Strike
three two for Vista's product activation system: the latest Vista activation workaround is called "Timerstop t2a" which works by automatically renewing the 30 day grace period before the user has to "activate" their presumably legit copy of Windows. Besides the obviously malicious undertone to these kind of utilities, we're certain that there are a whole lot of legitimate Vista owners out there that would prefer to go through this admittedly complex process rather than attempt the normal activation procedure. Just like with
DRM,
anti-piracy PSAs before movies, and heck, even
excessive surveillance, innocent people tend not to like it when they're treated as suspects. The lesson for Microsoft is that when people want to pirate software, they will: even in the face of increasingly complex activation systems. A pity then that Redmond's fired up photocopiers technically can't copy a function that -- purposely -- doesn't exist in Mac OS X.
posted Mar 10th 2007 6:39PM
And queue the anti-piracy fans and the anti-activation fans...
"A pity then that Redmond's fired up photocopiers technically can't copy a function that -- purposely -- doesn't exist in Mac OS X."
What a low blow
You know, you're right. Mac OS X is better than Vista.
Because all you have to do is download the ISO and install it. No activation, just easy pirating. Thanks, Apple!
No fair comparing to OSX. If you're trying to run OSX, then Apple already got your money once for a machine/OS license. Not true for MS whose OS goes on other ppls hardware.
You can run Mac os X via a couple of methods on an x86 pc, the fact the macs are using intel processors makes this possible to have it running stable. Probably best to have a virtual machine with all the hundreds of os versions around nowadays!
-
http://www.WindowsVistaUserGuide.com
"A pity then that Redmond's fired up photocopiers technically can't copy a function that -- purposely -- doesn't exist in Mac OS X."
Well, no need when Jobs and his cult locks in their users via hardware instead.
"A pity then that Redmond's fired up photocopiers technically can't copy a function that -- purposely -- doesn't exist in Mac OS X."
Unbiased reporting at its finest[/sarcasm]
His name is Quilty-Harper not "quality writer" what do u expect
This is a blog, not a newspaper. If you don't like what you're reading, find a newspaper...or a blog that better suits your particular bias.
I realy can't understand why ppl pay for software that by anyones definition is spyware. You couldn't give it to me for free.
My definition of spyware is that I do not want it and its malicious. Vista I want and it is not malicious because I do not do illegal things with my software.
Though I do love OS X because I could set it up within minutes of turning it on.
Though because you are locked into Apple hardware piracy is not such a problem as it is for Microsoft. I think software pirates suck, they would not walk into a store and steal the physical copy. They are theives without balls :/
"A pity then that Redmond's fired up photocopiers technically can't copy a function that -- purposely -- doesn't exist in Mac OS X"
Yeah... What was that about not being Mac-biased.
I think because of engadget and gizmodo, it seems that about 60%-75% of people in the world use a Mac, not 3%-5%
Rick could you please expand on the spyware thing. I honestly do not see the analogy.
Jay
yes, here's an example, but not inclusive of all privacy violations. But that of course depends on what u consider private - lol
If you consider what documents, files, mp3's, video, pics or files in general private... well, your spyware tracks it for you! In fact, it does it on a daily, weekly basis. However it is in a hidden folder, lol.... please check:
C:/Documents and settings/user/local settings/history
But like I said, WINSPYWARE has these in a HIDDEN folder.
Would you like additional examples?!
i'm of the type that will use the crack just to see if it is possible. but i'd much rather use a legal activated version because, well someone had to write the code. however i'm also not stupid, my school buys keys and gives them out to eligible students and i just happen to be an eligible student. yeah it's only vista business, but now i can upgrade to vista ultimate as soon as i want to for $139 plus tax and maybe s/h if i buy the disc. now that's a good deal.
What about the 2099 hack? Why hasn't that been mentioned? It works the best. It makes the 30 day trial last until 2099, and can also tell Microsoft it is a valid copy.
Can you please tell me ow to do this on a MAc?
I have Win Vista installed on my Mac but always deatic=vated after the 30 day period.
Please help.
This is actually completely legitimate. You can only renew this 30 day grace period two or three times (cant remember) it is part of the OEM resealing process... Not really big news...
"A pity then that Redmond's fired up photocopiers technically can't copy a function that -- purposely -- doesn't exist in Mac OS X."
truth hurts lol
"A pity then that Redmond's fired up photocopiers technically can't copy a function that -- purposely -- doesn't exist in Mac OS X."
You brave soul. I know it's difficult to state such things even jokingly as the MS fanboys and hired blogger bullies will come out of the woodwork claiming Engadget is biased.
I applaud you, Mr. Quilty-Harper, for standing up in face of the Microsoft monopoly. Citizens like yourself are the reason why the Redmond empire is crumbling.
Why upgrade to Vista when you can upgrade past it? We now have a choice.
http://www.apple.com/getamac
http://www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/
Wow, speaking of hired bloggers.
Wow, I actually didn't know there was such a thing as a Microsoft / Windows fanboi. My world view is collapsing!
Apple don't require activation simply because you must own a Mac to install their OS, it just is tied to a select set of hardware.... They already have you tied in.
If you install a pirate version of their OS, at least you're installing it on their hardware. Cracking a kernel to remove a hardware tie in is a huge achievement but it still isn't enough to guarantee that pirates could use OS X to its full potential on generic hardware without jumping through a lot of hoops.
The innovations of both Microsoft and Apple have really led the personal computer to where it is today. We've come quite a long way in the past two decades alone.
I'm extremely disappointed with the tone of this article. "A pity then that Redmond's fired up photocopiers technically can't copy a function that -- purposely -- doesn't exist in Mac OS X." Think about what you say before you carve it in stone for millions to read (I wonder if this will come back to me), these are different markets and shouldn't be compared straight across.
As a side note, I personally have no problem taking 2 minutes to activate a piece of software I'll be using for years, it's not like it requires the cd to be in the drive at all times, heh.
"we're certain that there are a whole lot of legitimate Vista owners out there that would prefer to go through this admittedly complex process rather than attempt the normal activation procedure."
how hard is it really to click 'activate my copy of windows'? i'm a mac user and i use os x, but really, at least try to make sense when you deliver the low blows
i've tried bootleg OS before [winxp] and it was pretty unstable a lot of BSODs on my notebook so i decided to get an orig copy and no more BSODs. when i do upgrade to vista i'll probably get an orig copy.
How can you compare this to DRM? You blame them for trying to get people to pay for the product? All they sell is software. Everyone who uses it should have paid for their copy. If you're running OSX you're running it on a Mac, you've paid for your copy. Apple fanboyism gets annoying.
"...we're certain that there are a whole lot of legitimate Vista owners out there that would prefer to go through this admittedly complex process rather than attempt the normal activation procedure."
Yeah, I see your point, since activating my copy of Vista through the "normal activation procedure" took me all of 3 minutes. As for the Redmond swipe, I shan't even acknowledge such bias with a response.
Windows sucks, but Mac _really_ sucks.
Proof; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Tq7yykR-DM
Why do I say this? "I just took the camera and put a cord from the camera to the computer..."
If you're willing to pay it up the arse for a $5k machine with $1k parts in it... go right ahead, but it's your money and you're probably computer illiterate.
You know when you are truly computer literate when you can see that Apple does a far better job with an operating system then Microsoft ever will. A 5k Mac? That would be one serious computer, a computer that the Dell equivalent would be 7k.
My set up was only half that with dual Dual Core 2.66, 4gig of ram, 250 gig HD, NVidia GeForce 7300 & all the other bells & whistles that are pretty much standard on tehse machines. I am in an office surrounded by Dells, high end low end - and I'll tell you what, it is like having a Benz in a parking lot full of Hyndais.
Keep on fooling yourself, Microsoft needs drones.
why don't you just change your BIOS clock to 2099 before installing. After you install, reboot and change the clock back.
"A pity then that Redmond's fired up photocopiers technically can't copy a function that -- purposely -- doesn't exist in Mac OS X"
Conrad My friend, I bet that remark was just made to start a flame war, Its Ignorancy to its finest, comment this fanboish seriously dont belong in a place like engadget, where most of it's readers have at least some college of education.
Microsoft is not in the hardware business and you should know this better than anybody else, Apple is, they dont make money with software, their real profits come from your beloved mac sales, even OSX is copied, crack, or whatever you still need to buy their hardware to run it, while MS dosn't have this advantage.
I always get lockups on Windows bootlegs, Betas & Service Packs 2. Windows will be good the day they decide to get rid of all that legacy stuff. Just get USB in there all those that still use Coms and printer ports and serial ports probably already have a good computer to use tem, and will never upgrade from their windows 2000 since they just did that last week.
I think the best current Vista crack is the one that makes it indefinitely the first day of the 30-day grace period. I say this because not only will your "trial" never expire, but you also have access to security updates and Ultimate Extras straight from Microsoft because they allow updates in the first three days of the trial.
A pity then that Redmond's fired up photocopiers technically can't copy a function that -- purposely -- doesn't exist in Mac OS X.
You lost all objectivity and credibility with that last sentence. Makes it really hard to ever read anything else you write, and take it at face value.
Anyone who buys Vista right now is sending a message (not to mention a wad of cash) to Microsoft saying:
"Dear Microsoft, your latest product is EXACTLY what I want; DRM, super-invasive anti-piracy tools that assume I am a p2p-kiddy, etc. I hope your next Windows version (2009) contains more of the same"
What?
Um... that's not a crack guys. It's a script that does something you could have done manually. And it only works 3 times. Oh yeah, and by the way, it's a documented Microsoft method of extending your trial.
But thanks for playing.
good one Robert ;) read my post on page 1. Engadget is going down hill
Well, I'm not interested in this kind of stuff, I am interested in a crack that disables the DRM system and HDCP crap, because it uses system resources and it's unneeded. I will pay and upgrade to Vista when they have this. I am happy with Win XP right now.
Well I hate to say it but goodbye engadget. I love the amount of good tech products you show here, but the quality of writing and bias has gone so downhill the last couple months. So here's to the last article I'll ever read on this site.
MrPieGuy (and anyone else thinking of jumping ship), I've taken the liberty of finding some new blogs that should be more to your liking.
http://www.winsupersite.com/
http://www.internet-nexus.com/
http://microsoft.blognewschannel.com/
Won't have to worry about anything negative pertaining to MS there. All the rich, gooey Microsoft butt-hugging you can handle.
So Engadget will let anyone with no sense of what true journalism is write for it now? If this keeps up, this site will decrease in popularity and will only caters to a certain segments of the fanbois. Just present us the facts in your writing and leave it as that. We don't need your bias and useless opinions. Or else go read a book on what real journalism is before you write anything here.
And for you Apple fanbois out there, the more you act like Steve Job is your king, the more you make ppl think you are a bunch of dumbass idiots. We live in a capitalistic society where competition is encourage and the market will decide who the winners or losers are with their money. Last time I check, something like 95% of the world's computers run "Windoze" as you idiots called it. Hmmm...then what percentage of the world are using Macs? So those boys at Redmond must be doing something right. The market and the public always get it right in the end. Just like with the Ipods, if it's a "desirable" product overall then the ppl will buy it. So shut your bias pie-hole and let the products speak for themselves.
MacVicta? More like, Mac Victim...!
Check mate.
3t3
lol you are right! and I think Mc Donald's must be doing something right too. And I for one think it's their cooking, choice ingredients, and that special ambience of all their many many many world-wide eating places.
And people who think that popularity doesn't mean quality are probably commies, euro-trash or even illegal enemy combatants who hate America. And you just know that all mac fanboys want commie free healthcare. retards. I hope they all drop dead cos they can't afford a doctor.
So, I'm with you man. And God bless Microsoft and all who sail in her.
keep smiling
waddo
http://www.waddo.net/
Crappy articles like this are what makes the mac persona repulsive.
While I do agree to the fact that you are kinda locked in to the (now thanks to virtualization) more flexible Mac Hardware/Software setup and thusly Mac OS, when you buy a new PC, how many vendors offer you an alternative to Windows, nor even a computer with no os? Pretty much just Dell and that has been on select systems and only for a short time. At least the Mac OS is included in the price, and its the full version, so you dont have to add another $600 to the total of your PC. Funny, sounds like a bit of a ripoff considering you get a FULL OS included in the price of your Mac, as well as world leading software.
Now, that covers new computers
But for the used computer, you will have to purchase an upgrade (or a full version should you be unlucky) of Vista or OSX. It is in this department that the security issues are more apparent. With Mac, I could just borrow my friends' CD, or download the ISO. While it may cause a slight loss in revenue for the company, it also works in their favor, bringing bigger numbers to the current OS leaving less in the old versions which lose compatibility as time goes on. If you want to be left behind in a system where you have to pay for upgrades or physically crack the operating system into working in such a way it's not designed to, stay with Windows. Personally, the security and looks of OSX trump anything M$ could 'copy'.
M$ fanbois - take aim and prepare to return fire!
People don't realise that the cost of a computer is not on the sticker, but at the end of its life
Wow, some guys here must have very small dicks. I was a joke DUH!
I wonder how much engadget gets paid by Apple inc., in addition to the royalties from the amount of clicks on the PC vs. Mac ads in this site?
"So Engadget will let anyone with no sense of what true journalism is write for it now?"
Seriously?
These guys never claimed to be elite journalists. If you can't take some of their own humor on their own god damn BLOG then leave, but quit the bitching about "journalistic integrity." Maybe you are all too thick to understand that that was intended to be a joke. Guess what... Jokes are funny, laugh at them and move on. If you want "true journalism", thats great; as far as I can remember, every single Engadget article I have read has had a [Read] link. Go there for your journalism, read here for a summary and commentary(maybe even a few of those joke things i mentioned earlier!), make your comments and quit bitching.
I love it....
"Disclaimer: This article is for educational and informational purpose only."
Yah right. If that is the case I'm Bill Gates. Yah know I wish people who post this shit would give up the false pretense that its for BOOMING VOICE "educational purposes only". No one on the face of this planet buys it for a nanosecond. A chicken is a chicken, a politician is a politician, a robber is a robber, and a person posting a how to guide is... a well you get the idea.
I'm not commenting on if it’s right or wrong. I have a free copy of Vista sitting on my desk. I haven't decided on which system is going to get it so its nice I at least have this option of trying it on every system for a protracted amount of time before I choose. But lets at least be honest here. This ain’t for educational purposes. Period. End of story. Close the book. G’night.
i hate the stupid confirm comment system here, i can't figure out how to change my password for it so whenever i want to leave a comment i hav to remeber to confirm it or i have to searc forever to find my password. god damn it i'm lazy.
Shame the stories also factually incorrect. Timerstop does exactly what it say, it stops the thirty day timer it does not renew it. Also it is called Timerstop V2a not T2a.
You are meant to use the 2099 bypass when first installing Vista and then once installed you run this program to install a service that stops the countdown.
Whatever happened to doing some research? All the writer had to do was Google Timerstop to get some information on how i actually works. As far as I can see all Engadget staff do is read the links people send them in emails then rehash the story without ever doing any research on it.
That's not what the linked site says....
To automatically apply the TimerStop driver to crack and bypass Windows Vista activation by using the TimerLock script:
1. Install Windows Vista without entering any product key. If you have already installed Windows Vista, make sure you don’t use up the 3 times legal rearm limit. Anyway, version 5 will ensure that TimerStop driver is installed even though rearm allowances have been used up.
2. After installation setup complete, boot up Windows Vista system with user id with administrator rights.
3. Disconnect from Internet if necessary.
4. Turn off UAC. (Not necessary required since version 2.0, try only if unsuccessful)
5. Extract the TimerLock.zip or TimerLockSetup.zip to a folder.
6. Run install.bat or TimerLockSetup.exe.
7. When prompted to restart computer, press OK.
8. System should prompt that the patch was installed properly. If not check your system date if it has properly set back.
9. Optional: If you have problem that the activation timer counts down between restarts or reboots, manually apply 2099 trick.
10. Check if your activation remaining timer still counting down with slmgr.vbs -dlv command in elevated command prompt.
Well every other site that talks about it clearly states that you check the time left for your trial and then run the program. Then a few minutes later check how much time you have left again and if the time has not changed the crack has worked.
The KMS server method is still the best one, as long as you follow all the steps and get around the need to have 25 users connected to it.
Plus forget about automatic updates, there are other ways of getting them! Maybe not 100% automatically.
-
http://www.WindowsVistaUserGuide.com
ZOMG! If clicking a button is considered difficult by the blogging maczombies life must be rough. Can you guys use a clutch? Walk and chew gum at the same time?
Jake sez: "Dear Microsoft, your latest product is EXACTLY what I want; DRM, super-invasive anti-piracy tools that assume I am a p2p-kiddy, etc. I hope your next Windows version (2009) contains more of the same"
Are you retarded? Unlike your ignorant uninformed ass I am actually running Vista. There is nothing invasive about it. There is no more DRM on it than say you get with iTunes. I run uTorrent on it with NO issues so your anti P2P statement is another falsehood. Seriously, where do you 'tards dredge up this fud?
Yes, WMP has DRM. It has for some time. As does iTunes on both platforms. Don't like DRM? Then don't buy DRMed content. It is that simple.
Perhaps you consider the activation process DRM. Well then Apple has DRM too: it's called the hardware. OSX has the ultimate install dongle.
Sounds like your only choice is Linux. Linux is cool. So stick with it.
Come on Engadget, you deserve better reporting than this. Get rid of the muppet who wrote the news item and thine reputation shalt be restored.
All you people who think you have to have Apple Hardware to run OS X... you are sorely mistaken. There are pirated versions of OS X designed for the purpose of developing new code that run just fine on AMD cores Intel Cores, and any other x86 platform that does not have Apple Hardware. If you don't believe me a simple Google will turn up the answers.
""A pity then that Redmond's fired up photocopiers technically can't copy a function that -- purposely -- doesn't exist in Mac OS X.""
That's because nobody cares to pirate Mac OS10. Why? Because you can only run it on devices made by Mr. Tight Jeans and his band of marketing gurus (liars I call them). You can't easily go out and build your own machine and buy their OS to install on it like you can do with a PC. That is why there is no need to protect their OS from pirating. And the closed end scheme is why they will never penetrate more than 5% of the market for computer desktops. And that 5% number also contributes to the bullcrap about macs having little or no virus problems. Why write malicous code if it only affects 5% of the users in the world? If the MAC has some real market penetration it too would have to defend itself against various code writing puptrators.
here's what i don't get - every freakin' time I download something from microsoft, I have to go through the win genuine advantage process. why does this piss me off when i have a legal copy of XP Pro and it only takes a minute?
because I am treated like a criminal.
its as if I am driving my car around town and every policeman that spots me stops me and asks if I am a thief and wants to see my papers. ONCE should be enough?! why can't the oh-so-smart WGA remember that I am genuine?
Remember, the big problem with Windows piracy is not so much college kids and cheap bastards, it's the entire continent of Asia. Probably like 1% of Windows installs in China are licensed, and the government doesn't care. Add to that Apple's penchant for using proprietary hardware (e.g. hardware that doesn't benefit as much from economies of scale) and you can see why Windows has activation hoops to jump thru while OSX doesn't: China can't afford Apple computers, ergo Apple doesn't have nearly as much to worry about from piracy. Simple economics.
There are a lot of commenters here missing the point. MS treats you like a criminal first, customer second. I had to replace a customers HDD just yesterday, and the phone call to MS to reactivate Windows XP on an HP machine using HP's re-installation media was a complete pain in the ass. I was disconnected twice while being transferred to a human, and finally got someone on the third try. It took well over 20 minutes just to activate software overall and that is a lot of my time and the customer's money in the overall picture.
With Vista, corporate customers have to run an activation server that will keep their products activated. What kind of shit is that? This is an OS, not a $20,000 piece of rendering software. I can only imagine the headaches that will come up in 6 months or so when some paying customers' activations goes south and they are told by their computer that they need to phone home to MS to keep working. Consumers will be outraged when this starts to happen.
MacOS X 86 uses the TPM chip to lock their OS to authentic Mac hardware. It uses key write-only store to make sure you can't copy their PKI key into another Intel based system. This, gentlemen, is DRM and copy protection at it's finest.
The argument that you can find cracked versions that work on non-TPM systems is specious at best. They break the next time you update them, and even then, Apple has been slipping TPM checks in more and more of their core apps and libraries with each new release, so this is a race between Apple and the crackers to see who stays ahead and in the end Apple will always win.
I find it ironic that Mac users applaud the Intel Mac because it can run MacOS and Windows - then conveniently forget that this also means Windows has the advantage because it can run on any platform while MacOS X Intel is hardware locked to Intel Macs. Then they gripe at Windows for having DRM (that Apple also has - but of course, Apple's DRM is 'nice DRM', which is like saying tuberculosis is better than leukemia) while ignoring that Apple has DRM wired into the their OS just like Windows does.
I also have to say - this drooling adoration for Jobs and his open letter is almost laughable. Guys, if he was serious - why didn't he just say 'as of 1 June 2007, we will no longer support any kind of DRM on files downloaded from iTunes'? THAT would have been impressive. What he said was 'I don't like DRM and we should think about stopping the use of it.' What he left off was 'but we're just as much at the mercy of the music industry as anyone else - like the people who make DVD players who have to implement the DVD-LA required DRM and like Microsoft who has DRM so they they TOO can sell music and movies...'. I will give him credit for managing to make everyone else look like the bad guys for doing essentially the same thing he's doing.
Finally - to the guy who was offended by the use of the term 'Magic Bullet'... it's commonly used term that's been around for decades and predates the Kennedy assasination, which happened over forty years ago. Get over it. He was just a guy who got shot. It's time to let it go and move on.
My Favorite is the New Zealand hack, postpones the activation, finds a problem in your computer, and reports it to Microsoft, while giving them your contact information. Works best on stolen XBox360s
And since OS X does not have activation or serials to keep track of, I will never, ever pirate a copy of their OS. Funny that I only want to pirate when they try to force activation or serials.
I'll take restrictive WGA over the DRM any day.
In fact Microsoft... If you triple the WGA "phone home" rules and COMPLETELY REMOVE the DRM from all other facets of Vista that eat up ridiculous CPU cycles you might actually get me to buy it.
I don't mind MS trying to protect their OS. I do however mind the content owners telling me what I can do with the media I own.
I was duped by Microsoft. I kept hearing about the limited licenses on the Vista product, but it was not until I read the very small print on the side of the box that I discovered that I would only be allowed to install this product on one computer. If I wanted to install on my other 3 home computers I have to pay 60 bucks for each license. Are they really surprised that people are going out of their way to pirate this product. The first thing I did when I discovered this "pleasent little surprise" was to go look for the best available activation hack. What a damn joke. To all of you out there working on those cracks, keep up the good work. I am tired of this nonsense.