Microsoft bars Windows pirates

Ubiquitous · Post by **Ubiquitous** » 2004-06-04 01:30pm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/t ... 774567.stm

Microsoft bars Windows pirates
Many people using pirated copies of Windows XP will get no help from Microsoft to make their PC safer.

The software giant has decided that a forthcoming update to XP will not work with the most widely pirated versions of its operating system.

The upgrade, called Service Pack 2, closes security loopholes in XP and adds features that make it easier to keep machines safer from viruses.

The software update is due to be released during the summer.

Pirate pack

SP2 is the long awaited upgrade for Windows XP that Microsoft hopes will make the software much more resilient to many of the ways that malicious hackers and virus writers have exploited it before now.

We are breaking our own rules that said we would not put new code into service packs
Paul Randle, Microsoft UK
Also included are features that make it easier for users to manage their anti-virus software and firewall. It also forces users to make explicit choices about how secure they want their PC to be.

Other features include a blocker for adverts that pop-up when people browse the web and background utilities that warn when spyware is trying to install itself on their machine.

Once installed SP2 also changes the way that future updates are installed.

Instead of downloading the whole chunk of XP being updated, SP2 instead only downloads the parts that have changed.

This change should reduce future patch download times by up to 80%.

Hefty download

The arrival of SP2 also has implications for those running websites and Microsoft has issued advice to help webmasters cope with the changes.

Paul Randle, Microsoft's UK manager of all things XP, said the final SP2 package would be about 80MB in size when released.

"It is not a normal service pack," he told BBC News Online. "We are breaking our own rules that said we would not put new code into service packs."

Microsoft was working hard to ensure that users could get hold of the software as many ways as possible, he said.

Net service providers plus software and hardware partners of Microsoft are expected to make copies available to customers and subscribers.

Users will also be able to register on a Microsoft website to get a CD containing the patch sent to them.

Mr Randle said during installation SP2 will check the product ID number for the copy of XP in use on a PC and will not let itself be installed if that software is a version that has been widely pirated.

Constant review

Microsoft has worked out the 20 most pirated product IDs and SP2 will not install and run on any copy of XP bearing one of those numbers.

"The situation at the moment is that we will block those," he said.

It is unclear what effect this strategy will have in countries where much of software used is illegal. For instance, the anti-piracy Business Software Alliance estimates that 92% of software in China is pirated.

Mr Randle said Microsoft was keeping its SP2 strategy under constant review.

"Whether it will change between now and launch I do not know," he said.

Service Pack 1 for Windows XP worked with almost all legitimate and pirated versions of the software.

Only those copies of XP that used the two most widely pirated product IDs were barred from getting the upgrade.

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2004-06-04 01:35pm

Microsoft has worked out the 20 most pirated product IDs and SP2 will not install and run on any copy of XP bearing one of those numbers.

Good thing there's a couple hundred product ID numbers floating around out there for pirates to use.

Xon · Post by **Xon** » 2004-06-04 02:06pm

This "news" is very old. Not to mention this is just business as usual at MS.

Post & runs are also very spammy.

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2004-06-04 02:11pm

i wonder how much longer it'll be until someone finds a loophole in their new security patch to exploit?

Vertigo1 · Post by **Vertigo1** » 2004-06-04 02:46pm

Darth_Zod wrote:i wonder how much longer it'll be until someone finds a loophole in their new security patch to exploit?

Seeing as most of the script kiddies download the patch and look at the source to start writing their little scripts to take advantage of the exploit in particular.....I'd say within 48 hours.

Ubiquitous · Post by **Ubiquitous** » 2004-06-04 03:12pm

ggs wrote:
Post & runs are also very spammy.

That wasn't what I intended, although it crossed my mind when I posted it. I also hate 'post and runs' yet, before, my time to post was limited by my keyboard being on the other side of the room to my mouse.

And to me this was new news - last I heard Microsoft was allowing everyone to upgrade to SP2 regardless of the status of the users software.

Ubiquitous · Post by **Ubiquitous** » 2004-06-04 03:13pm

Whilst we're on the subject of SP2, has anyone tried the latest build? I went searching for it before since my access to high speed internet ends this Wednesday - yet I hit a brick wall of having to have a MS beta tester account to download the build.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-06-04 04:25pm

Yeah, I've been beta-testing SP2 here. The only problem is that Security Center doesn't recognize my virus scanner -- hardly its fault since McAffee will probably come out with a patch later on.

Microsoft is probably blacklisting certain corporate keys that were known to have been leaked, including the infamous 'FCKGW' key.

salm · Post by **salm** » 2004-06-04 04:51pm

won´t there be like 5 million hackers who will make the security update run within 5 days?

Seggybop · Post by **Seggybop** » 2004-06-04 04:55pm

Didn't MS say in the past that they were going to allow SP2 to work on criminal version of XP, in the interest of preventing the spread of worms across the illegal machines to legal ones, or something like that? I guess they gave up on that plan.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-06-04 06:05pm

Seggybop wrote:Didn't MS say in the past that they were going to allow SP2 to work on criminal version of XP, in the interest of preventing the spread of worms across the illegal machines to legal ones, or something like that? I guess they gave up on that plan.

Apparently they changed their minds shortly after the original announcement.

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2004-06-04 08:59pm

Alyeska wrote:
Microsoft has worked out the 20 most pirated product IDs and SP2 will not install and run on any copy of XP bearing one of those numbers.
Good thing there's a couple hundred product ID numbers floating around out there for pirates to use.

Not to mention a program that connects to Microsoft to "verify" if any of the 100s of codes per minute it generates are valid.

They already had done the same thing with SP1

Sokartawi · Post by **Sokartawi** » 2004-06-06 06:53am

Good thing for the security updates. Maybe I'll switch to XP some day, but right now I'll just stick to Win98 for my AMD3200 /w 1GB RAM. If I switch to a 64-bits system I'll change the OS.

Anyway, there are keygenerators for XP, and also programs that lets you change your key after installation, so blocking some well-known serials isn't going to help much.

Sharp-kun · Post by **Sharp-kun** » 2004-06-06 10:27am

Sokartawi wrote: Anyway, there are keygenerators for XP, and also programs that lets you change your key after installation, so blocking some well-known serials isn't going to help much.

Depends how many of those using pirate copies are computer illiterate, and so won't know how to change the key. Saying that, they probably wouldn't update even if they knew how.

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2004-06-07 08:45pm

Seggybop wrote:Didn't MS say in the past that they were going to allow SP2 to work on criminal version of XP, in the interest of preventing the spread of worms across the illegal machines to legal ones, or something like that? I guess they gave up on that plan.

I heard that too.

Probably decided to say that, then change their minds, and hope some idiot with a pirate copy installs SP2, not realizing that they decided to make it destroy cracked copies

Vertigo1 · Post by **Vertigo1** » 2004-06-08 03:09am

Slartibartfast wrote:
Alyeska wrote:
Microsoft has worked out the 20 most pirated product IDs and SP2 will not install and run on any copy of XP bearing one of those numbers.
Good thing there's a couple hundred product ID numbers floating around out there for pirates to use.
Not to mention a program that connects to Microsoft to "verify" if any of the 100s of codes per minute it generates are valid.

They already had done the same thing with SP1

Good thing anyone that cares about that blocks that server via their hosts file.

127.0.0.1 crl.microsoft.com

Granted, my copy is legit, but I don't like my computer talking when I don't want it to. This big brother shit can kiss my ass.

Crown · Post by **Crown** » 2004-06-08 03:17am

ggs wrote:Post & runs are also very spammy.

Sorry, but if you check ALI_G's post count and cross check that with his sign up date, you would find your own comment pretty funny!

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-06-08 04:03am

Shows you how effective their anti-piracy countermeasures are as well.

Xon · Post by **Xon** » 2004-06-08 04:25am

Crown wrote:
ggs wrote:Post & runs are also very spammy.

Sorry, but if you check ALI_G's post count and cross check that with his sign up date, you would find your own comment pretty funny!

Someone with a low post count can still have most of their posts as spam. Just means they arent very active spammers

Sarevok · Post by **Sarevok** » 2004-06-08 04:52am

This is not too bad for me since I never install windows updates as I dont need them.

Ubiquitous · Post by **Ubiquitous** » 2004-06-08 09:06am

ggs wrote:
Crown wrote:
ggs wrote:Post & runs are also very spammy.

Sorry, but if you check ALI_G's post count and cross check that with his sign up date, you would find your own comment pretty funny!

Someone with a low post count can still have most of their posts as spam. Just means they arent very active spammers

I'm not a spammer, just to clear it up. Although I don't think you were directly accusing me, I just wanted to make sure a passer by didn't get 'confused' by your message...

beyond hope · Post by **beyond hope** » 2004-06-08 12:09pm

And, in related news, 80% of spam email now comes from hijacked Windows PCs.

Link requires acrobat.

Crown · Post by **Crown** » 2004-06-08 12:11pm

ggs wrote:
Crown wrote:

Sorry, but if you check ALI_G's post count and cross check that with his sign up date, you would find your own comment pretty funny!

Someone with a low post count can still have most of their posts as spam. Just means they arent very active spammers

*squints eyes*

Slippery little sucker -- aren't we?

:p

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-06-08 12:54pm

evilcat4000 wrote:This is not too bad for me since I never install windows updates as I dont need them.

Your computer is ripe for being rooted.

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2004-06-08 03:03pm

Vertigo1 wrote:
Slartibartfast wrote:Not to mention a program that connects to Microsoft to "verify" if any of the 100s of codes per minute it generates are valid.

They already had done the same thing with SP1
Good thing anyone that cares about that blocks that server via their hosts file.

I was talking about the keygenerator program, that uses their own server to figure out valid codes.