands on the MAK.

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.

Not true my friend. Activation, as well as WGA, were in fact cracked for XP. It was some Russian group that did it... and it bypassed activation by "Activation by Phone."

*sigh* That's not what I meant. I meant that if we lived in a world where piracy never existed in the first place then there would be no need for anti-piracy measures. Therefore, if no one ripped off Windows Microsoft would have no need to add in WGA or activation. This is, of course, not how it is. It's very easy to pirate Windows and people do it, whether they know its illegal or not. Therefore, Microsoft takes steps to limit it and boom, we have WGA and activation thanks to who? The pirates.

You can **** in one hand, and wish in the other, which one fills up faster?

Yes, and if they add stuff to slow it down, you don't think people will find a way around? How naive are some of you? The crap like that is for your joe blow that barely knows how to use a pc. Your computer nerd, like a lot of people on here, are smart enough to find the information needed to work around things like that IF they want to.

Why do people keep saying "Vista will be cracked"...Vista is cracked. Its cracked and working fine. It works just like any other cracked version of windows in that you can't expect to install it and connect to microsoft and get updates as if it was a legit copy. But of course that will eventually be worked around as well, and even if its not they always release cracked versions of all the security patches and you can just download them manually

*sigh* That's not what I meant. I meant that if we lived in a world where piracy never existed in the first place then there would be no need for anti-piracy measures. Therefore, if no one ripped off Windows Microsoft would have no need to add in WGA or activation. This is, of course, not how it is. It's very easy to pirate Windows and people do it, whether they know its illegal or not. Therefore, Microsoft takes steps to limit it and boom, we have WGA and activation thanks to who? The pirates.

Legit customers such as myself (yeah I guess you got that wrong didn't ya?) aren't really affected though and hence don't hold much against Microsoft for protectign their property.

I just think you are forgetting that pirates are people and I assume you are one of them. That' the only thing I assumed about you. The only thing separating pirates from non-pirates is their willingness to bother with annoyances and hassle associated with using pirated software.

I just think you are forgetting that pirates are people and I assume you are one of them. That' the only thing I assumed about you. The only thing separating pirates from non-pirates is their willingness to bother with annoyances and hassle associated with using pirated software.

That's the only thing separating pirates from non-pirates? Really? Umm.. how about the fact that pirates are THIEFS, and non-pirates are not?

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

You should be using Volume License Keys, which dont need activating at least for XP... move on..

I dont understand why people complain about WGA, if you have a legit version of windows, you have nothing to worry about, and in the really odd case that it doesnt validate, you call and get it done over the phone, 10 mins at most..

And for those people who like to not pay for something they use everyday, stop bitching you're getting something for free, stop complaining because you have to spend an extra 3 minutes running some other patch.

Stop bloody complaining and get on with your life...

Remove crack pipe from mouth, kthx.

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

Then what does that tell you? Have you have any idea what WGA is designed to do? It tells if your product key is original and not used by someone else. Like someone else said, all those 20 copies of XP had their product keys leaked to the net where others have gotten and use them or either they are really running pirated versions oc XP which appear to be legit to you but under the hood - illegial.

yes they are, they are taking away (stealing) a part of microsofts profit by pirating their software. that my friend is still stealing. And don't give me the **** about how you wouldn't buy it anyway. Cause if that's case, then you don't have a need for it. and if you don't have a need for it, you wouldn't be running it on your pc

Ah yes...nexus speaks again. Please lets all get on our foot and kiss your shoes for you are always right.

:rolleyes: :sleep: When will you ever learn to just shut up?

Seriously I could care less about wga or oga or anything else. I have formatted my machine 3 times in the last 5 days and installed XP and Vista. All of them activated just fine...why because they are legit licenses.

If everyone just here got off there moral high horse about how pirates/crackers always win...maybe wga/oga would never have had to happen.

Well excuse me Mr. athletic jock supporter trainer. Your right, by not saying it, it never happens right.

I glad you could care less about WGA, so do I. It has never effected me. I'm still running on my original XP installation that I bought 3 years ago. So you take your anger out on me because you've formatted 3 times in 5 days?

It's not about pirates winning or losing. Its MS and the world being in denial that it wont be bypassed regardless of measures or statements that MS makes. There are laws that govern peoples behavior but people continue to defy those laws. So the simplistic of it is that it will happen, regardless of the morality of

it.

Who's ripping who off?

Microshaft makes there software affordable "Vista Home Basic" and rips out all the features that make it worth running Vista. Thats a rip-off

I would pay upto $200 for Vista Ultimate thats all I feel it's worth to me.

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.

Correct. They are thieves. :laugh:

lol It's not in my nature my make spelling mistakes like that. But seriously pirates are not thieves. The act of pirating something is not the same as the act of stealing something. We had a long discussion about this in the previous vista thread. This thread I fear will suffer the same fate as the other one, being closed that is after flame war gets out of hand.

yes they are, they are taking away (stealing) a part of microsofts profit by pirating their software. that my friend is still stealing. And don't give me the **** about how you wouldn't buy it anyway. Cause if that's case, then you don't have a need for it. and if you don't have a need for it, you wouldn't be running it on your pc

I don't even understand what you're saying. It makes no sense to me. Just because you can't afford something does not mean you don't need it. Why don't you think before you type.

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    • Nope. That lack of surround sound capability (analog) won't fly with me. Sure, I use headphones most of the time, but still.
    • Creative Sound Blaster AE-X PCIe review: your headphones will love it by Steven Parker If you have been reading Neowin for any length of time, you may remember that I reviewed the Sound Blaster Audigy FX Pro back in April. I found it to be an excellent budget sound card, even though it lacked support for formats such as DTS over the included SPDIF port. Anyway, Creative reached out to me again asking if I was interested in reviewing the Sound Blaster AE-X. It is a card mainly targeted at headphone wearers, which I'll get into a bit later. Before we get underway, here is a disclaimer: Creative Labs provided a free sample without any review pre-approval. Here are the full specs of it: Creative Sound Blaster AE-X Dimensions: 179 x 126 x 18 mm Weight: 263g / 9.28 oz Platform: PCI-e DAC: ESS ES9039Q2M Connectivity Options Side: Rear: 1 x HD Audio Front Panel Connector, 1 x ⅛“ Headphone port, 1 x RCA Line-out (Left) port, 1 x RCA Line-out (Right) port, 1 x Coaxial SPDIF-out port, 1 x ⅛“ Mic in/Line-in port, 1 x TOSLINK SPDIF-in port Surround: No DNR / SNR: THD+N: 0.0001% Dynamic Range 130 dB Recording Resolution: PCM up to 32-bit / 192kHz (Stereo) Direct Mode: Line Out (Stereo): PCM up to 32-bit  384 kHz Coaxial SPDIF Out: PCM up to 24-bit 192.0 kHz Headphone Amp: PCM up to 32-bit / 384kHz (Stereo) Native DSD: DSD64, DSD128, DSD256 Output Impedance: 1Ω, Supported Headphone Impedance: 8–600Ω, IEM: 0.5Vrms, Low: 1.5Vrms, Mid: 3Vrms, High: 6Vrms, Maximum output power: 350mW @ 32Ω (High), Maximum output voltage: 6Vrms (High) Front Panel Headphone Amp: PCM up to 32-bit / 192kHz (Stereo) Native DSD: DSD64, DSD128 Output Impedance: 10Ω, Supported Headphone Impedance: 32–300Ω, Maximum output power: 40mW @ 32Ω, Maximum output voltage: 1.9Vrms ASIO: ASIO 2.3 Total Harmonic Distortion: THD+N: 0.0006% Dynamic Range: 114 dB Scout Mode: Yes EMI shielding: No (but it passed all the FCC emission tests) Operating temperature: 0–45°C Input Power: 12V⎓0.5A Warranty: 1 Year (MSRP) Price: $179.99 / £169.99 The Sound Blaster AE-X was announced at the end of May, and it becomes clear that it is mainly for headphone wearers. I should also note that the card does not support DDL/DTS encoding technology, but it is said to support decoding through the coaxial SPDIF port. I was able to test this working with the classic Windows Sound properties, but I could not get a DTS (decode) signal through my Logitech Z906, it defaulted to 3D sound whenever I played DTS content through Plex or Emby. In addition, this card only supports two channels (stereo) over the speakers. The surround support is limited to the Headphone Amp, so before I get underway, what we have here is a card mostly intended for headphone use, especially with its SPDIF In (Toslink) port where you could connect another device like a console. So what about the highlights of this card? The AE-X is powered by the ESS SABRE DAC (ES9039Q2M), which is capable of a 130 dB dynamic range. In addition, it supports 32-bit/384 kHz playback for deeper detail and clarity. The headphone amplifier delivers up to 350 mW @ 32Ω, which admittedly far surpasses standard onboard audio, offering support for studio-grade headphones. DSD256 and ASIO 2.3 are also supported. What doesn't it have? No support for What-U-Hear, Super X-Fi, or the SmartComms Kit No EMI shielding, but it passed all the FCC emission tests (from the FAQ) I also want to make it clear that I am no audiophile. For me, it's purely subjective and it should just "work" out of the box. First impressions As I said in the introduction, I was a bit sad to see that the AE-X only supports stereo output, meaning it would not be on par with my ALC1220 over my speakers, as I mentioned it seems like this card is marketed toward headphone users. Since I am not an avid gamer that would rule me out as a potential customer, but I can still test its capabilities! The card arrived in a nice-looking box, as shown above. It's quite a bit larger than the Audify FX Pro that I reviewed back in April, and at first I thought the covering meant that it was EMI shielded, but it isn't as mentioned above in the highlights section. What's in the box: 1 x Sound Blaster AE-X PCIe card 1 x 3.5 mm CTIA TRRS to Dual TRS Headset Splitter Cable 1 x Quick Start Guide Aside from the Quick Start Guide, which someone at my age (I guess) needs a magnifying glass to read thanks to the tiny fonts, Creative Labs also has the manual online, which first requires you to prove that you're human in order to access it (so I can't direct link it). Anyway, the box is mostly made up of cardboard, and the only plastic in it is the anti-static bag for the card itself. Design Top Bottom The card itself looks pretty cool and actually wouldn't look out of place in an all-white build. There's only one connector, and for some reason it is awkwardly placed on the side (front-facing) that is for the front panel audio connector, which will let you use the headphones through the front PC audio jack. Since the front panel Headphone Amp has fewer capabilities than the rear headphone port, I decided not to use it. Rear of card PCI-e interface The rear of the card is completely open and is normally where you would find the front panel connector. The PCIe interface side is completely covered, which initially made me think it was EMI shielded. I/O panel Side (front-facing) with Front panel connector On the outer rear bracket side we have the TOSLINK SPDIF in, Coaxial SPDIF out, RCA line out (Right), RCA line out (Left), Headphone out, and Mic/Line in ports. On the front facing portion of the card itself is the F-panel connector. Usage Test System Our test system consists of the following: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Gigabyte X870E AORUS MASTER (BIOS F12) Corsair RM1000x (2024) Thermal Grizzly Kyronaut (33x33x0,2mm) 2x 32GB Kingston Fury Beast RGB DDR5 6000MT/s CL36-38-38-80 T-Force Z540 2TB (PCIe Gen5) NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition (NVIDIA) Creative Sound Blaster AE-X Windows 11 25H2 Pro I installed the card into the Gigabyte X870E AORUS MASTER which includes the RealTek ALC1220 onboard audio. For our subjective listening tests, I used the Coaxial SPDIF port to my Logitech Z906 speakers. For headphone tests I used the OneOdio Studio Max 2 Wireless DJ Headphones that I reviewed last month. After installing the audio driver, I installed Creative Nexus, which is a relatively new app designed for the latest Sound Blaster cards. Then I discovered the AE-X needed both a driver update from 1.00.15.0001 to 1.01.09.000 and a firmware update from 1.00.06.0000 to 1.00.06.0002, then I was set to go. It should be noted that the card did not work without the driver (not Plug and Play). As you can see above, you can manage the firmware, driver, and inputs via Advanced Settings on the Device tab. By default Nexus enabled "Direct Mode". Upon clicking on Acoustic Engine, the Equalizer can be enabled and set to four different presets, which are: Gaming Music Movies Footsteps Enhancer There's also a dedicated Scout Mode for gamers. I mainly used Tidal and Spotify in the past week to listen to some of my Liked Songs (which now total over 700) in Shuffle mode; there were no pops or interference that I could hear. I also found a 5.1 Surround Music playlist on Tidal that sounded really great over Studio Max 2 headphones. When I reviewed the Audigy FX Pro, I went out and purchased a Logitech Z906 set second-hand for €100 specifically to use with the card, but in this instance all I could get on the AE-X was the 3D output of surround sound through Coaxial SPDIF and although it still sounded great, it isn't quite as good as DTS Interactive via my onboard Realtek ALC1220. Conclusion So what have I learned? The AE-X lacks multi-channel support for 5.1/7.1 setups and drops support for modern surround technologies like Dolby or DTS, functioning strictly as a stereo output device. So to really benefit, you will need Studio-grade headphones to "hear" the benefits of this card. With that being said, I can imagine it will appeal to gamers who are switching between console and PC. By utilizing the SPDIF in port, you could just plug your headphones into the AE-X (front or rear port) and then switch between PC and Console without having to move the headphones to a different port. As I said in the Sound Blaster Audigy review, the EQ in the Creative Nexus app offers safe presets, which allows a user to further tweak the lows, mids, and highs for a personal listening experience. Of course it all depends on the headphones you hook up to it. Speaking of headphones, I kind of wish I had higher-quality Studio-grade headphones to really test this card with; I'm not usually wearing headphones in my day to day duties. The only time I will wear them is if I want to listen to music very late at night and I don't want to disturb my neighbors, so my rating (verdict) is based on this fact. Someone with a PC/Console setup and wears headphone religiously to game, and consume media will benefit much more than I from the high-quality Headphone Amps that are included in the AE-X. Once again, I do feel like Creative could have gone the extra mile to support the S/PDIF port a bit more. Why include it if you're not supporting the main popular digital formats? It seems like the decision was more of a legacy-based one, offering uncompressed 2-channel PCM audio, for users with high-fidelity audio systems and external DACs. Maybe I will be lucky enough to review a card that truly includes all these features in the future. I am sure readers with far more knowledge on audio systems than me will correct me in the comments below. I'll just say I am happy to learn what I don't know! Where to buy The Sound Blaster AE-X is available to purchase now in preorder for $179.99 on the U.S. Creative website, or for £169.99 on the Creative UK website and will start shipping to customers from June 25.
    • $80 or 90%, anything else would be financial suicide one way or another.
    • Or... just use Bitwarden. Free, and has on-prem option as well. Works both on desktop and mobile, wherever you are. The age of local password files is over.
    • Thanks
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