Pirated Vista may be useless, Microsoft says


Recommended Posts

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.

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

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • First time clicking on a Sayan Sen article after he started making clickbait, vague headlines recently. Didn't read, just came here to say the headline doesn't look like very cheap, vague clickbait this time. Are you okay?
    • Good review, and yeah the benchmark breakdown is pretty clear but also a little messy in a good way. It’s kinda interesting to see where the RX 9070 GRE slides in between the 7800 XT and the 9070 XT , especially when it comes to AI tasks and Blender style workloads. The side by side with Nvidia’s RTX 5070 and 4070 makes it feel obvious just how competitive the mid range GPU scene has gotten lately, and that’s great for creators and gamers too since you can pick based on your priorities rather than only chasing one single thing.
    • That's it. I finally uninstalled Firefox because they often keep pushing buggy updates, only to test them later and make users suffer. No longer is it my alternative browser to Edge. What a waste of energy. Firefox is bad for the environment, just like Chrome (wasting RAM/energy).
    • Microsoft Weekly: new Surface, Windows 11 26H2, and more by Taras Buria This week's news recap is here, with Microsoft announcing Windows 11 version 26H2, launching new Surface devices powered by Snapdragon X2 processors, GTA VI preorder date and cover art, fresh Windows 11 preview builds, a quirky phone-sized e-reader with a physical dial, and more. Quick links: Windows 10 and 11 Windows Insider Program Updates are available Reviews are in Gaming news Great deals to check Windows 11 and Windows 10 Here, we talk about everything happening around Microsoft's latest operating system in the Stable channel and preview builds: new features, removed features, controversies, bugs, interesting findings, and more. And, of course, you may find a word or two about older versions. Windows 11 version 26H2 is now official. Alongside Windows 11's new preview builds released this week, Microsoft confirmed version 26H2, which is coming later this year as an enablement package based on the same platform as versions 24H2 and 25H2. A newly published blog post details what IT admins should do to prepare for the upcoming launch. Next, we have new Windows 11 bugs. Users report that this month's security updates for Windows 11 cause all sorts of issues, including BitLocker bugs, OneDrive issues, black screens of death, and third-party integration in Office apps. Microsoft has not confirmed those yet, but it acknowledged other issues with its operating system. What Microsoft has confirmed is a bug where Recycle Bin delete prompts display internal file names instead of actual ones, and a year-old Windows JScript compatibility bug caused by security-focused engine changes. Moving to more positive news, Microsoft and Adobe are working on improving Windows performance in popular creative apps like Photoshop. Thanks to SPGO optimizations, users can expect up to 20% better performance. Finally, we have a few useful articles that can help you recover your PC or make it perform better. For one, we published a guide detailing what to do if your computer cannot boot after a clean Windows 11 install. There are two important steps you can try to get your system back to working in no time. Additionally, there is a more detailed guide on various CPU performance modes that could notably improve performance. Windows Insider Program Here is what Microsoft released for Windows Insiders this week: Builds Canary Channel Builds 28120.2315 and 29613.1000 These two builds include a new built-in audio driver, improvements to audio Settings, and more. Dev Channel Builds 26300.8697 and 26220.8690 Not much is available here. Some File Explorer improvements, Start menu enhancements, bug fixes, and more. However, build 26300.8697 is now officially marked as version 26H2. Updates are available This section covers software, firmware, and other notable updates (released and coming soon) delivering new features, security fixes, improvements, patches, and more from Microsoft and third parties. This week, Microsoft announced its newest Surface devices powered by Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon X2 processors. There is the 12th-gen Surface Pro and the 8th-gen Surface Laptop. Both devices feature little to no visual differences compared to their predecessors from 2024, and most changes hide inside, including a better processor, faster graphics, enhanced NPUs, and more. The Surface Laptop also received a new haptic trackpad. Mozilla is currently working on a major Firefox redesign, and earlier this week, it published a roadmap of upcoming features and highlights of the upcoming "Project Nova" rework. Files, one of the best file managers for Windows 10 and 11, has been updated in the Preview channel with a long-requested feature. Tree View is finally available in version 4.1.4, allowing you to quickly browse deeply nested folders without leaving the main view. In addition, the update improved the Windows Fonts folder, allowing you to preview each font without opening the default viewer. Rufus, another useful Windows 11 utility, also received a notable update. Version 4.15 arrived as beta with important fixes for silent Windows 11 installation. It also includes patches for ARM-based Windows PCs, OneDrive removal improvements, and more. Here are other updates and releases you may find interesting: Microsoft faces shareholder lawsuit over masking AI costs and slowing Azure growth Microsoft now allows you to tweak Visual Studio to new extremes Microsoft brings Planner Agent to all Microsoft 365 Copilot users Microsoft fixes one of Excel Copilot's most frustrating limitations Microsoft will finally let you sign in to Edge with a Google account Here are the latest drivers and firmware updates released this week: NVIDIA 610.62 with support for Empulse and various fixes. Reviews are in Here is the hardware and software we reviewed this week Earlier this week, we reviewed the DuRoBo Krono, a portable, phone-sized e-reader with some interesting physical controls. This device has an Apple Watch-like dial for page turning, frontlight adjustment, and more. Software is simple and no-nonsense, but it also lacks some useful features and customization. Overall, the device proved interesting, but not flawless. On the gaming side Learn about upcoming game releases, Xbox rumors, new hardware, software updates, freebies, deals, discounts, and more. Forza Horizon 6 received two big updates this week. Alongside the Series 2 content update, developers pushed plenty of bug fixes and balancing tweaks. However, they also had to acknowledge the Eliminator CR-farming exploit and shut down the online mode temporarily. Luckily, only a few days later, another fix arrived, which re-enabled Eliminator and patched the exploit. Microsoft announced new games for Game Pass subscribers. Those include EA Sports FC 26, Junkster, Call of Duty: Vanguard, Abyssus, RV There Yet?, and more. Some existing games are leaving the catalog, so be sure to check out the full list here. New games are also available for GeForce NOW subscribers, and they include Embers of the Uncrowned Demo, Aphelion, Megastore Simulator, OPERATOR, Citizen Sleeper, and more. Rockstart Games had plenty of GTA-related news this week. For one, the company gave GTA V players another free update. Those still playing the game on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 are no longer required to pay $40 to upgrade to the latest-gen version. More importantly, Rockstar Games revealed the GTA VI cover art and announced the preorder date. The Epic Games Store is giving away two games: Citizen Sleeper and Roboeat. These two titles are up for grabs until next Thursday, but if they are not up to your taste, you can always check out the latest Weekend PC Game Deal issue, which is usually full of discounts and specials that let you save a lot of money on new games. Great deals to check Every week, we cover many deals on different hardware and software. The following discounts are still available, so check them out. You might find something you want or need. GEEKOM X16 Pro at GEEKOM - $1,119.67 | 17% off Acer 4K Webcam for PC/Mac with All-Metal Unibody Sculpted - $59.99 | 14% off Samsung 990 PRO SSD 2TB - $369.99 | 42% off Nothing Ear Wireless Earbuds Bluetooth - $73.15 | 51% off PowerColor Reaper AMD Radeon RX 9070 16GB - $579.99 | 17% off This link will take you to other issues of the Microsoft Weekly series. You can also support Neowin by registering for a free member account or subscribing for extra member benefits, along with an ad-free tier option.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      Supreme Spray LV earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Genuinetonerink- Dubai earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Genuinetonerink- Dubai earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Year In
      hhgygy earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Week One Done
      AMV earned a badge
      Week One Done
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      506
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      163
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      84
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      74
    5. 5
      Michael Scrip
      71
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!