Windows Validation rears its ugly head....

I just tried to update a freshly-loaded system at work today (our purchaser obtained the install disc from a rather dubious source) and found that the Windows Update site now requires validation to allow the download of critical updates.

I'll bet there will be some very unhappy people trying to update their Windows installation very soon.

Has anyone had a legitimate install fail validation?
This will probably cause a lot of bad will toward Microsoft (again).

How long do you suppose before someone finds a crack for this?

Its a good feature, you get updates if you buy the software, as it should be, no doubt there will be hacks, but I hope MS block it all. So far I've not heard of any legal XP machine not being able to get in past validation, but with new things, there are always probems, so give it a bit.

I updated today just fine without validation, but then again I am running corporate licensing, which doesn't require activation either.

this could be a problem. I am using an XP install that uses a VLK(Volume License Key) from my work. I had tried previously when they implemented the testing of this and it wouldn't recognize the key. I'm trying it now as I type this to see if it has been resolved.

Edit:
It worked just fine.

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..our purchaser obtained the install disc from a rather dubious source..

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I'm sure, that 'the official answer' to any problems got this way, is tough ! :devil:

& I'm also sure that the jist of this thread isn't quite right either,

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Security updates are not part of WGA. Security updates can be installed using the Windows XP Automatic Updates feature, or downloaded from the Download Center.

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They are letting anyone get the Critical Security Updates, which is a good thing, but if you want the whole pacakge of updates, go and buy yourself a proper copy of XP.

If your purchasing from (our purchaser obtained the install disc from a rather dubious source) then you are likely getting an unfair advantage in price over the rest of us who do use genuine MS products, bought legally from a trusted source.
In that respect i hope they dont allow the updates and dont allow it validation. I woud like to see the playing field leveled in that respect.
Someone likely will find a way around it.

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Originally Posted by Ferrit

If your purchasing from (our purchaser obtained the install disc from a rather dubious source) then you are likely getting an unfair advantage in price over the rest of us who do use genuine MS products, bought legally from a trusted source.
In that respect i hope they dont allow the updates and dont allow it validation. I woud like to see the playing field leveled in that respect.
Someone likely will find a way around it.

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They already have a way around it...

But in allowing security updates, at least they are forcing those who use pirated versions, knowingly or not, to have a more secure OS. It might not be much, but its something.

I didn't mean to start any fires, I was just commenting on the newest round of inconveniences implemented "for our own good" by Microsoft.

You are quite right, Ferrit, the price was obscenely low for Win XP/SP1 (you download an ISO and burn it yourself - big warning sign there) and the website no longer exists; but it was cheap ! And cheap, cheap , CHEAP is our purchaser's mantra. He's just now becoming aware of the implications of buying the cheapest software you can find (and finally realizing that he's not untouchable in court. Must be nice to work for Daddy's company).

I have my own problem-free legitimate copy of Win XP Pro at home, so I'll stand down and keep my opinions to myself.

My only real gripe about validation is that you sometimes have to enter the doggone product ID. I find this loads of fun (not) because of the small size of the type used, and that really legible font where 8s and Bs are so similar. Always seems to be on a machine buried inside a computer desk so you have to shut it down, unplug it, and drag the frickerty thing out to read the sticker.

Happened to me twice before I woke up and made a copy of View XP Key to carry with me in the field.

A dubious acquaintance recently attempted to setup a dubiously sourced copy of Server 2003 Enterprise with a dubious key.

It installed OK. But SP1 came up with an "FO and Die" message in response the accumulated dubiousness.

I was most unsympathetic and unhelpful when the dubious acquaintance called.

Things are out of hand. And MS does need to do something.

I have no sympathy for businesses that use pirated software. My only regret here is for the techno-kiddies with their bedroom networks. My prediction is that if MS cracks down too much, the next generation of little techno-wizards are going to know their Linux distros backwards and forwards but won't have a clue about MS product.

WGA rolled out by Microsoft (article)

WGA cracked (article)

More WGA cracks (article)

and I know for a fact that a cracked version of the LegitCheckControl.dll used by the MS WGA exists and is floating around on the net.

I'm sure that we'll see more articles over the next few days and weeks as the battles continue.

Piracy exists, we can't ignore it, most of us don't condone it, but it is there, all the same. It is simply financially motivated. The product just costs too much and the multiple versions and wacky licensing are enough to make a sane person not so sane.

There should be one version of Windows for PC's/workstations and it should cost not more than $40 and you should not have to buy it again if you buy a new PC or upgrade your hardware. I'm not talking about upgrades to new versions, just buying a new PC or upgrading your hardware.

Why is it that common sense has become so uncommon when it comes to software licensing? It's motivated by greed - greed of those who pirate multiplied by the greed of the software authors.

I fully expect the playing field to be much more level in about 2-3 more years, and that should force some pricing reality on the folks from MS. Linux continues to mature and I expect a wholesale assault on things from our friends at Apple, once they make their shift to the Intel platform for their hardware.

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Originally Posted by houseisland

I have no sympathy for businesses that use pirated software. My only regret here is for the techno-kiddies with their bedroom networks. My prediction is that if MS cracks down too much, the next generation of little techno-wizards are going to know their Linux distros backwards and forwards but won't have a clue about MS product.

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Don't worry about that too much ;) M$ are well aware of the 'value' of a few thousand 'free beta testers' :eek2: (I think that's probably as 'nice' as I can get it) to push the limits of things ..

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Microsoft confirmed that the technique could circumvent the piracy check, but a representative said Monday that the company is not worried.

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Piracy on a small scale is no bad thing for a 'megacorp', its free advertising effectively & thus probably well worth the lost sales, especially as these copies then might get used in a 'cutting edge' sort of way :devil: , which then can discover lots of 'features' (read as 'holes') that might not show up in 'expected' usage. What M$ want to stop is large scale piracy, not some guy at home using his copy of xp on all his machines instead of one, so guys who can churn out indistinguable disks, complete with all the things you'd expect of a 'real one', are the target of this & other approaches.

WHich is what the whole XP-Lite version was designed to do, as MS realized the poorer countries were only going for fakes as they couldnt afford the real thing. Now with an alternative that doesnt cost as much, MS can see that even those poorer countries can look to buy the original package rather than the 1$ fake on the street.

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Originally Posted by TechZ

WHich is what the whole XP-Lite version was designed to do..

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There's also a commercial product called that Techz (which is worth checking out if you are a 'tweaker' see here ), but I appreciate it is the 'common name' for this product, I believe the 'real name' to be XP Starter Edition :).

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Originally Posted by confus-ed

There's also a commercial product called that Techz (which is worth checking out if you are a 'tweaker' see here ), but I appreciate it is the 'common name' for this product, I believe the 'real name' to be XP Starter Edition :).

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yeah, forgot the exact name, so used the generic name lite :)

thanks for clearing that up.

Over the past 10 years the price of computer hardware has dropped at least 50% and probably closer to 75%. Computer that used to cost $2000-$3000 now cost $400-$800, and is faster and better.

The OS, on the other hand, has gone the other way. MS-Windows costs more now than it did 10 years ago.

That's the difference between a free market and a MONOPOLY!

WGA or whatever MS comes up with will be easily cracked. The only thing that will end piracy is to remove the financial incentive of piracy. How to do that? Drop the price of the product. Common sense.

There goes that word again....MONOPOLY. While I agree that certain aspects of Microsoft's business revolved around it, and I agree that MS has participated in some dubious business practices, why is Joe User whining about it?

If you don't like the prices of Microsoft products, don't buy them. Buy a Mac, buy a generic pc (ANY pc for that matter), and put Linux on it. Use OpenOffice or any one of the other alternatives. What's so hard about people realizing that there IS an alternative?

If you don't like the fact that Microsoft is making tons of money doing what it does best, invent your own operating system that corporate America can't live without and maybe you'll be the head of a multi billion dollar company.

Don't like, don't buy it. I just bought a Mac Mini. I won't give up my Windows just yet, but I'm trying an alternative and so far I like what I see.

No one is whining. A quick scan of the thread show that.

It's just hard to have any sympathy for an bloated, inefficient company that sells bloated, inefficient software at 4-10 times it's real market price.

Especially considering the fact that the only way they reached the position of temporary market dominance was to do so by breaking laws and illegally supressing competition. One only has to look at their legal track record over the last few years to see that. Look at the antitrust losses, and the lawsuits settled with extremely large cash payouts to their victims.

But things are changing. MS won't be on top forever. The free market will take care of that.