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Windows 7 Logon Screen Rotator

Till Windows Vista & Xp there was no support for changing Login Screen background and you have to use third party apps like logon studio for changing login screen background.
download - comments - 8.6.2009

Change Logon Background in Windows Vista

I caught this via Steve Clayton (who caught it via Jeff Sandquist showing off his home) - Stardock has a really neat application called LogonStudio that allows you to change the background of your logon screen in Windows Vista. I absolutely love the space background.
download - comments - 2.12.2007

Windows 7 to officially support logon UI background customization

As you probably know, Windows 7 build 7057, a build recently leaked to the public, sports a new (yet ugly) login UI background.
windows - comments - 16.3.2009

Configure Windows Logon Process with Winlogon Configuration Tool

Windows Logon Screen is the first screen displayed after you boot your Windows OS. Often you feel the need of changing logon user, enable/disable multi users logon session or running some script immediately after you login.
download - comments - 15.7.2009

New improved Win 7 Logon screen chenger

This app will auto resize you image to fit you current screen resolution. Must be run as admin. Works great.
windows - comments - 19.3.2009

How to activate Windows 7 RC build 7100

You can complete installation of windows 7 by leaving product key filed blank and enjoy Windows 7 for 30 days maximum before it gets expiry. The only way to activate windows 7 Pre Beta is by using product key for Windows Vista beta or RC edition.
windows - comments - 1.5.2009

How to activate Windows Vista Ultimate for 180 days

Thanks to soulplane who report this crack method in our forum. The method is very similar to the as we report about in Next Vista 2099 Time crack. In the crack is short "SCREENSHOTs TUTORIAL".
download - comments - 23.1.2007

How to Activate Windows 7 Beta 1 Build 7000 x86 and x64

How to Activateactivate windows 7 beta 1 build 7000 x86 and x64? Try this - Microsoft windows 7 activation ver 1.0 by wocarson.
download - comments - 29.12.2008

Hack to Activate and Switch Window in Windows 7 By Mouse Over Hover Without Click

When there are many windows open on desktop of Windows 7, normally users will click on another window in order activate the window into front or foreground and switch to the task or window.
windows - comments - 19.5.2009

KMS Crack Method to Activate Windows Vista Business or Enterprise Edition

If you intend to activate Windows Vista against a KMS server (Enterprise or Business edition only), but having a hard time to find a working KMS (Key Management Service) server that is public available on the Internet, its possible to install and set up a spoofed KMS host. This tutorial is a complete guide to properly activate your Windows Vista with your own local KMS server with pre-built and pre-installed activated Windows Vista KMS as VMWare virtual appliance image, without the need to install a KMS yourself.
download - comments - 13.12.2006

KMS method to activate your Vista

cnewton report this how to. Have you guys tried this. Does it actually work?
windows - comments - 4.12.2006

How To Activate Office 2007 Trials

Thanks to sushantvirdi for this how to. Yes after some researching i finally found a way to activate the trials offered by Microsoft on their Website....
microsoft - comments - 2.5.2007

Permanently Activate Windows Vista by Skip Activation with Patched TimerStop.sys Crack

Hackers are going all out to crack Windows Vista activation procedure which is enhanced by Software Protection Platform (SPP).
windows - comments - 20.12.2006

RemoveWAT or Chew-WGA Bypass Activate Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 Forever

Despite already has perfect and reliable Windows 7 activation crack based on royalty-OEM mechanism, hackers have managed to come out with a new activation crack method as an alternative to BIOS loader and OEM BIOS mod, which effectively bypass the activation requirement of the installed Windows 7 system, by removing and disabling Windows Activation Technologies (WAT).
download - comments - 16.11.2009

Paradox activate + WGA for 32bit Vista

Thanks to shudogg for this post in our forum. shudogg wrote: This is the best Windows Vista Crack I have found. It is by Paradox, and some of you may have seen it in Pantheon's Vista Ultimate release.
download - comments - 23.4.2007

Windows XP LogonUI Changer - Change Windows XP Logon Background

Windows 7 has got built-in feature to change Windows 7 Logon background and we have already covered Logon Changer & LogonUI background changer for Windows 7. For Windows Vista & XP Logonstudio is best tool to use.
download - comments - 12.8.2009

Activate Windows 7 Pre-Beta 6801 with Vista Beta or RC Product Key without Crack

Already download and install Windows 7 Pre-Beta build 6801? You probably have to leave the product key field blank during installation in order to complete the setup of Windows 7.
windows - comments - 1.11.2008

Security Tab Fixer for Windows XP - Activate Security Tab Under File, Folder Property Menu

Unlike Windows Vista & Windows 7, Window XP do not show Security tab under file or folder properties dialogue box.
download - comments - 28.6.2009

Vista SP1, and then Windows 7, Windows 8 and Non-Windows Midori

2008 saw the release of Windows Vista Service Pack 1, Windows XP Service Pack 3 and Windows Server 2008, but Microsoft's journey on the Windows path is far from over.
windows - comments - 5.8.2008

Windows 7 RC Brings Windows XP Mode Beta and Windows Virtual PC Beta

The Release Candidate of Windows 7 will bring with it the first Beta development milestones for Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC.
windows - comments - 29.4.2009

Windows Reactivator 2.0 - Backup & Restore Activation Status of Windows XP with Windows Reactivator

Every time you reinstall your windows XP you need to reactivate it online using your product key & worst if you lost your Windows XP product key.
download - comments - 3.6.2009

Windows Vista SP1 vs. Windows Vista RTM vs. Windows XP SP2

Feb 26th, 2008. Principled Technologies has released two Microsoft commissioned reports on Windows Vista SP1 performance. In these tests, Principled Technologies measured responsiveness of Windows Vista SP1 vs. Windows Vista RTM vs. Windows XP SP2 when performing a set of common business and home tasks.
windows - comments - 28.2.2008

Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 9 1 Billion and Counting

Is Windows dead? Or, at least, is this the beginning of the end for Microsoft's proprietary operating system?
windows - comments - 15.9.2008

Week in Microsoft: Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 9

This week in Microsoft, we covered 128-bit support possibly coming to Windows 8 and Windows 9, Windows 7, Windows Mobile 6.5, Bill Gates, Office 2010 Starter, Microsoft MVP status, Windows Live Hotmail, the EU, and Microsoft Security Essentials.
windows - comments - 10.10.2009

Windows Vista Build 5231 and Windows Media Player 11 Leaks!

Windows Vista Build 5231 has leaked to the web. The new build is said to include Windows Media Player 11 included. View the screenshots below! This is a Main branch build that was released on September 12th, 2005 at 8:20PM.
windows - comments -

Windows Vista SP1 and Windows XP SP3: Official Release Dates

A French website, PC Inpact, has posted the official Microsoft product change request forms for Vista SP1 and Windows XP SP3.
windows - comments - 6.2.2008

Download Free Windows Vista and Windows XP SP2 Straight from Microsoft

Via the Internet Explorer Application Compatibility VPC Image. That's right! Microsoft is offering access to free downloads of Windows Vista and Windows XP SP2.
download - comments - 6.3.2008

Windows Vista SP1 outperforms Windows XP SP2 in file copy

"Its interesting that people seem to think that Vista under performs in every area of the system which is quite an incorrect perception.
windows - comments - 27.5.2008

Windows Fiji Has RTMd as Windows Media Center TV Pack 2008

Microsoft officially confirmed that Windows Fiji has been released to manufacturing.
windows - comments - 18.7.2008

Windows 7 Beta Doesn't Play Nice with Windows Azure Cloud OS Tools

The promise for Windows 7 is that it will deliver an evolution when it will come down to stretching into the Cloud compared to its precursor, Windows Vista.
windows - comments - 16.1.2009

Windows 7 to support logon UI backgrounds

In the latest Windows 7 build (7057), recently leaked to the public, Rafael Rivera over at Within Windows has found that users can customize the UI logon background images to include custom images. Rafael reports that the functionality was probably designed for OEM manufactures to include custom images for Windows 7 in pre-configured computers, but users can now include their own images without the need to use a simple third-party program. After enabling a registry setting, users can use any image of their choice, as long as their are less than 256kb in size.

Read full story.....
neowin.net - 16.03.2009

SP1 brings with it a softer, gentler, naggier WGA

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes: Windows Vista SP1 brings with it a new tweaked version of the WGA (Windows Genuine Advantage) anti-piracy scheme. How does this look to the end user?



Check out the complete SP1 WGA gallery here.



Currently Vista offers two different user experiences to those considered to be running non-genuine installations of Vista <...> As of SP1, both these states are gone and if a system is considered to be non-genuine it will enter what I can call a nag state. In this state users will see:



So, instead of losing functionality, the user is nagged to activate...




winbeta.org - 10.02.2008

Why does Windows XP generate so many logon failure events?

Eric Fitzgerald: I got the question last week, why there are so many logon failure events on Windows XP when it is not domain joined.



The short answer is, by design. (Yes, bad design.)



The longer answer is that the shell team is working around the fact that there is no "tell me if this user account has a blank password" API.



When in a workgroup (not domain joined), Windows XP displays a welcome screen that has little pictures (called "tiles") for each user who is permitted to log on to the computer.



The shell team wanted the experience that when you click on a tile, that you will immediately be logged on if your password is blank (we have good data that a large percentage of home users have blank passwords). They only want you to be prompted for a password if you actually have a password. Fair enough, and it also helps with accessibility for people for whom typing is challenging.




winbeta.org - 10.11.2007

Two timesavers when Windows misbehaves

Windows occasionally gets into a weird state where, well, things just stop working - the start menu doesn't launch some apps anymore, clicking links in Internet Explorer doesn't work, context menus stop working, etc.*



Instead of rebooting Windows to get things working again, try logging out and logging back in. When Windows (and the apps that plug into the Windows shell) get into some weird state, you don't need to reboot; a logoff shuts down the Windows Explorer, and a logon loads it again.



The system services in Windows generally don't get into too weird a state. So they can just keep on running during your logoff/logon.




winbeta.org - 22.01.2008

XP Pro to receive WGA similar to Vista SP1

Remember how everyone was excited about how Vista SP1 received a WGA update to not block you from your computer?

Well, the same is coming to Windows XP. (Professional only, though. Who would want to pirate XP Home?)

From the WGA Blog:

With this update to WGA Notifications in Windows XP, we've implemented a couple of related features that draw on the notifications experience we designed for Windows Vista SP1. After installing this version of WGA Notifications on a copy of Windows XP that fails the validation, most users will discover on their next logon that their desktop has changed to a plain black background from whatever was there previously (see below).

The desktop background can be reset to anything else in the usual ways, but every 60 minutes it will change back to the plain black background. This will continue to happen until that copy of Windows is genuine.

Also, the user will see the addition of what we call the "persistent desktop notification." This notification is similar to a watermark but works a bit differently. The image (see below) appears over the system tray and is non-interactive in the sense that you can't click on it or do anything to it.

As with previous releases, if a copy of Windows fails validation, notifications will appear above the system tray regularly - and we will continue to have the pre-logon message, the logon interrupt message and the messages that appear from the system tray.



jcxp.net - 27.08.2008

Desktop Security: Create Custom Login Experiences With Credential Providers For Windows Vista

Credential providers in Windows Vista allow you to customize the logon experience and integrate the authentication methods that best meet your organization's needs. With this article, learn how to write your own...
msdn.microsoft.com - 27.01.2007

IE Automatic Component Activation (Changes to IE ActiveX Update)

Pete LePage: Back in April 2006, we made a change to how Internet Explorer handled embedded controls used on some webpages. Some sites required users to click to activate before they could interact with the control. Microsoft has now licensed the technologies from Eolas, removing the click to activate requirement in Internet Explorer. Because of this, we're removing the click to activate behavior from Internet Explorer!



Its important (and cool) to note that this change will require no modifications to existing webpages, and no new actions for developers creating new pages. We are simply reverting to the old behavior. Once Internet Explorer is updated, all pages that currently require click to activate will no longer require the control to be activated. Theyll just work.




winbeta.org - 08.11.2007

Microsoft to Lock Pirates Out of Vista

Microsoft said Wednesday that it plans to clamp down hard on piraters of its next-generation operating systems, crippling both Windows Vista and Windows Server "Longhorn" if users fail to activate their copies within 30 days...
betanews.com - 04.10.2006

Microsoft releases activation exploit detection update

Microsoft has released an update for Windows Vista designed to detect activation exploits that bypass product activation and that interfere with usual Windows operation. This update is tagged as KB940510.

According to Microsoft "when the update is installed, no functionality of your operating system will be affected. If no exploits are detected, the update silently exits. If exploits are detected, you will be provided a link to a Web site that describes how you can remove the exploits. When the exploits are removed, you may be asked to use a valid product key to activate your copy of Windows. If you do not want to remove the exploits, Windows may disable the exploits and then ask you to use a valid product key to activate Windows."


neowin.net - 27.02.2008

Elevations Are Now Blocked in the User's Logon Path

Hi, Jim Hong, Program Manager on UAC, here again to tell you about a new change in the UAC user experience coming in RC1. Applications that start when the user logs on and that require elevation are now blocked in the logon path.


Without blocking applications from prompting for elevation in the user's logon path, both standard users and administrators would have to respond to a User Account Control dialog box on every log on . While this potentially becomes an annoyance for administrators, it is an unusable UI for standard users who cannot drive the UAC elevation prompt without having an administrator around to provide credentials. Furthermore, we advise users to be wary of prompts that appear without them taking an explicit action -- and prompts generated at startup go against that advice.


In RC1 and later, Windows Vista notifies the user if an application has been blocked by placing an icon in the system tray and providing a notification balloon during the startup sequence. See Fig. 1 for a visual of what this might look like:



microsoft.com/windowsvista - 29.05.2007

Canonical discloses Samba Vulnerability in Linux

Canonical has disclosed a security vulnerability that affects various versions, including the latest version 7.10, of its Linux distribution, as well as corresponding versions of Kubuntu, Edubuntu, and Xubuntu. The flaw occurs because Samba, an application which provides seamless file and print services to SMB/CIFS clients, does not correctly check the size of reply packets to mailslot requests. It is therefore possible for a remote attacker to execute malicious code by sending a specially crafted domain logon packet, assuming that domain logon is enabled on the server. Thankfully, it is disabled by default in Ubuntu and upgrading libsmbclient as well as samba to the latest versions for the OS fixes the issue.

Update: Several members have noted in the comments that this is, in fact, not a vulnerability limited to Ubuntu, but is a problem with samba itself. We recommend keeping up to date, no matter what distribution you are using.

Read full story.....
neowin.net - 19.12.2007

IE Update to Disable "Click to Activate"

This is a preview of the update that will be available in April 2008.
If you don’t recall, in April 2006, we made a change to how Internet Explorer handled embedded controls used on some webpages. Some sites required users to “click to activate” before they could interact with the control. Microsoft has now licensed the technologies from Eolas Technologies inc, removing the “click to activate” requirement in Internet Explorer.
"This change will require no modifications to existing pages, and no new actions for developers creating new pages," LePage said in a post to Microsoft's IE blog. "We are simply reverting to the old behavior. Once Internet Explorer is updated, all pages that currently require 'click to activate' will no longer require the control to be activated. They'll just work."


neowin.net - 13.12.2007

Want to Test Vista? Better Act Fast

Microsoft UK .NET platform product manager Ian Moulster wrote in a post to his personal Web log that the company will cut access to Windows Vista Beta 2 on Friday. He recommended that users start their download and activate Vista as soon as possible...
betanews.com - 30.06.2006

Microsoft to launch test build of IE refresh In December

Back in April 2006, we made a change to how Internet Explorer handled embedded controls used on some webpages. Some sites required users to “click to activate” before they could interact with the control. Microsoft has now licensed the technologies from Eolas, removing the “click to activate” requirement in Internet Explorer. Because of this, were removing the “click to activate” behavior from Internet Explorer! It’s important (and cool) to note that this change will require no modifications to existing webpages, and no new actions for developers creating new pages. We are simply reverting to the old behavior. Once Internet Explorer is updated, all pages that currently require “click to activate” will no longer require the control to be activated. They’ll just work.

So you’re probably wondering when we are going to release this update? The first chance will be with an optional preview release, called the Internet Explorer Automatic Component Activation Preview, available in December 2007 via the Microsoft Download Center. Additionally this change will be made part of the next pre-release versions of Windows Vista SP1 and Windows XP SP3. After giving people enough time to prepare for this change, we’ll roll this behavior into the IE Cumulative Update in April 2008, and all customers who install the update will get the change.


neowin.net - 09.11.2007

Microsoft: 10 Vista Activations

Spotted this over at Bit-Tech earlier today:

"A Microsoft spokesman... told us that Windows Vista will not require a system re-activation unless the hard drive and one other component is changed. This means that enthusiasts will be able to swap CPUs, memory and graphics cards out without any worry about having to re-activate with MS, either on the internet or by phone.

Should you change the hard drive and another piece of hardware - for example for a major upgrade such as a motherboard change that requires a re-installation - Microsoft will allow you to re-activate up to 10 times. You will not, however, be able to have more than one machine activated concurrently."

This could pose some serious problems for enthusiasts that are constantly switching rigs or components around. Although Microsoft reserves the right to allow more than 10 activations per copy, the bit-tech folks believe keeping a base 'activated' image of Vista might save some headaches down the road.

Update: Yes, the article is rather vague but does raise some interesting issues. Most importantly, what does Microsoft consider a re-activation to be? According to the article you wont have to 're-activate' a copy of Vista unless you change the hard drive and an additional component. If I simply reformat my existing Vista PC and run the activation wizard, will I have used up one of my ten activations?


neowin.net - 26.10.2006

Activation problems delay sales during iPhone 3G premiere

Customers at Apple Stores across the country were told to wait, as it appeared that Apple's iTunes system it is using to activate the iPhones on AT&Ts network crashed...
betanews.com - 11.07.2008

DVD Jon Activates iPhone

Jon Johansen (DVD Jon) has posted a method that allows users to take a new iPhone and activate it without connecting to AT&T servers or supplying any personal information.

The method allows users take an iPhone and activate it to allow iPod and Wifi functionality, but without signing up for mobile telephone service with AT&T.

This has also be accomplished by cancelling the AT&T service in the first few days after activation.


winbeta.org - 04.07.2007

Microsoft Releases WGA Bypass Tool to OEMs

With the introduction of Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA), a computer must be validated as genuine prior to receiving security patches from Windows Update. Windows must first be activated for the validation tool to run, however most system builders do not activate computers on behalf of the end user. This poses a problem for system builders who want to sell systems pre-patched with updates but not enable automatic updates.

The System Builder Bypass tool (sbbypass.exe) will allow system builders to download and install critical updates on new PCs without the requirement to activate or validate. Download the System Builder Bypass tool. Need to be member of OEM system builder site.

The System Builder Bypass tool is to be used to assist system builders with building a new PC, and thus requires sysprep to be running in factory mode. An internet connection is required to download critical updates.


neowin.net - 18.10.2006

iTunes, activation outages are rendering new and old iPhones problematic

BetaNews correspondents in Maryland and Michigan are seeing first-hand problems as a result of significant system outages affecting both AT&T and iTunes. Many buyers still can't activate their phones...
betanews.com - 11.07.2008

Apple Preps Macs for iPhone

Apple released an update for iTunes on Friday in preparation for the iPhone. Version 7.3 allows the user to activate their iPhone service through the application...
betanews.com - 29.06.2007