OEM Bios Hacks Reported

  • Thread starter Thread starter Chad Harris
  • Start date Start date
I think realistically, there may not be a way to stop all forms of piracy,
and as the blogger on the WGA blog says, (very reasonably) they aren't
trying to go after every "mad scientist" that can craft a hack and makes two
important points:

1) They have to prioritize and go after the larger counterfeiters or pirates
2) They also want to balance protection for their products by not harming
well intentioned legit buyers.

Also, if you think of all the leading products in the world, it's true that
their are significantly more attempts to pirate MSFT software than most
other products on the market.

CH
 
Chad said:
I think realistically, there may not be a way to stop all forms of
piracy, and as the blogger on the WGA blog says, (very reasonably) they
aren't trying to go after every "mad scientist" that can craft a hack
and makes two important points:

1) They have to prioritize and go after the larger counterfeiters or
pirates
2) They also want to balance protection for their products by not
harming well intentioned legit buyers.

Also, if you think of all the leading products in the world, it's true
that their are significantly more attempts to pirate MSFT software than
most other products on the market.

CH
Photoshop?

Alias
Click to expand...
 
Chad:
OEM Bios hacks will surely be patched by MS and this will generate and
endless loop of anti-patch (by hackers), anti-anti-patch (my MS) and so on.
This is what is happening with WGA in Win XP.
MS releases a new version of legitcheckcontrol.dll and a few days after
there is a hacked version hanging around on the net.

Also the year 2099 rearm trick is a very intelligent way of keeping your
Vista in a "legal" state of "30 days for activation" without hacking/cracking
anything.

My humble opinion is that this could be easily stopped if MS would just
charge a fair price for their products.

Carlos
 
Carlos said:
Chad:
OEM Bios hacks will surely be patched by MS and this will generate and
endless loop of anti-patch (by hackers), anti-anti-patch (my MS) and so
on.
This is what is happening with WGA in Win XP.
MS releases a new version of legitcheckcontrol.dll and a few days after
there is a hacked version hanging around on the net.

Also the year 2099 rearm trick is a very intelligent way of keeping your
Vista in a "legal" state of "30 days for activation" without
hacking/cracking
anything.

My humble opinion is that this could be easily stopped if MS would just
charge a fair price for their products.
Click to expand...

I disagree. People steal because they want to, because of a lack of
integrity. Cost is just a rationalization, not a cause.
 
Chad Harris said:
I think realistically, there may not be a way to stop all forms of piracy,
and as the blogger on the WGA blog says, (very reasonably) they aren't
trying to go after every "mad scientist" that can craft a hack and makes
two important points:

1) They have to prioritize and go after the larger counterfeiters or
pirates
2) They also want to balance protection for their products by not harming
well intentioned legit buyers.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, they're failing on both counts.

1) They will NEVER defeat the counterfeiters or pirates, large OR small, as
long as there is computer code involved

2) They continue to PUNISH legitimate buyers with their dumbass activation &
WGA issues.
geezus, people have been posting here that they have to reactivate just
because they ran Windows Update and downloaded a new device driver - and the
fanboys continue to defend this crap, saying "It's just a phone call"
yea. like anybody wants to reactivate every freakin' month.

--
=======================================
“I'm not sure how the company lost sight of what matters to our customers,
both business and home, the most, but in my view we lost our way. I think
our teams lost sight of what bug-free means, what resilience means, what
full scenarios mean, what security means, what performance means, how
important current applications are, and really understanding what the most
important problems our customers face are”
— Jim Allchin, former Platform Products and Services Group, Microsoft.
=======================================
 
john said:
Unfortunately, they're failing on both counts.

1) They will NEVER defeat the counterfeiters or pirates, large OR small,
as long as there is computer code involved

2) They continue to PUNISH legitimate buyers with their dumbass activation
& WGA issues.
geezus, people have been posting here that they have to reactivate just
because they ran Windows Update and downloaded a new device driver - and
the fanboys continue to defend this crap, saying "It's just a phone call"
yea. like anybody wants to reactivate every freakin' month.
Click to expand...

Had this system running since November with Ultimate RTM. Have had to
activate twice, once on the initial install and once when the system drive
was replace with a larger drive and the OS restored by an image. That did
require a phone call. Yes I would prefer not to have to call , but it went
fine.

I have never had to reactivate after an update from MS, nor have I known
anyone who as. I've also not had any problems with WGA. I don't see where
it punishes, as you describe it, the legitimate user.
 
Rock said:
I disagree. People steal because they want to, because of a lack of
integrity. Cost is just a rationalization, not a cause.
Click to expand...

Um, 95, 98, Me, NT, W2K were not protected. Office 95, 97, 2K weren't
either. With your "logic", MS didn't sell a one and had to institute
activation, wga, wga/n, etc. to stay out of the poorhouse.

Alias
 
Unfortunately Rock, an update can cause a WGA failure.

It happened to me just 4 days ago. I installed the optional update for my
Silicon Image SATA drivers. After a reboot the system failed validation,
even though the activation was valid.

The new drivers must make it seem like I installed a new hard drive (worth
10 points toward a time out).

There are a small percentage of people who have legal systems but experience
pain. If WGA con not be made absolutely fool proof it should be abandoned.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
 
Richard Urban said:
Unfortunately Rock, an update can cause a WGA failure.

It happened to me just 4 days ago. I installed the optional update for my
Silicon Image SATA drivers. After a reboot the system failed validation,
even though the activation was valid.

The new drivers must make it seem like I installed a new hard drive (worth
10 points toward a time out).

There are a small percentage of people who have legal systems but
experience pain. If WGA con not be made absolutely fool proof it should be
abandoned.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
Click to expand...


It can't be fool proof, you know that. I'm not saying it doesn't have
problems. I would prefer not to have to call in for activation when it's
triggered, but I disagree with the punishment characterization.
 
Understand Rock, I couldn't call in anywhere. The activation was fine. It
was NOT asking for a reactivation. It just wouldn't pass on-line validation
so it threw up the ***This Windows Not Genuine*** whenever I started the
computer. I can cause this to happen again if I so desire, just by
installing that update or an update from SI directly.

A totally new FU that I don't ever remember having read about. And, because
I couldn't reactivate - I couldn't make it go away.

I am trying to get some answers now from Mom and Dad Soft. <grin>

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
 
Rock said:
Had this system running since November with Ultimate RTM. Have had to
activate twice, once on the initial install and once when the system
drive was replace with a larger drive and the OS restored by an image.
That did require a phone call. Yes I would prefer not to have to call ,
but it went fine.

I have never had to reactivate after an update from MS, nor have I known
anyone who as. I've also not had any problems with WGA. I don't see
where it punishes, as you describe it, the legitimate user.
Click to expand...

One way it punishes is by causing problems with it's bugs.

Here is just a bit of evidence I collected on the problems buggy windows
DRM causes for it's paying customers in just one month (7/23/04 through
8/22/04):

http://protectfreedom.tripod.com/wpa.html

--
Priceless quotes in m.p.w.vista.general group:
http://protectfreedom.tripod.com/kick.html

Most recent idiotic quote added to KICK (Klassic Idiotic Caption Kooks):
"poor little MADAM albright still got your knickers twisted. how are we
supposed to believe you know anything about computers when you cannot
even dress your self. oh and pull that skirt down."

"Good poets borrow; great poets steal."
- T. S. Eliot
 
Richard said:
Unfortunately Rock, an update can cause a WGA failure.

It happened to me just 4 days ago. I installed the optional update for
my Silicon Image SATA drivers. After a reboot the system failed
validation, even though the activation was valid.

The new drivers must make it seem like I installed a new hard drive
(worth 10 points toward a time out).

There are a small percentage of people who have legal systems but
experience pain. If WGA con not be made absolutely fool proof it should
be abandoned.
Click to expand...

Wow, I'm impressed! ;)

--
Priceless quotes in m.p.w.vista.general group:
http://protectfreedom.tripod.com/kick.html

Most recent idiotic quote added to KICK (Klassic Idiotic Caption Kooks):
"poor little MADAM albright still got your knickers twisted. how are we
supposed to believe you know anything about computers when you cannot
even dress your self. oh and pull that skirt down."

"Good poets borrow; great poets steal."
- T. S. Eliot
 
Richard--

I don't know if this KB helps, because it deals with the broader WGA not
working issue rather than a more specific WGA not working when using MSFT
Update to install an update/hotfix. I don't know if you got any useful
error code on your screen or at Event Viewer.

You receive an error code and the copy of Microsoft Windows is not validated
when you try to use Windows Genuine Advantage to validate your copy of
Windows

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/908440/en-us

I couldn't find any MSKBs to specifically address a WGA Update failure yet.

One solution is to temporarily disable your firewall--whether it would help
with the update, I don't know.

One place I would pitch this, besides any other MSFT contacts you have, is
to the WGA team via a comment on their blog:

Windows Genuine Advantage Team Blog
http://blogs.msdn.com/wga/default.aspx

CH
 
I also saw these, Richard, labled XP, but probably apply to Vista:


You cannot download updates when you access the Windows Update Web site from
a Windows XP-based computer that is behind a firewall or a proxy server
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896226/en-us


You cannot download Windows Genuine Advantage updates on a Windows XP-based
computer that you purchased from an Original Equipment Manufacturer
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/914225/en-us

When trying to run the Windows Genuine Advantage validation check located on
the Windows Update web site, you receive the following error code:
"0x80080299"

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/919868/en-us


Error message when you run the Windows Genuine Advantage validation check
process: "Windows Activation Required"

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924166/en-us

CH
 
Nina said:
Wow, I'm impressed! ;)
Click to expand...

I'm pulling myself off the floor, wondering if this is someone spoofing
Richard Urban. Being accused of being a thief when one knows one isn't a
thief can never be "just a five minute call". It's an insult, period,
and will be the bane for Microsoft. Let's hope Bill gets a better
perspective up in space.

Alias
 
Does that mean we're friends now? <grin>

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
 
Alias said:
I'm pulling myself off the floor, wondering if this is someone spoofing
Richard Urban. Being accused of being a thief when one knows one isn't a
thief can never be "just a five minute call". It's an insult, period,
and will be the bane for Microsoft. Let's hope Bill gets a better
perspective up in space.

Alias
Click to expand...

LOL! No kidding. Mabey there is hope for Dick yet!

--
Priceless quotes in m.p.w.vista.general group:
http://protectfreedom.tripod.com/kick.html

Most recent idiotic quote added to KICK (Klassic Idiotic Caption Kooks):
"poor little MADAM albright still got your knickers twisted. how are we
supposed to believe you know anything about computers when you cannot
even dress your self. oh and pull that skirt down."

"Good poets borrow; great poets steal."
- T. S. Eliot
 
To Nina the boy

I guess you think that you are somehow being insulting by calling me Dick.
That has been my nick mane for 63 years and I am well use to it. <grin>



--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
 
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