Member Avatar for John A

If you've been keeping up to the news, you'll likely be aware of the fact that Vista's activation code scheme for anti-piracy has been cracked by using a brute-force method, allowing any pirates to download Vista and just let the cracking program do its work.

I find this insanely ironic. Microsoft's little plan for ensuring that everyone will buy a legal copy of Vista completely backfired. Now this wouldn't be so bad if it stopped here. Windows XP was highly pirated, and yet it doesn't seem to have hurt Microsoft too much. No. The real problem here for Microsoft is that this method finds legal keys from copies of Vista that haven't yet been activated (and now won't, if the cracker decides to use the key before the person).

I've said this before, and I say it again: anti-piracy methods are counter productive. It prevents a few users from ilegally-copying the software, but the results are far worse. The pirates always find cracks for the software (and I mean ALWAYS), and instead it inconveniences the legal owners who may simply want to run their video game without the CD in the drive.

And so Microsoft gets what they deserve. Now, not only will they have the problem of piracy on thier hands, but, as the article explains, Microsoft will have to deal with the angry people who can't activate their software because the key "is invalid". Or, like the article describes, they could offer trade-ins for the keys, but that would also backfire for them. Microsoft's in a dilemma, no doubt about that.

Serves them darn right, and not a minute too soon.

  • 3 Contributors
  • 2 Replies
  • 185 Views
  • 9 Hours Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by jwenting

Dani AI

Generated

A short clarifying addendum to the thread: early March 2007 reports about a “brute‑force” Vista keygen were real, but the original story was misleading — brute‑forcing the full product‑key space is impractical at scale, and what hit the scene in practice were easier workarounds (rearm/registry tricks, faked KMS hosts, BIOS/SLP emulation and swapped beta files) rather than a single universal, instant key generator. (itpro.com)

Two of the specific, practical bypasses worth noting are the built‑in rearm workflow and the KMS/volume‑activation workaround. Vista’s Software Licensing Manager can extend the 30‑day grace period (slmgr.vbs -rearm) and a registry flag called SkipRearm was shown to let that extension be abused in some builds; that behavior was reported and discussed widely when the issue surfaced. (arstechnica.com)

Separately, attackers distributed VM images and scripts that simulated a KMS host (the “activation server” workaround), or used BIOS/SLP emulation and swapped-in beta components to get installs to accept keys — methods that work only for particular SKUs and can be mitigated (for example, by blacklisting leaked keys or updating media). Those cracked images also circulated on torrent/warez sites. (infoworld.com)

Practical, non‑controversial steps for legitimate owners and admins: check activation state with the built‑in tools, use phone activation when needed, keep proof of purchase, and avoid suspect ISOs (they often contain additional tampering or malware). Example commands (run elevated):

cscript %windir%\system32\slmgr.vbs -dli
cscript %windir%\system32\slmgr.vbs -xpr
cscript %windir%\system32\slmgr.vbs -rearm
slui.exe 4

These are the same activation/volume‑activation tools Microsoft documents for Vista; vendors and admins should follow those procedures rather than rely on cracked media. (doczz.net)

Commentary tying the thread together: ’s frustration about collateral damage to legitimate users is valid, ’s Mac comparison highlights different platform economics, and ’s point that protection deters casual copying is also true — the episode mainly exposed which implementation details were easy to abuse, not that activation as a concept is useless.

Recommended Answers

All 2 Replies

Member Avatar for TheNNS

I agree with you. When you look at mac os x, apple doesn't require its users to activate it, it never has, and they don't really have piracy problems. I guess apple ins't as big, so they don't need to worry about it, and if they were, they would start adding some activation to their products, so it's not all ms's fault.

Member Avatar for jwenting

Apple doesn't need to worry because there's no way to get a Mac without MacOs...
There are millions of computers out there however that can run Windows and get sold or built without a Windows license (including all those Macs since a few years).

Piracy protection is absolutely vital. Not only does a company loose all rights to their intellectual property if they don't protect it, it also prevents the majority of at least casual piracy.
You'll never stop the pros, but at least you're going to get rid of kids giving each other copies of their discs they got for their birthdays.

The ONLY people who state that protecting your property against criminals is useless are those criminals, who want to create an easier working environment for themselves.
Anyone else is smart enough to realise you should lock your door when you leave your house even if a determined burglar will find a way to open that lock.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.