Windows 7 Already Pirated, Not Even Out
Just came back from our usual family weekend outing when I chanced upon a stall in one of the supermarkets here in the Philippines.
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2.3.2009 Pirated Windows 7 Just $3
Windows 7 might officially be just two days away from becoming available for purchase to customers worldwide, but fact is that the operating system is already available for free, almost free, or at a reduced price compared to what Microsoft is charging for the product.
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20.10.2009 Does Microsoft Actually Want Windows Vista SP1 to Be Pirated?
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is currently in its final stages of development in Redmond Utero, and heading for the first release candidate stage.
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6.12.2007 22% of Windows Installs Pirated, 2.6Million of that Genuine?
Microsoft's anti-piracy tool, aka Windows Genuine Advantage, launched in 30 months ago in 2005. Since then, 512 million have tried to validate their copy of Windows and 114 million users, or 22.3%, were labeled by Microsoft as pirates.
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24.1.2007 Why buy a genuine Windows Vista when pirated is easier and better?
Recently Microsoft had a 50% price cut for Home Basic and Home Premium Editions of Windows Vista. The price cut is mainly targeted at China which has the 2nd highest software piracy rate in the world after Vietnam. Thanks to thepodest for this post on the blog.
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8.8.2007 Microsoft to Kill Pirated Windows XP Professional
Having dealt with the SoftMod Windows Vista activation crack, Microsoft will start hunting down and “killing” pirated copies of Windows XP Professional, the flavor of the operating system labeled by the company as most popular with pirates.
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25.3.2009 Microsoft: Turn Pirated Windows Copies into Genuine Products!
Microsoft is providing users with the means to turn their pirated copies of Windows into genuine products. However, the offer is only available for Windows XP, and not for Windows Vista.
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2.10.2007 Pirated 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.
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15.11.2006 Half of pirated Vista is malware
Alleged "cracked" versions of Vista appearing on peer-to-peer networks often turn out to be Trojan horses. About half of the downloads claiming to be free versions of Microsoft's Vista operating system are actually malicious Trojan horse software, security vendor DriveSentry warned Thursday.
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26.1.2007 2 Year Old Pirated Keys Defeats WGA
On July 18, Microsoft's WGA team promised to send me a disk with a product key from their blocked list. It was supposed to arrive via overnight service, but it was never sent.
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9.8.2006 Why pirated Vista has Microsoft champing at the BitTorrent
As Microsoft Corp. gets ready to launch Windows Vista and Office 2007 to consumers, it claims a formidable new foe it lacked at its last major consumer software launch five years ago: the popular filesharing network known as BitTorrent. This third-generation peer-to-peer (P2P) service, already used by tens of millions of Internet users to swap digital music and movies for free, is becoming a popular mechanism for those looking to obtain pirated software.
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26.1.2007 Microsoft files 52 suits over pirated software
Microsoft is ramping up its fight against counterfeit software, this time targeting people alleged to have sold pirated versions of its programs on online marketplaces.
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14.12.2007 Genuine Windows Vista vs. Pirated Windows Vista
Enlarge picture
Essentially there is absolutely no difference between a genuine and pirated copy of Windows Vista in terms of functionality. Sure, there is a very good chance that the counterfeit version of the operating system would contain malicious code and that the user experience would be gravely diminished because the fabric of the platform has been tampered with in the cracking process.
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12.9.2007 Windows 7 Migration Tool to Move From Windows XP to Windows 7
In past we had covered guide on upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7. Unfortunately there is no direct upgrade path from Windows Xp to Windows 7 and you have to use Windows Easy Transfer utility if you want to move your user and program files from XP to Windows 7.
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22.11.2009 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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16.1.2009 Internet Explorer 8 MUI packs for Windows XP, Windows Server 03
As detailed in our previous blog post, the following Internet Explorer MUI packs shipped today.
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17.5.2009 Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 Beta adds Windows 7 support
Microsoft announced the release of Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 Beta, along with news that it will feature Windows 7 support.
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20.7.2009 Check for RAM Error or Defect in Windows 7 and Vista with Windows Memory Diagnostic
Memory or RAM is one of the most important electronic hardware component on a computer systems, not only in term of speed or clock frequency and size, but also the reliability of hardware ecosystem of the RAM sticks or memory modules and its subsystem.
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1.10.2009 The Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 98 Threat Mitigation Guide
Well, Microsoft still puts effort in old Windows versions...
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31.3.2006Pirated Windows 7 Builds a Botnet With Trojan
Attackers pushing pirated, malware-laced copies of Windows 7 have been actively trying to build a botnet.
According to
researchers at Damballa, attackers hid a Trojan inside of pirated copies of the operating system and began circulating them on BitTorrent sites. The
company reported they shut down the botnet's command and control server May 10, however by that time infection rates had risen as high as 552 users
per hour.
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13.05.2009US Gov't Cracks Down On Pirated Games
The US Goverment said
Wednesday that it had executed
32 search warrants in 16
states as part of a crackdown
on devices and chips which
allow pirated games to be
played on gaming consoles...
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02.08.2007aXXo's Pirated Movies Used to Promote the iMac
The DVD ripper aXXo is without a doubt one of the most popular DVD-rippers. Even though he hasn’t been active since November 2007, his rips are
still widely used, even by commercial outlets such as the John Lewis store. They must have thought, “Why use a real DVD if we can use a pirated
movie for free?”
Read full
story.....
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24.01.2008Report: 1 in 3 Software
Installs Pirated
Software piracy worldwide
increased five percent last
year, costing the industry
some $34 billion during 2005,
research firm IDC reported on
Tuesday. According to the
study, one out of every three
copies of software in 2005 was
pirated...
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24.05.2006Microsoft Sues 26 Software
Pirates
Microsoft said late Monday
that it had filed 26 lawsuits
against dealers of pirated
software in seven states. The
companies are accused of
either offering pirated
material or installing it on
computers the defendants sold...
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18.07.2006Sony BMG accused of using pirated software
Small French software developer PointDev is suing Sony BMG saying it uses pirated copies of PointDev's Ideal Migration software...
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01.04.2008Black 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
Trade group lists top 10 pirated software
The Software & Information Industry Association released its annual Anti-Piracy year in review this week, noting that it reached its largest piracy
settlement yet in a case against Florida Benchmark – which was found using unlicensed software and ended up paying $150,000 – and its
first settlement through its Corporate Content Anti-Piracy Program.
Among other things, the SIIA also made a list of the titles most
pirated by companies and titles most pirated via the internet, much of which consisted of security tools from Symantec and productivity and design
tools from Adobe – makes you wonder if Adobe’s high price points have anything to do with them being a prime piracy target. Check out the
lists in full after the jump.
Read full
story.....
neowin.net - 27.02.2008
Pirated 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 - 16.11.2006
South Bay Man Found With 50,000 Pirated DVDs
The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office Monday announced the arrest of a 27-year-old San Martin man for allegedly pirating approximately 50,000
digital video discs.
Sheriff's deputies allegedly discovered the pirated DVDs, with an estimated street value of $250,000, after
responding to a 911 hang up at the man's home on the 12000 block of Sycamore Avenue, according to Sheriff's Office Sgt. Don Morrissey.
winbeta.org - 09.01.2008
Internet Explorer 7 Now Available to Pirates
Microsoft has released a minor update to Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP, removing the requirement for users to be validated through the company's
Windows Genuine Advantage program. This means those with non-legitimate or pirated copies of Windows can now upgrade their browser...
betanews.com - 05.10.2007
Microsoft gets serious about Windows piracy
Microsoft has been battling piracy since the beginning. But it seems as though they have finally had enough. In one of the more recent Windows
Updates, Microsoft deployed what they feel is a step in the right direction for preventing the theft of their software.
Windows users with
the pirated software installed on their computer will soon notice a black desktop, along with a permanent notice in the bottom right of their screen,
stating that they must purchase a legitimate copy of Windows. While Microsoft is trying to get their message across as best they can, the company is
still kind enough to allow all applications to run normally.
The new tactic has not gone unnoticed or without resistance. Multiple law
suites have been filed claiming Microsoft is now the one doing the hacking, though to this date, no claims have been successful. Little time has been
wasted, as users have already begun to find ways around the new feature. One way to circumvent this is as simple as shutting off the Windows Update
feature to prevent the installation of the validation program.
Many are claiming it is because of the poor economy and high priced
software that they are forced to make use of pirated goods. This may be true but they are not acceptable excuses. It is against the law to steal,
ladies and gentlemen, and Windows is finally doing something about it.
Read full story.....
neowin.net - 06.11.2008
Microsoft Says Pirated Software Invites Disaster
The more counterfeit software companies use in their networks, the greater their risk of encountering IT related problems, according to a new Harrison
Group study commissioned byMicrosoft. The study compared midmarket companies (defined as firms with between 24 and 500 PCs) in the U.S., U.K., China,
and Brazil that use fully licensed software with ones that have allowed pirated software to play a role in their operations, in a comparison not
unlike the 'Goofus And Gallant' cartoon of Highlights magazine fame.
In a Monday blog post, Alex Kochis, senior product manager in
the Windows Genuine Advantage group, said companies that use pirated software are more likely to encounter system failures that lead to data loss and
employee downtime. "The biggest difference between companies that are committed to using genuine software and those that aren't relates to loss
of sensitive data and critical system failures that impact more employees and customers," Kochis wrote.
neowin.net - 01.10.2008
5 Million Pirated Discs in Asia-Pacific Sting
Operation Trident consisted of
1,874 raids which resulted in
the seizing of nearly 5
million pirated discs and the
arrest of 870 people during a
two-month anti-piracy
operation. The large-scale
operation targeted pirate
production facilities, pirated
optical discs from street
vendors, retail shops and
markets; and the exporters of
pirated DVDs and video CDs.
The Asia-Pacific countries
involved in the raids included
Australia, China, Hong Kong,
India, Indonesia, Japan,
Malaysia, New Zealand, the
Philippines, Singapore, South
Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.
While Malaysia conducted the
most raids - 606, with 329
people arrested - it was China
where officials seized the
most discs: 60% of the 4.8
million total.
The
Motion Picture Association,
which coordinated the
operation in December and
January, said the goal was to
protect sales of movie theater
tickets and home video
products " by reducing the
availability of pirated
optical discs during the
important Christmas and New
Year holiday season ."
neowin.net - 08.02.2007
AT&T to target pirated content
AT&T Inc. has joined Hollywood
studios and recording
companies in trying to keep
pirated films, music and other
content off its network the
first major carrier of
Internet traffic to do so.
The San Antonio-based
company started working last
week with studios and record
companies to develop
anti-piracy technology that
would target the most frequent
offenders, said James W.
Cicconi, an AT&T senior vice
president.
The
nation's largest telephone
and Internet service provider
also operates the biggest
cross-country system for
handling Internet traffic for
its customers and those of
other providers...
winbeta.org - 14.06.2007
What's Cheaper: Free Software, Or Pirated Windows?
Ask anyone who regularly
downloads movies, software and
music without paying for any
of it. Ask them what they find
to be cheaper, Microsoft
Windows or Linux. If they
really think about it, theyll
tell you that Windows is
cheaper, because both of them
are free, and free Windows is
coming in at a huge
discount.
The fact of the matter is
that, in the home, software
piracy is rampant. Its why
software that sells to
businesses continues to grow
(Office, Adobe Creative Suite)
while games sales keep
dropping and Microsoft Works
is given away for free. So
many people use file sharing
networks, get copies from a
friend, or even buy $400
computers pre-loaded with
thousands of dollars of
software. They view it as a
way of life.
Dave
Gutteridge has a great article
titled Windows is
Free explaining how
Linux has a practically
impossible time competing with
Windows because anyone whod
switch on price can just
pirate Windows. For many home
users, Windows is as free as
Linux, and from a cost/benefit
position, Windows is
cheaper.
winbeta.org - 17.08.2007
Mac Trojan hits pirated copies of Adobe Photoshop
Although Apple's Macintosh environment has long been touted by its fans as "more secure" than Windows, a Trojan enabling remote control of
Mac machines struck a second time this week.
Earlier found only in illegal copies of Apple's iWork Suite, the Trojan has now turned up in
pirated copies of Adobe Photoshop for Mac OS X. Actually, the Trojan doesn't even exploit any OS vulnerability. Instead, it disguises itself as part
of the installer package for the application, so it is installed along with the application. Once installed, the malware launches a back door program,
thereby allowing an attacker to remotely conduct misdeeds such as copying data.
A tool for detecting and removing specifically this Trojan is
now available from SecureMac.com...
betanews.com - 29.01.2009
Pirated Vista May Be Useless
It looks like Microsoft was
prepared for a leak of their
upcoming OS, and has
officially stated that they
can easily render the pirated
copies useless.
"The copies available for
download are not final code
and users should avoid
unauthorized copies which
could be incomplete or
tampered. This unauthorized
download relies on the use of
pre-RTM
activation keys that will be
blocked using Microsoft's
Software Protection Platform.
Consequently, these downloads
will be of limited value,"
the statement said.
jcxp.net - 20.11.2006
Microsoft: WGA Calls Home
Daily
Microsoft Corp. acknowledged
Wednesday that it needs to
better inform users that its
tool for determining whether a
computer is running a pirated
copy of Windows also quietly
checks in daily with the
software maker.
The company said the
undisclosed daily check is a
safety measure designed to
allow the tool, called Windows
Genuine Advantage, to quickly
shut down in case of a
malfunction. For example, if
the company suddenly started
seeing a rash of reports that
Windows copies were pirated,
it might want to shut down the
program to make sure it
wasn't delivering false
results.
"It's kind of a safety
switch," said David Lazar,
who directs the Windows
Genuine Advantage
program.
Lazar
said the company added the
safety measure because the
piracy check, despite
widespread distribution, is
still a pilot program. He said
the company was worried that
it might have an unforeseen
emergency that would require
the program to terminate
quickly. Also mentioned is
that the company would tweak
the program soon so that it
only phones up Microsoft every
two weeks.
jcxp.net - 08.06.2006
Study: EU Kids Ignore Risks of MP3 Sharing
A European Commission study
has found that children in the
EU know that downloading
pirated music is illegal,
however they justify it with a
wide variety of excuses. Among
the most popular were that
everyone was doing it;
downloads were for their use
only; and that CDs and DVDs
are too costly. Many didn't
believe that downloading harms
the artist at all.
The threat of legal
repercussions is not what is
stopping many from downloading
pirated MP3s. In fact, many
cited the risk of infecting
their computers with a virus
as a bigger deterrent. Almost
all polled said they also
planned to continue
downloading music.
winbeta.org - 13.08.2007
