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I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

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Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#41

Post by theBobMcCormick »

powertower wrote: post #18
jcnnghm wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Says the guy that doesn't have any family members that persistently fubar their systems, necessitating enough reinstalls to trip the activation limit.

If your family members are destroying the OS, the best solution is to either run in a VM which is set to not persist changes (via VMWare or the free options), or to boot from a VHD file for your other members (keep a clean and activated copy that you can revert to). There are many options to solve this issue (ex: the native VHD boot, VirtualPC, HyperV). Telling Microsoft to remove activation is a knee-jerk reaction t…

That sounds like an heck of a lot of extra work just to deal with Microsoft's anti-piracy activation system. IMHO, your "answer" just reinforces the original author's point. Why should legitimate paying customers have to deal with all of these workaround and annoyances? Why should legitimate customers have to endure being treated like potential criminals? Especially when these activation systems aren't stopping the pirates!!!!!!!

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#42

Post by rictic »

[deleted] wrote: post #40
waffle_ss wrote: post #34

Seems like a pirated .iso would be a great place to deliver malicious code to Ring 0, hiding itself from the kernel and becoming essentially impossible to detect from the infected OS itself. I'm sure botnet creators are already well aware of this.

[deleted]

Against what?

Keep in mind these ISOs are already modified to get around the built-in copy protection in the stock version.

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#43

Post by waffle_ss »

[deleted] wrote: post #40
waffle_ss wrote: post #34

Seems like a pirated .iso would be a great place to deliver malicious code to Ring 0, hiding itself from the kernel and becoming essentially impossible to detect from the infected OS itself. I'm sure botnet creators are already well aware of this.

[deleted]

Wouldn't that only work for the Enterprise editions, which typically are quickly blocked from activation and updates by Microsoft after being leaked?

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#44

Post by steve-howard »

[deleted] wrote: post #40
waffle_ss wrote: post #34

Seems like a pirated .iso would be a great place to deliver malicious code to Ring 0, hiding itself from the kernel and becoming essentially impossible to detect from the infected OS itself. I'm sure botnet creators are already well aware of this.

[deleted]

A pirated .iso already modifies the data from the official release because it has to break the activation code somehow. Thus, you can't check it against any official hash. From there, the best you can hope for is to find a "canonical" hacked version and check against that, but since most people aren't really capable of breaking protections, they'll trust whatever shows up on the pirate bay.

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#45

Post by nsxwolf »

Pirating makes sense when the pirates end up providing a superior product that the publisher won't provide at any price.

This was true for video games, where the copy protection schemes often resulted in a bad experience for paying customers.

But for an OS, having to enter a product key once doesn't seem to harm the experience as much as possibly getting a rooted kernel would.

I think, in general, there aren't a lot of good reasons for grown-ups to not pay for the commercial software they want to use.

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#46

Post by jcnnghm »

gm wrote: post #37
jcnnghm wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Says the guy that doesn't have any family members that persistently fubar their systems, necessitating enough reinstalls to trip the activation limit.

Just curious: What activation key is "100" digits long? I've never run into such a one from MS. The really long activation keys I've run into are not from MS and are ones you can cut/paste (ie, not the ones used to install the OS fresh).

http://www.kodyaz.com/articles/how-to-activate-windows-7-by-...

Go down about half way. It's actually 54 digits, not 100. But the IVR isn't 100 percent accurate, and I have found I usually have to enter at least a few of the sets multiple times. And the voice system is one of those unskippable ones, so you can't just start entering numbers again right away after it detects a mis-enter. You have to listen to a 30 second message about re-entering the key first.

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#47

Post by jiggy2011 »

w1ntermute wrote: post #20
jiggy2011 wrote: post #3

I don't use pirated versions of Windows so I don't know the answer to this but I would assume it's a bad idea because: Your trusting a .ISO image from a random website, how do you know there is not time bombed malware pre-installed? Do you still have access to Windows update? If so for how long, I assume it can't be difficult for Microsoft to figure out who is using it illegitimately since some versions must be using…

> Your trusting a .ISO image from a random website, how do you know there is not time bombed malware pre-installed? You don't have to use torrents. You can get a direct download of vanilla Windows 7 ISO's hosted by Microsoft: http://www.mydigitallife.info/official-windows-7-sp1-iso-fro... > Do you still have access to Windows update? If so for how long, I assume it can't be difficult for Microsoft to figure out who i…

Ok, so you can activate it but what happens if MS decides at some point to block your updates or track you.

I assume they keep a record everytime they issue a license either to an OEM or wholesaler etc and if your using a keygen they could simply check their database and find that such a key was never issued.

If you use a key that was already registered to someone else then surely they know because your computer name/username or a hash of your hardware config (I assume this info is sent to windows update) will be different.

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#48

Post by gm »

frankwiles wrote: post #36
eli wrote: post #13

I wouldn't recommend you try this at your startup. Some day, a potential investor or partner is going to audit your licenses and it'll be pretty embarrassing if you're way out of compliance.

Might seem like I just hate MS, but honestly I would be just as upset as a potential investor or partner that they were running Windows in the first place. Licensed or not. Unless of course your startup was focused somehow on Windows development, users, etc. where it would obviously be necessary. Startups are hard enough as it is, no need to make them harder.

Hmm, if you have an investor that dismisses a platform summarily because of his own biases, then the company is better off without that investor.

The investor should ask "and why are you using that platform?" and then make an evaluation based on the answer. Anything less and you have a pretty bad investor. Best to keep away from such people.

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#49

Post by joshAg »

jiggy2011 wrote: post #5
joebadmo wrote: post #4

While I'm entirely sympathetic to the author's DRM plight, buying the software and getting the pirate's cleaner experience are not mutually exclusive. If you want the best experience and a clean conscience (I'm assuming here you think piracy is wrong, since you've bought so many other copies of MS software), buy the software, then install a pirated a copy. I usually do this with new PCs that have Windows pre-installe…

Would this still be legal though? You are still using an unlicensed copy regardless of whether or not you happen to additionally own another copy. For all they know you might install your licensed copy on another computer later and not remove your unlicensed one.

in the US? almost certainly not, just like how ripping your own dvd's is technically illegal under the dmca.

also, based on my own experience, you can activate windows 7 on multiple computers with the same key just fine (got 1 key through msdnaa, wanted to get another to replace my academic home premium because i needed/wanted the backup functionality and xp mode. but when it took my schools msdnaa admin more than a week to respond, i just used the key i already had. at some point i'm sure i'll switch over to the new key that i eventually i got, but i don't see a reason to do that until windows starts hassling me).

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#50

Post by ryandvm »

noss wrote: post #8

I understand the resentment, but the right course of action must surely be to not upgrade. Instead go with an alternative, such as Mac OS or Linux.

Agreed. You can't just say, "your product is too *, I'm stealing it."

Well, I guess you can, but you're stretching your ethical credibility.

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