Black screen of darkness to haunt Vista pirates
Microsoft Windows' infamous "blue screen of death" has become synonymous with an operating system crash or freeze, but that's nothing compared with what users of pirated copies of Vista worldwide can expect from now -- a black screen of darkness.
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12.9.2007 Black Screen of Death for XP SP3 and Vista SP1 Upgrades
Microsoft has warned end users that performing Windows XP Service Pack 3 and Windows Vista Service Pack 1 upgrades from copies of XP SP2 and Vista RTM, respectively, that have Onekey Recovery 5.0 installed will cause the operating systems to display a black screen following reboot.
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9.8.2008 Vista SP1 Application Compatibility Update Fixes Black Screens of Death
With the release of the gold version of Service Pack 1, but also with the maturing of the software and hardware environment orbiting around the Windows client, Windows Vista's compatibility level has continually increased.
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14.8.2008 Black Friday brings down online retailers
Amazon, like many other online retailers were brought down yesterday from eager users trying to get their hands on some limited offers from the sites.
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29.11.2008 Black Xbox 360 With HDMI, Improved Features
Rumors of a hardware refresh for the Xbox 360 began earlier this year, when photos of a prototype console with HDMI output and a revised scaling chip appeared on the Web.
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22.3.2007 XP Black Edition USA 2007 DVD
Thanks to odeeee and other posters to for this download. No Viruses....Cracks....for the programs it comes with.....Falsly reported as Viruses....Coz they R Crackz.
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7.5.2007 Winstep Xtreme 7.1 - Black XP Visual Styles
Thanks to hwh1226 for this download. A powerful, multi-paged desktop replacement, program launcher and document organizer that can be used as an alternative or supplement to the normal Windows desktop.
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18.6.2007 Microsoft: Vista's 'Black Screen of Death' Is a Hoax
Many other news sites have just picked up the original article believing that it's legit. We have already updated our original post from last night and are posting the following to correct any disinformation out there.
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12.9.2007 MS preps black Xbox 360 as PS3 spoiler?
Is Microsoft preparing a spoiler for Sony's PAL-region PlayStation 3 launch on 23 March?
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9.2.2007 German hacker denied entry into U.S. for Black Hat training
Thomas Dullien, a prominent security researcher who has been a fixture at the annual Black Hat security conference, has been denied entry into the U.S. to attend and conduct training at this years confab.
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30.7.2007 Windows 7 Ultimate Black Edition 2009 Beta 32bit
Dont modify this Seven Black Edition 2009 R1 Beta in anyway and for torrent uploaders dont add any viruses.
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11.3.2009 Microsoft presenting at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas
Hi everyone, Stephen Toulouse here. As you probably know, all throughout the year we attend various security researcher conferences all over the world. One of the biggest and the best is the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas. And of course the MSRC, as well as a number of other Microsoft teams, will be down there this August.
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11.6.2006 Windows 7 RTM Black Screen of Death after Forced Shutdown Actions
Microsoft has informed users of an issue that prevents Windows 7 from starting after the computer the OS is installed on has been forced shut down.
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7.10.2009 In progress: Vista updates!
In progress right now is a beta testers chat with MS experts on the future of IE7 and Vista. Here are some parts of the chat that may be interesting to you... more to come shortly:
SamW [MS] (Expert):
Q: [17] When will you release the November CTP? Only 2 days left of November!
A: There will be no CTP for Vista in November because we are targeting for most features to be code-complete by end of December and resources efforts are going towards that effort. We should have a CTP in December before the Christmas holiday. These interim changes have no impact on our general availability target for Windows Vista. We are on track to deliver a high-quality Windows Vista in the 2nd half of 2006.
Paul Donnelly [MS] (Expert):
Q: [54] Can someone clear up what seems to be confusion on the groups over the release of Build 5259? Did it go to selected testers or TAP because date of release and extent seems confused. I notice Mario mentions it today.
A: A specific, small group of partners received access to 5259. It is an IDW build and has not gone through the CTP testing process.
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29.11.2005 Updates for Windows Vista
Here are new Updates for Windows Vista. (KB942089), (KB942089), (KB940069), (KB940069), (KB943544), (KB943544)..
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25.10.2007 Microsoft Releases Eight Updates for Vista
This week, Microsoft released some "important" updates for its newest operating system.
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28.6.2007 Security Updates for IE7 and Vista Beta 1 Available Now
Security updates for Internet Explorer 7 Beta 1 and Internet Explorer in Windows Vista Beta 1 are now available from the Windows Vista/IE 7 beta downloads page on the Connect site. Direct links to these updates are also provided below. These security updates resolve a vulnerability in IE 7 Beta 1 and IE in Windows Vista Beta 1 that has already been addressed for released/supported versions of Internet Explorer by Microsoft Security Bulletin MS05-052.
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Microsoft Releases First Batch of Updates for Vista
Microsoft has made the first batch of updates for Vista available via the built-in Windows Update client. If you don't see the 22 updates, manually "Check for updates".
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30.1.2007 Updated List of updates for Vista SP1
This guy Aaron Tiensivu keeps a VERY good list of non-critical Vista updates and this looks like it could be part of SP1.
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14.6.2007 New Performance and Reliability Updates for Vista SP1
A reliability and performance update is available for download for Windows Vista Service Pack 1. This specific release targets all Windows Vista editions, provided that they have the first service pack integrated.
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25.6.2008 New Updates Available on MDC for Vista/XP/Server 2003
Microsoft have released a few updates on the Microsoft Download Center to resolve various issues in Vista/XP/Server 2003. Thanks to pacpis for this news.
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25.7.2007 Device driver updates causing Vista to deactivate
After weeks of gruelling troubleshooting, I've finally had it confirmed by Microsoft Australia and USA -- something as small as swapping the video card or updating a device driver can trigger a total Vista deactivation.
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24.10.2007 Critical Vista, IE 7 patches highlight MS security updates
This months batch of patches from Microsoft includes six bulletins covering at least 15 vulnerabilities, including several critical code execution holes in Windows Vista and Internet Explorer 7.
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13.6.2007 Microsoft Updates the Default Spy Tool in Vista SP1
In order to improve the quality of the software information collected from the users' operating systems and sent to Microsoft, the Redmond company introduced an update to the spy tool included by default into every copy of Windows Vista, following the release of Service Pack 1.
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13.6.2008 Microsoft releases Security updates for Beta Windows Vista, Server 2008
Microsoft releases Security updates for Beta Windows Vista, Server 2008!
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15.1.2008 New Non-Critical Windows Updates are Available
KB904942 - Install this update to resolve HTTP authentication issues in Windows-based systems that do not appear until Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 is installed.
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1.3.2006 Thirty-Six Updates Later and Counting
Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I refreshed one of my Windows Vista test machines. Oh my, there were so many Windows Updates.
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28.11.2007 Windows 7 Client Updates
Microsoft released several updates for Windows 7 Client.
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26.2.2009 Office 2010 Updates
Here are some updates if you have been following the the Office 2010 blog. Some rumours about Groove and OneNote confirmed.
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14.5.2008 Microsoft Updates Media Center
Microsoft has announced the availability of a new software update for Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 that will provide new entertainment experiences for Media Center Edition customers around the world.
Update Rollup 2 for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, will enable customers to stream digital music, videos, photos, and standard and high-definition television and movies from Media Center PCs, to any television in their home via the Xbox 360 gaming system.
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Vista SP1 goes live on Automatic Updates, but gradually
It's apparently safe to try this now: Microsoft stated this afternoon it's going forward with plans to deploy Windows Vista Service Pack 1 via
Automatic Updates...
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24.04.2008Windows Vista Gets Another Dose of The 'Blue Pill'
Once again security researcher
Joanna Rutkowska took the
stage at Black Hat, and once
again she set out to prove in
glorious detail how to exploit
and attack Microsoft Windows
Vista.
Rutkowska blew the lid off
last year's Black Hat event
with her landmark presentation
ahead of the official Vista
release where she demonstrated
a virtualized rootkit called
Blue Pill that took control
over a Vista machine.
This year she
brought a new pill and a few
more tricks to take Vista to
task.
"I'm going to talk about
Vista kernel protection and
why it doesn't work,"
Rutkowska boldly declared to
the overflow crowd.
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03.08.2007Microsoft: Vista's 'Black Screen of Death' Is a Hoax
Many other news sites have just picked up
the original article believing that it's legit. We have already
updated our original post from last night and are posting the following to correct any disinformation out there.
Has Microsoft adopted an even tougher stance on piracy? According to recent e-mails warning of new, harsher anti-piracy measures in Windows
Vista, that was believed to be the case.
Australian PC World
printed an e-mail Tuesday it says was sent from a Microsoft representative to an unspecified large Vista OEM distributor. The
e-mail describes a new initiative which renders computers running a pirated copy of Vista unusable by making the screen totally black.
Microsoft was quick to debunk this e-mail warning of a Black Screen of Death. A Microsoft representative told Wired News "the reporter
received inaccurate information," and that the company has not rolled out any updates to Windows Vista's anti-piracy platform.
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12.09.2007Vista Beta to Get Security
Updates, Too
Although Microsoft is fond of
saying that Windows Vista is
the most secure operating
system ever, a member of the
operating system's security
team disclosed this week that
the OS will be the first beta
product to be serviced by
security updates...
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18.08.2006First Windows Vista SP1 Prerequisite Update for Ultimate/Enterprise Users Now Available
Two or three updates are required before you install Windows Vista Service Pack 1. The updates that are required depend on the edition of Windows
Vista that you are upgrading. Prerequisite update 935509 is only applicable to Windows Vista Enterprise and to Windows Vista Ultimate. The other
prerequisite updates that are discussed in this article apply to all editions of Windows Vista.
Before Windows Vista SP1 is
released, these prerequisite updates will be delivered to most users through Windows Update as part of regularly scheduled monthly updates. These
updates will be installed together with other updates that will require that you restart the computer. An additional restart will not be required.
Therefore, this delivery method will simplify installation of these prerequisite updates.
Customers who decide to install Windows
Vista SP1 by using the stand-alone installer, instead of by using Windows Update, will not have to install the prerequisite packages separately. The
prerequisite packages will be installed by the stand-alone installer if they are necessary.
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08.01.2008Non-security Vista update rolls out Tuesday including SP1 prerequisite for BitLocker
Nick Whitel: Tomorrow, Tuesday 8 January, we are releasing several non-security update packages via Windows Update. The updates include the regular
monthly Malicious Software Removal Tool and Windows Mail Junk Mail Filter, two updates in our regular series of Windows Vista updates (KB943302 for
application compatibility and KB943899 for reliability and performance), and one update of particular notice: KB935509. Similar to previous updates
that enhanced Windows Vistas performance and reliability, these updates will be distributed automatically through Windows Update.
Tomorrows KB935509 release is a little different than past updates. It is a prerequisite for installing SP1 and is applicable only for Windows
Vista Ultimate and Enterprise users, because it only affects versions of Windows Vista supporting BitLocker Drive Encryption.
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08.01.2008Leaked Vista Hotfixes to be broadly available in the near future
Microsoft Corp. confirmed
today that the Vista hot-fix
packs that have leaked to the
Web will be issued to all
users.
"We
plan to make these two updates
broadly available via Windows
Update in the near future," a
company spokeswoman said in an
e-mail.
The
two updates, dubbed "Vista
Performance and Reliability
Pack" and "Vista
Compatibility and Reliability
Pack," were posted over the
weekend to a third-party
download site after being
leaked from a group of Windows
Server 2008 testers. The list
of fixes -- which include
performance improvements to
Vista's sleep mode and speed
increases in copying or moving
large directories -- led some
users yesterday to speculate
that the updates were the
forerunner of Vista Service
Pack 1 (SP1), a major upgrade
that many businesses want to
see before they widely deploy
the new operating system. ..
winbeta.org -
01.08.2007Black screen of darkness to haunt Vista pirates
Microsoft Windows' infamous "Blue Screen of Death" has become synonymous with an operating system crash or freeze, but that's nothing compared
with what users of pirated copies of Vista worldwide can expect from now - a black screen of darkness.
In an e-mail to a large
Windows Vista OEM distributor titled "Pirated Vista - A darkness descends!", a local Microsoft representative made it quite clear what Vista pirates
can expect to happen to their unlicenced installations.
A copy of this e-mail was obtained by Computerworld:
Good Afternoon, As of this week, Microsoft have
activated a function in Vista called 'Reduced Functionality'. This is a specific
function in Vista which effectively disables non genuine copies of Windows. Therefore, anyone who has a pirated copy of Vista will
experience...
winbeta.org - 11.09.2007
Microsoft Plans Six Security Updates, Two For Windows Vista
Gearing up for next
week's Patch Tuesday release,
Microsoft announced on
Thursday that it's preparing
six security updates -- four
of them for critical bugs.
One
security update actually can
patch multiple vulnerabilities
so it's unclear at this point
how many flaws next week's
releases will fix. Microsoft,
though, did announce in its
Security Bulletin Advance
Notification that each of the
four critical updates will
affect Windows software, while
only one affects Internet
Explorer. Another one will
address issues in Outlook
Express, as well as Windows
Mail.
One critical
vulnerability affects Windows
Mail in Windows Vista and
Windows Vista x64 edition.
There another patch for
Windows Vista that's rated
"moderate"...
winbeta.org - 08.06.2007
Apple to offer discounts of up to 15% on Black Friday
While Apple is remaining tight-lipped on what we can expect from their stores on Black Friday, one analyst is predicting consumers will see discounts
of up to 15%. According to Kaufman Bros analyst Shaw Wu, Apple's Black Friday sale will be more aggressive than usual. Apple products are
traditionally more expensive than their non-apple counterparts and price reductions are not commonplace for the tech giant. In past years, Apple has
offered Black Friday discounts between 5 and 10%. If Wu's prediction is correct, consumers will be seeing a reduced price on the iPod, iMac, and
MacBooks. However, Wu is skeptical as to whether or not the iPhone will be subject to the Black Friday discounts.
Read full story.....
neowin.net - 27.11.2008
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:
- A nag screen to activate at logon that cannot be dismissed for 15 seconds.
-
Every hour the desktop background is switched to black (it can be changed back, but after an hour its set to black again).
- Activation
dialogs and balloon dialogs appear regularly.
- Optional Windows Updates arent delivered.
So, instead of losing
functionality, the user is nagged to activate...
winbeta.org - 10.02.2008
Windows Defender Gets Updates
It's been a long time since
Vista Beta testers have seen
updates for Windows Defender.
But finally on Tuesday, A new
category for updates specified
for the program appeared on
the Windows Update site, the
category for the updates has
been classified under
"Windows Products".
Along with that,
another category named
"Definition Updates" will be
available for newly released
definition updates for the
program.
At the
moment, Windows Defender is
only available to Windows
Vista testers and the updates
will only become available to
those who are testing
Microsoft's new Update
Service Pack 1.
jcxp.net - 17.01.2006
Windows Vista SP1 Prerequisite Releases Coming Up
Microsoft Update Team: This week we're releasing two more prerequisites for Windows Vista Service Pack 1 that will be coming later this quarter. We
wanted to let you know about them because they are both marked as Important updates (and theyre a little different than usual).
KB938371 is a multi-component update that supports the successful install of SP1 and allows it to be uninstalled. KB937287 updates the Windows
Vista Servicing Stack. Both updates (required before SP1 will be offered via Windows Update) are being made available now to reduce the number of
reboots and make installation of the service pack easier.
Even if you're not ready to install the service pack once it's
released, you'll want to install these updates because they'll help increase performance and reduce failures for the installation of other
updates.
winbeta.org - 12.02.2008
Connecting the Black Friday dots: What to expect from CE retail
In anticipation of the coming annual Black Friday spending surge, analysts have come out of the woodwork to voice their predictions. This afternoon,
we took some time to parse some of them...
betanews.com - 27.11.2008
Analysis: Is Black Friday truly good for an ailing US economy?
As the final figures for last Black Friday's and Cyber Monday's sales show positive gains, is this really proof that the US economy isn't as
lumbering as the housing market and credit crunch would indicate?..
betanews.com - 01.12.2007
Microsoft Takes Vista to
Hacker Confab
The annual Black Hat
conference in Las Vegas plays
host to the world's top
hackers and security
professionals, who come
together to discuss the
industry and delve into code.
Microsoft is playing a major
role at this year's event,
inviting attendees to find
holes in Windows Vista...
betanews.com - 04.08.2006
New DS bundles arrive in time for Black Friday
In order to keep sales of its popular portable gaming system at a high level, Nintendo debuted two new DS packages for consumers to debut Black
Friday...
betanews.com - 20.11.2007
First Windows Vista SP1 Prerequisite Update
Two or three updates are required before you install Windows Vista Service Pack 1. The updates that are required depend on the edition of Windows
Vista that you are upgrading. Prerequisite update 935509 is only applicable to Windows Vista Enterprise and to Windows Vista Ultimate. The other
prerequisite updates that are discussed in this article apply to all editions of Windows Vista.
Before Windows Vista SP1 is
released, these prerequisite updates will be delivered to most users through Windows Update as part of regularly scheduled monthly updates. These
updates will be installed together with other updates that will require that you restart the computer. An additional restart will not be required.
Therefore, this delivery method will simplify installation of these prerequisite updates.
Customers who decide to install Windows
Vista SP1 by using the stand-alone installer, instead of by using Windows Update, will not have to install the prerequisite packages separately. The
prerequisite packages will be installed by the stand-alone installer if they are necessary.
jcxp.net - 08.01.2008
Vista Performance and Reliability Pack Unofficial Release
Thanks Nekrosoft for the news
on this major update to
Windows Vista that should for
most of us improve the speed
and reliability of Windows
Vista significantly!
Please note: These fixes
break all current methods of
bypassing driver singing
requirements except the good
old F8 during boot (that you
have to do every single time
you start vista)
IF
you are using Rivatuner,
atitool and or Peerguardian on
64bit vista, you will have to
use F8 every single time to
disable driver signing
requirements to use those two
programs. x86 version is
unaffected.
These
updates should go official on
the next patch Tuesday (in one
weeks time). Please read more
for the download links and
information on these
updates.
R
ead full story.....
neowin.net - 30.07.2007
Microsoft Updates Vista Assessment Tool
Those still considering
whether to make the jump to
Windows Vista will have
additional help with today's
2.0 release of Microsoft's
Vista Hardware Assessment
Tool. The application takes
inventory of a computer system
and makes recommendations if
upgrades are required...
betanews.com - 11.07.2007
