Posted: 2006-07-02 01:47pm
Motherfucker. I just downloaded that too. Literally. I just restarted after updating and came here and clicked this because I recognized it. Shit.
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Whats really fucking annoying is that Its the only update teh "add/remove" function says is unremovable.Ender wrote:Motherfucker. I just downloaded that too. Literally. I just restarted after updating and came here and clicked this because I recognized it. Shit.
Yeah. So how hard is it to switch from Windows to Linux? I don't do any gaming, so that's not a concern for me. Is the interface easy to use? Will I have problems networking with other computers? Can I still run most commerical applications (eg iPod)? Is it a bitch to uninstall windows and install Linux?Zac Naloen wrote:Whats really fucking annoying is that Its the only update teh "add/remove" function says is unremovable.Ender wrote:Motherfucker. I just downloaded that too. Literally. I just restarted after updating and came here and clicked this because I recognized it. Shit.
It is removable. You just have to search for the LegitCheckControl.dll files in your system folders and delete them. They aren't critical to the operating system and can be removed with ease. After that, no more Genuine Check problems.Zac Naloen wrote:Whats really fucking annoying is that Its the only update teh "add/remove" function says is unremovable.Ender wrote:Motherfucker. I just downloaded that too. Literally. I just restarted after updating and came here and clicked this because I recognized it. Shit.
so doing so won't break anything?General Zod wrote:It is removable. You just have to search for the LegitCheckControl.dll files in your system folders and delete them. They aren't critical to the operating system and can be removed with ease. After that, no more Genuine Check problems.Zac Naloen wrote:Whats really fucking annoying is that Its the only update teh "add/remove" function says is unremovable.Ender wrote:Motherfucker. I just downloaded that too. Literally. I just restarted after updating and came here and clicked this because I recognized it. Shit.
Everything's working the way it should on my comp so far. And it's worked according to other people that've used it. So, it's safe to delete as far as I can tell.Zac Naloen wrote:so doing so won't break anything?General Zod wrote:It is removable. You just have to search for the LegitCheckControl.dll files in your system folders and delete them. They aren't critical to the operating system and can be removed with ease. After that, no more Genuine Check problems.Zac Naloen wrote: Whats really fucking annoying is that Its the only update teh "add/remove" function says is unremovable.
Im very wary of deleting .dll's
Not that difficult. Most distributions these days are designed to be installable and usable by actual humans. You'll need third party software for the iPod, but I expect sourceforge will have something.Ender wrote:Yeah. So how hard is it to switch from Windows to Linux? I don't do any gaming, so that's not a concern for me. Is the interface easy to use? Will I have problems networking with other computers? Can I still run most commerical applications (eg iPod)? Is it a bitch to uninstall windows and install Linux?
Seconding Ubuntu.Admiral Valdemar wrote:The iPod should work fine with amaroK player, which has added support for it. I use that for my own Samsung player and it's fine. I'd suggest Ubuntu, which is all entirely free (as in beer and freedom) and has a lot of helpful software to get you using it the way you would Windows if you wish. Besides gaming, which is still being worked on for bug issues, you can emulate Windows apps. easy enough using WINE or VMware, so you can have the best of both worlds.
It doesnt report if your copy if legit or not when it "phones home". When it "phones home" it downloads a list of keys which have been blacklisted and any updates to WGA. This gives Microsoft the option of making the software self-destruct if a significant PR backlash occurs.Admiral Valdemar wrote:The thing that gets me is that the software constantly reports back to MS HQ on whether your copy is legit or not, or so I've read.
This would seem to indicate that if you install it, and it doesn't hose you right out of the box, you can just have your firewall lock it down with no ill effects, and still have access to the other updates.Xon wrote:It doesnt report if your copy if legit or not when it "phones home". When it "phones home" it downloads a list of keys which have been blacklisted and any updates to WGA.
The question then becomes, when is a key blacklisted? Is it blacklisted after its activations run out or after how many activations? Folr older copies of the OS, there might have been a significant amount of reinstalls, which can cause trouble for the user whose license it is. I can understand things like leaked VLKs and generated keys, but otherwise it's nothing but a humongous pain in the ass. I've had it happen to me at work that I do a clean reinstall of XP, activate it and then Windows Update fucks it all up so completely that the only recourse is to reinstall again from scratch and activate it. Only got burned once by it, though, since the problem is caused by accepting a download of any graphics card drivers from Windows Update. The rest of the device drivers from there work rather well, at least the sound and network drivers do.Xon wrote:It doesnt report if your copy if legit or not when it "phones home". When it "phones home" it downloads a list of keys which have been blacklisted and any updates to WGA. This gives Microsoft the option of making the software self-destruct if a significant PR backlash occurs.Admiral Valdemar wrote:The thing that gets me is that the software constantly reports back to MS HQ on whether your copy is legit or not, or so I've read.
If you're on good terms with the shop that sold you the machine, you could feasibly go back to it in case your hdd dies and ask them to reinstall. OEM owners have an unlimited license to install it on as many machines as they see fit provided they're for re-sale of said machine.Glocksman wrote:In the case of an OEM (the one you'd get from a small shop and have to activate, not the BIOS locked ones you get with an HP or Dell that don't require activation) copy, I believe the license is tied to the machine it was first installed on and if the mobo dies, your license dies with it.
Of course, the main reason they cost vastly more than the OEM or the upgrades is fairly reasonable. . .since the OEM is meant for small business owners or similar installing them on machines for resale. . .and the upgrade assumes you've already paid for a Windows license.Retail full install discs avoid this problem, but they cost significantly more than the OEM or Upgrade versions do
AFAIK, the blacklist only refers to VLKs. It does not work with the activation system (which by design phones home anyways, so it doesn't have to be handled).Edi wrote:The question then becomes, when is a key blacklisted? Is it blacklisted after its activations run out or after how many activations? Folr older copies of the OS, there might have been a significant amount of reinstalls, which can cause trouble for the user whose license it is. I can understand things like leaked VLKs and generated keys, but otherwise it's nothing but a humongous pain in the ass.
I think you can go for motherboard replacements, too?Glocksman wrote:In the case of an OEM (the one you'd get from a small shop and have to activate, not the BIOS locked ones you get with an HP or Dell that don't require activation) copy, I believe the license is tied to the machine it was first installed on and if the mobo dies, your license dies with it.
While that would work, you would still get prompted to download the updates if you ran windows updates.Psycho Smiley wrote:This would seem to indicate that if you install it, and it doesn't hose you right out of the box, you can just have your firewall lock it down with no ill effects, and still have access to the other updates.Xon wrote:It doesnt report if your copy if legit or not when it "phones home". When it "phones home" it downloads a list of keys which have been blacklisted and any updates to WGA.
As I didn't hear about this nonsense until after I installed it in order to get at my other updates, that's the method I'll be trying.
Who know, or really cares, about how a key gets blacklisted. Any widely known keys released to the public and keys outside ranges which Microsoft has released can and probably will be blacklisted once Microsoft knows about it.edi wrote: The question then becomes, when is a key blacklisted? Is it blacklisted after its activations run out or after how many activations?
An article on The Register that dealt with the problems of WGA specified that they affect all copies, not just VLK ones, though the VLK blacklists have existed for quite a while. I've run into a couple of bootleg ones at work, and they refuse to update (which is how I found them out).phongn wrote:AFAIK, the blacklist only refers to VLKs. It does not work with the activation system (which by design phones home anyways, so it doesn't have to be handled).Edi wrote:The question then becomes, when is a key blacklisted? Is it blacklisted after its activations run out or after how many activations? Folr older copies of the OS, there might have been a significant amount of reinstalls, which can cause trouble for the user whose license it is. I can understand things like leaked VLKs and generated keys, but otherwise it's nothing but a humongous pain in the ass.
Somehow this seems to be arse-backwards. OEM copies are more versatile than retail full install copies. They just require different product keys. You can install any number of copies from a single OEM disc, but OEM installs are illegal unless the machine goes out with a valid certificate of authenticity (which is the litle lable you will find on e.g. brand name machines like Dells, IBMs, HPs and so forth. Each CoA has a different key. So if you bring a machine to a shop and the case has a CoA on it, you can install the version of Windows specified on it, or any prior version of Windows, completely legally.phongn wrote:I think you can go for motherboard replacements, too?Glocksman wrote:In the case of an OEM (the one you'd get from a small shop and have to activate, not the BIOS locked ones you get with an HP or Dell that don't require activation) copy, I believe the license is tied to the machine it was first installed on and if the mobo dies, your license dies with it.
I've seen on Ars where people who buy OEM copies for their own builds have been able to do that when the mobo dies by calling MS and explaining the situation, but I tried that with a Gateway OEM key for a customer whose Gateway died and the phone drone told me flat out that he was sorry, but the windows license for that machine died when the computer itself did.phongn wrote:I think you can go for motherboard replacements, too?Glocksman wrote:In the case of an OEM (the one you'd get from a small shop and have to activate, not the BIOS locked ones you get with an HP or Dell that don't require activation) copy, I believe the license is tied to the machine it was first installed on and if the mobo dies, your license dies with it.
My understanding was that the retail and upgrade discs worked the same way as an OEM disc: if the CD key is valid, matches the range issued for the manufacturer of your machine (in the case of an OEM key), isn't outside of the range of keys MS has issued, and isn't already in use on another machine, you pass both WPA and WGA.Though the retail full install versions have (afaik, but I could be wrong) have only one valid key specific to that disc.
It could also be a difference in how MS does business in different countries. The consumer protection laws here mean that they'd get assraped in court if they pulled that shit with a customer, since the motherboard is just a part of the computer and not the whole computer. I've needed to explain exactly once why a customer's machine needed reactivation, the rest of the time all they asked was if the same key had been used on another machine and I answered "no". It's quite possibly different in the US, but I suspect the phone drone was just being an asshole.Glocksman wrote:I've seen on Ars where people who buy OEM copies for their own builds have been able to do that when the mobo dies by calling MS and explaining the situation, but I tried that with a Gateway OEM key for a customer whose Gateway died and the phone drone told me flat out that he was sorry, but the windows license for that machine died when the computer itself did.
It's quite possible that you're correct. I think the retail and OEM keys come from different ranges, so if the CDs only accept keys from their own range, it explains everything.Glocksman wrote:My understanding was that the retail and upgrade discs worked the same way as an OEM disc: if the CD key is valid, matches the range issued for the manufacturer of your machine (in the case of an OEM key), isn't outside of the range of keys MS has issued, and isn't already in use on another machine, you pass both WPA and WGA.Edi wrote:Though the retail full install versions have (afaik, but I could be wrong) have only one valid key specific to that disc.
But I could be wrong as well, so if anyone has concrete info I'd appreciate it being posted.
I'm actually somewhat curious about whether or not Microsoft has mechanisms to detect leaked VLKs, or if they just have some guy in the basement trolling the warez sites to find the most common ones.Xon wrote:Who know, or really cares, about how a key gets blacklisted. Any widely known keys released to the public and keys outside ranges which Microsoft has released can and probably will be blacklisted once Microsoft knows about it.edi wrote: The question then becomes, when is a key blacklisted? Is it blacklisted after its activations run out or after how many activations?
This is where thier lawyers and Microsoft Lawyers go rape thier respective companies for more money.Uraniun235 wrote:Also wondering what kind of hassle it is for an organization to have to go through and change the keys on their computers if their VLK gets blacklisted.
Prior to this update, things were slightly smoother, but starting sometime this year (March, I think?) Their policies got a bit crueller about just letting you click "Activate over the Internet".Edi wrote:The question then becomes, when is a key blacklisted? Is it blacklisted after its activations run out or after how many activations? Folr older copies of the OS, there might have been a significant amount of reinstalls, which can cause trouble for the user whose license it is. I can understand things like leaked VLKs and generated keys, but otherwise it's nothing but a humongous pain in the ass. I've had it happen to me at work that I do a clean reinstall of XP, activate it and then Windows Update fucks it all up so completely that the only recourse is to reinstall again from scratch and activate it. Only got burned once by it, though, since the problem is caused by accepting a download of any graphics card drivers from Windows Update. The rest of the device drivers from there work rather well, at least the sound and network drivers do.
He may have been, but I'll bet Finland's laws have more to do with it as I'm sure ours are more 'corporate friendly'.Edi wrote: It could also be a difference in how MS does business in different countries. The consumer protection laws here mean that they'd get assraped in court if they pulled that shit with a customer, since the motherboard is just a part of the computer and not the whole computer. I've needed to explain exactly once why a customer's machine needed reactivation, the rest of the time all they asked was if the same key had been used on another machine and I answered "no". It's quite possibly different in the US, but I suspect the phone drone was just being an asshole.