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 March 10th 2007 6:39PM
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.
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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.