Windows Vista Boot Logo Generator Beta
I know a lot of people were disappointed by the lack of a decent boot logo in Vista, so I’ve thrown together a tool that should simplify the process of creating the new high resolution boot logos!
download -
comments -
16.1.2007 Retrieve CD Key/Product Key From Windows Registry with Product Key Finder
You must keep CD Key/Product key of any software or application at handy place since you may not know when you will need that key again.
download -
comments -
9.7.2009 Download Style 7 Windows 7 Theme Generator
In past we have covered several windows 7 themes as well as guide on how to create Windows 7 theme now here is unique tool Style7 Windows 7 Theme Generator.
download -
comments -
16.10.2009 Microsoft Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs Unattended Generator Utility
The Microsoft Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs Unattended Generator Utility provides an easy way to create and edit an unattended answer file for use in installing Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs.
microsoft -
comments -
7.8.2006 Vista upgrade invalidates your XP key
If you choose to purchase an upgrade version of Windows Vista to upgrade XP, you will no longer be able to use that version of XP.
windows -
comments -
30.1.2007 Intel waiting for key update before going Vista
If it's not good enough for Intel, is it good enough for you? We're talking Microsoft's Windows Vista, which the chip giant's CEO, Paul Otellini, this week indicated has not won the backing of his technology experts.
windows -
comments -
7.3.2007 Windows 7 Product Key Checker to Verify Windows 7 Product Key
Windows 7 official release is set on October 23 and soon you will be able buy your own copy of Windows 7.
download -
comments -
9.9.2009 Microsoft releases key Vista developer technologies
Microsoft on Wednesday gave developers access to a key piece of Windows Vista, months ahead of the operating system's release.
The company posted near-final versions of two software development technologies that are part of WinFX, the underlying programming model being introduced with Vista, which is slated to ship late this year.
microsoft -
comments -
20.1.2006 Vista Hands On #4: Clean install with an upgrade key
I've been reading
the breathless reports this week about the "Vista upgrade loophole." Most of it is typical echo-chamber stuff, and most of the reports I've read so far have gotten the basic facts wrong.
windows -
comments -
19.2.2007 Vista License and Product Key Terminology Part 1
First part of mini serial of articles about Vista Licensing from
Steve Jobs blog.
windows -
comments -
4.6.2007 Vista License and Product Key Terminology Part 2
Second part of mini serial of articles about Vista Licensing from
Steve Jobs blog.
windows -
comments -
7.6.2007 Vista License and Product Key Terminology Part 3
Next part of mini serial of articles about Vista Licensing from
Steve Jobs blog - Vista Certificate of Authenticity (COA).
common -
comments -
Vista License and Product Key Terminology Part 4
Next article about Vista Licensing from
Steve Jobs blog - this is about Microsoft Product Activation (MPA).
windows -
comments -
16.6.2007 Rearming Vista SP1 to Live 120 Days with No Product Key
With Windows Vista, Microsoft brought to the table an entirely overhauled activation architecture compared to Windows XP.
windows -
comments -
10.1.2008 Disable and Remove Half-Open TCP Connections Limit (to Unlimited) in Windows 7 and Vista SP2 with EnableConnectionRateLimitin Registry Key
Officially, the incomplete half-open outbound TCP connection attempts allowed at any one time is now unlimited by default in Windows Server 2008 and Vista SP2 (Service Pack 2), and Windows 7. Actually, the ability to limit or restrict number of half-open outgoing TCP connections system can create or establish is built into Windows Vista SP2 and Windows 7, however it’s disabled by default.
windows -
comments -
8.6.2009 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 Press any key
Cheapest USB key
Microsoft Product Key Finder 1.0
In past we have covered product key finder, produkey & winguggle to recover product key of windows and several other installed softwares.
download -
comments -
6.8.2009 Change Office 2007 Product Key
When Office 2007 was RTM'ed and downloadable on MSDN I used Office Professional 2007. For my new course, SharePoint BI, which I'm writing at the moment I needed InfoPath as well.
microsoft -
comments -
1.1.2007 Creating A Bootable WinPE 2.0 USB Key
Windows Preinstallation Environment (PE) 2.0 is a slimed down version of Windows (hence all the MiniNT references) that used to be the exclusive domain of OEM's providers.
microsoft -
comments -
7.2.2007 Windows Key Enterprise v7.9.2141
Thanks to FireStorm for this download. Windows Key is a program to reset Windows security if Administrator password, secure boot password or key disk is lost.
download -
comments -
24.4.2007 How-To receive a valid Windows 7 beta key
Because of the overloaded Microsoft servers it can be hard to get a valid key. To get a valid key the fastest just follow these simple step. Thanks to scaramonga.
windows -
comments -
11.1.2009 XP: Get Updates No Matter What or Change your Product Key
If your windows installation has issues, or for some other unmentionable reason is unable to get updates from the windows server, this is what you need to do.
windows -
comments -
27.3.2006 Microsoft Cuts Key Features From Viridian Hypervisor
As it races to catch up to VMware and Xen rivals, Microsoft has made a tough call and decided to cut key management features out of its planned "Viridian" virtualization hypervisor for the next Windows server.
microsoft -
comments -
11.5.2007 Get Genuine Kit and Windows Product Key Update Tool
The best and most cost-effective way for customers to acquire Windows software is preinstalled on a new PC.
download -
comments -
15.8.2006 Windows 7 Ultimate cracked and activated with OEM master key
Hackers cracked and permanently activated Windows 7 Ultimate RTM Final Version. Once again hackers wins the cat and mouse battle game from the Redmond giants.
windows -
comments -
29.7.2009 Microsoft blacklists leaked Lenovo OEM Windows 7 Key
According to Neowin, Microsoft has responded to the latest Windows 7 cracking scheme by blacklisting the Lenovo OEM master key on computers that are not manufactured by Lenovo.
windows -
comments -
31.7.2009 Ashampoo WinOptimizer 5 Free Download With License Serial Key
Ashampoo WinOptimizer 5 is a well-known tweaking and optimizing software for Windows operating system that provides clean, optimize and tune functions to ensure maximum PC performance.
download -
comments -
4.8.2009 Hackers discover HD DVD and Blu-ray processing key
Hackers discover HD DVD and Blu-ray "processing key" -- all HD titles now exposed.
common -
comments -
14.2.2007Cool Wallpaper Generator
Create visual stunning wallpapers from your personal photo collections. This Wallpaper Generator makes it easy to compose your most beautiful photos
to stunning wallpapers for your desktop!
Remember your last summer holiday a little bit longer, keep in mind your special
moments, or think of your sweethearts. With the Wallpaper Generator it never has been so easy to keep those moments in your mind.
Download now this free tool and start to create personal wallpapers! System Requirements: Windows Vista or Windows XP with .NET Framework 3.0.
winbeta.org -
28.10.2007Turn any web widget into a Vista Gadget
The Amnesty Generator for
Windows is designed to easily
convert any embeddable web
site widget (including Google
Gadgets) into a Vista Sidebar
Gadget. Compared to Vista's
Gadget library's relatively
meager 275 gadgets, Google
Gadgets for your web page, for
example, currently sports over
3000 widgets. So basically,
Vista's gadget library just
grew from 275 to 275 plus 3000
plus whatever other web
widgets you can find on the
Internet. If this sounds
familiar to OS X users, it is
because Amnesty Generator is
also available for Dashboard.
The generator currently has a
few bugs (particularly in the
visual interface department),
but overall it works fairly
well.
neowin.net -
06.02.2007Potential pirates, not Vista, get cracked
35 days before Windows XP was
officially released, a pirated
key, called the "devils0wn",
began circulating around the
web which allowed users to run
a pirated copy of the
operating system. Since then,
the key has been used
thousands of times and is now
a part of Windows XP history.
Trying to follow in
devils0wn's footsteps, a new
crack for Windows Vista is
rumored to have become
available. Called "Windows
Vista All Versions Activation
21.11.06", the key reportedly
unlocks any version of Vista.
Sounds great for pirates,
right? Maybe it is, depending
where you stand on software
piracy.
Those who
download "Windows Vista All
Versions Activation 21.11.06"
will end up with anything but
a cracked version of Vista.
The file is neither a crack
nor key generator, but it is a
trojan installer that installs
the malware known as
"Trojan-PSW.Win32.LdPinch.aze
." According to APC Magazine,
most antivirus scanners will
recognize the trojan, but
NOD32 and Norton's latest
signatures do not.
While most of us dread the
thought of a new piece of
malware in the wild, it's
hard not to like the motive
behind this trojan.
Nevertheless, any propagation
of malware is a bad thing so
I'm happy to hear that most
scanners can stop this one.
neowin.net -
06.12.2006Did NSA Put a Secret Backdoor in New Encryption Standard?
Random numbers are critical for cryptography: for encryption keys, random authentication challenges, initialization vectors, nonces, key-agreement
schemes, generating prime numbers and so on. Break the random-number generator, and most of the time you break the entire security system. Which is
why you should worry about a new random-number standard that includes an algorithm that is slow, badly designed and just might contain a backdoor for
the National Security Agency.
Generating random numbers isn't easy, and researchers have discovered lots of
problems and attacks over the years. A recent
paper found a flaw in the Windows 2000 random-number generator. Another
paper found flaws in the Linux random-number generator. Back in 1996, an early version of SSL was
broken because of flaws in its random-number generator. With John Kelsey and Niels Ferguson in 1999,
I co-authored
Yarrow, a random-number generator based on
our own cryptanalysis work. I improved this design four years later -- and renamed it Fortuna --
in the book
Practical Cryptography, which I co-authored with Ferguson.
winbeta.org -
15.11.2007Clearing up the confusion on Vista licensing and key management
Since Windows Vista has been released to the public, there has been a lot of confusion and hype surrounding some of the licensing decisions and
restrictions with which Microsoft Corp. saddled the operating system and its many versions. Additionally, there's a new type of product key and a
volume key management system that you might not know about. In this article, I'll take a look at five distinct points about Vista licensing and key
management and give you the most current answers to what I've found are the most common questions about those topics.
winbeta.org -
02.11.2007Security Loophole in Windows Random Number Generator
A
security loophole in the pseudo-random number
generator used by Windows was recently detailed in a
paper presented by researchers
at the University of Haifa. The team found a way to decipher how the number generator works, and thus compute previous and future encryption keys
used by the computer, and eavesdrop on private communication.
Their conclusion is that Microsoft needs to improve the way it
encodes information. They recommend that Microsoft publish the code of their random number generators as well as of other elements of the Windows
security system to enable computer security experts outside Microsoft to evaluate their effectiveness. Although they only checked Windows 2000, they
assume that XP and Vista use similar random number generators and may also be vulnerable. The
full text of the paper is available in PDF format.
winbeta.org -
12.11.2007Debian and Ubuntu flaw leaves private SSL/SSH keys guessable
The Debian Security Advisory posted up
DSA-1571-1 openssl -- predictable
random number generator issue today and strongly advised its users to take steps to avoid possible compromising of any systems running on Debian,
such as Ubuntu.
The researcher Luciano Bello discovered a security flaw in Debian's random number generator that allows to predict a
random generated number. This is caused by an incorrect Debian change to the openssl package. As a result, cryptographic key material may be
guessable.
This problem not only affects Debian, but also all its derivatives, such as Ubuntu.
It is strongly recommended that
all cryptographic key material which has been generated by OpenSSL versions starting with 0.9.8c-1 on affected systems is recreated from scratch.
Furthermore, all DSA keys ever used on affected systems for signing or authentication purposes should be considered compromised.
neowin.net -
14.05.2008Microsoft's Vista 'Family Discount' Troubles
In the past, early adopters of
new Windows versions have had
some small hurdles to
overcome. Such hurdles may be
software incompatibility, or
lack of driver support. These
sorts of things are almost
expected with each new Windows
launch. But what would you do
if you bought Windows Vista
and your product key didn't
work. What if Microsoft had no
solution and was unwilling to
issue you a new key?
Many (if not all)
users who took advantage of
Microsoft's Vista Family
Discount have been issued
invalid installation keys and
cannot install Windows Vista
Home Premium. Microsoft
confirms that the keys are
indeed valid, but not for
Windows Vista. The CSR I spoke
with was unable to tell what
the key was for, but it did
appear to be a valid key, for
something.
Microsoft says, This is a
known issue and has been
escalated to the program
manager. When asked what could
be done I was told, I can take
your name and number and call
you back when there is a
solution. If that is not
acceptable, I can cancel your
order and issue you a refund.
I was also told, There is no
expected time period for a fix
at this time.
jcxp.net -
01.02.2007Microsoft confirms that XP contains random number generator bug; fix to be part of SP3
Windows XP, Microsoft Corp.'s most popular operating system, sports the same encryption flaws that Israeli researchers recently disclosed in Windows
2000, the Microsoft officials confirmed late Tuesday.
The researchers, Benny Pinkas from the University of Haifa and two Hebrew
University graduate students, Zvi Gutterman and Leo Dorrendorf, reverse-engineered the algorithm used by Windows 2000's
pseudo-random number generator
(PRNG), then used that knowledge to pick apart the operating system's encryption. Attackers could exploit a weakness in the PRNG, said Pinkas and
his colleagues, to predict encryption keys that would be created in the future as well as reveal the keys that had been generated in the past.
As recently as last Friday,
Microsoft hedged in answering questions about whether XP and Vista could be attacked in the same way, saying only that later
versions of Windows "contain various changes and enhancements to the random number generator." Yesterday, however, Microsoft responded to further
questions and acknowledged that Windows XP is vulnerable to the complex attack that Pinkas, Gutterman and Dorrendorf laid out in their paper, which
was published earlier this month.
winbeta.org -
21.11.2007Microsoft confirms that XP has random number generator bug
Windows XP, Microsoft Corp.'s most popular operating system, sports the same encryption flaws that Israeli researchers recently disclosed in
Windows 2000, Microsoft officials confirmed late Tuesday.
The researchers, Benny Pinkas from the University of Haifa and two Hebrew
University graduate students, Zvi Gutterman and Leo Dorrendorf, reverse-engineered the algorithm used by Windows 2000's pseudo-random number
generator (PRNG), then used that knowledge to pick apart the operating system's encryption. Attackers could exploit a weakness in the PRNG, said
Pinkas and his colleagues, to predict encryption keys that would be created in the future as well as reveal the keys that had been generated in the
past.
neowin.net -
22.11.2007Vista 'Family Discount' Bites Back
In the past, early adopters of
new Windows versions have had
some small hurdles to
overcome. Such hurdles may be
software incompatibility, or
lack of driver support. These
sorts of things are almost
expected with each new Windows
launch. But what would you do
if you bought Windows Vista
and your product key didn't
work? What if Microsoft had
no solution and was unwilling
to issue you a new key?
Many (if not all)
users who took advantage of
Microsoft's Vista Family
Discount have been issued
invalid installation keys and
cannot install Windows Vista
Home Premium. Microsoft
confirms that the keys are
indeed valid, but not for
Windows Vista. The CSR I spoke
with was unable to tell what
the key was for, but it did
appear to be a valid key, for
something.
Microsoft says, "This is a
known issue and has been
escalated to the program
manager." When asked what
could be done I was told, "I
can take your name and number
and call you back when there
is a solution. If that is not
acceptable, I can cancel your
order and issue you a
refund." I was also told,
"There is no expected time
period for a fix at this
time."
If
Microsoft does not have this
issue fixed very soon, they
are going to have a lot of
unhappy customers. In the past
Microsoft has just issued new
keys when this happened. Why
is Microsoft being so tight
gripped about handing out new
keys? If I purchased a valid
key, what is it for? How long
is this going to take to fix?
So many questions, so little
answers.
neowin.net -
31.01.2007Official Way to Use Vista without Activation 120 Days
Official Way to Install and
Use Windows Vista without
Activation for Free for 120
Days
By default,
Windows Vista can be
installed, used and run
without any license, product
key or the need of activation
for 30 days grace period, for
purpose of trial or
evaluation. Although Microsoft
initially stressed that users
should purchase a license with
valid product key before the
trial period expires, or else
Windows Vista will lock into
Reduced Functionality Mode.
However, a "rearm" method
has long since been discovered
to be able to extend, or reset
the remaining time for
activation to another fresh 30
days, for up to 3 times.
Now Microsoft has
confirmed that Windows Vista
can be used and run for 120
days or 4 months ( 3
rearms ), and extending the
activation grace period is not
a violation of the Vista End
User License Agreement (EULA).
All versions of Vista include
Windows Vista Ultimate allow a
30-day free period without
activation, except the
corporate-oriented Vista
Enterprise, which supports
only a three-day trial.
Read full story.....
neowin.net -
22.02.2007Top 20 BetaNews stories of 2008
What were the stories that gathered BetaNews readers' attention, got them talking, made them think more about the meaning behind the technology? Our
space-age statistics generator has provided us with the final tally...
betanews.com -
01.01.2009Volume License Key Changes,
End to VLK Piracy?
"Corporate Edition" versions
of Windows have been the
blessing of both IT workers
and casual pirates since the
days of Windows 95, when the
operating system first started
asking for a license key on
installation.
Large firms and OEMs who did
not want to go through the
hassle of typing in a CD key
for every install received
Volume License Keys (VLKs)
that could be used on as many
installs as necessary.
Microsoft relied on the honor
system to ensure that
companies did not abuse this
privilege, but it looks as if
with Vista this system may be
ending:
"We
are making changes to the
process to Vista and a new
approach to VLK licensing,"
Mike Sievert, corporate vice
president of Windows client
marketing for Microsoft told
CRN during a recent interview.
"We're training our
enterprise customers and
we'll do some key management
for customers that's more
automated and makes reporting
easier."
Click on read more
to get more info from this
article!
jcxp.net -
28.06.2006Windows Vista Grace Period Extended to 120 Days
Every Vista DVD includes the
ability to install any edition
of Vista without a product
key. When you install without
a product key, you get an
automatic 30 day evaluation
period. This probably isn't
news to anyone.
What may be news
to you, however, is that you
can easily extend the 30-day
Windows Vista grace period to
120 days. No hacks required.
This is an official, supported
operation directly from
Microsoft.
To extend the grace period
another 30 days, simply start
a command prompt as
Administrator, and issue this
command:
slmgr -rearm
Reboot for the
change to take effect, and
voila, you have 30 more days.
You can only extend three
times, so the total grace
period for a Vista evaluation
is 120 days.
jcxp.net -
01.02.2007Pirated Vista may be useless, Microsoft says
Microsoft said supposedly
pirated copies of its new
Vista computer operating
system "will be of limited
value" to those who use them.
Microsoft responded Tuesday to
reports that some Web sites
have been circulating pirated
copies of Vista and the Office
2007 applications suite.
The pirated Vista
comes with a product key that
users can enter to activate a
version of the products on
their computers without paying
for them, according to a
report on the Web site of The
Sydney (Australia) Morning
Herald newspaper. A product
key is a unique serial number
tied to each package of a
software product.
A second download, called an
"activation crack," can then
be applied that bypasses the
activation process intended to
guarantee that the Vista OS
being downloaded is
legitimate, the Herald
reported. Pirated copies of
Office 2007 can be downloaded
just with the product key with
no second activation code
required. But Microsoft said
in a prepared statement that
those pirated copies of the OS
won't work for long.
neowin.net -
16.11.2006Linux Kernel Random Number Generator flaw
According to security researchers, the Linux kernel is prone to a local vulnerability that may result in a DoS or privilege escalation, possibly
allowing the attackers to run arbitrary code on the target system. This issue stems from a stack-based overflow in kernel memory; if uccessfully
exploited this issue allows local attackers to trigger kernel crashes and, in certain circumstances, also allows them to gain elevated privileges.
However, the attacker may require partial administrative access via granular assignments of superuser privileges. Linux kernel versions prior to
2.6.22.3 are affected by this issue
neowin.net -
24.11.2007Another AACS Device Key Found; How Will Studios Respond?
Another user of the Doom9
Forum, whose members have been
actively working to develop a
system to subvert AACS copy
protection, has apparently
discovered in a memory dump a
legitimate device key -
the cryptographic element
licensed to components in
order to obtain the volume key
automatically from
high-definition HD DVD discs,
according to a post yesterday...
betanews.com -
06.03.2007Ballmer: Pirates won't have it easy with Vista
Yesterday a Neowin member
linked to a DIGG article that
was sourcing
this
website with a screenshot
of a supposed key generator
for Windows Vista. Since last
night it has been updated and
the poster claims to of gotten
hold of the keygen in a
non-working state. Elaborate
hoax or the real deal?
The screenshot lower
on
this
page shows DLL errors when
running the keygen and it
clearly states on the web site
that it didn't work. The
crack appears to be of Russian
origin and only time will tell
if Microsoft's "dial in"
feature really has been
circumvented.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer
told Wall Street analysts that
the company might "dial up"
the intensity of antipiracy
technology baked into Windows
Vista as part of an effort to
squeeze more revenue from
China, India, Brazil, Russia
and other emerging markets.
Ballmer's comments
came during a conference call
with financial analysts in
which he repeatedly hammered
home the theme that sales
forecasts for Windows -- Vista
in particular -- have been
"overly optimistic."
One way Microsoft can
bump up Windows sales is to
tighten the screws on pirates,
Ballmer said. "Piracy
reduction can be a source of
Windows revenue growth, and I
think we'll make some piracy
improvements this year."
"We have new
technologies built into
Windows Vista, something we
call Windows Genuine Advantage
we've really dialed up
in capabilities with the Vista
release," he said. "I do
think that will bring some
revenue growth. We will have
strong growth in the Windows
business in emerging markets:
China, India, Brazil, Russia
and many others. Those markets
are very high piracy."
neowin.net - 20.02.2007
Windows Vista "NoDriveTypeAutoRun" Security Issue
CERT/CC has reported a security issue in Windows Vista, which can be exploited
by malicious people to bypass certain security settings.
AutoPlay is a feature designed to immediately begin reading from a drive
(e.g. run a setup file) when a media is inserted. According to Microsoft, this feature can be disabled for all drives by setting the value of the
"HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorerNoDriveTypeAutoRun" registry key to "0xFF". However, as Windows Vista
fails to properly handle the mentioned registry key, this may still result in programs being executed automatically when a media is inserted even with
the registry key value set to "0xFF".
Successful exploitation may result in execution of arbitrary code, but requires physical
access to a vulnerable system or that a user is tricked into inserting a malicious media (e.g. USB device).
winbeta.org - 22.03.2008
