Black Screens For Unauthorized Copies of Windows 762
arcticstoat writes "In a bid to deter people from using pirate versions of Windows XP, Microsoft is now updating its Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) tool to introduce a few uncomfortable niggles for users of pirated versions of Windows. These include replacing the desktop wallpaper with a black screen every 60 minutes, although you can still replace it with your wallpaper of choice in the intervening period. As well as this, copies of Windows deemed to not be genuine will also have a translucent watermark above the system tray, which Microsoft calls a 'persistent desktop notification.'"
*Innocent Whistling* (Score:5, Informative)
Cough, Cough [thepiratebay.org].
*Continues innocent whistling*
I bet that.... (Score:5, Informative)
It will still flag perfectly legal copies of Windows as being pirated. Just like it has in the past.
Re:Wonderful; just another reason to pirate it (Score:4, Informative)
Re:*Innocent Whistling* (Score:3, Informative)
I have a machine on which I installed XP Home Edition from original media, but I couldn't find the jewel case, so I had no idea what the serial number was.. Turns out you can just google for keys [google.com]. One of them will work, and Microsoft never checks again.
Windows Genuine Annoyance (Score:4, Informative)
This latest feature is just one more reason for people to run pirate copies, with that particular "Advantage" disabled.
Microsoft really doesn't get it. The only way to make people buy your software is to make it useful and friendly, not by making it annoying.
This is just a small part of Microsoft's huge misconception about operating systems. No Microsoft, people don't buy operating systems to benefit you, nor to benefit third parties like content providers. People buy operating systems to benefit THEMSELVES.
Such a simple concept, but apparently incomprehensible to Microsoft.
Re:this happened to me, a legit user (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Can you bypass using WGA at all? (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Are they *trying* to push people away? (Score:3, Informative)
"Trying to push people who aren't paying for their products away?
God forbid any company do such a thing!"
they paid for Vista (included in OEM cost of machine)
most see it as unacceptable to pay twice
"Seriously, if they don't like Vista, the best thing for them is to either a: buy XP or b: get smart, enterprising geeks like yourself to help them with this "linux thing"."
A) no can do - XP is not (apart from select machines from Dell) sold anymore
Don't act all high and mighty
these are not people intentionally out to get something for nothing
these are people who want to write their university coursework
and are dissatisfied with the OS thrust upon them
they paid money to MS, so obtain MS's prior OS
Re:Can you bypass using WGA at all? (Score:3, Informative)
If you want to run windows update without IE:
http://windizupdate.com/ [windizupdate.com]
I suppose you could use it to update without installing WGA.
Re:this happened to me, a legit user (Score:3, Informative)
That's exactly what Microsoft have done here. This is just a reminder that they may be a victim of piracy, and only if their license has been examined and found to be invalid.
Users aren't being punished, they're just being alerted that their operating system isn't licensed.
Re:Bull (Score:3, Informative)
Most of them upgraded old computers with XP and Office they 'borrowed' from work. Custom gaming rigs exist in a parallel universe for the typical home user.
Re:Can you bypass using WGA at all? (Score:3, Informative)
Doesn't update all optional packs and updates, though, and doesn't host patches that require validation. (Which is a good thing, but it's still very limited.)
Re:this happened to me, a legit user (Score:1, Informative)
I have called microsoft a number of times to help with Windows XP activation because the user had lost there discs, and my disc and their key (both legitmate) caused "windows not to be verified properly". It has always been quick and painless. There is definitly an option to call them.
Re:Pfff.... No imagination (Score:3, Informative)
You had me up until that one... How would users tell the difference if MS decided to use #6? Windows already randomly waits a few minutes for no apparent reason on startup and shutdown...
And the 20s HDD bursts happen all the time, not just at "special" times. Out of the blue, Windows decides to flog the disk, while the user gets to wait. I think it has something to do with the pagefile, but of course, Windows doesn't provide any meaningful information about why it has decided to stop responding for 15-30s at a time.
My Linux ad - "If you have enough memory, you can turn off swap."
Re:Can you bypass using WGA at all? (Score:5, Informative)
You can always run your own WSUS [microsoft.com] server.
This lets you control exactly what does and does not get installed, and WGA isn't even available through WSUS (although Office Genuine Advantage is). If you have more than two computers running Windows 2000 or later, WSUS is a big help for saving bandwidth and assuring you get patched up-to-date quickly.
Unfortunately, it requires Windows 2003 Server to run, but it is completely free (as in beer).
Re:Same on Vista-About That Corporate Edition (Score:1, Informative)
You can use a piece of software that shows it to you (it also shows the keys for Office).
http://magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/ [magicaljellybean.com]
Re:to be fair (Score:2, Informative)
links to the fix (Score:4, Informative)
http://www.fedoraproject.org/ [fedoraproject.org]
http://www.ubuntu.com/ [ubuntu.com]
http://www.opensuse.org/ [opensuse.org]
http://www.slackware.org/ [slackware.org]
http://www.gentoo.org/ [gentoo.org]
http://www.freebsd.org/ [freebsd.org]
http://www.openbsd.org/ [openbsd.org]
Re:Notifications (Score:4, Informative)
You'll find, as you get to higher resolutions, that your annoyance at wasted real estate for things like window decorations goes down. I haven't had a second thought about using something like the Windows XP candy themes since I went over 1024x768 resolution. Actually... at really high resolutions, you're better off using a theme with more "wasted" real estate, because with smaller themes the buttons are easier to miss. I dual boot XP MCE on my laptop (1680x1050 resolution, XP for gaming, Linux for actually using it), and use the default Electric Blue theme in XP.
Re:Notifications (Score:5, Informative)
This is actually pretty easy to defeat. Just boot into safe mode (XP Home) or regular mode (XP Pro or Media Center). Find the files in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 called 'wgalogon.dll' and 'wgatray.exe'. Bring up the file properties, go to the security tab and remove the inherited permissions from the files (don't copy them, strip them completely). Answer yes when it asks if you're sure about this. Reboot and WGA will never bother you again. I've done this on dozens of machines and it just skips the update because its too stupid to fix permissions. The only exception to this is the Service Packs or repair installs. YMMV
Of course nobody should have to do it in the first place but this is an example of corporate-think at it's best from our fiends in Redmond. If XP is so dead why should they be developing new WGA tricks for it anyways? Sounds to me like its them getting a bit nervous about how many people are jumping ship from Vista and pointing at 'hackers' as the problem. Again. =)
Re:Was that in the EULA? (Score:3, Informative)
* Mandatory Activation. The license rights granted under this EULA are limited to the first thirty (30) days after you first install the Product unless you supply information required to activate your licensed copy in the manner described during the setup sequence of the Product. You can activate the Product through the use of the Internet or telephone; toll charges may apply. You may also need to reactivate the Product if you modify your computer hardware or alter the Product. There are technological measures in this Product that are designed to prevent unlicensed or illegal use of the Product. You agree that we may use those measures.
(Emphasis mine)
Sounds like you agreed to anything Microsoft wants to do, including harassment. Just another reason you shouldn't be using an OS that assumes everyone is a criminal by default.
Re:Are they *trying* to push people away? (Score:5, Informative)
I spent last night installing XP on a Toshiba Satellite A200 laptop for a friend who has tolerated Vista for about 6 months now.
Not surprisingly, Toshiba (like Dell and many others) has signed a deal with the devil not to provide support for anything other than Vista (honestly, I can see why they might do a deal to pre-install Vista, but why stop loyal Toshiba customers from installing XP if they want to? Crazy).
However, what is truly impressive is the hatred for Vista out there on the net, and the lengths that it inspires people to go to to get rid of it and, in the spirit of the net, help others get rid of it. Googling for info about getting XP up and running on this particular machine yielded pages and pages of helpful information about exactly what must be done to round up the necessary drivers (many from the OEM's who supplied the various components of the machine). Even better, a few heroes had actually compiled zip files containing every driver and distributed them via Rapidshare and the like.
The other really startling thing was how many non-expert users were doing this. There were heaps of messageboard posts where inexperienced users basically begged for help to get XP working on their laptops. Due to the bod of Vista-hatred, the more tech savvy users were generally walking people through the process with a level of patience rarely seen on-line.
I had the same experience installing XP on my Dell XPS 1530 (great computer, once you disinfect it) - there is basically a community dedicated to purging it of Vista.
When you are inspiring legions of both expert users and ordinary non-techy people to go through the pain of installing an operating system using an ad hoc collection of unsupported drivers, something is badly, badly awry. I am critical not of MS so much as Toshiba, Dell and co - they are the ones who have made the key decision to support nothing but Vista. I wonder if they realise the lengths their users are going to to get around this choice?
Incidentally, my friend's reaction was priceless when XP booted up quickly and quietly - "holy shit... you mean it's done? it's so... responsive! It's beautiful!" He then checked the memory usage and noted with awe that it was 120 megs after booting rather than 1 to 1.5 gigs for Vista.
RemoveWGA (Score:3, Informative)
I choose to not allow WGA to install itself, however a family member recently accidently installed this update, and upon reboot was horrified to find a new login screen and desktop. They thought it was a virus!
I took a look at the processes running, and found WGATray, which upon killing, restarts itself within seconds. It was the only windows update in add/remove programs that couldn't be uninstalled. This stuff is as bad as spyware/malware.
If you want to get rid of it, find a copy of RemoveWGA.exe on google, this thing works wonders. I ran it, rebooted, and WGA was well gone.
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Black? Niggles? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:colors (Score:5, Informative)
If you didn't get it, #008080 is the default background for Windows 95/98
Re:Notifications (Score:2, Informative)
Here [slashdot.org]
Re:Notifications (Score:3, Informative)
My problem with wine is that while CS:S et al run, I only get half the performance as in Windows, and Windows I only average 30fps... CS:S is kinda hard to play at ~15fps.
I use nvidia's drivers, so I would expect that the graphics performance would be approximately the same as in Windows.
Oh, that, and the Steam Community Overlay doesn't work under wine. I use that a lot.
If that stuff can be improved, I'd definitely boot into Linux a lot more than I do.