Microsoft Introduces Compulsory Windows Validation

[cracker 0]

Microsoft has gone live with its blocking technology that will require people to validate their copies of Windows before being allowed download access to updates.

The novelly titled Genuine Advantage 1.0 program will check that anyone accessing Windows Update, Microsoft Update for Windows or the Microsoft Download Center has a genuine Windows operating system before allowing any downloads. Security updates will however be exempt from the ban.

Microsoft has been testing the program since September and has validated more than 48 million systems so far, said David Lazar, director of Genuine Windows for Microsoft. Until now the program has been voluntary.

Customers who discover they have a counterfeit copy of Windows will either be given a free version of the operating system or can purchase it for a discounted price, he said.

To get the free version of Windows, a customer must fill out a counterfeit report identifying the source of the software, provide a proof of purchase and send in a counterfeit CD of the software. If customers don't have all of that information, they can still fill out a counterfeit report and receive a copy of Windows XP Home Edition for $99 or a copy of Windows XP Professional Edition for $149, Lazar said.

Windows XP Home normally sells for $199 and Windows XP Professional Edition usually costs $299.

The move to lock out pirated copies of Windows from the download sites is part of Microsoft's effort to fight software piracy, a major issue for the software vendor.

Bonnie MacNaughton, senior attorney for Microsoft, said the company estimates that more than one-third of all copies of its software are counterfeit, based on a recent joint report released by the Business Software Alliance and research firm IDC. The study found that 35 percent of software worldwide is pirated. In North America alone, the piracy rate for software is 22 percent. "We consider that to be a staggering number," said MacNaughton.

One issue the software maker faces in fighting piracy is that many users don't know that their copy of Windows is illegal. Windows Genuine Advantage allows customers to solve this problem in a few minutes through the automatic validation, Lazar said.

The Windows Genuine Advantage checking mechanism is anonymous, and includes an ActiveX control on the client side and the Windows Product Activation service on the Microsoft side. During the testing process, a user had to install the ActiveX control and enter the Windows product key, which on new PCs bought with the operating system is typically found on a sticker affixed to the PC. However, providing a Windows product key is no longer required in the live program, Lazar said.

This is not the first time that Microsoft is checking whether installed copies of Windows are legitimate. Windows Update already checks for certain volume licence keys that are known to be used illegally to activate copies of Windows.

Microsoft also has a Web site, www.howtotell.com, providing customers with information on how they can discover whether or not they have a genuine copy of Windows.

While counterfeit copies of Windows will be prevented from downloading updates, Lazar said Microsoft is not including security updates in the lock-out. Even customers who do not check their copies of Windows for authenticity will be allowed to download security updates through Windows Update, Microsoft Update for Windows and the Download Center, he said.

"Those are available to all Windows users with or without validation," Lazar said. "We think of it like public health. We want to make sure no one gets infected by another system on the Internet because of our program."

source: microsoft.com

Trick to get regular update

open internet explorer ==> tools==> internet options==> program

==> manage add-ons==> and disable (windows genuine advantage)

now every body have genuine xp:)

Edited September 13, 2005 by Vishal Gupta

[ashoksoft 83]

Great info .... Thanks!

Cheers

Ashok

[Ashokjp 15]

Doesnt affect much, when you got patches for this checking

[Mukul 0]

WOW! I have the genuine Windows XP Pro operating system.

[Chirag 5]

99$ is still expensive for India!

[RajanPERT 0]

Trick to get regular update

open internet explorer ==> tools==> internet option==> program

==> manage add-ons==> and disable (windows genuine advantage)

now every body have genuine xp:)

Hey Cracker,

I did not find any manage add-ons option in my Internet Explorer's Program Option. As u describe in the Previous post. Please describe more. I am using Windows XP with IE 6.0.

Thanks and Take Care!

[Vishal Gupta 4]

This option comes when u install SP2.

Seems u hv not installed it yet!

[RajanPERT 0]

Thanks for your support! I didnot have SP2. I will install it in some time and checked it again.

Thanks and Take Care!

[asher 2]

This option comes when u install SP2.

Seems u hv not installed it yet!

40874[/snapback]

I am using SP2 then also i could not find

[cracker 0]

first visit microsoft update website and when u get msg invallid serial disable (windows genuine advantage) from add-ons

[Vishal Gupta 4]

The whole XP setup and Windows XP is totally hackable and the above pic by cracker is an example of it. (it can be done by editing EULA.TXT file in I386 folder)

U can hack all the setup.

U can change the background pic, progress bar, detailed description, u can change the look of setup to windows 2000 classic setup look, etc.

So there is no wonder...

Windows and hacking r made for each other!

[Ashokjp 15]

That screen in that pic is just reading the content from eula.txt or license;)

Even the softwares like nlite and all gives you options to customize each and every corner..

[abhay 0]

< Link Removed >

all methods for Bypassing Windows Genuine Advantage

and by the way the cracks were released within 24 hrz of WGA being released party on guyz

Edited September 14, 2005 by Vishal Gupta

[city02 63]

99$ is still expensive for India!

40858[/snapback]

i agree - adjusting for PPP [purchasing power parity] it should be around $25-35 or about Rs 1,000 - 1,200

latest world bank figures [2004] show it as 3.5 (india vs US) on avg with high cost cities [mumbai & delhi] @ 3 x and the rest of the country @ about 4x ...

so if you make Rs. 10 L in mumbai now, u need to make about Rs 30 L ($68 - 69 K) in an avg US city to maintain ur current living standards else u will actually be worse off!

and rs 5 L in a non-metro like pune would be the same as rs 20 L in the US ...