Pirated Vista may be useless, Microsoft says

[Diffused Mind]

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.

See, here we go again, people needlessly defending Microsoft.

Perhaps you missed the clue train, but the last place you would use a pirated key would be at work.

Edit: oh, and here's the kicker, 90 other boxes using the same VLK validated fine.

[MichaelEaton]

See, here we go again, people needlessly defending Microsoft.

Perhaps you missed the clue train, but the last place you would use a pirated key would be at work.

Edit: oh, and here's the kicker, 90 other boxes using the same VLK validated fine.

VLK's dont get validated.. get on the clue train yourself..

[#Michael]

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.

I don't take my anger out on anyone. What I am doing is getting extremely tired of hearing crap coming from your posts. Everything you have posted in the last year r so have been out right lies. So it gets tiresome to hear something like that comment of your about pirated copies. You just make yourself look foolish.

[C_Guy]

But seriously pirates are not thieves. The act of pirating something is not the same as the act of stealing

The act of pirating is EXACTLY the same as stealing. Pirates just find a way to justify their actions because they don't want to feel like they've committed a crime.

No matter what your opinion is (and I honestly respect it either way), piracy is a crime, and that's a fact.

If you can find any laws that say piracy is legal then please share with us. But as far as I know, some people who choose to steal (pirate) software are being penalized for it.

[Googintosh]

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.

Maybe not you but it has for other legitimate users and for myself. I've had a legitimate copy of Windows XP for years. Yet, when I installed IE7 recently to my surprise WGA decided to tell me my copy of XP was not genuine, though WGA was fine with the authenticity of my XP in previous checks. This did not really hurt me as I just used system restore to get rid of it. I'm not too up-to-date on Vista, but I believe it's version of WGA is supposed to disable the usage of Vista? There is then a possibility that WGA can, and probably will malfunction, and disable a computer that may be of critical use for something or another.

It doesn't hurt pirates at all. They download it for free, have easy access to WGA cracks, and they don't have to worry about software auditing or being caught.

I agree MS is only protecting their wares. I also concur that if the price was not so steep piracy would likely be much less of a problem for them. MS should offer some kind of physical incentive for buying their wares. Like, cashing in a coupon that comes in each Vista box, and in return you get some lame USB memory key chain, or $20 discount on a Zune, or a free lap dance, something a nerd won't be able to resist.

[Nexus]

I don't take my anger out on anyone. What I am doing is getting extremely tired of hearing crap coming from your posts. Everything you have posted in the last year r so have been out right lies.

Give some examples then to substantiate your claim.

[remix17]

The act of pirating is EXACTLY the same as stealing. Pirates just find a way to justify their actions because they don't want to feel like they've committed a crime.

No matter what your opinion is (and I honestly respect it either way), piracy is a crime, and that's a fact.

If you can find any laws that say piracy is legal then please share with us. But as far as I know, some people who choose to steal (pirate) software are being penalized for it.

Of course piracy is a crime. I would be a hopeless fool to deny that. But it is not theft. That's why we have a separate word for it - piracy. It is copyright infringement and is by no means the same thing as theft. When you are stealing something, you are preventing someone else from buying it. You are stealing an actual physical object which costs money and resources to produce. To make a copy of Windows costs nothing, anyone can do it for free. Company looses money only if a person who pirated software actually had intentions and money to buy it. Otherwise there is no loss in profits. When you steal something, the company looses unconditionally. Piracy is not necessarily a bad thing. It just depends on the situation.

[Diffused Mind]

VLK's dont get validated.. get on the clue train yourself..

Um, what?

I distinctly remember having to run a WGA check in order to download a few utilities we use.

[Acezo]

VLK's dont get validated.. get on the clue train yourself..

VLK's DO get validated just like every other version of Windows.

[remix17]

VLK's DO get validated just like every other version of Windows.

No not for older versions. Only on Vista.

[DrCheese]

VLK's dont get validated.. get on the clue train yourself..

Ya you fail, it DOES(Vista) get validated, either via a limited use key or via a Key management server within your network.

Office 2007 does not get validated however.

[Acezo]

No not for older versions. Only on Vista.

They're talking about WGA validation (which all versions of Windows can be subject to), not activating Windows (which XP VLK copies don't do)

[obsolete_power]

Even if a proper keygen is created, it wouldn't matter. The little perks, such as Ultimate Extras, and many of the non-critical updates will most likely not be available to the pirates because MS will check and black list keys.

I personally installed RTM without a key so I could check compatibility with drivers, software and stability. So far, not so good... I'll have to stick with XP even when Vista supports 90% of my stuff. That 10% would be problems with audio IC dev kits and my old mp3 player that uses proprietary DRM. The mp3 player is also EOL, no drivers for Vista. :(

You aren't supposed to have RTM. It isnt even out on MSDN. There is no such thing as trying it out without a key. It works but it is not meant for people to download it illegally and try it out.

[shrike]

Microsoft said supposedly pirated copies of its new Vista computer operating system "will be of limited value" to those who use them.

...because it's free on the net? Yay! Microsoft says we can get "limited value" copies!

[RGSPro]

...because it's free on the net? Yay! Microsoft says we can get "limited value" copies!

Hah! :laugh:

[DrCheese]

You aren't supposed to have RTM. It isnt even out on MSDN.

It is out for limited users and MVLS users. However I doubt that 98% of the people currently running Vista RTM are in either

[stgeorge]

I think it is merely relating to the fact that there are alot of bug fixes to come, either that or the fact that some of the torrents are basically RC2 rebranded

lol, don't be silly... Vista Build 6000 *IS* RC2 rebranded, they didn't do a damn thing since RC2 except add some lame sounds and a few more wallpapers.

[u_diddy]

Correct. They are thieves. :laugh:

That was a very broad statement

[mikey]

Don't worry, they are totally bluffing. Everybody who pirated it will have a workaround very soon. Microsoft can never stop a determined pirate community.

They aren't trying to stop determined pirates, just the ones that don't really know what they are doing, but can burn an ISO they got from the <snipped>

Edited November 16, 2006 by John S.

[0sit0]

lol @ microsoft

the day they let me buy a copy of windows for $400 and i can use it on at least 10 pcs then ill buy it, until then ill just try to get it some other way, education, free, from work, etc. They just dont get it, one PC is NOT enough, many people have more than 2 PCs at home. In my case i have 3 laptops and 2 desktops.

(and I yes i want Ultimate, i use IIS, backup, MCE, remote desktop and all that crap, so dont tell me i dont need Ultimate)

[Noveed]

lol, don't be silly... Vista Build 6000 *IS* RC2 rebranded, they didn't do a damn thing since RC2 except add some lame sounds and a few more wallpapers.

many people claim it to be faster than RC2, in some ways as fast as XP even. Wont know for sure until i get my hands on it.

[0sit0]

is not rc2, they fixed the wallpaper bug + some media player bug i reported as well so is not a rebranded RC2

[krasch]

VLK's dont get validated.. get on the clue train yourself..

The above being a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

VLK's may not get ACTIVATED, but they certainly can go through VALIDATION.

Activation is only done when the OS is first installed, and VLK's don't require it. Validation on the other hand is something that pops up any time MS wants to make sure you're trying to do stuff on a legal version of Windows, like download non-critical security updates, IE7, WMP11, Windows Defender, etc.

Try installing IE7 you downloaded from Microsoft on a VLK machine without agreeing to validation, not gonna happen. If the VLK is legal, you definitely can validate though and go right on installing IE7.

[_Pablo]

You aren't supposed to have RTM. It isnt even out on MSDN. There is no such thing as trying it out without a key. It works but it is not meant for people to download it illegally and try it out.

It is available legitimately for volume customers to download.

Vista can be installed without a key (there is one build in) then it is a 30 day trial before you have to enter a legitimate key (for the same Vista Edition you installed).

[Venturas]

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.

Looks like somebody dropped out of school real soon...

Dont like the terms of MICROSOFT products dont use them, stop rambling nonsense and trying to act like your special...

tard :x