Brian Livingston has a new trick:

Microsoft has built into Vista a function that allows anyone to extend the
operating system's activation deadline not just three times, but many times.
The same one-line command that postpones Vista's activation deadline to 120
days can be used an indefinite number of times by first changing a Registry
key from 0 to 1.

This isn't a hacker exploit. It doesn't require any tools or utilities
whatsoever. Microsoft even documented the Registry key, although obtusely,
on its Technet site.

But dishonest PC sellers could use the procedure to install thousands of
copies of Vista and sell them to unsuspecting consumers or businesses as
legitimately activated copies. This would certainly violate the Vista EULA,
but consumers might not realize this until the PCs they bought started
demanding activation - and failing - months or years later.

The following describes the Registry key that's involved.

Step 1. While running a copy of Windows Vista that hasn't yet been
activated, click the Start button, type regedit into the Search box, then
press Enter to launch the Registry Editor.

Step 2. Explore down to the following Registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \ SL

Step 3. Right-click the Registry key named SkipRearm and click Edit. The
default is a Dword (a double word or 4 bytes) with a hex value of 00000000.
Change this value to any positive integer, such as 00000001, save the
change, and close the Registry Editor.

Step 4. Start a command prompt with administrative rights. The fastest way
to do this is to click the Start button, enter cmd in the Search box, then
press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. If you're asked for a network username and password,
provide the ones that log you into your domain. You may be asked to approve
a User Account Control prompt and to provide an administrator password.

Step 5. Type one of the following two commands and press Enter:

slmgr -rearm
or
rundll32 slc.dll,SLReArmWindows

Either command uses Vista's built-in Software Licensing Manager (SLMGR) to
push the activation deadline out to 30 days after the command is run.
Changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allows SLMGR to do this an indefinite number
of times. Running either command initializes the value of SkipRearm back to
0.

Step 6. Reboot the PC to make the postponement take effect. (After you log
in, if you like, you can open a command prompt and run the command
slmgr -xpr to see Vista's new expiration date and time. I explained the
slmgr command and its parameters in my Feb. 15 article.)

Step 7. To extend the activation deadline of Vista indefinitely, repeat
steps 1 through 6 as necessary

Read full story and other tricks at source:

[url]http://windowssecrets.com/comp/070315/#story1[/url]

Microsoft allows bypass of Vista activation

By Brian Livingston

Microsoft always says it opposes "software pirates" who sell thousands of
unauthorized copies of Windows.

But the Redmond company has made things a lot easier for pirates by adding a
line to the Registry that can be changed from 0 to 1 to postpone the need to
"activate" Vista indefinitely.


Activation doesn't stop true software piracy

As most Windows users know, Microsoft has required "product activation"
since the release of Windows XP in 2001. XP must be activated by
communicating with servers in Redmond within 30 days of installation. By
contrast, Microsoft Office XP, 2003, and 2007 require activatation before
the package is used 5 to 50 times, depending on the version, according to a
company FAQ. If a PC has no Internet connection, a user may activate a
product by dialing a telephone number in various countries.

The activation process will complete successfully only if the software has
not been previously activated, such as on a different machine. If activation
isn't completed within the trial period, Microsoft products temporarily shut
down some of their features. MS Office loses the ability to edit and save
files. After Vista's activation deadline runs out, the user can do little
other than use Internet Explorer to activate the operating system or buy a
new license.

Microsoft describes its product activation scheme as a way to foil software
pirates. However, as I previously described in an InfoWorld Magazine article
on Oct. 22, 2001, activation does nothing to stop mass piracy. The Redmond
company actually included in Windows XP a small file, Wpa.dbl, that makes it
easy for pirates to create thousands of machines that validate perfectly.

Far from stopping software piracy, product activation has primarily been
designed to prevent home users from installing one copy of Windows on a home
machine and a personal-use copy on a laptop. As I explained in an article on
Mar. 8, buying a copyrighted work and making another copy strictly for
personal use is specifically permitted to consumers by the U.S. Copyright
Act and the copyright laws of many other countries.

For example, courts have repeatedly ruled that consumers can make copies of
copyrighted songs or television programs for personal use (not for
distribution or resale). This principle is legally known as "fair use." The
home edition of Microsoft Office 2007 reflects this principle, allowing
consumers to activate three copies of a single purchased product. Microsoft
Windows XP and Vista, however, allow only one activation.

Surprisingly, Microsoft has embedded into its new Vista operating system a
feature that makes things easier than ever for true, mass software pirates.
These tricksters will be able to produce thousands of Windows PCs machines
that won't demand activation indefinitely - at least for a year or more.

Leaving the activation barn door open

I reported in a Feb. 1 article that the upgrade version of Windows Vista
allows itself to be clean-installed to a new hard drive. The new Microsoft
operating system completely omits any checking for a qualifying previous
version of Windows. This allows the upgrade version of Vista to successfully
upgrade over a nonactivated, trial version of itself.

After my article appeared, ZDnet blogger Ed Bott summarized the secret in a
post on Feb. 15. He flatly states, "You satisfied every condition of the
license agreement and aren't skating by on a technicality. The fact that you
have to use a kludgey workaround to use the license you've purchased and are
legally entitled to is Microsoft's fault."

In my own piece, I had speculated that clean-installing the upgrade version
of Vista "probably violates the Vista EULA (End User License Agreement)."
But more and more computer experts are saying that the procedure is fully
compliant with the EULA and, in any event, is perfectly legal.

I wrote a follow-up story on Feb. 15. I reported that Microsoft includes in
Vista a one-line command that even novices can use to postpone the product's
activation deadline three times. This can extend the deadline from its
original 30 days to as much as 120 days - almost four months.

PCWorld.com posted a report on my story on Feb. 17. The magazine quotes a
Microsoft spokeswoman as saying that extending Vista's activation deadline
as I described it "is not a violation of the Vista End User License
Agreement." I'm glad that's clear.

The feature that I've revealing today shows that Microsoft has built into
Vista a function that allows anyone to extend the operating system's
activation deadline not just three times, but many times. The same one-line
command that postpones Vista's activation deadline to 120 days can be used
an indefinite number of times by first changing a Registry key from 0 to 1.

This isn't a hacker exploit. It doesn't require any tools or utilities
whatsoever. Microsoft even documented the Registry key, although obtusely,
on its Technet site.

But dishonest PC sellers could use the procedure to install thousands of
copies of Vista and sell them to unsuspecting consumers or businesses as
legitimately activated copies. This would certainly violate the Vista EULA,
but consumers might not realize this until the PCs they bought started
demanding activation - and failing - months or years later.

The following describes the Registry key that's involved.

Step 1. While running a copy of Windows Vista that hasn't yet been
activated, click the Start button, type regedit into the Search box, then
press Enter to launch the Registry Editor.

Step 2. Explore down to the following Registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \ SL

Step 3. Right-click the Registry key named SkipRearm and click Edit. The
default is a Dword (a double word or 4 bytes) with a hex value of 00000000.
Change this value to any positive integer, such as 00000001, save the
change, and close the Registry Editor.

Step 4. Start a command prompt with administrative rights. The fastest way
to do this is to click the Start button, enter cmd in the Search box, then
press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. If you're asked for a network username and password,
provide the ones that log you into your domain. You may be asked to approve
a User Account Control prompt and to provide an administrator password.

Step 5. Type one of the following two commands and press Enter:

slmgr -rearm
or
rundll32 slc.dll,SLReArmWindows

Either command uses Vista's built-in Software Licensing Manager (SLMGR) to
push the activation deadline out to 30 days after the command is run.
Changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allows SLMGR to do this an indefinite number
of times. Running either command initializes the value of SkipRearm back to
0.

Step 6. Reboot the PC to make the postponement take effect. (After you log
in, if you like, you can open a command prompt and run the command
slmgr -xpr to see Vista's new expiration date and time. I explained the
slmgr command and its parameters in my Feb. 15 article.)

Step 7. To extend the activation deadline of Vista indefinitely, repeat
steps 1 through 6 as necessary.

Any crooked PC seller with even the slightest technical skill could easily
install a command file that would carry out steps 1 through 6 automatically.
The program could run slmgr -rearm three times, 30 days apart, to postpone
Vista's activation deadline to 120 days. It could then run skip -rearm every
30 days, for a period of months if not years, by first resetting the
SkipRearm key.

The program could be scheduled to check Vista's activation deadline during
every reboot, and to remind the user to reboot once a month if a deadline
was nearing. The buyer of such a PC would never even see an activation
reminder, much less be required to go through the activation process.

If you happen to buy a Vista PC from a little-known seller, and the price
was too good to be true, use Vista's search function to look for the string
SkipRearm in files. You may discover that your "bargain" computer will
mysteriously start demanding activation in a year or two - but your product
key won't be valid.

I asked Microsoft why SkipRearm is included in Vista if it can be used to
create machines that appear not to need activation for long periods. A
Microsoft spokewoman replied, "I connected with my colleagues and learned,
unfortunately, we do not have information to share at this time." (I can't
identify the speaker because the policy of Waggener Edstrom, Microsoft's
public-relations firm, prohibits the naming of p.r. spokespersons.)

In my testing of Microsoft's back-door loophole, I've found that the
technique can be used to postpone the activation deadline one year or
longer. It may or may not, however, work forever, as I describe below.

Why does SkipRearm even exist in Vista?

The Vista development teaam apparently inserted the SkipRearm loophole to
help major corporations work around Microsoft's new Volume Licensing
Agreement. This new program, which the Redmond company calls "Volume
Licensing 2.0," requires buyers to set up a Key Management Service (KMS)
host, as described by a Microsoft FAQ. Companies must choose from two types
of digital keys and three different methods of activation to validate
thousands of individual Vista machines within the corporate LAN.

Activation of Windows XP, by comparison, requires merely that volume
purchasers use a single product key. Corporate buyers obtain a unique key
when signing a Volume Licensing Agreement. Microsoft has said, however, that
most Windows XP piracy involves stolen product keys that are used by others
to activate unauthorized machines.

The new KMS requirement is intended to discourage such piracy, but it places
a heavy burden on corporate IT administrators. For example, Microsoft
provides a tool called System Preparation (sysprep.exe) to prepare Vista
machines for use. If a system can't be completely prepped within 30 days
after installation, an admin can run the command sysprep /generalize to
postpone the activation deadline another 30 days. However, like the
slmgr -rearm command, sysprep /generalize will only succeed three times.

To work around this, as a Technet document states, "Microsoft recommends
that you use the SkipRearm setting if you plan on running Sysprep multiple
times on a computer." This is echoed by Microsoft Knowledge Base article
929828.

Contributing editor Susan Bradley points out, "The good guys have to go
through this stupid implementation of a KMS deployment because of bad guys
abusing the system." She strongly feels that users should comply with
Microsoft's EULA provisions. "The operating system license has always been a
one-machine install. ... Many of us forget the multiple-install rule [for
Microsoft Office] since we are so used to the one license, one install
rule," she adds.

In its TechNet documents, Microsoft recommends the repeated use of
SkipRearm. How many times is "multiple times"? My testing revealed that the
answer is, well, indefinite.

.. On a copy of Vista Ultimate that Microsoft released in New York City on
Jan. 29, I found that changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allowed the command
slmgr -rearm to postpone Vista's activation deadline eight separate times.
After that, changing the 0 to 1 had no effect, preventing slmgr -rearm from
moving the deadline. The use of slmgr -rearm 3 times, plus using SkipRearm 8
times would eliminate Vista's activation nag screens for about one year (12
periods of 30 days).

.. On a copy of the upgrade version of Vista Home Premium that I bought in a
retail store on Jan. 30, slmgr -rearm also worked 3 times and SkipRearm
worked 8 times before losing their effect. This combination would, as with
Vista Ultimate, permit a one-year use of Vista without nag screens
appearing.

.. On a copy of the full version of Vista Home Premium that I bought in a
retail store on Mar. 14, SkipRearm had no effect on extending the use of
slmgr -rearm at all. This suggests that Microsoft has slipstreamed a new
version into stores, eliminating the SkipRearm feature in Vista Home. That
could mean that changing the key from 0 to 1 will now work only in the
business editions of Vista - Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate - so
corporations can use the loophole.

Where is the usage count of slmgr -rearm stored? Where is the usage count of
SkipRearm stored? These bytes won't be hard for expert users to find. The
use restrictions may be easily lifted. If so, this would allow crooked PC
sellers to truly create machines that would never need activation, ever.

The financial impact of SkipRearm on Microsoft

I'd like to repeat here that I'm not advocating that anyone use the above
technique to violate Microsoft's EULA or avoid paying for Vista. Any company
that used SkipRearm to install Vista on multiple machines for as long as
possible would have little defense against a surprise inspection by the
Business Software Alliance. This coalition of software makers, which
includes Microsoft, investigates reports of unlicensed software and obtains
warrants to conduct audits.

As a journalist, my job is to report the facts. SkipRearm was specifically
built into Vista to be used. Microsoft executives made Vista's activation
overly complex and cumbersome. So the development team apparently invented a
Registry key to lift the burden of Vista's activation deadline, for at least
a year and probably more.

The technique is so powerful and basic, however, that hackers around the
world may soon use the feature to install millions of extra copies of Vista
without buying them. This could have a major impact on Microsoft's revenues.
The company's employees and shareholders might want to be aware of this.

Product activation does little or nothing to stop mass software piracy. It's
become so convoluted, the way Microsoft has implemented it, that it's more
of an irritation to legitimate users than a worthwhile antipiracy measure.
In my opinion, Microsoft should concentrate on legal action against true
pirates instead of inventing more ways to drive honorable users bonkers.

I invite my readers to send me information about SkipRearm using the Windows
Secrets contact page. I'd like to thank my program director, Brent
Scheffler, for tirelessly testing SkipRearm dozens of times, and reader
Reine T. for being the first to point out the use of SkipRearm to me. He'll
receive a gift certificate for a book, CD, or DVD of his choice for sending
me a tip that I used.

Chad,

The use of the well documented SkipRearm registry key does not allow a LEGAL
use of the OS past the activation deadline.

Your use of the product is covered under your End User License Agreement
(EULA) that you must agree to to install the product.
Section 4 clearly states that Activation is mandatory.
Failure to activate past the notified period means you are using unlicensed
software.
The use of the registry key does not remove you mandatory requirement to
activate.
Modification for the OS by any means (including registry edits) to breach
the terms of the EULA doe not mean that you are "legally" doing anything -
you are using unlicensed software.

--
Mike Brannigan

"Chad Harris" <vistaneedsmuchowork.net> wrote in message
news:O2Z5G7PaHHA.2316@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...[color=blue]
> Brian Livingston has a new trick:
>
> Microsoft has built into Vista a function that allows anyone to extend the
> operating system's activation deadline not just three times, but many
> times. The same one-line command that postpones Vista's activation
> deadline to 120 days can be used an indefinite number of times by first
> changing a Registry key from 0 to 1.
>
> This isn't a hacker exploit. It doesn't require any tools or utilities
> whatsoever. Microsoft even documented the Registry key, although obtusely,
> on its Technet site.
>
> But dishonest PC sellers could use the procedure to install thousands of
> copies of Vista and sell them to unsuspecting consumers or businesses as
> legitimately activated copies. This would certainly violate the Vista
> EULA, but consumers might not realize this until the PCs they bought
> started demanding activation - and failing - months or years later.
>
> The following describes the Registry key that's involved.
>
> Step 1. While running a copy of Windows Vista that hasn't yet been
> activated, click the Start button, type regedit into the Search box, then
> press Enter to launch the Registry Editor.
>
> Step 2. Explore down to the following Registry key:
>
> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \
> SL
>
> Step 3. Right-click the Registry key named SkipRearm and click Edit. The
> default is a Dword (a double word or 4 bytes) with a hex value of
> 00000000. Change this value to any positive integer, such as 00000001,
> save the change, and close the Registry Editor.
>
> Step 4. Start a command prompt with administrative rights. The fastest way
> to do this is to click the Start button, enter cmd in the Search box, then
> press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. If you're asked for a network username and
> password, provide the ones that log you into your domain. You may be asked
> to approve a User Account Control prompt and to provide an administrator
> password.
>
> Step 5. Type one of the following two commands and press Enter:
>
> slmgr -rearm
> or
> rundll32 slc.dll,SLReArmWindows
>
> Either command uses Vista's built-in Software Licensing Manager (SLMGR) to
> push the activation deadline out to 30 days after the command is run.
> Changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allows SLMGR to do this an indefinite
> number of times. Running either command initializes the value of SkipRearm
> back to 0.
>
> Step 6. Reboot the PC to make the postponement take effect. (After you log
> in, if you like, you can open a command prompt and run the command
> slmgr -xpr to see Vista's new expiration date and time. I explained the
> slmgr command and its parameters in my Feb. 15 article.)
>
> Step 7. To extend the activation deadline of Vista indefinitely, repeat
> steps 1 through 6 as necessary
>
> Read full story and other tricks at source:
>
> [url]http://windowssecrets.com/comp/070315/#story1[/url]
>
> Microsoft allows bypass of Vista activation
>
> By Brian Livingston
>
> Microsoft always says it opposes "software pirates" who sell thousands of
> unauthorized copies of Windows.
>
> But the Redmond company has made things a lot easier for pirates by adding
> a line to the Registry that can be changed from 0 to 1 to postpone the
> need to "activate" Vista indefinitely.
>
>
> Activation doesn't stop true software piracy
>
> As most Windows users know, Microsoft has required "product activation"
> since the release of Windows XP in 2001. XP must be activated by
> communicating with servers in Redmond within 30 days of installation. By
> contrast, Microsoft Office XP, 2003, and 2007 require activatation before
> the package is used 5 to 50 times, depending on the version, according to
> a company FAQ. If a PC has no Internet connection, a user may activate a
> product by dialing a telephone number in various countries.
>
> The activation process will complete successfully only if the software has
> not been previously activated, such as on a different machine. If
> activation isn't completed within the trial period, Microsoft products
> temporarily shut down some of their features. MS Office loses the ability
> to edit and save files. After Vista's activation deadline runs out, the
> user can do little other than use Internet Explorer to activate the
> operating system or buy a new license.
>
> Microsoft describes its product activation scheme as a way to foil
> software pirates. However, as I previously described in an InfoWorld
> Magazine article on Oct. 22, 2001, activation does nothing to stop mass
> piracy. The Redmond company actually included in Windows XP a small file,
> Wpa.dbl, that makes it easy for pirates to create thousands of machines
> that validate perfectly.
>
> Far from stopping software piracy, product activation has primarily been
> designed to prevent home users from installing one copy of Windows on a
> home machine and a personal-use copy on a laptop. As I explained in an
> article on Mar. 8, buying a copyrighted work and making another copy
> strictly for personal use is specifically permitted to consumers by the
> U.S. Copyright Act and the copyright laws of many other countries.
>
> For example, courts have repeatedly ruled that consumers can make copies
> of copyrighted songs or television programs for personal use (not for
> distribution or resale). This principle is legally known as "fair use."
> The home edition of Microsoft Office 2007 reflects this principle,
> allowing consumers to activate three copies of a single purchased product.
> Microsoft Windows XP and Vista, however, allow only one activation.
>
> Surprisingly, Microsoft has embedded into its new Vista operating system a
> feature that makes things easier than ever for true, mass software
> pirates. These tricksters will be able to produce thousands of Windows PCs
> machines that won't demand activation indefinitely - at least for a year
> or more.
>
> Leaving the activation barn door open
>
> I reported in a Feb. 1 article that the upgrade version of Windows Vista
> allows itself to be clean-installed to a new hard drive. The new Microsoft
> operating system completely omits any checking for a qualifying previous
> version of Windows. This allows the upgrade version of Vista to
> successfully upgrade over a nonactivated, trial version of itself.
>
> After my article appeared, ZDnet blogger Ed Bott summarized the secret in
> a post on Feb. 15. He flatly states, "You satisfied every condition of the
> license agreement and aren't skating by on a technicality. The fact that
> you have to use a kludgey workaround to use the license you've purchased
> and are legally entitled to is Microsoft's fault."
>
> In my own piece, I had speculated that clean-installing the upgrade
> version of Vista "probably violates the Vista EULA (End User License
> Agreement)." But more and more computer experts are saying that the
> procedure is fully compliant with the EULA and, in any event, is perfectly
> legal.
>
> I wrote a follow-up story on Feb. 15. I reported that Microsoft includes
> in Vista a one-line command that even novices can use to postpone the
> product's activation deadline three times. This can extend the deadline
> from its original 30 days to as much as 120 days - almost four months.
>
> PCWorld.com posted a report on my story on Feb. 17. The magazine quotes a
> Microsoft spokeswoman as saying that extending Vista's activation deadline
> as I described it "is not a violation of the Vista End User License
> Agreement." I'm glad that's clear.
>
> The feature that I've revealing today shows that Microsoft has built into
> Vista a function that allows anyone to extend the operating system's
> activation deadline not just three times, but many times. The same
> one-line command that postpones Vista's activation deadline to 120 days
> can be used an indefinite number of times by first changing a Registry key
> from 0 to 1.
>
> This isn't a hacker exploit. It doesn't require any tools or utilities
> whatsoever. Microsoft even documented the Registry key, although obtusely,
> on its Technet site.
>
> But dishonest PC sellers could use the procedure to install thousands of
> copies of Vista and sell them to unsuspecting consumers or businesses as
> legitimately activated copies. This would certainly violate the Vista
> EULA, but consumers might not realize this until the PCs they bought
> started demanding activation - and failing - months or years later.
>
> The following describes the Registry key that's involved.
>
> Step 1. While running a copy of Windows Vista that hasn't yet been
> activated, click the Start button, type regedit into the Search box, then
> press Enter to launch the Registry Editor.
>
> Step 2. Explore down to the following Registry key:
>
> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \
> SL
>
> Step 3. Right-click the Registry key named SkipRearm and click Edit. The
> default is a Dword (a double word or 4 bytes) with a hex value of
> 00000000. Change this value to any positive integer, such as 00000001,
> save the change, and close the Registry Editor.
>
> Step 4. Start a command prompt with administrative rights. The fastest way
> to do this is to click the Start button, enter cmd in the Search box, then
> press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. If you're asked for a network username and
> password, provide the ones that log you into your domain. You may be asked
> to approve a User Account Control prompt and to provide an administrator
> password.
>
> Step 5. Type one of the following two commands and press Enter:
>
> slmgr -rearm
> or
> rundll32 slc.dll,SLReArmWindows
>
> Either command uses Vista's built-in Software Licensing Manager (SLMGR) to
> push the activation deadline out to 30 days after the command is run.
> Changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allows SLMGR to do this an indefinite
> number of times. Running either command initializes the value of SkipRearm
> back to 0.
>
> Step 6. Reboot the PC to make the postponement take effect. (After you log
> in, if you like, you can open a command prompt and run the command
> slmgr -xpr to see Vista's new expiration date and time. I explained the
> slmgr command and its parameters in my Feb. 15 article.)
>
> Step 7. To extend the activation deadline of Vista indefinitely, repeat
> steps 1 through 6 as necessary.
>
> Any crooked PC seller with even the slightest technical skill could easily
> install a command file that would carry out steps 1 through 6
> automatically. The program could run slmgr -rearm three times, 30 days
> apart, to postpone Vista's activation deadline to 120 days. It could then
> run skip -rearm every 30 days, for a period of months if not years, by
> first resetting the SkipRearm key.
>
> The program could be scheduled to check Vista's activation deadline during
> every reboot, and to remind the user to reboot once a month if a deadline
> was nearing. The buyer of such a PC would never even see an activation
> reminder, much less be required to go through the activation process.
>
> If you happen to buy a Vista PC from a little-known seller, and the price
> was too good to be true, use Vista's search function to look for the
> string SkipRearm in files. You may discover that your "bargain" computer
> will mysteriously start demanding activation in a year or two - but your
> product key won't be valid.
>
> I asked Microsoft why SkipRearm is included in Vista if it can be used to
> create machines that appear not to need activation for long periods. A
> Microsoft spokewoman replied, "I connected with my colleagues and learned,
> unfortunately, we do not have information to share at this time." (I can't
> identify the speaker because the policy of Waggener Edstrom, Microsoft's
> public-relations firm, prohibits the naming of p.r. spokespersons.)
>
> In my testing of Microsoft's back-door loophole, I've found that the
> technique can be used to postpone the activation deadline one year or
> longer. It may or may not, however, work forever, as I describe below.
>
> Why does SkipRearm even exist in Vista?
>
> The Vista development teaam apparently inserted the SkipRearm loophole to
> help major corporations work around Microsoft's new Volume Licensing
> Agreement. This new program, which the Redmond company calls "Volume
> Licensing 2.0," requires buyers to set up a Key Management Service (KMS)
> host, as described by a Microsoft FAQ. Companies must choose from two
> types of digital keys and three different methods of activation to
> validate thousands of individual Vista machines within the corporate LAN.
>
> Activation of Windows XP, by comparison, requires merely that volume
> purchasers use a single product key. Corporate buyers obtain a unique key
> when signing a Volume Licensing Agreement. Microsoft has said, however,
> that most Windows XP piracy involves stolen product keys that are used by
> others to activate unauthorized machines.
>
> The new KMS requirement is intended to discourage such piracy, but it
> places a heavy burden on corporate IT administrators. For example,
> Microsoft provides a tool called System Preparation (sysprep.exe) to
> prepare Vista machines for use. If a system can't be completely prepped
> within 30 days after installation, an admin can run the command sysprep
> /generalize to postpone the activation deadline another 30 days. However,
> like the slmgr -rearm command, sysprep /generalize will only succeed three
> times.
>
> To work around this, as a Technet document states, "Microsoft recommends
> that you use the SkipRearm setting if you plan on running Sysprep multiple
> times on a computer." This is echoed by Microsoft Knowledge Base article
> 929828.
>
> Contributing editor Susan Bradley points out, "The good guys have to go
> through this stupid implementation of a KMS deployment because of bad guys
> abusing the system." She strongly feels that users should comply with
> Microsoft's EULA provisions. "The operating system license has always been
> a one-machine install. ... Many of us forget the multiple-install rule
> [for Microsoft Office] since we are so used to the one license, one
> install rule," she adds.
>
> In its TechNet documents, Microsoft recommends the repeated use of
> SkipRearm. How many times is "multiple times"? My testing revealed that
> the answer is, well, indefinite.
>
> . On a copy of Vista Ultimate that Microsoft released in New York City on
> Jan. 29, I found that changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allowed the command
> slmgr -rearm to postpone Vista's activation deadline eight separate times.
> After that, changing the 0 to 1 had no effect, preventing slmgr -rearm
> from moving the deadline. The use of slmgr -rearm 3 times, plus using
> SkipRearm 8 times would eliminate Vista's activation nag screens for about
> one year (12 periods of 30 days).
>
> . On a copy of the upgrade version of Vista Home Premium that I bought in
> a retail store on Jan. 30, slmgr -rearm also worked 3 times and SkipRearm
> worked 8 times before losing their effect. This combination would, as with
> Vista Ultimate, permit a one-year use of Vista without nag screens
> appearing.
>
> . On a copy of the full version of Vista Home Premium that I bought in a
> retail store on Mar. 14, SkipRearm had no effect on extending the use of
> slmgr -rearm at all. This suggests that Microsoft has slipstreamed a new
> version into stores, eliminating the SkipRearm feature in Vista Home. That
> could mean that changing the key from 0 to 1 will now work only in the
> business editions of Vista - Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate - so
> corporations can use the loophole.
>
> Where is the usage count of slmgr -rearm stored? Where is the usage count
> of SkipRearm stored? These bytes won't be hard for expert users to find.
> The use restrictions may be easily lifted. If so, this would allow crooked
> PC sellers to truly create machines that would never need activation,
> ever.
>
> The financial impact of SkipRearm on Microsoft
>
> I'd like to repeat here that I'm not advocating that anyone use the above
> technique to violate Microsoft's EULA or avoid paying for Vista. Any
> company that used SkipRearm to install Vista on multiple machines for as
> long as possible would have little defense against a surprise inspection
> by the Business Software Alliance. This coalition of software makers,
> which includes Microsoft, investigates reports of unlicensed software and
> obtains warrants to conduct audits.
>
> As a journalist, my job is to report the facts. SkipRearm was specifically
> built into Vista to be used. Microsoft executives made Vista's activation
> overly complex and cumbersome. So the development team apparently invented
> a Registry key to lift the burden of Vista's activation deadline, for at
> least a year and probably more.
>
> The technique is so powerful and basic, however, that hackers around the
> world may soon use the feature to install millions of extra copies of
> Vista without buying them. This could have a major impact on Microsoft's
> revenues. The company's employees and shareholders might want to be aware
> of this.
>
> Product activation does little or nothing to stop mass software piracy.
> It's become so convoluted, the way Microsoft has implemented it, that it's
> more of an irritation to legitimate users than a worthwhile antipiracy
> measure. In my opinion, Microsoft should concentrate on legal action
> against true pirates instead of inventing more ways to drive honorable
> users bonkers.
>
> I invite my readers to send me information about SkipRearm using the
> Windows Secrets contact page. I'd like to thank my program director, Brent
> Scheffler, for tirelessly testing SkipRearm dozens of times, and reader
> Reine T. for being the first to point out the use of SkipRearm to me.
> He'll receive a gift certificate for a book, CD, or DVD of his choice for
> sending me a tip that I used.
>
>
>
>[/color]

Mike--

MSFT Ineffective at Preventing Vista Piracy/Prolonging Time to Activate

I have revised the subject heading to reflect the title of Brian
Livingston's article. As you know Brian is the author of Windows Vista
Secrets with Paul Thurrott.

I should have made the subject line "MSFT Ineffective at Stopping Vista
Piracy". I am not and never have advocated piracy on any of these groups. I
always use legititmat Windows and other MSFT software and have a good time
doing it. However these keys can be used to prolong use of Vista without
activation--and of course "installing the product" isn't activating it. We
have had a number of situations here where activation glitches have reared
their head, and cases (I'm not sure of the number yet, are being reported on
these groups and elsewhere that confirm my worst fears: That the "SPP" aka
the "Software Protection Policy" has forced users of legit Vista into
reduced functionality mode erratically just as WGA has failed in a
significant number of cases with legit Windows XP.

MSFT has made many claims promulgated by Brad Smith and his Associate
General Counsel Nancy Anderson that they effectively prevent piracy on an
individual basis. They are effective only because ignorance is the coin of
the realm in my country the U.S. and many other countries.

I'm going to bet that Nancy Anderson, who is paid well over a million
dollars a year at MSFT and has held MSFT stock for years worth several
million, hasn't lived in a mud hut with no plumbing nor struggled to pay the
bills. She's in the subset that pay her Congress to pass laws to protect
her and exempt her economically. I'm not justifying piracy because of
retail cost. I am saying it's pandemic because multiple countries,
including yours, has systemic legislation and economic policy that skewers
the laws to rob from the poor and disinfranchise and rob from the "middle
class" socio-economically and cater to the rich.

Note the skew here:

Q&A: How Software Piracy Undermines Economic Recovery
Microsoft Associate General Counsel Nancy Anderson leads Microsoft's efforts
to strike back at piracy's economic drain.
[url]http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2001/oct01/10-19piracyqa.mspx[/url]


I don't think Nancy Anderson is very aware of this reg hack. I point out
that MSFT's Antipiracy measures are competent to the degree people are
ignorant of what's in the registry in regards to activation, and that it can
be a convenience if people run into glitches with activation that do exist.

CH

The White House in the U.S. got caught using the DOJ and US Attorneys as a
political arm of the Republican party. Simply put, they fired 9 (not 7 or
8) US Attorneys who were pursuing major Republican congressmen like Jerry
Lewis. The pursuit of Democrats for prosecution was in the ball park of 100
to 1 statistically. US Attorneys were being directly pressured to go after
Democrats. Alberto Gonzales' claiming he knew nothing about this is beyond
incompetent and he has functioned at the level of a twit. He had no federal
litigation experience and was put in a job for which he had no skills and it
shows. His DAG McNulty has lied under oath to Congress as has he, and lying
to Congress whether under oath or not is purjery under federal law. I give
him less time than MSFT gives you to activate Vista. A number of people in
the EOUSA and at the highest levels of DOJ are guilty of breaking the law in
major ways.

The legacy of the Bush administration will be efficiency at filling coffins
at Dover for generations to come and the effective slaughter of millions of
Iraquis and Americans while squandering treasure that should have been
directed to bolstering the domestic policies that Bill Gates among others
has spent significant time, effort and parts of his personal fortune and his
Foundation to champion.

The only effective way to stop the wasteful killing is a DRAFT. That is the
only policy that will get oblivious, completely apathetic Americans
engaged--the threat of skin in the game.




"Mike Brannigan" <Mike.Brannigan@localhost> wrote in message
news:B230A84A-80B9-4683-BF2E-5ABB62EE9EE0@microsoft.com...[color=blue]
> Chad,
>
> The use of the well documented SkipRearm registry key does not allow a
> LEGAL use of the OS past the activation deadline.
>
> Your use of the product is covered under your End User License Agreement
> (EULA) that you must agree to to install the product.
> Section 4 clearly states that Activation is mandatory.
> Failure to activate past the notified period means you are using
> unlicensed software.
> The use of the registry key does not remove you mandatory requirement to
> activate.
> Modification for the OS by any means (including registry edits) to breach
> the terms of the EULA doe not mean that you are "legally" doing anything -
> you are using unlicensed software.
>
> --
> Mike Brannigan
>
> "Chad Harris" <vistaneedsmuchowork.net> wrote in message
> news:O2Z5G7PaHHA.2316@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...[color=green]
>> Brian Livingston has a new trick:
>>
>> Microsoft has built into Vista a function that allows anyone to extend
>> the operating system's activation deadline not just three times, but many
>> times. The same one-line command that postpones Vista's activation
>> deadline to 120 days can be used an indefinite number of times by first
>> changing a Registry key from 0 to 1.
>>
>> This isn't a hacker exploit. It doesn't require any tools or utilities
>> whatsoever. Microsoft even documented the Registry key, although
>> obtusely, on its Technet site.
>>
>> But dishonest PC sellers could use the procedure to install thousands of
>> copies of Vista and sell them to unsuspecting consumers or businesses as
>> legitimately activated copies. This would certainly violate the Vista
>> EULA, but consumers might not realize this until the PCs they bought
>> started demanding activation - and failing - months or years later.
>>
>> The following describes the Registry key that's involved.
>>
>> Step 1. While running a copy of Windows Vista that hasn't yet been
>> activated, click the Start button, type regedit into the Search box, then
>> press Enter to launch the Registry Editor.
>>
>> Step 2. Explore down to the following Registry key:
>>
>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \
>> SL
>>
>> Step 3. Right-click the Registry key named SkipRearm and click Edit. The
>> default is a Dword (a double word or 4 bytes) with a hex value of
>> 00000000. Change this value to any positive integer, such as 00000001,
>> save the change, and close the Registry Editor.
>>
>> Step 4. Start a command prompt with administrative rights. The fastest
>> way to do this is to click the Start button, enter cmd in the Search box,
>> then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. If you're asked for a network username and
>> password, provide the ones that log you into your domain. You may be
>> asked to approve a User Account Control prompt and to provide an
>> administrator password.
>>
>> Step 5. Type one of the following two commands and press Enter:
>>
>> slmgr -rearm
>> or
>> rundll32 slc.dll,SLReArmWindows
>>
>> Either command uses Vista's built-in Software Licensing Manager (SLMGR)
>> to push the activation deadline out to 30 days after the command is run.
>> Changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allows SLMGR to do this an indefinite
>> number of times. Running either command initializes the value of
>> SkipRearm back to 0.
>>
>> Step 6. Reboot the PC to make the postponement take effect. (After you
>> log in, if you like, you can open a command prompt and run the command
>> slmgr -xpr to see Vista's new expiration date and time. I explained the
>> slmgr command and its parameters in my Feb. 15 article.)
>>
>> Step 7. To extend the activation deadline of Vista indefinitely, repeat
>> steps 1 through 6 as necessary
>>
>> Read full story and other tricks at source:
>>
>> [url]http://windowssecrets.com/comp/070315/#story1[/url]
>>
>> Microsoft allows bypass of Vista activation
>>
>> By Brian Livingston
>>
>> Microsoft always says it opposes "software pirates" who sell thousands of
>> unauthorized copies of Windows.
>>
>> But the Redmond company has made things a lot easier for pirates by
>> adding a line to the Registry that can be changed from 0 to 1 to postpone
>> the need to "activate" Vista indefinitely.
>>
>>
>> Activation doesn't stop true software piracy
>>
>> As most Windows users know, Microsoft has required "product activation"
>> since the release of Windows XP in 2001. XP must be activated by
>> communicating with servers in Redmond within 30 days of installation. By
>> contrast, Microsoft Office XP, 2003, and 2007 require activatation before
>> the package is used 5 to 50 times, depending on the version, according to
>> a company FAQ. If a PC has no Internet connection, a user may activate a
>> product by dialing a telephone number in various countries.
>>
>> The activation process will complete successfully only if the software
>> has not been previously activated, such as on a different machine. If
>> activation isn't completed within the trial period, Microsoft products
>> temporarily shut down some of their features. MS Office loses the ability
>> to edit and save files. After Vista's activation deadline runs out, the
>> user can do little other than use Internet Explorer to activate the
>> operating system or buy a new license.
>>
>> Microsoft describes its product activation scheme as a way to foil
>> software pirates. However, as I previously described in an InfoWorld
>> Magazine article on Oct. 22, 2001, activation does nothing to stop mass
>> piracy. The Redmond company actually included in Windows XP a small file,
>> Wpa.dbl, that makes it easy for pirates to create thousands of machines
>> that validate perfectly.
>>
>> Far from stopping software piracy, product activation has primarily been
>> designed to prevent home users from installing one copy of Windows on a
>> home machine and a personal-use copy on a laptop. As I explained in an
>> article on Mar. 8, buying a copyrighted work and making another copy
>> strictly for personal use is specifically permitted to consumers by the
>> U.S. Copyright Act and the copyright laws of many other countries.
>>
>> For example, courts have repeatedly ruled that consumers can make copies
>> of copyrighted songs or television programs for personal use (not for
>> distribution or resale). This principle is legally known as "fair use."
>> The home edition of Microsoft Office 2007 reflects this principle,
>> allowing consumers to activate three copies of a single purchased
>> product. Microsoft Windows XP and Vista, however, allow only one
>> activation.
>>
>> Surprisingly, Microsoft has embedded into its new Vista operating system
>> a feature that makes things easier than ever for true, mass software
>> pirates. These tricksters will be able to produce thousands of Windows
>> PCs machines that won't demand activation indefinitely - at least for a
>> year or more.
>>
>> Leaving the activation barn door open
>>
>> I reported in a Feb. 1 article that the upgrade version of Windows Vista
>> allows itself to be clean-installed to a new hard drive. The new
>> Microsoft operating system completely omits any checking for a qualifying
>> previous version of Windows. This allows the upgrade version of Vista to
>> successfully upgrade over a nonactivated, trial version of itself.
>>
>> After my article appeared, ZDnet blogger Ed Bott summarized the secret in
>> a post on Feb. 15. He flatly states, "You satisfied every condition of
>> the license agreement and aren't skating by on a technicality. The fact
>> that you have to use a kludgey workaround to use the license you've
>> purchased and are legally entitled to is Microsoft's fault."
>>
>> In my own piece, I had speculated that clean-installing the upgrade
>> version of Vista "probably violates the Vista EULA (End User License
>> Agreement)." But more and more computer experts are saying that the
>> procedure is fully compliant with the EULA and, in any event, is
>> perfectly legal.
>>
>> I wrote a follow-up story on Feb. 15. I reported that Microsoft includes
>> in Vista a one-line command that even novices can use to postpone the
>> product's activation deadline three times. This can extend the deadline
>> from its original 30 days to as much as 120 days - almost four months.
>>
>> PCWorld.com posted a report on my story on Feb. 17. The magazine quotes a
>> Microsoft spokeswoman as saying that extending Vista's activation
>> deadline as I described it "is not a violation of the Vista End User
>> License Agreement." I'm glad that's clear.
>>
>> The feature that I've revealing today shows that Microsoft has built into
>> Vista a function that allows anyone to extend the operating system's
>> activation deadline not just three times, but many times. The same
>> one-line command that postpones Vista's activation deadline to 120 days
>> can be used an indefinite number of times by first changing a Registry
>> key from 0 to 1.
>>
>> This isn't a hacker exploit. It doesn't require any tools or utilities
>> whatsoever. Microsoft even documented the Registry key, although
>> obtusely, on its Technet site.
>>
>> But dishonest PC sellers could use the procedure to install thousands of
>> copies of Vista and sell them to unsuspecting consumers or businesses as
>> legitimately activated copies. This would certainly violate the Vista
>> EULA, but consumers might not realize this until the PCs they bought
>> started demanding activation - and failing - months or years later.
>>
>> The following describes the Registry key that's involved.
>>
>> Step 1. While running a copy of Windows Vista that hasn't yet been
>> activated, click the Start button, type regedit into the Search box, then
>> press Enter to launch the Registry Editor.
>>
>> Step 2. Explore down to the following Registry key:
>>
>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \
>> SL
>>
>> Step 3. Right-click the Registry key named SkipRearm and click Edit. The
>> default is a Dword (a double word or 4 bytes) with a hex value of
>> 00000000. Change this value to any positive integer, such as 00000001,
>> save the change, and close the Registry Editor.
>>
>> Step 4. Start a command prompt with administrative rights. The fastest
>> way to do this is to click the Start button, enter cmd in the Search box,
>> then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. If you're asked for a network username and
>> password, provide the ones that log you into your domain. You may be
>> asked to approve a User Account Control prompt and to provide an
>> administrator password.
>>
>> Step 5. Type one of the following two commands and press Enter:
>>
>> slmgr -rearm
>> or
>> rundll32 slc.dll,SLReArmWindows
>>
>> Either command uses Vista's built-in Software Licensing Manager (SLMGR)
>> to push the activation deadline out to 30 days after the command is run.
>> Changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allows SLMGR to do this an indefinite
>> number of times. Running either command initializes the value of
>> SkipRearm back to 0.
>>
>> Step 6. Reboot the PC to make the postponement take effect. (After you
>> log in, if you like, you can open a command prompt and run the command
>> slmgr -xpr to see Vista's new expiration date and time. I explained the
>> slmgr command and its parameters in my Feb. 15 article.)
>>
>> Step 7. To extend the activation deadline of Vista indefinitely, repeat
>> steps 1 through 6 as necessary.
>>
>> Any crooked PC seller with even the slightest technical skill could
>> easily install a command file that would carry out steps 1 through 6
>> automatically. The program could run slmgr -rearm three times, 30 days
>> apart, to postpone Vista's activation deadline to 120 days. It could then
>> run skip -rearm every 30 days, for a period of months if not years, by
>> first resetting the SkipRearm key.
>>
>> The program could be scheduled to check Vista's activation deadline
>> during every reboot, and to remind the user to reboot once a month if a
>> deadline was nearing. The buyer of such a PC would never even see an
>> activation reminder, much less be required to go through the activation
>> process.
>>
>> If you happen to buy a Vista PC from a little-known seller, and the price
>> was too good to be true, use Vista's search function to look for the
>> string SkipRearm in files. You may discover that your "bargain" computer
>> will mysteriously start demanding activation in a year or two - but your
>> product key won't be valid.
>>
>> I asked Microsoft why SkipRearm is included in Vista if it can be used to
>> create machines that appear not to need activation for long periods. A
>> Microsoft spokewoman replied, "I connected with my colleagues and
>> learned, unfortunately, we do not have information to share at this
>> time." (I can't identify the speaker because the policy of Waggener
>> Edstrom, Microsoft's public-relations firm, prohibits the naming of p.r.
>> spokespersons.)
>>
>> In my testing of Microsoft's back-door loophole, I've found that the
>> technique can be used to postpone the activation deadline one year or
>> longer. It may or may not, however, work forever, as I describe below.
>>
>> Why does SkipRearm even exist in Vista?
>>
>> The Vista development teaam apparently inserted the SkipRearm loophole to
>> help major corporations work around Microsoft's new Volume Licensing
>> Agreement. This new program, which the Redmond company calls "Volume
>> Licensing 2.0," requires buyers to set up a Key Management Service (KMS)
>> host, as described by a Microsoft FAQ. Companies must choose from two
>> types of digital keys and three different methods of activation to
>> validate thousands of individual Vista machines within the corporate LAN.
>>
>> Activation of Windows XP, by comparison, requires merely that volume
>> purchasers use a single product key. Corporate buyers obtain a unique key
>> when signing a Volume Licensing Agreement. Microsoft has said, however,
>> that most Windows XP piracy involves stolen product keys that are used by
>> others to activate unauthorized machines.
>>
>> The new KMS requirement is intended to discourage such piracy, but it
>> places a heavy burden on corporate IT administrators. For example,
>> Microsoft provides a tool called System Preparation (sysprep.exe) to
>> prepare Vista machines for use. If a system can't be completely prepped
>> within 30 days after installation, an admin can run the command sysprep
>> /generalize to postpone the activation deadline another 30 days. However,
>> like the slmgr -rearm command, sysprep /generalize will only succeed
>> three times.
>>
>> To work around this, as a Technet document states, "Microsoft recommends
>> that you use the SkipRearm setting if you plan on running Sysprep
>> multiple times on a computer." This is echoed by Microsoft Knowledge Base
>> article 929828.
>>
>> Contributing editor Susan Bradley points out, "The good guys have to go
>> through this stupid implementation of a KMS deployment because of bad
>> guys abusing the system." She strongly feels that users should comply
>> with Microsoft's EULA provisions. "The operating system license has
>> always been a one-machine install. ... Many of us forget the
>> multiple-install rule [for Microsoft Office] since we are so used to the
>> one license, one install rule," she adds.
>>
>> In its TechNet documents, Microsoft recommends the repeated use of
>> SkipRearm. How many times is "multiple times"? My testing revealed that
>> the answer is, well, indefinite.
>>
>> . On a copy of Vista Ultimate that Microsoft released in New York City on
>> Jan. 29, I found that changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allowed the command
>> slmgr -rearm to postpone Vista's activation deadline eight separate
>> times. After that, changing the 0 to 1 had no effect, preventing
>> slmgr -rearm from moving the deadline. The use of slmgr -rearm 3 times,
>> plus using SkipRearm 8 times would eliminate Vista's activation nag
>> screens for about one year (12 periods of 30 days).
>>
>> . On a copy of the upgrade version of Vista Home Premium that I bought in
>> a retail store on Jan. 30, slmgr -rearm also worked 3 times and SkipRearm
>> worked 8 times before losing their effect. This combination would, as
>> with Vista Ultimate, permit a one-year use of Vista without nag screens
>> appearing.
>>
>> . On a copy of the full version of Vista Home Premium that I bought in a
>> retail store on Mar. 14, SkipRearm had no effect on extending the use of
>> slmgr -rearm at all. This suggests that Microsoft has slipstreamed a new
>> version into stores, eliminating the SkipRearm feature in Vista Home.
>> That could mean that changing the key from 0 to 1 will now work only in
>> the business editions of Vista - Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate - so
>> corporations can use the loophole.
>>
>> Where is the usage count of slmgr -rearm stored? Where is the usage count
>> of SkipRearm stored? These bytes won't be hard for expert users to find.
>> The use restrictions may be easily lifted. If so, this would allow
>> crooked PC sellers to truly create machines that would never need
>> activation, ever.
>>
>> The financial impact of SkipRearm on Microsoft
>>
>> I'd like to repeat here that I'm not advocating that anyone use the above
>> technique to violate Microsoft's EULA or avoid paying for Vista. Any
>> company that used SkipRearm to install Vista on multiple machines for as
>> long as possible would have little defense against a surprise inspection
>> by the Business Software Alliance. This coalition of software makers,
>> which includes Microsoft, investigates reports of unlicensed software and
>> obtains warrants to conduct audits.
>>
>> As a journalist, my job is to report the facts. SkipRearm was
>> specifically built into Vista to be used. Microsoft executives made
>> Vista's activation overly complex and cumbersome. So the development team
>> apparently invented a Registry key to lift the burden of Vista's
>> activation deadline, for at least a year and probably more.
>>
>> The technique is so powerful and basic, however, that hackers around the
>> world may soon use the feature to install millions of extra copies of
>> Vista without buying them. This could have a major impact on Microsoft's
>> revenues. The company's employees and shareholders might want to be aware
>> of this.
>>
>> Product activation does little or nothing to stop mass software piracy.
>> It's become so convoluted, the way Microsoft has implemented it, that
>> it's more of an irritation to legitimate users than a worthwhile
>> antipiracy measure. In my opinion, Microsoft should concentrate on legal
>> action against true pirates instead of inventing more ways to drive
>> honorable users bonkers.
>>
>> I invite my readers to send me information about SkipRearm using the
>> Windows Secrets contact page. I'd like to thank my program director,
>> Brent Scheffler, for tirelessly testing SkipRearm dozens of times, and
>> reader Reine T. for being the first to point out the use of SkipRearm to
>> me. He'll receive a gift certificate for a book, CD, or DVD of his choice
>> for sending me a tip that I used.
>>
>>
>>
>>[/color]
>[/color]

Bypassing the mandatory activation to run unlicensed software is not allowed
under the terms of the EULA that you agree to abide by when you install the
software.
The SkipRearm key is well documented for its intended purpose - the use of
the this key to avoid your mandatory activation is in breach of the EULA and
not the intended purpose of this key. The fact that it is possible does not
mean it should be used to run unlicensed software, no more so then the lack
of any activation processes in early versions of Windows meant that it was
possible to breach your licensing terms and install more then one copy to
multiple machines.

Also for the sake of brevity can you withhold your usual rantings and stick
to the technical point at hand.

--
Mike Brannigan

"Chad Harris" <vistaneedsmuchowork.net> wrote in message
news:uUErJsXaHHA.3272@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...[color=blue]
> Mike--
>
> MSFT Ineffective at Preventing Vista Piracy/Prolonging Time to Activate
>
> I have revised the subject heading to reflect the title of Brian
> Livingston's article. As you know Brian is the author of Windows Vista
> Secrets with Paul Thurrott.
>
> I should have made the subject line "MSFT Ineffective at Stopping Vista
> Piracy". I am not and never have advocated piracy on any of these groups.
> I always use legititmat Windows and other MSFT software and have a good
> time doing it. However these keys can be used to prolong use of Vista
> without activation--and of course "installing the product" isn't
> activating it. We have had a number of situations here where activation
> glitches have reared their head, and cases (I'm not sure of the number
> yet, are being reported on these groups and elsewhere that confirm my
> worst fears: That the "SPP" aka the "Software Protection Policy" has
> forced users of legit Vista into reduced functionality mode erratically
> just as WGA has failed in a significant number of cases with legit
> Windows XP.
>
> MSFT has made many claims promulgated by Brad Smith and his Associate
> General Counsel Nancy Anderson that they effectively prevent piracy on an
> individual basis. They are effective only because ignorance is the coin
> of the realm in my country the U.S. and many other countries.
>
> I'm going to bet that Nancy Anderson, who is paid well over a million
> dollars a year at MSFT and has held MSFT stock for years worth several
> million, hasn't lived in a mud hut with no plumbing nor struggled to pay
> the bills. She's in the subset that pay her Congress to pass laws to
> protect her and exempt her economically. I'm not justifying piracy
> because of retail cost. I am saying it's pandemic because multiple
> countries, including yours, has systemic legislation and economic policy
> that skewers the laws to rob from the poor and disinfranchise and rob from
> the "middle class" socio-economically and cater to the rich.
>
> Note the skew here:
>
> Q&A: How Software Piracy Undermines Economic Recovery
> Microsoft Associate General Counsel Nancy Anderson leads Microsoft's
> efforts to strike back at piracy's economic drain.
> [url]http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2001/oct01/10-19piracyqa.mspx[/url]
>
>
> I don't think Nancy Anderson is very aware of this reg hack. I point out
> that MSFT's Antipiracy measures are competent to the degree people are
> ignorant of what's in the registry in regards to activation, and that it
> can be a convenience if people run into glitches with activation that do
> exist.
>
> CH
>
> The White House in the U.S. got caught using the DOJ and US Attorneys as a
> political arm of the Republican party. Simply put, they fired 9 (not 7 or
> 8) US Attorneys who were pursuing major Republican congressmen like Jerry
> Lewis. The pursuit of Democrats for prosecution was in the ball park of
> 100 to 1 statistically. US Attorneys were being directly pressured to go
> after Democrats. Alberto Gonzales' claiming he knew nothing about this is
> beyond incompetent and he has functioned at the level of a twit. He had
> no federal litigation experience and was put in a job for which he had no
> skills and it shows. His DAG McNulty has lied under oath to Congress as
> has he, and lying to Congress whether under oath or not is purjery under
> federal law. I give him less time than MSFT gives you to activate Vista.
> A number of people in the EOUSA and at the highest levels of DOJ are
> guilty of breaking the law in major ways.
>
> The legacy of the Bush administration will be efficiency at filling
> coffins at Dover for generations to come and the effective slaughter of
> millions of Iraquis and Americans while squandering treasure that should
> have been directed to bolstering the domestic policies that Bill Gates
> among others has spent significant time, effort and parts of his personal
> fortune and his Foundation to champion.
>
> The only effective way to stop the wasteful killing is a DRAFT. That is
> the only policy that will get oblivious, completely apathetic Americans
> engaged--the threat of skin in the game.
>
>
>
>
> "Mike Brannigan" <Mike.Brannigan@localhost> wrote in message
> news:B230A84A-80B9-4683-BF2E-5ABB62EE9EE0@microsoft.com...[color=green]
>> Chad,
>>
>> The use of the well documented SkipRearm registry key does not allow a
>> LEGAL use of the OS past the activation deadline.
>>
>> Your use of the product is covered under your End User License Agreement
>> (EULA) that you must agree to to install the product.
>> Section 4 clearly states that Activation is mandatory.
>> Failure to activate past the notified period means you are using
>> unlicensed software.
>> The use of the registry key does not remove you mandatory requirement to
>> activate.
>> Modification for the OS by any means (including registry edits) to breach
>> the terms of the EULA doe not mean that you are "legally" doing
>> anything - you are using unlicensed software.
>>
>> --
>> Mike Brannigan
>>
>> "Chad Harris" <vistaneedsmuchowork.net> wrote in message
>> news:O2Z5G7PaHHA.2316@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...[color=darkred]
>>> Brian Livingston has a new trick:
>>>
>>> Microsoft has built into Vista a function that allows anyone to extend
>>> the operating system's activation deadline not just three times, but
>>> many times. The same one-line command that postpones Vista's activation
>>> deadline to 120 days can be used an indefinite number of times by first
>>> changing a Registry key from 0 to 1.
>>>
>>> This isn't a hacker exploit. It doesn't require any tools or utilities
>>> whatsoever. Microsoft even documented the Registry key, although
>>> obtusely, on its Technet site.
>>>
>>> But dishonest PC sellers could use the procedure to install thousands of
>>> copies of Vista and sell them to unsuspecting consumers or businesses as
>>> legitimately activated copies. This would certainly violate the Vista
>>> EULA, but consumers might not realize this until the PCs they bought
>>> started demanding activation - and failing - months or years later.
>>>
>>> The following describes the Registry key that's involved.
>>>
>>> Step 1. While running a copy of Windows Vista that hasn't yet been
>>> activated, click the Start button, type regedit into the Search box,
>>> then press Enter to launch the Registry Editor.
>>>
>>> Step 2. Explore down to the following Registry key:
>>>
>>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion
>>> \ SL
>>>
>>> Step 3. Right-click the Registry key named SkipRearm and click Edit. The
>>> default is a Dword (a double word or 4 bytes) with a hex value of
>>> 00000000. Change this value to any positive integer, such as 00000001,
>>> save the change, and close the Registry Editor.
>>>
>>> Step 4. Start a command prompt with administrative rights. The fastest
>>> way to do this is to click the Start button, enter cmd in the Search
>>> box, then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. If you're asked for a network username
>>> and password, provide the ones that log you into your domain. You may be
>>> asked to approve a User Account Control prompt and to provide an
>>> administrator password.
>>>
>>> Step 5. Type one of the following two commands and press Enter:
>>>
>>> slmgr -rearm
>>> or
>>> rundll32 slc.dll,SLReArmWindows
>>>
>>> Either command uses Vista's built-in Software Licensing Manager (SLMGR)
>>> to push the activation deadline out to 30 days after the command is run.
>>> Changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allows SLMGR to do this an indefinite
>>> number of times. Running either command initializes the value of
>>> SkipRearm back to 0.
>>>
>>> Step 6. Reboot the PC to make the postponement take effect. (After you
>>> log in, if you like, you can open a command prompt and run the command
>>> slmgr -xpr to see Vista's new expiration date and time. I explained the
>>> slmgr command and its parameters in my Feb. 15 article.)
>>>
>>> Step 7. To extend the activation deadline of Vista indefinitely, repeat
>>> steps 1 through 6 as necessary
>>>
>>> Read full story and other tricks at source:
>>>
>>> [url]http://windowssecrets.com/comp/070315/#story1[/url]
>>>
>>> Microsoft allows bypass of Vista activation
>>>
>>> By Brian Livingston
>>>
>>> Microsoft always says it opposes "software pirates" who sell thousands
>>> of unauthorized copies of Windows.
>>>
>>> But the Redmond company has made things a lot easier for pirates by
>>> adding a line to the Registry that can be changed from 0 to 1 to
>>> postpone the need to "activate" Vista indefinitely.
>>>
>>>
>>> Activation doesn't stop true software piracy
>>>
>>> As most Windows users know, Microsoft has required "product activation"
>>> since the release of Windows XP in 2001. XP must be activated by
>>> communicating with servers in Redmond within 30 days of installation. By
>>> contrast, Microsoft Office XP, 2003, and 2007 require activatation
>>> before the package is used 5 to 50 times, depending on the version,
>>> according to a company FAQ. If a PC has no Internet connection, a user
>>> may activate a product by dialing a telephone number in various
>>> countries.
>>>
>>> The activation process will complete successfully only if the software
>>> has not been previously activated, such as on a different machine. If
>>> activation isn't completed within the trial period, Microsoft products
>>> temporarily shut down some of their features. MS Office loses the
>>> ability to edit and save files. After Vista's activation deadline runs
>>> out, the user can do little other than use Internet Explorer to activate
>>> the operating system or buy a new license.
>>>
>>> Microsoft describes its product activation scheme as a way to foil
>>> software pirates. However, as I previously described in an InfoWorld
>>> Magazine article on Oct. 22, 2001, activation does nothing to stop mass
>>> piracy. The Redmond company actually included in Windows XP a small
>>> file, Wpa.dbl, that makes it easy for pirates to create thousands of
>>> machines that validate perfectly.
>>>
>>> Far from stopping software piracy, product activation has primarily been
>>> designed to prevent home users from installing one copy of Windows on a
>>> home machine and a personal-use copy on a laptop. As I explained in an
>>> article on Mar. 8, buying a copyrighted work and making another copy
>>> strictly for personal use is specifically permitted to consumers by the
>>> U.S. Copyright Act and the copyright laws of many other countries.
>>>
>>> For example, courts have repeatedly ruled that consumers can make copies
>>> of copyrighted songs or television programs for personal use (not for
>>> distribution or resale). This principle is legally known as "fair use."
>>> The home edition of Microsoft Office 2007 reflects this principle,
>>> allowing consumers to activate three copies of a single purchased
>>> product. Microsoft Windows XP and Vista, however, allow only one
>>> activation.
>>>
>>> Surprisingly, Microsoft has embedded into its new Vista operating system
>>> a feature that makes things easier than ever for true, mass software
>>> pirates. These tricksters will be able to produce thousands of Windows
>>> PCs machines that won't demand activation indefinitely - at least for a
>>> year or more.
>>>
>>> Leaving the activation barn door open
>>>
>>> I reported in a Feb. 1 article that the upgrade version of Windows Vista
>>> allows itself to be clean-installed to a new hard drive. The new
>>> Microsoft operating system completely omits any checking for a
>>> qualifying previous version of Windows. This allows the upgrade version
>>> of Vista to successfully upgrade over a nonactivated, trial version of
>>> itself.
>>>
>>> After my article appeared, ZDnet blogger Ed Bott summarized the secret
>>> in a post on Feb. 15. He flatly states, "You satisfied every condition
>>> of the license agreement and aren't skating by on a technicality. The
>>> fact that you have to use a kludgey workaround to use the license you've
>>> purchased and are legally entitled to is Microsoft's fault."
>>>
>>> In my own piece, I had speculated that clean-installing the upgrade
>>> version of Vista "probably violates the Vista EULA (End User License
>>> Agreement)." But more and more computer experts are saying that the
>>> procedure is fully compliant with the EULA and, in any event, is
>>> perfectly legal.
>>>
>>> I wrote a follow-up story on Feb. 15. I reported that Microsoft includes
>>> in Vista a one-line command that even novices can use to postpone the
>>> product's activation deadline three times. This can extend the deadline
>>> from its original 30 days to as much as 120 days - almost four months.
>>>
>>> PCWorld.com posted a report on my story on Feb. 17. The magazine quotes
>>> a Microsoft spokeswoman as saying that extending Vista's activation
>>> deadline as I described it "is not a violation of the Vista End User
>>> License Agreement." I'm glad that's clear.
>>>
>>> The feature that I've revealing today shows that Microsoft has built
>>> into Vista a function that allows anyone to extend the operating
>>> system's activation deadline not just three times, but many times. The
>>> same one-line command that postpones Vista's activation deadline to 120
>>> days can be used an indefinite number of times by first changing a
>>> Registry key from 0 to 1.
>>>
>>> This isn't a hacker exploit. It doesn't require any tools or utilities
>>> whatsoever. Microsoft even documented the Registry key, although
>>> obtusely, on its Technet site.
>>>
>>> But dishonest PC sellers could use the procedure to install thousands of
>>> copies of Vista and sell them to unsuspecting consumers or businesses as
>>> legitimately activated copies. This would certainly violate the Vista
>>> EULA, but consumers might not realize this until the PCs they bought
>>> started demanding activation - and failing - months or years later.
>>>
>>> The following describes the Registry key that's involved.
>>>
>>> Step 1. While running a copy of Windows Vista that hasn't yet been
>>> activated, click the Start button, type regedit into the Search box,
>>> then press Enter to launch the Registry Editor.
>>>
>>> Step 2. Explore down to the following Registry key:
>>>
>>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion
>>> \ SL
>>>
>>> Step 3. Right-click the Registry key named SkipRearm and click Edit. The
>>> default is a Dword (a double word or 4 bytes) with a hex value of
>>> 00000000. Change this value to any positive integer, such as 00000001,
>>> save the change, and close the Registry Editor.
>>>
>>> Step 4. Start a command prompt with administrative rights. The fastest
>>> way to do this is to click the Start button, enter cmd in the Search
>>> box, then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. If you're asked for a network username
>>> and password, provide the ones that log you into your domain. You may be
>>> asked to approve a User Account Control prompt and to provide an
>>> administrator password.
>>>
>>> Step 5. Type one of the following two commands and press Enter:
>>>
>>> slmgr -rearm
>>> or
>>> rundll32 slc.dll,SLReArmWindows
>>>
>>> Either command uses Vista's built-in Software Licensing Manager (SLMGR)
>>> to push the activation deadline out to 30 days after the command is run.
>>> Changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allows SLMGR to do this an indefinite
>>> number of times. Running either command initializes the value of
>>> SkipRearm back to 0.
>>>
>>> Step 6. Reboot the PC to make the postponement take effect. (After you
>>> log in, if you like, you can open a command prompt and run the command
>>> slmgr -xpr to see Vista's new expiration date and time. I explained the
>>> slmgr command and its parameters in my Feb. 15 article.)
>>>
>>> Step 7. To extend the activation deadline of Vista indefinitely, repeat
>>> steps 1 through 6 as necessary.
>>>
>>> Any crooked PC seller with even the slightest technical skill could
>>> easily install a command file that would carry out steps 1 through 6
>>> automatically. The program could run slmgr -rearm three times, 30 days
>>> apart, to postpone Vista's activation deadline to 120 days. It could
>>> then run skip -rearm every 30 days, for a period of months if not years,
>>> by first resetting the SkipRearm key.
>>>
>>> The program could be scheduled to check Vista's activation deadline
>>> during every reboot, and to remind the user to reboot once a month if a
>>> deadline was nearing. The buyer of such a PC would never even see an
>>> activation reminder, much less be required to go through the activation
>>> process.
>>>
>>> If you happen to buy a Vista PC from a little-known seller, and the
>>> price was too good to be true, use Vista's search function to look for
>>> the string SkipRearm in files. You may discover that your "bargain"
>>> computer will mysteriously start demanding activation in a year or two -
>>> but your product key won't be valid.
>>>
>>> I asked Microsoft why SkipRearm is included in Vista if it can be used
>>> to create machines that appear not to need activation for long periods.
>>> A Microsoft spokewoman replied, "I connected with my colleagues and
>>> learned, unfortunately, we do not have information to share at this
>>> time." (I can't identify the speaker because the policy of Waggener
>>> Edstrom, Microsoft's public-relations firm, prohibits the naming of p.r.
>>> spokespersons.)
>>>
>>> In my testing of Microsoft's back-door loophole, I've found that the
>>> technique can be used to postpone the activation deadline one year or
>>> longer. It may or may not, however, work forever, as I describe below.
>>>
>>> Why does SkipRearm even exist in Vista?
>>>
>>> The Vista development teaam apparently inserted the SkipRearm loophole
>>> to help major corporations work around Microsoft's new Volume Licensing
>>> Agreement. This new program, which the Redmond company calls "Volume
>>> Licensing 2.0," requires buyers to set up a Key Management Service (KMS)
>>> host, as described by a Microsoft FAQ. Companies must choose from two
>>> types of digital keys and three different methods of activation to
>>> validate thousands of individual Vista machines within the corporate
>>> LAN.
>>>
>>> Activation of Windows XP, by comparison, requires merely that volume
>>> purchasers use a single product key. Corporate buyers obtain a unique
>>> key when signing a Volume Licensing Agreement. Microsoft has said,
>>> however, that most Windows XP piracy involves stolen product keys that
>>> are used by others to activate unauthorized machines.
>>>
>>> The new KMS requirement is intended to discourage such piracy, but it
>>> places a heavy burden on corporate IT administrators. For example,
>>> Microsoft provides a tool called System Preparation (sysprep.exe) to
>>> prepare Vista machines for use. If a system can't be completely prepped
>>> within 30 days after installation, an admin can run the command sysprep
>>> /generalize to postpone the activation deadline another 30 days.
>>> However, like the slmgr -rearm command, sysprep /generalize will only
>>> succeed three times.
>>>
>>> To work around this, as a Technet document states, "Microsoft recommends
>>> that you use the SkipRearm setting if you plan on running Sysprep
>>> multiple times on a computer." This is echoed by Microsoft Knowledge
>>> Base article 929828.
>>>
>>> Contributing editor Susan Bradley points out, "The good guys have to go
>>> through this stupid implementation of a KMS deployment because of bad
>>> guys abusing the system." She strongly feels that users should comply
>>> with Microsoft's EULA provisions. "The operating system license has
>>> always been a one-machine install. ... Many of us forget the
>>> multiple-install rule [for Microsoft Office] since we are so used to the
>>> one license, one install rule," she adds.
>>>
>>> In its TechNet documents, Microsoft recommends the repeated use of
>>> SkipRearm. How many times is "multiple times"? My testing revealed that
>>> the answer is, well, indefinite.
>>>
>>> . On a copy of Vista Ultimate that Microsoft released in New York City
>>> on Jan. 29, I found that changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allowed the
>>> command slmgr -rearm to postpone Vista's activation deadline eight
>>> separate times. After that, changing the 0 to 1 had no effect,
>>> preventing slmgr -rearm from moving the deadline. The use of
>>> slmgr -rearm 3 times, plus using SkipRearm 8 times would eliminate
>>> Vista's activation nag screens for about one year (12 periods of 30
>>> days).
>>>
>>> . On a copy of the upgrade version of Vista Home Premium that I bought
>>> in a retail store on Jan. 30, slmgr -rearm also worked 3 times and
>>> SkipRearm worked 8 times before losing their effect. This combination
>>> would, as with Vista Ultimate, permit a one-year use of Vista without
>>> nag screens appearing.
>>>
>>> . On a copy of the full version of Vista Home Premium that I bought in a
>>> retail store on Mar. 14, SkipRearm had no effect on extending the use of
>>> slmgr -rearm at all. This suggests that Microsoft has slipstreamed a new
>>> version into stores, eliminating the SkipRearm feature in Vista Home.
>>> That could mean that changing the key from 0 to 1 will now work only in
>>> the business editions of Vista - Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate - so
>>> corporations can use the loophole.
>>>
>>> Where is the usage count of slmgr -rearm stored? Where is the usage
>>> count of SkipRearm stored? These bytes won't be hard for expert users to
>>> find. The use restrictions may be easily lifted. If so, this would allow
>>> crooked PC sellers to truly create machines that would never need
>>> activation, ever.
>>>
>>> The financial impact of SkipRearm on Microsoft
>>>
>>> I'd like to repeat here that I'm not advocating that anyone use the
>>> above technique to violate Microsoft's EULA or avoid paying for Vista.
>>> Any company that used SkipRearm to install Vista on multiple machines
>>> for as long as possible would have little defense against a surprise
>>> inspection by the Business Software Alliance. This coalition of software
>>> makers, which includes Microsoft, investigates reports of unlicensed
>>> software and obtains warrants to conduct audits.
>>>
>>> As a journalist, my job is to report the facts. SkipRearm was
>>> specifically built into Vista to be used. Microsoft executives made
>>> Vista's activation overly complex and cumbersome. So the development
>>> team apparently invented a Registry key to lift the burden of Vista's
>>> activation deadline, for at least a year and probably more.
>>>
>>> The technique is so powerful and basic, however, that hackers around the
>>> world may soon use the feature to install millions of extra copies of
>>> Vista without buying them. This could have a major impact on Microsoft's
>>> revenues. The company's employees and shareholders might want to be
>>> aware of this.
>>>
>>> Product activation does little or nothing to stop mass software piracy.
>>> It's become so convoluted, the way Microsoft has implemented it, that
>>> it's more of an irritation to legitimate users than a worthwhile
>>> antipiracy measure. In my opinion, Microsoft should concentrate on legal
>>> action against true pirates instead of inventing more ways to drive
>>> honorable users bonkers.
>>>
>>> I invite my readers to send me information about SkipRearm using the
>>> Windows Secrets contact page. I'd like to thank my program director,
>>> Brent Scheffler, for tirelessly testing SkipRearm dozens of times, and
>>> reader Reine T. for being the first to point out the use of SkipRearm to
>>> me. He'll receive a gift certificate for a book, CD, or DVD of his
>>> choice for sending me a tip that I used.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>[/color]
>>[/color]
>[/color]

Sticking to the 'technical point at hand', the article should have been
released on April Fools' Day. It's complete misinformation.

--
Jon



"Mike Brannigan" <Mike.Brannigan@localhost> wrote in message
news:OfzQZHYaHHA.1244@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...[color=blue]
> Bypassing the mandatory activation to run unlicensed software is not
> allowed under the terms of the EULA that you agree to abide by when you
> install the software.
> The SkipRearm key is well documented for its intended purpose - the use of
> the this key to avoid your mandatory activation is in breach of the EULA
> and not the intended purpose of this key. The fact that it is possible
> does not mean it should be used to run unlicensed software, no more so
> then the lack of any activation processes in early versions of Windows
> meant that it was possible to breach your licensing terms and install more
> then one copy to multiple machines.
>
> Also for the sake of brevity can you withhold your usual rantings and
> stick to the technical point at hand.
>
> --
> Mike Brannigan
>
> "Chad Harris" <vistaneedsmuchowork.net> wrote in message
> news:uUErJsXaHHA.3272@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...[color=green]
>> Mike--
>>
>> MSFT Ineffective at Preventing Vista Piracy/Prolonging Time to Activate
>>
>> I have revised the subject heading to reflect the title of Brian
>> Livingston's article. As you know Brian is the author of Windows Vista
>> Secrets with Paul Thurrott.
>>
>> I should have made the subject line "MSFT Ineffective at Stopping Vista
>> Piracy". I am not and never have advocated piracy on any of these
>> groups. I always use legititmat Windows and other MSFT software and have
>> a good time doing it. However these keys can be used to prolong use of
>> Vista without activation--and of course "installing the product" isn't
>> activating it. We have had a number of situations here where activation
>> glitches have reared their head, and cases (I'm not sure of the number
>> yet, are being reported on these groups and elsewhere that confirm my
>> worst fears: That the "SPP" aka the "Software Protection Policy" has
>> forced users of legit Vista into reduced functionality mode erratically
>> just as WGA has failed in a significant number of cases with legit
>> Windows XP.
>>
>> MSFT has made many claims promulgated by Brad Smith and his Associate
>> General Counsel Nancy Anderson that they effectively prevent piracy on an
>> individual basis. They are effective only because ignorance is the coin
>> of the realm in my country the U.S. and many other countries.
>>
>> I'm going to bet that Nancy Anderson, who is paid well over a million
>> dollars a year at MSFT and has held MSFT stock for years worth several
>> million, hasn't lived in a mud hut with no plumbing nor struggled to pay
>> the bills. She's in the subset that pay her Congress to pass laws to
>> protect her and exempt her economically. I'm not justifying piracy
>> because of retail cost. I am saying it's pandemic because multiple
>> countries, including yours, has systemic legislation and economic policy
>> that skewers the laws to rob from the poor and disinfranchise and rob
>> from the "middle class" socio-economically and cater to the rich.
>>
>> Note the skew here:
>>
>> Q&A: How Software Piracy Undermines Economic Recovery
>> Microsoft Associate General Counsel Nancy Anderson leads Microsoft's
>> efforts to strike back at piracy's economic drain.
>> [url]http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2001/oct01/10-19piracyqa.mspx[/url]
>>
>>
>> I don't think Nancy Anderson is very aware of this reg hack. I point out
>> that MSFT's Antipiracy measures are competent to the degree people are
>> ignorant of what's in the registry in regards to activation, and that it
>> can be a convenience if people run into glitches with activation that do
>> exist.
>>
>> CH
>>
>> The White House in the U.S. got caught using the DOJ and US Attorneys as
>> a political arm of the Republican party. Simply put, they fired 9 (not 7
>> or 8) US Attorneys who were pursuing major Republican congressmen like
>> Jerry Lewis. The pursuit of Democrats for prosecution was in the ball
>> park of 100 to 1 statistically. US Attorneys were being directly
>> pressured to go after Democrats. Alberto Gonzales' claiming he knew
>> nothing about this is beyond incompetent and he has functioned at the
>> level of a twit. He had no federal litigation experience and was put in
>> a job for which he had no skills and it shows. His DAG McNulty has lied
>> under oath to Congress as has he, and lying to Congress whether under
>> oath or not is purjery under federal law. I give him less time than MSFT
>> gives you to activate Vista. A number of people in the EOUSA and at the
>> highest levels of DOJ are guilty of breaking the law in major ways.
>>
>> The legacy of the Bush administration will be efficiency at filling
>> coffins at Dover for generations to come and the effective slaughter of
>> millions of Iraquis and Americans while squandering treasure that should
>> have been directed to bolstering the domestic policies that Bill Gates
>> among others has spent significant time, effort and parts of his personal
>> fortune and his Foundation to champion.
>>
>> The only effective way to stop the wasteful killing is a DRAFT. That is
>> the only policy that will get oblivious, completely apathetic Americans
>> engaged--the threat of skin in the game.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> "Mike Brannigan" <Mike.Brannigan@localhost> wrote in message
>> news:B230A84A-80B9-4683-BF2E-5ABB62EE9EE0@microsoft.com...[color=darkred]
>>> Chad,
>>>
>>> The use of the well documented SkipRearm registry key does not allow a
>>> LEGAL use of the OS past the activation deadline.
>>>
>>> Your use of the product is covered under your End User License Agreement
>>> (EULA) that you must agree to to install the product.
>>> Section 4 clearly states that Activation is mandatory.
>>> Failure to activate past the notified period means you are using
>>> unlicensed software.
>>> The use of the registry key does not remove you mandatory requirement to
>>> activate.
>>> Modification for the OS by any means (including registry edits) to
>>> breach the terms of the EULA doe not mean that you are "legally" doing
>>> anything - you are using unlicensed software.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Mike Brannigan
>>>
>>> "Chad Harris" <vistaneedsmuchowork.net> wrote in message
>>> news:O2Z5G7PaHHA.2316@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>>>> Brian Livingston has a new trick:
>>>>
>>>> Microsoft has built into Vista a function that allows anyone to extend
>>>> the operating system's activation deadline not just three times, but
>>>> many times. The same one-line command that postpones Vista's activation
>>>> deadline to 120 days can be used an indefinite number of times by first
>>>> changing a Registry key from 0 to 1.
>>>>
>>>> This isn't a hacker exploit. It doesn't require any tools or utilities
>>>> whatsoever. Microsoft even documented the Registry key, although
>>>> obtusely, on its Technet site.
>>>>
>>>> But dishonest PC sellers could use the procedure to install thousands
>>>> of copies of Vista and sell them to unsuspecting consumers or
>>>> businesses as legitimately activated copies. This would certainly
>>>> violate the Vista EULA, but consumers might not realize this until the
>>>> PCs they bought started demanding activation - and failing - months or
>>>> years later.
>>>>
>>>> The following describes the Registry key that's involved.
>>>>
>>>> Step 1. While running a copy of Windows Vista that hasn't yet been
>>>> activated, click the Start button, type regedit into the Search box,
>>>> then press Enter to launch the Registry Editor.
>>>>
>>>> Step 2. Explore down to the following Registry key:
>>>>
>>>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion
>>>> \ SL
>>>>
>>>> Step 3. Right-click the Registry key named SkipRearm and click Edit.
>>>> The default is a Dword (a double word or 4 bytes) with a hex value of
>>>> 00000000. Change this value to any positive integer, such as 00000001,
>>>> save the change, and close the Registry Editor.
>>>>
>>>> Step 4. Start a command prompt with administrative rights. The fastest
>>>> way to do this is to click the Start button, enter cmd in the Search
>>>> box, then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. If you're asked for a network
>>>> username and password, provide the ones that log you into your domain.
>>>> You may be asked to approve a User Account Control prompt and to
>>>> provide an administrator password.
>>>>
>>>> Step 5. Type one of the following two commands and press Enter:
>>>>
>>>> slmgr -rearm
>>>> or
>>>> rundll32 slc.dll,SLReArmWindows
>>>>
>>>> Either command uses Vista's built-in Software Licensing Manager (SLMGR)
>>>> to push the activation deadline out to 30 days after the command is
>>>> run. Changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allows SLMGR to do this an
>>>> indefinite number of times. Running either command initializes the
>>>> value of SkipRearm back to 0.
>>>>
>>>> Step 6. Reboot the PC to make the postponement take effect. (After you
>>>> log in, if you like, you can open a command prompt and run the command
>>>> slmgr -xpr to see Vista's new expiration date and time. I explained the
>>>> slmgr command and its parameters in my Feb. 15 article.)
>>>>
>>>> Step 7. To extend the activation deadline of Vista indefinitely, repeat
>>>> steps 1 through 6 as necessary
>>>>
>>>> Read full story and other tricks at source:
>>>>
>>>> [url]http://windowssecrets.com/comp/070315/#story1[/url]
>>>>
>>>> Microsoft allows bypass of Vista activation
>>>>
>>>> By Brian Livingston
>>>>
>>>> Microsoft always says it opposes "software pirates" who sell thousands
>>>> of unauthorized copies of Windows.
>>>>
>>>> But the Redmond company has made things a lot easier for pirates by
>>>> adding a line to the Registry that can be changed from 0 to 1 to
>>>> postpone the need to "activate" Vista indefinitely.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Activation doesn't stop true software piracy
>>>>
>>>> As most Windows users know, Microsoft has required "product activation"
>>>> since the release of Windows XP in 2001. XP must be activated by
>>>> communicating with servers in Redmond within 30 days of installation.
>>>> By contrast, Microsoft Office XP, 2003, and 2007 require activatation
>>>> before the package is used 5 to 50 times, depending on the version,
>>>> according to a company FAQ. If a PC has no Internet connection, a user
>>>> may activate a product by dialing a telephone number in various
>>>> countries.
>>>>
>>>> The activation process will complete successfully only if the software
>>>> has not been previously activated, such as on a different machine. If
>>>> activation isn't completed within the trial period, Microsoft products
>>>> temporarily shut down some of their features. MS Office loses the
>>>> ability to edit and save files. After Vista's activation deadline runs
>>>> out, the user can do little other than use Internet Explorer to
>>>> activate the operating system or buy a new license.
>>>>
>>>> Microsoft describes its product activation scheme as a way to foil
>>>> software pirates. However, as I previously described in an InfoWorld
>>>> Magazine article on Oct. 22, 2001, activation does nothing to stop mass
>>>> piracy. The Redmond company actually included in Windows XP a small
>>>> file, Wpa.dbl, that makes it easy for pirates to create thousands of
>>>> machines that validate perfectly.
>>>>
>>>> Far from stopping software piracy, product activation has primarily
>>>> been designed to prevent home users from installing one copy of Windows
>>>> on a home machine and a personal-use copy on a laptop. As I explained
>>>> in an article on Mar. 8, buying a copyrighted work and making another
>>>> copy strictly for personal use is specifically permitted to consumers
>>>> by the U.S. Copyright Act and the copyright laws of many other
>>>> countries.
>>>>
>>>> For example, courts have repeatedly ruled that consumers can make
>>>> copies of copyrighted songs or television programs for personal use
>>>> (not for distribution or resale). This principle is legally known as
>>>> "fair use." The home edition of Microsoft Office 2007 reflects this
>>>> principle, allowing consumers to activate three copies of a single
>>>> purchased product. Microsoft Windows XP and Vista, however, allow only
>>>> one activation.
>>>>
>>>> Surprisingly, Microsoft has embedded into its new Vista operating
>>>> system a feature that makes things easier than ever for true, mass
>>>> software pirates. These tricksters will be able to produce thousands of
>>>> Windows PCs machines that won't demand activation indefinitely - at
>>>> least for a year or more.
>>>>
>>>> Leaving the activation barn door open
>>>>
>>>> I reported in a Feb. 1 article that the upgrade version of Windows
>>>> Vista allows itself to be clean-installed to a new hard drive. The new
>>>> Microsoft operating system completely omits any checking for a
>>>> qualifying previous version of Windows. This allows the upgrade version
>>>> of Vista to successfully upgrade over a nonactivated, trial version of
>>>> itself.
>>>>
>>>> After my article appeared, ZDnet blogger Ed Bott summarized the secret
>>>> in a post on Feb. 15. He flatly states, "You satisfied every condition
>>>> of the license agreement and aren't skating by on a technicality. The
>>>> fact that you have to use a kludgey workaround to use the license
>>>> you've purchased and are legally entitled to is Microsoft's fault."
>>>>
>>>> In my own piece, I had speculated that clean-installing the upgrade
>>>> version of Vista "probably violates the Vista EULA (End User License
>>>> Agreement)." But more and more computer experts are saying that the
>>>> procedure is fully compliant with the EULA and, in any event, is
>>>> perfectly legal.
>>>>
>>>> I wrote a follow-up story on Feb. 15. I reported that Microsoft
>>>> includes in Vista a one-line command that even novices can use to
>>>> postpone the product's activation deadline three times. This can extend
>>>> the deadline from its original 30 days to as much as 120 days - almost
>>>> four months.
>>>>
>>>> PCWorld.com posted a report on my story on Feb. 17. The magazine quotes
>>>> a Microsoft spokeswoman as saying that extending Vista's activation
>>>> deadline as I described it "is not a violation of the Vista End User
>>>> License Agreement." I'm glad that's clear.
>>>>
>>>> The feature that I've revealing today shows that Microsoft has built
>>>> into Vista a function that allows anyone to extend the operating
>>>> system's activation deadline not just three times, but many times. The
>>>> same one-line command that postpones Vista's activation deadline to 120
>>>> days can be used an indefinite number of times by first changing a
>>>> Registry key from 0 to 1.
>>>>
>>>> This isn't a hacker exploit. It doesn't require any tools or utilities
>>>> whatsoever. Microsoft even documented the Registry key, although
>>>> obtusely, on its Technet site.
>>>>
>>>> But dishonest PC sellers could use the procedure to install thousands
>>>> of copies of Vista and sell them to unsuspecting consumers or
>>>> businesses as legitimately activated copies. This would certainly
>>>> violate the Vista EULA, but consumers might not realize this until the
>>>> PCs they bought started demanding activation - and failing - months or
>>>> years later.
>>>>
>>>> The following describes the Registry key that's involved.
>>>>
>>>> Step 1. While running a copy of Windows Vista that hasn't yet been
>>>> activated, click the Start button, type regedit into the Search box,
>>>> then press Enter to launch the Registry Editor.
>>>>
>>>> Step 2. Explore down to the following Registry key:
>>>>
>>>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion
>>>> \ SL
>>>>
>>>> Step 3. Right-click the Registry key named SkipRearm and click Edit.
>>>> The default is a Dword (a double word or 4 bytes) with a hex value of
>>>> 00000000. Change this value to any positive integer, such as 00000001,
>>>> save the change, and close the Registry Editor.
>>>>
>>>> Step 4. Start a command prompt with administrative rights. The fastest
>>>> way to do this is to click the Start button, enter cmd in the Search
>>>> box, then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. If you're asked for a network
>>>> username and password, provide the ones that log you into your domain.
>>>> You may be asked to approve a User Account Control prompt and to
>>>> provide an administrator password.
>>>>
>>>> Step 5. Type one of the following two commands and press Enter:
>>>>
>>>> slmgr -rearm
>>>> or
>>>> rundll32 slc.dll,SLReArmWindows
>>>>
>>>> Either command uses Vista's built-in Software Licensing Manager (SLMGR)
>>>> to push the activation deadline out to 30 days after the command is
>>>> run. Changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allows SLMGR to do this an
>>>> indefinite number of times. Running either command initializes the
>>>> value of SkipRearm back to 0.
>>>>
>>>> Step 6. Reboot the PC to make the postponement take effect. (After you
>>>> log in, if you like, you can open a command prompt and run the command
>>>> slmgr -xpr to see Vista's new expiration date and time. I explained the
>>>> slmgr command and its parameters in my Feb. 15 article.)
>>>>
>>>> Step 7. To extend the activation deadline of Vista indefinitely, repeat
>>>> steps 1 through 6 as necessary.
>>>>
>>>> Any crooked PC seller with even the slightest technical skill could
>>>> easily install a command file that would carry out steps 1 through 6
>>>> automatically. The program could run slmgr -rearm three times, 30 days
>>>> apart, to postpone Vista's activation deadline to 120 days. It could
>>>> then run skip -rearm every 30 days, for a period of months if not
>>>> years, by first resetting the SkipRearm key.
>>>>
>>>> The program could be scheduled to check Vista's activation deadline
>>>> during every reboot, and to remind the user to reboot once a month if a
>>>> deadline was nearing. The buyer of such a PC would never even see an
>>>> activation reminder, much less be required to go through the activation
>>>> process.
>>>>
>>>> If you happen to buy a Vista PC from a little-known seller, and the
>>>> price was too good to be true, use Vista's search function to look for
>>>> the string SkipRearm in files. You may discover that your "bargain"
>>>> computer will mysteriously start demanding activation in a year or
>>>> two - but your product key won't be valid.
>>>>
>>>> I asked Microsoft why SkipRearm is included in Vista if it can be used
>>>> to create machines that appear not to need activation for long periods.
>>>> A Microsoft spokewoman replied, "I connected with my colleagues and
>>>> learned, unfortunately, we do not have information to share at this
>>>> time." (I can't identify the speaker because the policy of Waggener
>>>> Edstrom, Microsoft's public-relations firm, prohibits the naming of
>>>> p.r. spokespersons.)
>>>>
>>>> In my testing of Microsoft's back-door loophole, I've found that the
>>>> technique can be used to postpone the activation deadline one year or
>>>> longer. It may or may not, however, work forever, as I describe below.
>>>>
>>>> Why does SkipRearm even exist in Vista?
>>>>
>>>> The Vista development teaam apparently inserted the SkipRearm loophole
>>>> to help major corporations work around Microsoft's new Volume Licensing
>>>> Agreement. This new program, which the Redmond company calls "Volume
>>>> Licensing 2.0," requires buyers to set up a Key Management Service
>>>> (KMS) host, as described by a Microsoft FAQ. Companies must choose from
>>>> two types of digital keys and three different methods of activation to
>>>> validate thousands of individual Vista machines within the corporate
>>>> LAN.
>>>>
>>>> Activation of Windows XP, by comparison, requires merely that volume
>>>> purchasers use a single product key. Corporate buyers obtain a unique
>>>> key when signing a Volume Licensing Agreement. Microsoft has said,
>>>> however, that most Windows XP piracy involves stolen product keys that
>>>> are used by others to activate unauthorized machines.
>>>>
>>>> The new KMS requirement is intended to discourage such piracy, but it
>>>> places a heavy burden on corporate IT administrators. For example,
>>>> Microsoft provides a tool called System Preparation (sysprep.exe) to
>>>> prepare Vista machines for use. If a system can't be completely prepped
>>>> within 30 days after installation, an admin can run the command sysprep
>>>> /generalize to postpone the activation deadline another 30 days.
>>>> However, like the slmgr -rearm command, sysprep /generalize will only
>>>> succeed three times.
>>>>
>>>> To work around this, as a Technet document states, "Microsoft
>>>> recommends that you use the SkipRearm setting if you plan on running
>>>> Sysprep multiple times on a computer." This is echoed by Microsoft
>>>> Knowledge Base article 929828.
>>>>
>>>> Contributing editor Susan Bradley points out, "The good guys have to go
>>>> through this stupid implementation of a KMS deployment because of bad
>>>> guys abusing the system." She strongly feels that users should comply
>>>> with Microsoft's EULA provisions. "The operating system license has
>>>> always been a one-machine install. ... Many of us forget the
>>>> multiple-install rule [for Microsoft Office] since we are so used to
>>>> the one license, one install rule," she adds.
>>>>
>>>> In its TechNet documents, Microsoft recommends the repeated use of
>>>> SkipRearm. How many times is "multiple times"? My testing revealed that
>>>> the answer is, well, indefinite.
>>>>
>>>> . On a copy of Vista Ultimate that Microsoft released in New York City
>>>> on Jan. 29, I found that changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allowed the
>>>> command slmgr -rearm to postpone Vista's activation deadline eight
>>>> separate times. After that, changing the 0 to 1 had no effect,
>>>> preventing slmgr -rearm from moving the deadline. The use of
>>>> slmgr -rearm 3 times, plus using SkipRearm 8 times would eliminate
>>>> Vista's activation nag screens for about one year (12 periods of 30
>>>> days).
>>>>
>>>> . On a copy of the upgrade version of Vista Home Premium that I bought
>>>> in a retail store on Jan. 30, slmgr -rearm also worked 3 times and
>>>> SkipRearm worked 8 times before losing their effect. This combination
>>>> would, as with Vista Ultimate, permit a one-year use of Vista without
>>>> nag screens appearing.
>>>>
>>>> . On a copy of the full version of Vista Home Premium that I bought in
>>>> a retail store on Mar. 14, SkipRearm had no effect on extending the use
>>>> of slmgr -rearm at all. This suggests that Microsoft has slipstreamed a
>>>> new version into stores, eliminating the SkipRearm feature in Vista
>>>> Home. That could mean that changing the key from 0 to 1 will now work
>>>> only in the business editions of Vista - Business, Enterprise, and
>>>> Ultimate - so corporations can use the loophole.
>>>>
>>>> Where is the usage count of slmgr -rearm stored? Where is the usage
>>>> count of SkipRearm stored? These bytes won't be hard for expert users
>>>> to find. The use restrictions may be easily lifted. If so, this would
>>>> allow crooked PC sellers to truly create machines that would never need
>>>> activation, ever.
>>>>
>>>> The financial impact of SkipRearm on Microsoft
>>>>
>>>> I'd like to repeat here that I'm not advocating that anyone use the
>>>> above technique to violate Microsoft's EULA or avoid paying for Vista.
>>>> Any company that used SkipRearm to install Vista on multiple machines
>>>> for as long as possible would have little defense against a surprise
>>>> inspection by the Business Software Alliance. This coalition of
>>>> software makers, which includes Microsoft, investigates reports of
>>>> unlicensed software and obtains warrants to conduct audits.
>>>>
>>>> As a journalist, my job is to report the facts. SkipRearm was
>>>> specifically built into Vista to be used. Microsoft executives made
>>>> Vista's activation overly complex and cumbersome. So the development
>>>> team apparently invented a Registry key to lift the burden of Vista's
>>>> activation deadline, for at least a year and probably more.
>>>>
>>>> The technique is so powerful and basic, however, that hackers around
>>>> the world may soon use the feature to install millions of extra copies
>>>> of Vista without buying them. This could have a major impact on
>>>> Microsoft's revenues. The company's employees and shareholders might
>>>> want to be aware of this.
>>>>
>>>> Product activation does little or nothing to stop mass software piracy.
>>>> It's become so convoluted, the way Microsoft has implemented it, that
>>>> it's more of an irritation to legitimate users than a worthwhile
>>>> antipiracy measure. In my opinion, Microsoft should concentrate on
>>>> legal action against true pirates instead of inventing more ways to
>>>> drive honorable users bonkers.
>>>>
>>>> I invite my readers to send me information about SkipRearm using the
>>>> Windows Secrets contact page. I'd like to thank my program director,
>>>> Brent Scheffler, for tirelessly testing SkipRearm dozens of times, and
>>>> reader Reine T. for being the first to point out the use of SkipRearm
>>>> to me. He'll receive a gift certificate for a book, CD, or DVD of his
>>>> choice for sending me a tip that I used.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>[/color]
>>[/color]
>[/color]

For the sake of argument, cause I love to argue with you
arse munching Microsoft shills- where in the EULA does it
state the exact amount of days before you must activate?
Yes, a user is supposed to activate. No argument there.
Where is the definitive amount of days listed in the EULA
before a user is in violation?

-Michael

"Mike Brannigan" <Mike.Brannigan@localhost> wrote in message
news:OfzQZHYaHHA.1244@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...[color=blue]
> Bypassing the mandatory activation to run unlicensed software is not allowed under the terms
> of the EULA that you agree to abide by when you install the software.
> The SkipRearm key is well documented for its intended purpose - the use of the this key to
> avoid your mandatory activation is in breach of the EULA and not the intended purpose of this
> key. The fact that it is possible does not mean it should be used to run unlicensed
> software, no more so then the lack of any activation processes in early versions of Windows
> meant that it was possible to breach your licensing terms and install more then one copy to
> multiple machines.
>
> Also for the sake of brevity can you withhold your usual rantings and stick to the technical
> point at hand.
>
> --
> Mike Brannigan
>
> "Chad Harris" <vistaneedsmuchowork.net> wrote in message
> news:uUErJsXaHHA.3272@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...[color=green]
>> Mike--
>>
>> MSFT Ineffective at Preventing Vista Piracy/Prolonging Time to Activate
>>
>> I have revised the subject heading to reflect the title of Brian Livingston's article. As
>> you know Brian is the author of Windows Vista Secrets with Paul Thurrott.
>>
>> I should have made the subject line "MSFT Ineffective at Stopping Vista Piracy". I am not
>> and never have advocated piracy on any of these groups. I always use legititmat Windows and
>> other MSFT software and have a good time doing it. However these keys can be used to
>> prolong use of Vista without activation--and of course "installing the product" isn't
>> activating it. We have had a number of situations here where activation glitches have
>> reared their head, and cases (I'm not sure of the number yet, are being reported on these
>> groups and elsewhere that confirm my worst fears: That the "SPP" aka the "Software
>> Protection Policy" has forced users of legit Vista into reduced functionality mode
>> erratically just as WGA has failed in a significant number of cases with legit Windows XP.
>>
>> MSFT has made many claims promulgated by Brad Smith and his Associate General Counsel Nancy
>> Anderson that they effectively prevent piracy on an individual basis. They are effective
>> only because ignorance is the coin of the realm in my country the U.S. and many other
>> countries.
>>
>> I'm going to bet that Nancy Anderson, who is paid well over a million dollars a year at MSFT
>> and has held MSFT stock for years worth several million, hasn't lived in a mud hut with no
>> plumbing nor struggled to pay the bills. She's in the subset that pay her Congress to pass
>> laws to protect her and exempt her economically. I'm not justifying piracy because of
>> retail cost. I am saying it's pandemic because multiple countries, including yours, has
>> systemic legislation and economic policy that skewers the laws to rob from the poor and
>> disinfranchise and rob from the "middle class" socio-economically and cater to the rich.
>>
>> Note the skew here:
>>
>> Q&A: How Software Piracy Undermines Economic Recovery
>> Microsoft Associate General Counsel Nancy Anderson leads Microsoft's efforts to strike back
>> at piracy's economic drain.
>> [url]http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2001/oct01/10-19piracyqa.mspx[/url]
>>
>>
>> I don't think Nancy Anderson is very aware of this reg hack. I point out that MSFT's
>> Antipiracy measures are competent to the degree people are ignorant of what's in the
>> registry in regards to activation, and that it can be a convenience if people run into
>> glitches with activation that do exist.
>>
>> CH
>>
>> The White House in the U.S. got caught using the DOJ and US Attorneys as a political arm of
>> the Republican party. Simply put, they fired 9 (not 7 or 8) US Attorneys who were pursuing
>> major Republican congressmen like Jerry Lewis. The pursuit of Democrats for prosecution was
>> in the ball park of 100 to 1 statistically. US Attorneys were being directly pressured to go
>> after Democrats. Alberto Gonzales' claiming he knew nothing about this is beyond
>> incompetent and he has functioned at the level of a twit. He had no federal litigation
>> experience and was put in a job for which he had no skills and it shows. His DAG McNulty
>> has lied under oath to Congress as has he, and lying to Congress whether under oath or not
>> is purjery under federal law. I give him less time than MSFT gives you to activate Vista. A
>> number of people in the EOUSA and at the highest levels of DOJ are guilty of breaking the
>> law in major ways.
>>
>> The legacy of the Bush administration will be efficiency at filling coffins at Dover for
>> generations to come and the effective slaughter of millions of Iraquis and Americans while
>> squandering treasure that should have been directed to bolstering the domestic policies that
>> Bill Gates among others has spent significant time, effort and parts of his personal fortune
>> and his Foundation to champion.
>>
>> The only effective way to stop the wasteful killing is a DRAFT. That is the only policy
>> that will get oblivious, completely apathetic Americans engaged--the threat of skin in the
>> game.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> "Mike Brannigan" <Mike.Brannigan@localhost> wrote in message
>> news:B230A84A-80B9-4683-BF2E-5ABB62EE9EE0@microsoft.com...[color=darkred]
>>> Chad,
>>>
>>> The use of the well documented SkipRearm registry key does not allow a LEGAL use of the OS
>>> past the activation deadline.
>>>
>>> Your use of the product is covered under your End User License Agreement (EULA) that you
>>> must agree to to install the product.
>>> Section 4 clearly states that Activation is mandatory.
>>> Failure to activate past the notified period means you are using unlicensed software.
>>> The use of the registry key does not remove you mandatory requirement to activate.
>>> Modification for the OS by any means (including registry edits) to breach the terms of the
>>> EULA doe not mean that you are "legally" doing anything - you are using unlicensed
>>> software.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Mike Brannigan
>>>
>>> "Chad Harris" <vistaneedsmuchowork.net> wrote in message
>>> news:O2Z5G7PaHHA.2316@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>>>> Brian Livingston has a new trick:
>>>>
>>>> Microsoft has built into Vista a function that allows anyone to extend the operating
>>>> system's activation deadline not just three times, but many times. The same one-line
>>>> command that postpones Vista's activation deadline to 120 days can be used an indefinite
>>>> number of times by first changing a Registry key from 0 to 1.
>>>>
>>>> This isn't a hacker exploit. It doesn't require any tools or utilities whatsoever.
>>>> Microsoft even documented the Registry key, although obtusely, on its Technet site.
>>>>
>>>> But dishonest PC sellers could use the procedure to install thousands of copies of Vista
>>>> and sell them to unsuspecting consumers or businesses as legitimately activated copies.
>>>> This would certainly violate the Vista EULA, but consumers might not realize this until
>>>> the PCs they bought started demanding activation - and failing - months or years later.
>>>>
>>>> The following describes the Registry key that's involved.
>>>>
>>>> Step 1. While running a copy of Windows Vista that hasn't yet been activated, click the
>>>> Start button, type regedit into the Search box, then press Enter to launch the Registry
>>>> Editor.
>>>>
>>>> Step 2. Explore down to the following Registry key:
>>>>
>>>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \ SL
>>>>
>>>> Step 3. Right-click the Registry key named SkipRearm and click Edit. The default is a
>>>> Dword (a double word or 4 bytes) with a hex value of 00000000. Change this value to any
>>>> positive integer, such as 00000001, save the change, and close the Registry Editor.
>>>>
>>>> Step 4. Start a command prompt with administrative rights. The fastest way to do this is
>>>> to click the Start button, enter cmd in the Search box, then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. If
>>>> you're asked for a network username and password, provide the ones that log you into your
>>>> domain. You may be asked to approve a User Account Control prompt and to provide an
>>>> administrator password.
>>>>
>>>> Step 5. Type one of the following two commands and press Enter:
>>>>
>>>> slmgr -rearm
>>>> or
>>>> rundll32 slc.dll,SLReArmWindows
>>>>
>>>> Either command uses Vista's built-in Software Licensing Manager (SLMGR) to push the
>>>> activation deadline out to 30 days after the command is run. Changing SkipRearm from 0 to
>>>> 1 allows SLMGR to do this an indefinite number of times. Running either command
>>>> initializes the value of SkipRearm back to 0.
>>>>
>>>> Step 6. Reboot the PC to make the postponement take effect. (After you log in, if you
>>>> like, you can open a command prompt and run the command slmgr -xpr to see Vista's new
>>>> expiration date and time. I explained the slmgr command and its parameters in my Feb. 15
>>>> article.)
>>>>
>>>> Step 7. To extend the activation deadline of Vista indefinitely, repeat steps 1 through 6
>>>> as necessary
>>>>
>>>> Read full story and other tricks at source:
>>>>
>>>> [url]http://windowssecrets.com/comp/070315/#story1[/url]
>>>>
>>>> Microsoft allows bypass of Vista activation
>>>>
>>>> By Brian Livingston
>>>>
>>>> Microsoft always says it opposes "software pirates" who sell thousands of unauthorized
>>>> copies of Windows.
>>>>
>>>> But the Redmond company has made things a lot easier for pirates by adding a line to the
>>>> Registry that can be changed from 0 to 1 to postpone the need to "activate" Vista
>>>> indefinitely.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Activation doesn't stop true software piracy
>>>>
>>>> As most Windows users know, Microsoft has required "product activation" since the release
>>>> of Windows XP in 2001. XP must be activated by communicating with servers in Redmond
>>>> within 30 days of installation. By contrast, Microsoft Office XP, 2003, and 2007 require
>>>> activatation before the package is used 5 to 50 times, depending on the version, according
>>>> to a company FAQ. If a PC has no Internet connection, a user may activate a product by
>>>> dialing a telephone number in various countries.
>>>>
>>>> The activation process will complete successfully only if the software has not been
>>>> previously activated, such as on a different machine. If activation isn't completed within
>>>> the trial period, Microsoft products temporarily shut down some of their features. MS
>>>> Office loses the ability to edit and save files. After Vista's activation deadline runs
>>>> out, the user can do little other than use Internet Explorer to activate the operating
>>>> system or buy a new license.
>>>>
>>>> Microsoft describes its product activation scheme as a way to foil software pirates.
>>>> However, as I previously described in an InfoWorld Magazine article on Oct. 22, 2001,
>>>> activation does nothing to stop mass piracy. The Redmond company actually included in
>>>> Windows XP a small file, Wpa.dbl, that makes it easy for pirates to create thousands of
>>>> machines that validate perfectly.
>>>>
>>>> Far from stopping software piracy, product activation has primarily been designed to
>>>> prevent home users from installing one copy of Windows on a home machine and a
>>>> personal-use copy on a laptop. As I explained in an article on Mar. 8, buying a
>>>> copyrighted work and making another copy strictly for personal use is specifically
>>>> permitted to consumers by the U.S. Copyright Act and the copyright laws of many other
>>>> countries.
>>>>
>>>> For example, courts have repeatedly ruled that consumers can make copies of copyrighted
>>>> songs or television programs for personal use (not for distribution or resale). This
>>>> principle is legally known as "fair use." The home edition of Microsoft Office 2007
>>>> reflects this principle, allowing consumers to activate three copies of a single purchased
>>>> product. Microsoft Windows XP and Vista, however, allow only one activation.
>>>>
>>>> Surprisingly, Microsoft has embedded into its new Vista operating system a feature that
>>>> makes things easier than ever for true, mass software pirates. These tricksters will be
>>>> able to produce thousands of Windows PCs machines that won't demand activation
>>>> indefinitely - at least for a year or more.
>>>>
>>>> Leaving the activation barn door open
>>>>
>>>> I reported in a Feb. 1 article that the upgrade version of Windows Vista allows itself to
>>>> be clean-installed to a new hard drive. The new Microsoft operating system completely
>>>> omits any checking for a qualifying previous version of Windows. This allows the upgrade
>>>> version of Vista to successfully upgrade over a nonactivated, trial version of itself.
>>>>
>>>> After my article appeared, ZDnet blogger Ed Bott summarized the secret in a post on Feb.
>>>> 15. He flatly states, "You satisfied every condition of the license agreement and aren't
>>>> skating by on a technicality. The fact that you have to use a kludgey workaround to use
>>>> the license you've purchased and are legally entitled to is Microsoft's fault."
>>>>
>>>> In my own piece, I had speculated that clean-installing the upgrade version of Vista
>>>> "probably violates the Vista EULA (End User License Agreement)." But more and more
>>>> computer experts are saying that the procedure is fully compliant with the EULA and, in
>>>> any event, is perfectly legal.
>>>>
>>>> I wrote a follow-up story on Feb. 15. I reported that Microsoft includes in Vista a
>>>> one-line command that even novices can use to postpone the product's activation deadline
>>>> three times. This can extend the deadline from its original 30 days to as much as 120
>>>> days - almost four months.
>>>>
>>>> PCWorld.com posted a report on my story on Feb. 17. The magazine quotes a Microsoft
>>>> spokeswoman as saying that extending Vista's activation deadline as I described it "is not
>>>> a violation of the Vista End User License Agreement." I'm glad that's clear.
>>>>
>>>> The feature that I've revealing today shows that Microsoft has built into Vista a function
>>>> that allows anyone to extend the operating system's activation deadline not just three
>>>> times, but many times. The same one-line command that postpones Vista's activation
>>>> deadline to 120 days can be used an indefinite number of times by first changing a
>>>> Registry key from 0 to 1.
>>>>
>>>> This isn't a hacker exploit. It doesn't require any tools or utilities whatsoever.
>>>> Microsoft even documented the Registry key, although obtusely, on its Technet site.
>>>>
>>>> But dishonest PC sellers could use the procedure to install thousands of copies of Vista
>>>> and sell them to unsuspecting consumers or businesses as legitimately activated copies.
>>>> This would certainly violate the Vista EULA, but consumers might not realize this until
>>>> the PCs they bought started demanding activation - and failing - months or years later.
>>>>
>>>> The following describes the Registry key that's involved.
>>>>
>>>> Step 1. While running a copy of Windows Vista that hasn't yet been activated, click the
>>>> Start button, type regedit into the Search box, then press Enter to launch the Registry
>>>> Editor.
>>>>
>>>> Step 2. Explore down to the following Registry key:
>>>>
>>>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \ SL
>>>>
>>>> Step 3. Right-click the Registry key named SkipRearm and click Edit. The default is a
>>>> Dword (a double word or 4 bytes) with a hex value of 00000000. Change this value to any
>>>> positive integer, such as 00000001, save the change, and close the Registry Editor.
>>>>
>>>> Step 4. Start a command prompt with administrative rights. The fastest way to do this is
>>>> to click the Start button, enter cmd in the Search box, then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. If
>>>> you're asked for a network username and password, provide the ones that log you into your
>>>> domain. You may be asked to approve a User Account Control prompt and to provide an
>>>> administrator password.
>>>>
>>>> Step 5. Type one of the following two commands and press Enter:
>>>>
>>>> slmgr -rearm
>>>> or
>>>> rundll32 slc.dll,SLReArmWindows
>>>>
>>>> Either command uses Vista's built-in Software Licensing Manager (SLMGR) to push the
>>>> activation deadline out to 30 days after the command is run. Changing SkipRearm from 0 to
>>>> 1 allows SLMGR to do this an indefinite number of times. Running either command
>>>> initializes the value of SkipRearm back to 0.
>>>>
>>>> Step 6. Reboot the PC to make the postponement take effect. (After you log in, if you
>>>> like, you can open a command prompt and run the command slmgr -xpr to see Vista's new
>>>> expiration date and time. I explained the slmgr command and its parameters in my Feb. 15
>>>> article.)
>>>>
>>>> Step 7. To extend the activation deadline of Vista indefinitely, repeat steps 1 through 6
>>>> as necessary.
>>>>
>>>> Any crooked PC seller with even the slightest technical skill could easily install a
>>>> command file that would carry out steps 1 through 6 automatically. The program could run
>>>> slmgr -rearm three times, 30 days apart, to postpone Vista's activation deadline to 120
>>>> days. It could then run skip -rearm every 30 days, for a period of months if not years, by
>>>> first resetting the SkipRearm key.
>>>>
>>>> The program could be scheduled to check Vista's activation deadline during every reboot,
>>>> and to remind the user to reboot once a month if a deadline was nearing. The buyer of such
>>>> a PC would never even see an activation reminder, much less be required to go through the
>>>> activation process.
>>>>
>>>> If you happen to buy a Vista PC from a little-known seller, and the price was too good to
>>>> be true, use Vista's search function to look for the string SkipRearm in files. You may
>>>> discover that your "bargain" computer will mysteriously start demanding activation in a
>>>> year or two - but your product key won't be valid.
>>>>
>>>> I asked Microsoft why SkipRearm is included in Vista if it can be used to create machines
>>>> that appear not to need activation for long periods. A Microsoft spokewoman replied, "I
>>>> connected with my colleagues and learned, unfortunately, we do not have information to
>>>> share at this time." (I can't identify the speaker because the policy of Waggener Edstrom,
>>>> Microsoft's public-relations firm, prohibits the naming of p.r. spokespersons.)
>>>>
>>>> In my testing of Microsoft's back-door loophole, I've found that the technique can be used
>>>> to postpone the activation deadline one year or longer. It may or may not, however, work
>>>> forever, as I describe below.
>>>>
>>>> Why does SkipRearm even exist in Vista?
>>>>
>>>> The Vista development teaam apparently inserted the SkipRearm loophole to help major
>>>> corporations work around Microsoft's new Volume Licensing Agreement. This new program,
>>>> which the Redmond company calls "Volume Licensing 2.0," requires buyers to set up a Key
>>>> Management Service (KMS) host, as described by a Microsoft FAQ. Companies must choose from
>>>> two types of digital keys and three different methods of activation to validate thousands
>>>> of individual Vista machines within the corporate LAN.
>>>>
>>>> Activation of Windows XP, by comparison, requires merely that volume purchasers use a
>>>> single product key. Corporate buyers obtain a unique key when signing a Volume Licensing
>>>> Agreement. Microsoft has said, however, that most Windows XP piracy involves stolen
>>>> product keys that are used by others to activate unauthorized machines.
>>>>
>>>> The new KMS requirement is intended to discourage such piracy, but it places a heavy
>>>> burden on corporate IT administrators. For example, Microsoft provides a tool called
>>>> System Preparation (sysprep.exe) to prepare Vista machines for use. If a system can't be
>>>> completely prepped within 30 days after installation, an admin can run the command sysprep
>>>> /generalize to postpone the activation deadline another 30 days. However, like the
>>>> slmgr -rearm command, sysprep /generalize will only succeed three times.
>>>>
>>>> To work around this, as a Technet document states, "Microsoft recommends that you use the
>>>> SkipRearm setting if you plan on running Sysprep multiple times on a computer." This is
>>>> echoed by Microsoft Knowledge Base article 929828.
>>>>
>>>> Contributing editor Susan Bradley points out, "The good guys have to go through this
>>>> stupid implementation of a KMS deployment because of bad guys abusing the system." She
>>>> strongly feels that users should comply with Microsoft's EULA provisions. "The operating
>>>> system license has always been a one-machine install. ... Many of us forget the
>>>> multiple-install rule [for Microsoft Office] since we are so used to the one license, one
>>>> install rule," she adds.
>>>>
>>>> In its TechNet documents, Microsoft recommends the repeated use of SkipRearm. How many
>>>> times is "multiple times"? My testing revealed that the answer is, well, indefinite.
>>>>
>>>> . On a copy of Vista Ultimate that Microsoft released in New York City on Jan. 29, I found
>>>> that changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allowed the command slmgr -rearm to postpone Vista's
>>>> activation deadline eight separate times. After that, changing the 0 to 1 had no effect,
>>>> preventing slmgr -rearm from moving the deadline. The use of slmgr -rearm 3 times, plus
>>>> using SkipRearm 8 times would eliminate Vista's activation nag screens for about one year
>>>> (12 periods of 30 days).
>>>>
>>>> . On a copy of the upgrade version of Vista Home Premium that I bought in a retail store
>>>> on Jan. 30, slmgr -rearm also worked 3 times and SkipRearm worked 8 times before losing
>>>> their effect. This combination would, as with Vista Ultimate, permit a one-year use of
>>>> Vista without nag screens appearing.
>>>>
>>>> . On a copy of the full version of Vista Home Premium that I bought in a retail store on
>>>> Mar. 14, SkipRearm had no effect on extending the use of slmgr -rearm at all. This
>>>> suggests that Microsoft has slipstreamed a new version into stores, eliminating the
>>>> SkipRearm feature in Vista Home. That could mean that changing the key from 0 to 1 will
>>>> now work only in the business editions of Vista - Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate - so
>>>> corporations can use the loophole.
>>>>
>>>> Where is the usage count of slmgr -rearm stored? Where is the usage count of SkipRearm
>>>> stored? These bytes won't be hard for expert users to find. The use restrictions may be
>>>> easily lifted. If so, this would allow crooked PC sellers to truly create machines that
>>>> would never need activation, ever.
>>>>
>>>> The financial impact of SkipRearm on Microsoft
>>>>
>>>> I'd like to repeat here that I'm not advocating that anyone use the above technique to
>>>> violate Microsoft's EULA or avoid paying for Vista. Any company that used SkipRearm to
>>>> install Vista on multiple machines for as long as possible would have little defense
>>>> against a surprise inspection by the Business Software Alliance. This coalition of
>>>> software makers, which includes Microsoft, investigates reports of unlicensed software and
>>>> obtains warrants to conduct audits.
>>>>
>>>> As a journalist, my job is to report the facts. SkipRearm was specifically built into
>>>> Vista to be used. Microsoft executives made Vista's activation overly complex and
>>>> cumbersome. So the development team apparently invented a Registry key to lift the burden
>>>> of Vista's activation deadline, for at least a year and probably more.
>>>>
>>>> The technique is so powerful and basic, however, that hackers around the world may soon
>>>> use the feature to install millions of extra copies of Vista without buying them. This
>>>> could have a major impact on Microsoft's revenues. The company's employees and
>>>> shareholders might want to be aware of this.
>>>>
>>>> Product activation does little or nothing to stop mass software piracy. It's become so
>>>> convoluted, the way Microsoft has implemented it, that it's more of an irritation to
>>>> legitimate users than a worthwhile antipiracy measure. In my opinion, Microsoft should
>>>> concentrate on legal action against true pirates instead of inventing more ways to drive
>>>> honorable users bonkers.
>>>>
>>>> I invite my readers to send me information about SkipRearm using the Windows Secrets
>>>> contact page. I'd like to thank my program director, Brent Scheffler, for tirelessly
>>>> testing SkipRearm dozens of times, and reader Reine T. for being the first to point out
>>>> the use of SkipRearm to me. He'll receive a gift certificate for a book, CD, or DVD of his
>>>> choice for sending me a tip that I used.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>[/color]
>>[/color]
>[/color]

What version of Vista are you using, Jon?

When did you get it?


-Michael

"Jon" <Email_Address@SomewhereOrOther.com> wrote in message
news:uVzPpLYaHHA.4616@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...[color=blue]
> Sticking to the 'technical point at hand', the article should have been released on April
> Fools' Day. It's complete misinformation.
>
> --
> Jon
>
>
>
> "Mike Brannigan" <Mike.Brannigan@localhost> wrote in message
> news:OfzQZHYaHHA.1244@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...[color=green]
>> Bypassing the mandatory activation to run unlicensed software is not allowed under the terms
>> of the EULA that you agree to abide by when you install the software.
>> The SkipRearm key is well documented for its intended purpose - the use of the this key to
>> avoid your mandatory activation is in breach of the EULA and not the intended purpose of
>> this key. The fact that it is possible does not mean it should be used to run unlicensed
>> software, no more so then the lack of any activation processes in early versions of Windows
>> meant that it was possible to breach your licensing terms and install more then one copy to
>> multiple machines.
>>
>> Also for the sake of brevity can you withhold your usual rantings and stick to the technical
>> point at hand.
>>
>> --
>> Mike Brannigan
>>
>> "Chad Harris" <vistaneedsmuchowork.net> wrote in message
>> news:uUErJsXaHHA.3272@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...[color=darkred]
>>> Mike--
>>>
>>> MSFT Ineffective at Preventing Vista Piracy/Prolonging Time to Activate
>>>
>>> I have revised the subject heading to reflect the title of Brian Livingston's article. As
>>> you know Brian is the author of Windows Vista Secrets with Paul Thurrott.
>>>
>>> I should have made the subject line "MSFT Ineffective at Stopping Vista Piracy". I am not
>>> and never have advocated piracy on any of these groups. I always use legititmat Windows and
>>> other MSFT software and have a good time doing it. However these keys can be used to
>>> prolong use of Vista without activation--and of course "installing the product" isn't
>>> activating it. We have had a number of situations here where activation glitches have
>>> reared their head, and cases (I'm not sure of the number yet, are being reported on these
>>> groups and elsewhere that confirm my worst fears: That the "SPP" aka the "Software
>>> Protection Policy" has forced users of legit Vista into reduced functionality mode
>>> erratically just as WGA has failed in a significant number of cases with legit Windows XP.
>>>
>>> MSFT has made many claims promulgated by Brad Smith and his Associate General Counsel Nancy
>>> Anderson that they effectively prevent piracy on an individual basis. They are effective
>>> only because ignorance is the coin of the realm in my country the U.S. and many other
>>> countries.
>>>
>>> I'm going to bet that Nancy Anderson, who is paid well over a million dollars a year at
>>> MSFT and has held MSFT stock for years worth several million, hasn't lived in a mud hut
>>> with no plumbing nor struggled to pay the bills. She's in the subset that pay her Congress
>>> to pass laws to protect her and exempt her economically. I'm not justifying piracy
>>> because of retail cost. I am saying it's pandemic because multiple countries, including
>>> yours, has systemic legislation and economic policy that skewers the laws to rob from the
>>> poor and disinfranchise and rob from the "middle class" socio-economically and cater to the
>>> rich.
>>>
>>> Note the skew here:
>>>
>>> Q&A: How Software Piracy Undermines Economic Recovery
>>> Microsoft Associate General Counsel Nancy Anderson leads Microsoft's efforts to strike back
>>> at piracy's economic drain.
>>> [url]http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2001/oct01/10-19piracyqa.mspx[/url]
>>>
>>>
>>> I don't think Nancy Anderson is very aware of this reg hack. I point out that MSFT's
>>> Antipiracy measures are competent to the degree people are ignorant of what's in the
>>> registry in regards to activation, and that it can be a convenience if people run into
>>> glitches with activation that do exist.
>>>
>>> CH
>>>
>>> The White House in the U.S. got caught using the DOJ and US Attorneys as a political arm of
>>> the Republican party. Simply put, they fired 9 (not 7 or 8) US Attorneys who were pursuing
>>> major Republican congressmen like Jerry Lewis. The pursuit of Democrats for prosecution
>>> was in the ball park of 100 to 1 statistically. US Attorneys were being directly pressured
>>> to go after Democrats. Alberto Gonzales' claiming he knew nothing about this is beyond
>>> incompetent and he has functioned at the level of a twit. He had no federal litigation
>>> experience and was put in a job for which he had no skills and it shows. His DAG McNulty
>>> has lied under oath to Congress as has he, and lying to Congress whether under oath or not
>>> is purjery under federal law. I give him less time than MSFT gives you to activate Vista.
>>> A number of people in the EOUSA and at the highest levels of DOJ are guilty of breaking the
>>> law in major ways.
>>>
>>> The legacy of the Bush administration will be efficiency at filling coffins at Dover for
>>> generations to come and the effective slaughter of millions of Iraquis and Americans while
>>> squandering treasure that should have been directed to bolstering the domestic policies
>>> that Bill Gates among others has spent significant time, effort and parts of his personal
>>> fortune and his Foundation to champion.
>>>
>>> The only effective way to stop the wasteful killing is a DRAFT. That is the only policy
>>> that will get oblivious, completely apathetic Americans engaged--the threat of skin in the
>>> game.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> "Mike Brannigan" <Mike.Brannigan@localhost> wrote in message
>>> news:B230A84A-80B9-4683-BF2E-5ABB62EE9EE0@microsoft.com...
>>>> Chad,
>>>>
>>>> The use of the well documented SkipRearm registry key does not allow a LEGAL use of the OS
>>>> past the activation deadline.
>>>>
>>>> Your use of the product is covered under your End User License Agreement (EULA) that you
>>>> must agree to to install the product.
>>>> Section 4 clearly states that Activation is mandatory.
>>>> Failure to activate past the notified period means you are using unlicensed software.
>>>> The use of the registry key does not remove you mandatory requirement to activate.
>>>> Modification for the OS by any means (including registry edits) to breach the terms of the
>>>> EULA doe not mean that you are "legally" doing anything - you are using unlicensed
>>>> software.
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Mike Brannigan
>>>>
>>>> "Chad Harris" <vistaneedsmuchowork.net> wrote in message
>>>> news:O2Z5G7PaHHA.2316@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>>>>> Brian Livingston has a new trick:
>>>>>
>>>>> Microsoft has built into Vista a function that allows anyone to extend the operating
>>>>> system's activation deadline not just three times, but many times. The same one-line
>>>>> command that postpones Vista's activation deadline to 120 days can be used an indefinite
>>>>> number of times by first changing a Registry key from 0 to 1.
>>>>>
>>>>> This isn't a hacker exploit. It doesn't require any tools or utilities whatsoever.
>>>>> Microsoft even documented the Registry key, although obtusely, on its Technet site.
>>>>>
>>>>> But dishonest PC sellers could use the procedure to install thousands of copies of Vista
>>>>> and sell them to unsuspecting consumers or businesses as legitimately activated copies.
>>>>> This would certainly violate the Vista EULA, but consumers might not realize this until
>>>>> the PCs they bought started demanding activation - and failing - months or years later.
>>>>>
>>>>> The following describes the Registry key that's involved.
>>>>>
>>>>> Step 1. While running a copy of Windows Vista that hasn't yet been activated, click the
>>>>> Start button, type regedit into the Search box, then press Enter to launch the Registry
>>>>> Editor.
>>>>>
>>>>> Step 2. Explore down to the following Registry key:
>>>>>
>>>>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \ SL
>>>>>
>>>>> Step 3. Right-click the Registry key named SkipRearm and click Edit. The default is a
>>>>> Dword (a double word or 4 bytes) with a hex value of 00000000. Change this value to any
>>>>> positive integer, such as 00000001, save the change, and close the Registry Editor.
>>>>>
>>>>> Step 4. Start a command prompt with administrative rights. The fastest way to do this is
>>>>> to click the Start button, enter cmd in the Search box, then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. If
>>>>> you're asked for a network username and password, provide the ones that log you into your
>>>>> domain. You may be asked to approve a User Account Control prompt and to provide an
>>>>> administrator password.
>>>>>
>>>>> Step 5. Type one of the following two commands and press Enter:
>>>>>
>>>>> slmgr -rearm
>>>>> or
>>>>> rundll32 slc.dll,SLReArmWindows
>>>>>
>>>>> Either command uses Vista's built-in Software Licensing Manager (SLMGR) to push the
>>>>> activation deadline out to 30 days after the command is run. Changing SkipRearm from 0 to
>>>>> 1 allows SLMGR to do this an indefinite number of times. Running either command
>>>>> initializes the value of SkipRearm back to 0.
>>>>>
>>>>> Step 6. Reboot the PC to make the postponement take effect. (After you log in, if you
>>>>> like, you can open a command prompt and run the command slmgr -xpr to see Vista's new
>>>>> expiration date and time. I explained the slmgr command and its parameters in my Feb. 15
>>>>> article.)
>>>>>
>>>>> Step 7. To extend the activation deadline of Vista indefinitely, repeat steps 1 through 6
>>>>> as necessary
>>>>>
>>>>> Read full story and other tricks at source:
>>>>>
>>>>> [url]http://windowssecrets.com/comp/070315/#story1[/url]
>>>>>
>>>>> Microsoft allows bypass of Vista activation
>>>>>
>>>>> By Brian Livingston
>>>>>
>>>>> Microsoft always says it opposes "software pirates" who sell thousands of unauthorized
>>>>> copies of Windows.
>>>>>
>>>>> But the Redmond company has made things a lot easier for pirates by adding a line to the
>>>>> Registry that can be changed from 0 to 1 to postpone the need to "activate" Vista
>>>>> indefinitely.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Activation doesn't stop true software piracy
>>>>>
>>>>> As most Windows users know, Microsoft has required "product activation" since the release
>>>>> of Windows XP in 2001. XP must be activated by communicating with servers in Redmond
>>>>> within 30 days of installation. By contrast, Microsoft Office XP, 2003, and 2007 require
>>>>> activatation before the package is used 5 to 50 times, depending on the version,
>>>>> according to a company FAQ. If a PC has no Internet connection, a user may activate a
>>>>> product by dialing a telephone number in various countries.
>>>>>
>>>>> The activation process will complete successfully only if the software has not been
>>>>> previously activated, such as on a different machine. If activation isn't completed
>>>>> within the trial period, Microsoft products temporarily shut down some of their features.
>>>>> MS Office loses the ability to edit and save files. After Vista's activation deadline
>>>>> runs out, the user can do little other than use Internet Explorer to activate the
>>>>> operating system or buy a new license.
>>>>>
>>>>> Microsoft describes its product activation scheme as a way to foil software pirates.
>>>>> However, as I previously described in an InfoWorld Magazine article on Oct. 22, 2001,
>>>>> activation does nothing to stop mass piracy. The Redmond company actually included in
>>>>> Windows XP a small file, Wpa.dbl, that makes it easy for pirates to create thousands of
>>>>> machines that validate perfectly.
>>>>>
>>>>> Far from stopping software piracy, product activation has primarily been designed to
>>>>> prevent home users from installing one copy of Windows on a home machine and a
>>>>> personal-use copy on a laptop. As I explained in an article on Mar. 8, buying a
>>>>> copyrighted work and making another copy strictly for personal use is specifically
>>>>> permitted to consumers by the U.S. Copyright Act and the copyright laws of many other
>>>>> countries.
>>>>>
>>>>> For example, courts have repeatedly ruled that consumers can make copies of copyrighted
>>>>> songs or television programs for personal use (not for distribution or resale). This
>>>>> principle is legally known as "fair use." The home edition of Microsoft Office 2007
>>>>> reflects this principle, allowing consumers to activate three copies of a single
>>>>> purchased product. Microsoft Windows XP and Vista, however, allow only one activation.
>>>>>
>>>>> Surprisingly, Microsoft has embedded into its new Vista operating system a feature that
>>>>> makes things easier than ever for true, mass software pirates. These tricksters will be
>>>>> able to produce thousands of Windows PCs machines that won't demand activation
>>>>> indefinitely - at least for a year or more.
>>>>>
>>>>> Leaving the activation barn door open
>>>>>
>>>>> I reported in a Feb. 1 article that the upgrade version of Windows Vista allows itself to
>>>>> be clean-installed to a new hard drive. The new Microsoft operating system completely
>>>>> omits any checking for a qualifying previous version of Windows. This allows the upgrade
>>>>> version of Vista to successfully upgrade over a nonactivated, trial version of itself.
>>>>>
>>>>> After my article appeared, ZDnet blogger Ed Bott summarized the secret in a post on Feb.
>>>>> 15. He flatly states, "You satisfied every condition of the license agreement and aren't
>>>>> skating by on a technicality. The fact that you have to use a kludgey workaround to use
>>>>> the license you've purchased and are legally entitled to is Microsoft's fault."
>>>>>
>>>>> In my own piece, I had speculated that clean-installing the upgrade version of Vista
>>>>> "probably violates the Vista EULA (End User License Agreement)." But more and more
>>>>> computer experts are saying that the procedure is fully compliant with the EULA and, in
>>>>> any event, is perfectly legal.
>>>>>
>>>>> I wrote a follow-up story on Feb. 15. I reported that Microsoft includes in Vista a
>>>>> one-line command that even novices can use to postpone the product's activation deadline
>>>>> three times. This can extend the deadline from its original 30 days to as much as 120
>>>>> days - almost four months.
>>>>>
>>>>> PCWorld.com posted a report on my story on Feb. 17. The magazine quotes a Microsoft
>>>>> spokeswoman as saying that extending Vista's activation deadline as I described it "is
>>>>> not a violation of the Vista End User License Agreement." I'm glad that's clear.
>>>>>
>>>>> The feature that I've revealing today shows that Microsoft has built into Vista a
>>>>> function that allows anyone to extend the operating system's activation deadline not just
>>>>> three times, but many times. The same one-line command that postpones Vista's activation
>>>>> deadline to 120 days can be used an indefinite number of times by first changing a
>>>>> Registry key from 0 to 1.
>>>>>
>>>>> This isn't a hacker exploit. It doesn't require any tools or utilities whatsoever.
>>>>> Microsoft even documented the Registry key, although obtusely, on its Technet site.
>>>>>
>>>>> But dishonest PC sellers could use the procedure to install thousands of copies of Vista
>>>>> and sell them to unsuspecting consumers or businesses as legitimately activated copies.
>>>>> This would certainly violate the Vista EULA, but consumers might not realize this until
>>>>> the PCs they bought started demanding activation - and failing - months or years later.
>>>>>
>>>>> The following describes the Registry key that's involved.
>>>>>
>>>>> Step 1. While running a copy of Windows Vista that hasn't yet been activated, click the
>>>>> Start button, type regedit into the Search box, then press Enter to launch the Registry
>>>>> Editor.
>>>>>
>>>>> Step 2. Explore down to the following Registry key:
>>>>>
>>>>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \ SL
>>>>>
>>>>> Step 3. Right-click the Registry key named SkipRearm and click Edit. The default is a
>>>>> Dword (a double word or 4 bytes) with a hex value of 00000000. Change this value to any
>>>>> positive integer, such as 00000001, save the change, and close the Registry Editor.
>>>>>
>>>>> Step 4. Start a command prompt with administrative rights. The fastest way to do this is
>>>>> to click the Start button, enter cmd in the Search box, then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. If
>>>>> you're asked for a network username and password, provide the ones that log you into your
>>>>> domain. You may be asked to approve a User Account Control prompt and to provide an
>>>>> administrator password.
>>>>>
>>>>> Step 5. Type one of the following two commands and press Enter:
>>>>>
>>>>> slmgr -rearm
>>>>> or
>>>>> rundll32 slc.dll,SLReArmWindows
>>>>>
>>>>> Either command uses Vista's built-in Software Licensing Manager (SLMGR) to push the
>>>>> activation deadline out to 30 days after the command is run. Changing SkipRearm from 0 to
>>>>> 1 allows SLMGR to do this an indefinite number of times. Running either command
>>>>> initializes the value of SkipRearm back to 0.
>>>>>
>>>>> Step 6. Reboot the PC to make the postponement take effect. (After you log in, if you
>>>>> like, you can open a command prompt and run the command slmgr -xpr to see Vista's new
>>>>> expiration date and time. I explained the slmgr command and its parameters in my Feb. 15
>>>>> article.)
>>>>>
>>>>> Step 7. To extend the activation deadline of Vista indefinitely, repeat steps 1 through 6
>>>>> as necessary.
>>>>>
>>>>> Any crooked PC seller with even the slightest technical skill could easily install a
>>>>> command file that would carry out steps 1 through 6 automatically. The program could run
>>>>> slmgr -rearm three times, 30 days apart, to postpone Vista's activation deadline to 120
>>>>> days. It could then run skip -rearm every 30 days, for a period of months if not years,
>>>>> by first resetting the SkipRearm key.
>>>>>
>>>>> The program could be scheduled to check Vista's activation deadline during every reboot,
>>>>> and to remind the user to reboot once a month if a deadline was nearing. The buyer of
>>>>> such a PC would never even see an activation reminder, much less be required to go
>>>>> through the activation process.
>>>>>
>>>>> If you happen to buy a Vista PC from a little-known seller, and the price was too good to
>>>>> be true, use Vista's search function to look for the string SkipRearm in files. You may
>>>>> discover that your "bargain" computer will mysteriously start demanding activation in a
>>>>> year or two - but your product key won't be valid.
>>>>>
>>>>> I asked Microsoft why SkipRearm is included in Vista if it can be used to create machines
>>>>> that appear not to need activation for long periods. A Microsoft spokewoman replied, "I
>>>>> connected with my colleagues and learned, unfortunately, we do not have information to
>>>>> share at this time." (I can't identify the speaker because the policy of Waggener
>>>>> Edstrom, Microsoft's public-relations firm, prohibits the naming of p.r. spokespersons.)
>>>>>
>>>>> In my testing of Microsoft's back-door loophole, I've found that the technique can be
>>>>> used to postpone the activation deadline one year or longer. It may or may not, however,
>>>>> work forever, as I describe below.
>>>>>
>>>>> Why does SkipRearm even exist in Vista?
>>>>>
>>>>> The Vista development teaam apparently inserted the SkipRearm loophole to help major
>>>>> corporations work around Microsoft's new Volume Licensing Agreement. This new program,
>>>>> which the Redmond company calls "Volume Licensing 2.0," requires buyers to set up a Key
>>>>> Management Service (KMS) host, as described by a Microsoft FAQ. Companies must choose
>>>>> from two types of digital keys and three different methods of activation to validate
>>>>> thousands of individual Vista machines within the corporate LAN.
>>>>>
>>>>> Activation of Windows XP, by comparison, requires merely that volume purchasers use a
>>>>> single product key. Corporate buyers obtain a unique key when signing a Volume Licensing
>>>>> Agreement. Microsoft has said, however, that most Windows XP piracy involves stolen
>>>>> product keys that are used by others to activate unauthorized machines.
>>>>>
>>>>> The new KMS requirement is intended to discourage such piracy, but it places a heavy
>>>>> burden on corporate IT administrators. For example, Microsoft provides a tool called
>>>>> System Preparation (sysprep.exe) to prepare Vista machines for use. If a system can't be
>>>>> completely prepped within 30 days after installation, an admin can run the command
>>>>> sysprep /generalize to postpone the activation deadline another 30 days. However, like
>>>>> the slmgr -rearm command, sysprep /generalize will only succeed three times.
>>>>>
>>>>> To work around this, as a Technet document states, "Microsoft recommends that you use the
>>>>> SkipRearm setting if you plan on running Sysprep multiple times on a computer." This is
>>>>> echoed by Microsoft Knowledge Base article 929828.
>>>>>
>>>>> Contributing editor Susan Bradley points out, "The good guys have to go through this
>>>>> stupid implementation of a KMS deployment because of bad guys abusing the system." She
>>>>> strongly feels that users should comply with Microsoft's EULA provisions. "The operating
>>>>> system license has always been a one-machine install. ... Many of us forget the
>>>>> multiple-install rule [for Microsoft Office] since we are so used to the one license, one
>>>>> install rule," she adds.
>>>>>
>>>>> In its TechNet documents, Microsoft recommends the repeated use of SkipRearm. How many
>>>>> times is "multiple times"? My testing revealed that the answer is, well, indefinite.
>>>>>
>>>>> . On a copy of Vista Ultimate that Microsoft released in New York City on Jan. 29, I
>>>>> found that changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allowed the command slmgr -rearm to postpone
>>>>> Vista's activation deadline eight separate times. After that, changing the 0 to 1 had no
>>>>> effect, preventing slmgr -rearm from moving the deadline. The use of slmgr -rearm 3
>>>>> times, plus using SkipRearm 8 times would eliminate Vista's activation nag screens for
>>>>> about one year (12 periods of 30 days).
>>>>>
>>>>> . On a copy of the upgrade version of Vista Home Premium that I bought in a retail store
>>>>> on Jan. 30, slmgr -rearm also worked 3 times and SkipRearm worked 8 times before losing
>>>>> their effect. This combination would, as with Vista Ultimate, permit a one-year use of
>>>>> Vista without nag screens appearing.
>>>>>
>>>>> . On a copy of the full version of Vista Home Premium that I bought in a retail store on
>>>>> Mar. 14, SkipRearm had no effect on extending the use of slmgr -rearm at all. This
>>>>> suggests that Microsoft has slipstreamed a new version into stores, eliminating the
>>>>> SkipRearm feature in Vista Home. That could mean that changing the key from 0 to 1 will
>>>>> now work only in the business editions of Vista - Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate - so
>>>>> corporations can use the loophole.
>>>>>
>>>>> Where is the usage count of slmgr -rearm stored? Where is the usage count of SkipRearm
>>>>> stored? These bytes won't be hard for expert users to find. The use restrictions may be
>>>>> easily lifted. If so, this would allow crooked PC sellers to truly create machines that
>>>>> would never need activation, ever.
>>>>>
>>>>> The financial impact of SkipRearm on Microsoft
>>>>>
>>>>> I'd like to repeat here that I'm not advocating that anyone use the above technique to
>>>>> violate Microsoft's EULA or avoid paying for Vista. Any company that used SkipRearm to
>>>>> install Vista on multiple machines for as long as possible would have little defense
>>>>> against a surprise inspection by the Business Software Alliance. This coalition of
>>>>> software makers, which includes Microsoft, investigates reports of unlicensed software
>>>>> and obtains warrants to conduct audits.
>>>>>
>>>>> As a journalist, my job is to report the facts. SkipRearm was specifically built into
>>>>> Vista to be used. Microsoft executives made Vista's activation overly complex and
>>>>> cumbersome. So the development team apparently invented a Registry key to lift the burden
>>>>> of Vista's activation deadline, for at least a year and probably more.
>>>>>
>>>>> The technique is so powerful and basic, however, that hackers around the world may soon
>>>>> use the feature to install millions of extra copies of Vista without buying them. This
>>>>> could have a major impact on Microsoft's revenues. The company's employees and
>>>>> shareholders might want to be aware of this.
>>>>>
>>>>> Product activation does little or nothing to stop mass software piracy. It's become so
>>>>> convoluted, the way Microsoft has implemented it, that it's more of an irritation to
>>>>> legitimate users than a worthwhile antipiracy measure. In my opinion, Microsoft should
>>>>> concentrate on legal action against true pirates instead of inventing more ways to drive
>>>>> honorable users bonkers.
>>>>>
>>>>> I invite my readers to send me information about SkipRearm using the Windows Secrets
>>>>> contact page. I'd like to thank my program director, Brent Scheffler, for tirelessly
>>>>> testing SkipRearm dozens of times, and reader Reine T. for being the first to point out
>>>>> the use of SkipRearm to me. He'll receive a gift certificate for a book, CD, or DVD of
>>>>> his choice for sending me a tip that I used.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>[/color]
>>[/color]
>[/color]

How's this for brevity? WGA and SPP shut down legititmate Windows Vista and
XP a significant percentage of the time and they blockade installation of
updates a significant percentage of the time. I let Ed Bott author of
Windows Vista Inside Out and a future book on Vista tell the story in the
links below.

The security protections against WGA that you provided previously and the
ways to remove it are important protections for your PC. Another effective
deterrent but one that takes much longer and costs more is to prevent MSFT
from doing it and collect money from them for the laws they have violated in
implementing it.

There are at least two suits in federal court. I'll have to pull their
motions to see if their has been any action on motions to certify them as
a class action.

[url]http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/275780_msftsuit29.html[/url]

[url]http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-6090651.html[/url]

In the last couple months, Brad Smith and Nancy Anderson, the daddy and
mommy of the legal aspects of WGA. General Counsel and Associate General
Counsel at MSFT have cost the company nearly a billion dollars with their
ineptitude.

Lawsuits against WGA has been filed in Seattle and LA in federal district
courts.

"In this most recent lawsuit, the parties allege Microsoft violated the
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Consumer Protection Act, the Computer
Spyware Act, and also engaged in intentional misrepresentation of the
software program."



Failure of the SPP which happens and failure of WGA which happens is not in
any of the promotional material, on Technet, on MSDN, nor on any MSFT site
or in any of the Wagner Edstrom/McCann Ericson mediated MSFT Press Pass
press releases on those two entities. However they happened. I have posted
a gamut of ways they fail here in the past, and linked to several of Ed
Bott's posts decrying and demonstrating their colossal failure and shutting
down the softwasre that people legally purchased, including Windows Vista.
There are volume licensing failure glitches as well.

I don't recall your self appointment as my "editor" in the scheme of things.
Posts are repleat with quotes. aphorisms, slogans at the end or links that
people choose and I choose on occasion to get a message across below my
name. What I type is butressed by fact, and I understand you're proud to
take your place among the indifferent oblivious American public.

Microsoft Draws Second WGA Lawsuit
[url]http://www.securitypronews.com/news/securitynews/spn-45-20060704MicrosoftDrawsSecondWGALawsuit.html[/url]

Ed Bott on Legit Users Burned by WGA/SPP
[url]http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=84[/url]

[Update, 4-Oct: Microsoft has introduced the Software Protection Platform,
which contains features very similar to what I describe here. See For Vista,
WGA gets tougher.]

[Update 12-August: For a detailed discussion of what you'll see if WGA flags
your copy of Windows as "not genuine," see Busted! What happens when WGA
attacks and the accompanying image gallery.]

[Update, 30-June 8:40AM PDT: Microsoft responds, sort of. Details in this
follow-up post.]

Two weeks ago, I wrote about my serious objections to Microsoft's latest
salvo in the war against unauthorized copies of Windows. Two Windows Genuine
Advantage components are being pushed onto users' machines with insufficient
notification and inadequate quality control, and the result is a big mess.
(For details, see Microsoft presses the Stupid button.)

Guess what? WGA might be on the verge of getting even messier. In fact, one
report claims WGA is about to become a Windows "kill switch" - and when I
asked Microsoft for an on-the-record response, they refused to deny it.

Last week, a correspondent on Dave Farber's Interesting People list posted
some comments about his experiences with Windows OneCare Live. In the middle
of the post, he added this tidbit:

I like to review updates before they are installed. The only update that I
have not installed is the latest WGA because of the security issues related
to it.

I called Microsoft support to see if there is a hidden option to say, "yep,
I've got updates turned to manual. it's okay." The rep said, "No and why
wouldn't you want to get the latest updates to Windows."

I responded with the issues relating to WGA. He spent some time telling me
that WGA was a good thing, etc. I reiterated that I have accepted all the
updates except WGA and just want to review the updates before they're
installed on my machine.

He told me that "in the fall, having the latest WGA will become mandatory
and if its not installed, Windows will give a 30 day warning and when the 30
days is up and WGA isn't installed, Windows will stop working, so you might
as well install WGA now." [emphasis added]

I'm wondering if Microsoft has the right to disable Windows functionality or
the OS as a whole (tantamount to revoking my legitimate Windows license) if
I do not install every piece of software that they send it updates.

That can't be true, can it? I'm always suspicious of any report that comes
from a front-line tech support drone, so I sent a note to Microsoft asking
for an official confirmation or, better yet, a denial. Instead, I got this
terse response from a Microsoft spokesperson:

As we have mentioned previously, as the WGA Notifications program expands in
the future, customers may be required to participate. [emphasis added]
Microsoft is gathering feedback in select markets to learn how it can best
meet its customers' needs and will keep customers informed of any changes to
the program.

That's it. That's the entire response.

Uh-oh. Currently, Windows users have the ability to opt out of the Windows
Genuine Advantage program and still get security patches and other Critical
Updates delivered via Windows Update. The only thing you give up is the
ability to download optional updates. Hackers have been working overtime to
find ways to disable WGA notification. If WGA becomes mandatory, would it
mean that Microsoft could prevent Windows from working if it determines -
possibly erroneously - that your copy isn't "genuine"? That's a chilling
possibility, and Microsoft refuses an easy opportunity to deny that that
option is in its plans.

Over at Ed Bott's Windows Expertise, I've been soliciting feedback from
Windows users who've been burned by WGA. So far, I've received 20 comments.
Here's a sampling:

I have an XP Media center with a promise RAID 0 4-disc array. When I
installed the WPA it broke the drivers for the array by causing failed
delayed writes (half of the array just "disapears".) If I do a system
restore to before the installation of the WPA everything goes back to
working just fine.
[S]ince installing WPA . I've had blue screens and a total inability to
boot. I had to run the XP repair function to get the computer to boot. I had
a damaged boot sector on the hard drive. I am running two drives on a RAID 1
config.
I purchased a SEALED OEM copy of XP Professional. WGA said the license key
was already used. I called MS and they said I should uninstall and buy
another copy. I told them I wasn't made of money and hung-up.
Microsoft rejected the product key that came with the ThinkPad I'm using. I
had to call in and they gave me another code to enter which supposedly
worked but now I get the blue screen of death about every other time I
reboot. I've also lost all internet connectivity.
I sent my Compaq Presario notebook for service repair, and it fails the WGA
check. I have a legal version of windows xp professional on it. But I have
no way to correct this problem.
What's most disturbing about this whole saga is Microsoft's complete lack of
transparency on the issue. And before the ABM crowd jumps in with
predictable "What did you expect?" comments, let me argue that Microsoft
actually has a fairly good track record on transparency issues in recent
years. Windows Product Activation is very well documented, and when a
similar uproar occurred in 2001, it was squelched quickly by some fairly
prominent postings from high-level executives who provided details without a
lot of spin. Likewise, the Microsoft Security Response Center has done an
exceptional job at providing quick responses to security issues. (Just ask
Adam Shostack.)

Currently, no one at Microsoft is blogging about this fiasco. No executive
has been quoted on the record about it. There are very few technical details
available, and those that have been published are being tumbled through the
spin machine and spit out as press releases.

If Microsoft really does plan to turn WGA into a kill switch in September,
be prepared for an enormous backlash.

Ed Bott Author of Windows Vista Insisde Out (A million copies presold due in
December)
[url]http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=110[/url]

CH
__________________________________________________________

Frank Rich's Column Today:

Sunday, March 18, 2007 New York Times

FRANK RICH: The Ides of March 2003

TOMORROW night is the fourth anniversary of President Bush's prime-time
address declaring the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In the broad sweep
of history, four years is a nanosecond, but in America, where memories are
congenitally short, it's an eternity. That's why a revisionist history of
the White House's rush to war, much of it written by its initial
cheerleaders, has already taken hold. In this exonerating fictionalization
of the story, nearly every politician and pundit in Washington was duped by
the same "bad intelligence" before the war, and few imagined that the
administration would so botch the invasion's aftermath or that the
occupation would go on so long. "If only I had known then what I know now
...." has been the persistent refrain of the war supporters who subsequently
disowned the fiasco. But the embarrassing reality is that much of the
****ing truth about the administration's case for war and its hubristic
expectations for a cakewalk were publicly available before the war, hiding
in plain sight, to be seen by anyone who wanted to look.

By the time the ides of March arrived in March 2003, these warning signs
were visible on a nearly daily basis. So were the signs that Americans were
completely ill prepared for the costs ahead. Iraq was largely anticipated as
a distant, mildly disruptive geopolitical video game that would be over in a
flash.

Now many of the same leaders who sold the war argue that escalation should
be given a chance. This time they're peddling the new doomsday scenario that
any withdrawal timetable will lead to the next 9/11. The question we must
ask is: Has history taught us anything in four years?

Here is a chronology of some of the high and low points in the days leading
up to the national train wreck whose anniversary we mourn this week [with
occasional "where are they now" updates].

March 5, 2003

"I took the Grey Poupon out of my cupboard."

- Representative Duke Cunningham, Republican of California, on the floor of
the House denouncing French opposition to the Iraq war.

[In November 2005, he resigned from Congress and pleaded guilty to accepting
bribes from defense contractors. In January 2007, the United States attorney
who prosecuted him - Carol Lam, a Bush appointee - was forced to step down
for "performance-related" issues by Alberto Gonzales's Justice Department.]

March 6, 2003

President Bush holds his last prewar news conference. The New York Observer
writes that he interchanged Iraq with the attacks of 9/11 eight times, "and
eight times he was unchallenged." The ABC News White House correspondent,
Terry Moran, says the Washington press corps was left "looking like
zombies."

March 7, 2003

Appearing before the United Nations Security Council on the same day that
the United States and three allies (Britain, Spain and Bulgaria) put forth
their resolution demanding that Iraq disarm by March 17, the director
general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei,
reports there is "no evidence or plausible indication of the revival of a
nuclear weapons program in Iraq.". He adds that documents "which formed the
basis for the report of recent uranium transaction between Iraq and Niger
are in fact not authentic." None of the three broadcast networks' evening
newscasts mention his findings.

[In 2005 ElBaradei was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.]

March 10, 2003

Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks tells an audience in England, "We do not
want this war, this violence, and we're ashamed that the president of the
United States is from Texas." Boycotts, death threats and anti-Dixie Chicks
demonstrations follow.

[In 2007, the Dixie Chicks won five Grammy Awards, including best song for
"Not Ready to Make Nice."]

March 12, 2003

A senior military planner tells The Daily News "an attack on Iraq could last
as few as seven days."

"Isn't it more likely that antipathy toward the United States in the Islamic
world might diminish amid the demonstrations of jubilant Iraqis celebrating
the end of a regime that has few equals in its ruthlessness?"

- John McCain, writing for the Op-Ed page of The New York Times.

"The Pentagon still has not given a name to the Iraqi war. Somehow
'Operation Re-elect Bush' doesn't seem to be popular."

- Jay Leno, "The Tonight Show."

March 14, 2003

Senator John D. Rockefeller, Democrat of West Virginia, asks the F.B.I. to
investigate the forged documents cited a week earlier by ElBaradei and
alleging an Iraq-Niger uranium transaction: "There is a possibility that the
fabrication of these documents may be part of a larger deception campaign
aimed at manipulating public opinion and foreign policy regarding Iraq."

March 16, 2003

On "Meet the Press," Dick Cheney says that American troops will be "greeted
as liberators," that Saddam "has a longstanding relationship with various
terrorist groups, including the Al Qaeda organization," and that it is an
"overstatement" to suggest that several hundred thousand troops will be
needed in Iraq after it is liberated. Asked by Tim Russert about ElBaradei's
statement that Iraq does not have a nuclear program, the vice president
says, "I think Mr. ElBaradei frankly is wrong."

"There will be new recruits, new recruits probably because of the war that's
about to happen. So we haven't seen the last of Al Qaeda."

- Richard Clarke, former White House counterterrorism czar, on ABC's "This
Week."

[From the recently declassified "key judgments" of the National Intelligence
Estimate of April 2006: "The Iraq conflict has become the cause célèbre for
jihadists, breeding a deep resentment of U.S. involvement in the Muslim
world and cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement."]

"Despite the Bush administration's claims about Iraq's weapons of mass
destruction, U.S. intelligence agencies have been unable to give Congress or
the Pentagon specific information about the amounts of banned weapons or
where they are hidden, according to administration officials and members of
Congress. Senior intelligence analysts say they feel caught between the
demands from White House, Pentagon and other government policy makers for
intelligence that would make the administration's case 'and what they say is
a lack of hard facts,' one official said."

- "U.S. Lacks Specifics on Banned Arms," by Walter Pincus (with additional
reporting by Bob Woodward), The Washington Post, Page A17.

March 17, 2003

Representative Henry Waxman, Democrat of California, who voted for the Iraq
war resolution, writes the president to ask why the administration has
repeatedly used W.M.D. evidence that has turned out to be "a hoax" -
"correspondence that indicates that Iraq sought to obtain nuclear weapons
from an African country, Niger."

[Still waiting for "an adequate explanation" of the bogus Niger claim four
years later, Waxman, now chairman of the chief oversight committee in the
House, wrote Condoleezza Rice on March 12, 2007, seeking a response "to
multiple letters I sent you about this matter."]

In a prime-time address, President Bush tells Saddam to leave Iraq within 48
hours: "Every measure has been made to avoid war, and every measure will be
taken to win it." After the speech, NBC rushes through its analysis to join
a hit show in progress, "Fear Factor," where men and women walk with bare
feet over broken glass to win $50,000.

March 18, 2003

Barbara Bush tells Diane Sawyer on ABC's "Good Morning America" that she
will not watch televised coverage of the war: "Why should we hear about body
bags and deaths, and how many, what day it's going to happen, and how many
this or what do you suppose? Or, I mean, it's, it's not relevant. So, why
should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?"

[Visiting the homeless victims of another cataclysm, Hurricane Katrina, at
the Houston Astrodome in 2005, Mrs. Bush said, "And so many of the people in
the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this - this is
working very well for them."]

In one of its editorials strongly endorsing the war, The Wall Street Journal
writes, "There is plenty of evidence that Iraq has harbored Al Qaeda
members."

[In a Feb. 12, 2007, editorial defending the White House's use of prewar
intelligence, The Journal wrote, "Any links between Al Qaeda and Iraq is a
separate issue that was barely mentioned in the run-up to war."]

In an article headlined "Post-war 'Occupation' of Iraq Could Result in
Chaos," Mark McDonald of Knight Ridder Newspapers quotes a "senior leader of
one of Iraq's closest Arab neighbors," who says, "We're worried that the
outcome will be civil war."

A questioner at a White House news briefing asserts that "every other war
has been accompanied by fiscal austerity of some sort, often including tax
increases" and asks, "What's different about this war?" Ari Fleischer
responds, "The most important thing, war or no war, is for the economy to
grow," adding that in the president's judgment, "the best way to help the
economy to grow is to stimulate the economy by providing tax relief."

After consulting with the homeland security secretary, Tom Ridge, the
N.C.A.A. announces that the men's basketball tournament will tip off this
week as scheduled. The N.C.A.A. president, Myles Brand, says, "We were not
going to let a tyrant determine how we were going to lead our lives."

March 19, 2003

"I'd guess that if it goes beyond three weeks, Bush will be in real
trouble."

- Andrew Bacevich, a retired Army colonel teaching at Boston University,
quoted in The Washington Post.

[The March 2007 installment of the Congressionally mandated Pentagon
assessment "Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq" reported that from
Jan. 1 to Feb. 9, 2007, there were more than 1,000 weekly attacks, up from
about 400 in spring 2004.]

Robert McIlvaine, whose 26-year-old son was killed at the World Trade Center
18 months earlier, is arrested at a peace demonstration at the Capitol in
Washington. He tells The Washington Post: "It's very insulting to hear
President Bush say this is for Sept. 11."

"I don't think it is reasonable to close the door on inspections after three
and a half months," when Iraq's government is providing more cooperation
than it has in more than a decade.

- Hans Blix, chief weapons inspector for the United Nations.

The Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that 71 percent of Americans support
going to war in Iraq, up from 59 percent before the president's March 17
speech.

"When the president talks about sacrifice, I think the American people
clearly understand what the president is talking about."

- Ari Fleischer

[Asked in January 2007 how Americans have sacrificed, President Bush
answered: "I think a lot of people are in this fight. I mean, they sacrifice
peace of mind when they see the terrible images of violence on TV every
night."]

Pentagon units will "locate and survey at least 130 and as many as 1,400
possible weapons sites."

- "Disarming Saddam Hussein; Teams of Experts to Hunt Iraq Arms" by Judith
Miller, The Times, Page A1.

President Bush declares war from the Oval Office in a national address: "Our
nation enters this conflict reluctantly, yet our purpose is sure."

Price of a share of Halliburton stock: $20.50

[Value of that Halliburton share on March 16, 2007, adjusted for a split in
2006: $64.12.]

March 20, 2003

"The pictures you're seeing are absolutely phenomenal. These are live
pictures of the Seventh Cavalry racing across the deserts in southern Iraq.
They will - it will be days before they get to Baghdad, but you've never
seen battlefield pictures like these before."

- Walter Rodgers, an embedded CNN correspondent.

"It seems quite odd to me that while we are commenced upon a war, we have no
funding for that war in this budget."

-Hillary Clinton.

"Coalition forces suffered their first casualties in a helicopter crash that
left 12 Britons and 4 Americans dead."

- The Associated Press.

Though the March 23 Oscar ceremony will dispense with the red carpet in
deference to the war, an E! channel executive announces there will be no
cutback on pre-Oscar programming, but "the tone will be much more somber."

March 21, 2003

"I don't mean to be glib about this, or make it sound trite, but it really
is a symphony that has to be orchestrated by a conductor."

- Retired Maj. Gen. Donald Shepperd, CNN military analyst, speaking to Wolf
Blitzer of the bombardment of Baghdad during Shock and Awe.

["Many parts of Iraq are stable. But of course what we see on television is
the one bombing a day that discourages everyone."

- Laura Bush, "Larry King Live," Feb. 26, 2007.]

"The president may occasionally turn on the TV, but that's not how he gets
his news or his information. ... He is the president, he's made his
decisions and the American people are watching him."

- Ari Fleischer.

[The former press secretary received immunity from prosecution in the
Valerie Wilson leak case and testified in the perjury trial of Scooter Libby
in 2007.]

"Peter, I may be going out on a limb, but I'm not sure that the first stage
of this Shock and Awe campaign is really going to frighten the Iraqi people.
In fact, it may have just the opposite effect. If they feel that they've
survived the most that the United States can throw at them and they're still
standing, and they're still able to go about their lives, well, then they
might be rather emboldened. They might feel that, well, look, we can stand a
lot more than this."

- Richard Engel, a Baghdad correspondent speaking to Peter Jennings on ABC's
"World News Tonight."



"Mike Brannigan" <Mike.Brannigan@localhost> wrote in message
news:OfzQZHYaHHA.1244@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...[color=blue]
> Bypassing the mandatory activation to run unlicensed software is not
> allowed under the terms of the EULA that you agree to abide by when you
> install the software.
> The SkipRearm key is well documented for its intended purpose - the use of
> the this key to avoid your mandatory activation is in breach of the EULA
> and not the intended purpose of this key. The fact that it is possible
> does not mean it should be used to run unlicensed software, no more so
> then the lack of any activation processes in early versions of Windows
> meant that it was possible to breach your licensing terms and install more
> then one copy to multiple machines.
>
> Also for the sake of brevity can you withhold your usual rantings and
> stick to the technical point at hand.
>
> --
> Mike Brannigan
>
> "Chad Harris" <vistaneedsmuchowork.net> wrote in message
> news:uUErJsXaHHA.3272@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...[color=green]
>> Mike--
>>
>> MSFT Ineffective at Preventing Vista Piracy/Prolonging Time to Activate
>>
>> I have revised the subject heading to reflect the title of Brian
>> Livingston's article. As you know Brian is the author of Windows Vista
>> Secrets with Paul Thurrott.
>>
>> I should have made the subject line "MSFT Ineffective at Stopping Vista
>> Piracy". I am not and never have advocated piracy on any of these
>> groups. I always use legititmat Windows and other MSFT software and have
>> a good time doing it. However these keys can be used to prolong use of
>> Vista without activation--and of course "installing the product" isn't
>> activating it. We have had a number of situations here where activation
>> glitches have reared their head, and cases (I'm not sure of the number
>> yet, are being reported on these groups and elsewhere that confirm my
>> worst fears: That the "SPP" aka the "Software Protection Policy" has
>> forced users of legit Vista into reduced functionality mode erratically
>> just as WGA has failed in a significant number of cases with legit
>> Windows XP.
>>
>> MSFT has made many claims promulgated by Brad Smith and his Associate
>> General Counsel Nancy Anderson that they effectively prevent piracy on an
>> individual basis. They are effective only because ignorance is the coin
>> of the realm in my country the U.S. and many other countries.
>>
>> I'm going to bet that Nancy Anderson, who is paid well over a million
>> dollars a year at MSFT and has held MSFT stock for years worth several
>> million, hasn't lived in a mud hut with no plumbing nor struggled to pay
>> the bills. She's in the subset that pay her Congress to pass laws to
>> protect her and exempt her economically. I'm not justifying piracy
>> because of retail cost. I am saying it's pandemic because multiple
>> countries, including yours, has systemic legislation and economic policy
>> that skewers the laws to rob from the poor and disinfranchise and rob
>> from the "middle class" socio-economically and cater to the rich.
>>
>> Note the skew here:
>>
>> Q&A: How Software Piracy Undermines Economic Recovery
>> Microsoft Associate General Counsel Nancy Anderson leads Microsoft's
>> efforts to strike back at piracy's economic drain.
>> [url]http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2001/oct01/10-19piracyqa.mspx[/url]
>>
>>
>> I don't think Nancy Anderson is very aware of this reg hack. I point out
>> that MSFT's Antipiracy measures are competent to the degree people are
>> ignorant of what's in the registry in regards to activation, and that it
>> can be a convenience if people run into glitches with activation that do
>> exist.
>>
>> CH
>>
>> The White House in the U.S. got caught using the DOJ and US Attorneys as
>> a political arm of the Republican party. Simply put, they fired 9 (not 7
>> or 8) US Attorneys who were pursuing major Republican congressmen like
>> Jerry Lewis. The pursuit of Democrats for prosecution was in the ball
>> park of 100 to 1 statistically. US Attorneys were being directly
>> pressured to go after Democrats. Alberto Gonzales' claiming he knew
>> nothing about this is beyond incompetent and he has functioned at the
>> level of a twit. He had no federal litigation experience and was put in
>> a job for which he had no skills and it shows. His DAG McNulty has lied
>> under oath to Congress as has he, and lying to Congress whether under
>> oath or not is purjery under federal law. I give him less time than MSFT
>> gives you to activate Vista. A number of people in the EOUSA and at the
>> highest levels of DOJ are guilty of breaking the law in major ways.
>>
>> The legacy of the Bush administration will be efficiency at filling
>> coffins at Dover for generations to come and the effective slaughter of
>> millions of Iraquis and Americans while squandering treasure that should
>> have been directed to bolstering the domestic policies that Bill Gates
>> among others has spent significant time, effort and parts of his personal
>> fortune and his Foundation to champion.
>>
>> The only effective way to stop the wasteful killing is a DRAFT. That is
>> the only policy that will get oblivious, completely apathetic Americans
>> engaged--the threat of skin in the game.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> "Mike Brannigan" <Mike.Brannigan@localhost> wrote in message
>> news:B230A84A-80B9-4683-BF2E-5ABB62EE9EE0@microsoft.com...[color=darkred]
>>> Chad,
>>>
>>> The use of the well documented SkipRearm registry key does not allow a
>>> LEGAL use of the OS past the activation deadline.
>>>
>>> Your use of the product is covered under your End User License Agreement
>>> (EULA) that you must agree to to install the product.
>>> Section 4 clearly states that Activation is mandatory.
>>> Failure to activate past the notified period means you are using
>>> unlicensed software.
>>> The use of the registry key does not remove you mandatory requirement to
>>> activate.
>>> Modification for the OS by any means (including registry edits) to
>>> breach the terms of the EULA doe not mean that you are "legally" doing
>>> anything - you are using unlicensed software.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Mike Brannigan
>>>
>>> "Chad Harris" <vistaneedsmuchowork.net> wrote in message
>>> news:O2Z5G7PaHHA.2316@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>>>> Brian Livingston has a new trick:
>>>>
>>>> Microsoft has built into Vista a function that allows anyone to extend
>>>> the operating system's activation deadline not just three times, but
>>>> many times. The same one-line command that postpones Vista's activation
>>>> deadline to 120 days can be used an indefinite number of times by first
>>>> changing a Registry key from 0 to 1.
>>>>
>>>> This isn't a hacker exploit. It doesn't require any tools or utilities
>>>> whatsoever. Microsoft even documented the Registry key, although
>>>> obtusely, on its Technet site.
>>>>
>>>> But dishonest PC sellers could use the procedure to install thousands
>>>> of copies of Vista and sell them to unsuspecting consumers or
>>>> businesses as legitimately activated copies. This would certainly
>>>> violate the Vista EULA, but consumers might not realize this until the
>>>> PCs they bought started demanding activation - and failing - months or
>>>> years later.
>>>>
>>>> The following describes the Registry key that's involved.
>>>>
>>>> Step 1. While running a copy of Windows Vista that hasn't yet been
>>>> activated, click the Start button, type regedit into the Search box,
>>>> then press Enter to launch the Registry Editor.
>>>>
>>>> Step 2. Explore down to the following Registry key:
>>>>
>>>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion
>>>> \ SL
>>>>
>>>> Step 3. Right-click the Registry key named SkipRearm and click Edit.
>>>> The default is a Dword (a double word or 4 bytes) with a hex value of
>>>> 00000000. Change this value to any positive integer, such as 00000001,
>>>> save the change, and close the Registry Editor.
>>>>
>>>> Step 4. Start a command prompt with administrative rights. The fastest
>>>> way to do this is to click the Start button, enter cmd in the Search
>>>> box, then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. If you're asked for a network
>>>> username and password, provide the ones that log you into your domain.
>>>> You may be asked to approve a User Account Control prompt and to
>>>> provide an administrator password.
>>>>
>>>> Step 5. Type one of the following two commands and press Enter:
>>>>
>>>> slmgr -rearm
>>>> or
>>>> rundll32 slc.dll,SLReArmWindows
>>>>
>>>> Either command uses Vista's built-in Software Licensing Manager (SLMGR)
>>>> to push the activation deadline out to 30 days after the command is
>>>> run. Changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allows SLMGR to do this an
>>>> indefinite number of times. Running either command initializes the
>>>> value of SkipRearm back to 0.
>>>>
>>>> Step 6. Reboot the PC to make the postponement take effect. (After you
>>>> log in, if you like, you can open a command prompt and run the command
>>>> slmgr -xpr to see Vista's new expiration date and time. I explained the
>>>> slmgr command and its parameters in my Feb. 15 article.)
>>>>
>>>> Step 7. To extend the activation deadline of Vista indefinitely, repeat
>>>> steps 1 through 6 as necessary
>>>>
>>>> Read full story and other tricks at source:
>>>>
>>>> [url]http://windowssecrets.com/comp/070315/#story1[/url]
>>>>
>>>> Microsoft allows bypass of Vista activation
>>>>
>>>> By Brian Livingston
>>>>
>>>> Microsoft always says it opposes "software pirates" who sell thousands
>>>> of unauthorized copies of Windows.
>>>>
>>>> But the Redmond company has made things a lot easier for pirates by
>>>> adding a line to the Registry that can be changed from 0 to 1 to
>>>> postpone the need to "activate" Vista indefinitely.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Activation doesn't stop true software piracy
>>>>
>>>> As most Windows users know, Microsoft has required "product activation"
>>>> since the release of Windows XP in 2001. XP must be activated by
>>>> communicating with servers in Redmond within 30 days of installation.
>>>> By contrast, Microsoft Office XP, 2003, and 2007 require activatation
>>>> before the package is used 5 to 50 times, depending on the version,
>>>> according to a company FAQ. If a PC has no Internet connection, a user
>>>> may activate a product by dialing a telephone number in various
>>>> countries.
>>>>
>>>> The activation process will complete successfully only if the software
>>>> has not been previously activated, such as on a different machine. If
>>>> activation isn't completed within the trial period, Microsoft products
>>>> temporarily shut down some of their features. MS Office loses the
>>>> ability to edit and save files. After Vista's activation deadline runs
>>>> out, the user can do little other than use Internet Explorer to
>>>> activate the operating system or buy a new license.
>>>>
>>>> Microsoft describes its product activation scheme as a way to foil
>>>> software pirates. However, as I previously described in an InfoWorld
>>>> Magazine article on Oct. 22, 2001, activation does nothing to stop mass
>>>> piracy. The Redmond company actually included in Windows XP a small
>>>> file, Wpa.dbl, that makes it easy for pirates to create thousands of
>>>> machines that validate perfectly.
>>>>
>>>> Far from stopping software piracy, product activation has primarily
>>>> been designed to prevent home users from installing one copy of Windows
>>>> on a home machine and a personal-use copy on a laptop. As I explained
>>>> in an article on Mar. 8, buying a copyrighted work and making another
>>>> copy strictly for personal use is specifically permitted to consumers
>>>> by the U.S. Copyright Act and the copyright laws of many other
>>>> countries.
>>>>
>>>> For example, courts have repeatedly ruled that consumers can make
>>>> copies of copyrighted songs or television programs for personal use
>>>> (not for distribution or resale). This principle is legally known as
>>>> "fair use." The home edition of Microsoft Office 2007 reflects this
>>>> principle, allowing consumers to activate three copies of a single
>>>> purchased product. Microsoft Windows XP and Vista, however, allow only
>>>> one activation.
>>>>
>>>> Surprisingly, Microsoft has embedded into its new Vista operating
>>>> system a feature that makes things easier than ever for true, mass
>>>> software pirates. These tricksters will be able to produce thousands of
>>>> Windows PCs machines that won't demand activation indefinitely - at
>>>> least for a year or more.
>>>>
>>>> Leaving the activation barn door open
>>>>
>>>> I reported in a Feb. 1 article that the upgrade version of Windows
>>>> Vista allows itself to be clean-installed to a new hard drive. The new
>>>> Microsoft operating system completely omits any checking for a
>>>> qualifying previous version of Windows. This allows the upgrade version
>>>> of Vista to successfully upgrade over a nonactivated, trial version of
>>>> itself.
>>>>
>>>> After my article appeared, ZDnet blogger Ed Bott summarized the secret
>>>> in a post on Feb. 15. He flatly states, "You satisfied every condition
>>>> of the license agreement and aren't skating by on a technicality. The
>>>> fact that you have to use a kludgey workaround to use the license
>>>> you've purchased and are legally entitled to is Microsoft's fault."
>>>>
>>>> In my own piece, I had speculated that clean-installing the upgrade
>>>> version of Vista "probably violates the Vista EULA (End User License
>>>> Agreement)." But more and more computer experts are saying that the
>>>> procedure is fully compliant with the EULA and, in any event, is
>>>> perfectly legal.
>>>>
>>>> I wrote a follow-up story on Feb. 15. I reported that Microsoft
>>>> includes in Vista a one-line command that even novices can use to
>>>> postpone the product's activation deadline three times. This can extend
>>>> the deadline from its original 30 days to as much as 120 days - almost
>>>> four months.
>>>>
>>>> PCWorld.com posted a report on my story on Feb. 17. The magazine quotes
>>>> a Microsoft spokeswoman as saying that extending Vista's activation
>>>> deadline as I described it "is not a violation of the Vista End User
>>>> License Agreement." I'm glad that's clear.
>>>>
>>>> The feature that I've revealing today shows that Microsoft has built
>>>> into Vista a function that allows anyone to extend the operating
>>>> system's activation deadline not just three times, but many times. The
>>>> same one-line command that postpones Vista's activation deadline to 120
>>>> days can be used an indefinite number of times by first changing a
>>>> Registry key from 0 to 1.
>>>>
>>>> This isn't a hacker exploit. It doesn't require any tools or utilities
>>>> whatsoever. Microsoft even documented the Registry key, although
>>>> obtusely, on its Technet site.
>>>>
>>>> But dishonest PC sellers could use the procedure to install thousands
>>>> of copies of Vista and sell them to unsuspecting consumers or
>>>> businesses as legitimately activated copies. This would certainly
>>>> violate the Vista EULA, but consumers might not realize this until the
>>>> PCs they bought started demanding activation - and failing - months or
>>>> years later.
>>>>
>>>> The following describes the Registry key that's involved.
>>>>
>>>> Step 1. While running a copy of Windows Vista that hasn't yet been
>>>> activated, click the Start button, type regedit into the Search box,
>>>> then press Enter to launch the Registry Editor.
>>>>
>>>> Step 2. Explore down to the following Registry key:
>>>>
>>>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion
>>>> \ SL
>>>>
>>>> Step 3. Right-click the Registry key named SkipRearm and click Edit.
>>>> The default is a Dword (a double word or 4 bytes) with a hex value of
>>>> 00000000. Change this value to any positive integer, such as 00000001,
>>>> save the change, and close the Registry Editor.
>>>>
>>>> Step 4. Start a command prompt with administrative rights. The fastest
>>>> way to do this is to click the Start button, enter cmd in the Search
>>>> box, then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. If you're asked for a network
>>>> username and password, provide the ones that log you into your domain.
>>>> You may be asked to approve a User Account Control prompt and to
>>>> provide an administrator password.
>>>>
>>>> Step 5. Type one of the following two commands and press Enter:
>>>>
>>>> slmgr -rearm
>>>> or
>>>> rundll32 slc.dll,SLReArmWindows
>>>>
>>>> Either command uses Vista's built-in Software Licensing Manager (SLMGR)
>>>> to push the activation deadline out to 30 days after the command is
>>>> run. Changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allows SLMGR to do this an
>>>> indefinite number of times. Running either command initializes the
>>>> value of SkipRearm back to 0.
>>>>
>>>> Step 6. Reboot the PC to make the postponement take effect. (After you
>>>> log in, if you like, you can open a command prompt and run the command
>>>> slmgr -xpr to see Vista's new expiration date and time. I explained the
>>>> slmgr command and its parameters in my Feb. 15 article.)
>>>>
>>>> Step 7. To extend the activation deadline of Vista indefinitely, repeat
>>>> steps 1 through 6 as necessary.
>>>>
>>>> Any crooked PC seller with even the slightest technical skill could
>>>> easily install a command file that would carry out steps 1 through 6
>>>> automatically. The program could run slmgr -rearm three times, 30 days
>>>> apart, to postpone Vista's activation deadline to 120 days. It could
>>>> then run skip -rearm every 30 days, for a period of months if not
>>>> years, by first resetting the SkipRearm key.
>>>>
>>>> The program could be scheduled to check Vista's activation deadline
>>>> during every reboot, and to remind the user to reboot once a month if a
>>>> deadline was nearing. The buyer of such a PC would never even see an
>>>> activation reminder, much less be required to go through the activation
>>>> process.
>>>>
>>>> If you happen to buy a Vista PC from a little-known seller, and the
>>>> price was too good to be true, use Vista's search function to look for
>>>> the string SkipRearm in files. You may discover that your "bargain"
>>>> computer will mysteriously start demanding activation in a year or
>>>> two - but your product key won't be valid.
>>>>
>>>> I asked Microsoft why SkipRearm is included in Vista if it can be used
>>>> to create machines that appear not to need activation for long periods.
>>>> A Microsoft spokewoman replied, "I connected with my colleagues and
>>>> learned, unfortunately, we do not have information to share at this
>>>> time." (I can't identify the speaker because the policy of Waggener
>>>> Edstrom, Microsoft's public-relations firm, prohibits the naming of
>>>> p.r. spokespersons.)
>>>>
>>>> In my testing of Microsoft's back-door loophole, I've found that the
>>>> technique can be used to postpone the activation deadline one year or
>>>> longer. It may or may not, however, work forever, as I describe below.
>>>>
>>>> Why does SkipRearm even exist in Vista?
>>>>
>>>> The Vista development teaam apparently inserted the SkipRearm loophole
>>>> to help major corporations work around Microsoft's new Volume Licensing
>>>> Agreement. This new program, which the Redmond company calls "Volume
>>>> Licensing 2.0," requires buyers to set up a Key Management Service
>>>> (KMS) host, as described by a Microsoft FAQ. Companies must choose from
>>>> two types of digital keys and three different methods of activation to
>>>> validate thousands of individual Vista machines within the corporate
>>>> LAN.
>>>>
>>>> Activation of Windows XP, by comparison, requires merely that volume
>>>> purchasers use a single product key. Corporate buyers obtain a unique
>>>> key when signing a Volume Licensing Agreement. Microsoft has said,
>>>> however, that most Windows XP piracy involves stolen product keys that
>>>> are used by others to activate unauthorized machines.
>>>>
>>>> The new KMS requirement is intended to discourage such piracy, but it
>>>> places a heavy burden on corporate IT administrators. For example,
>>>> Microsoft provides a tool called System Preparation (sysprep.exe) to
>>>> prepare Vista machines for use. If a system can't be completely prepped
>>>> within 30 days after installation, an admin can run the command sysprep
>>>> /generalize to postpone the activation deadline another 30 days.
>>>> However, like the slmgr -rearm command, sysprep /generalize will only
>>>> succeed three times.
>>>>
>>>> To work around this, as a Technet document states, "Microsoft
>>>> recommends that you use the SkipRearm setting if you plan on running
>>>> Sysprep multiple times on a computer." This is echoed by Microsoft
>>>> Knowledge Base article 929828.
>>>>
>>>> Contributing editor Susan Bradley points out, "The good guys have to go
>>>> through this stupid implementation of a KMS deployment because of bad
>>>> guys abusing the system." She strongly feels that users should comply
>>>> with Microsoft's EULA provisions. "The operating system license has
>>>> always been a one-machine install. ... Many of us forget the
>>>> multiple-install rule [for Microsoft Office] since we are so used to
>>>> the one license, one install rule," she adds.
>>>>
>>>> In its TechNet documents, Microsoft recommends the repeated use of
>>>> SkipRearm. How many times is "multiple times"? My testing revealed that
>>>> the answer is, well, indefinite.
>>>>
>>>> . On a copy of Vista Ultimate that Microsoft released in New York City
>>>> on Jan. 29, I found that changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allowed the
>>>> command slmgr -rearm to postpone Vista's activation deadline eight
>>>> separate times. After that, changing the 0 to 1 had no effect,
>>>> preventing slmgr -rearm from moving the deadline. The use of
>>>> slmgr -rearm 3 times, plus using SkipRearm 8 times would eliminate
>>>> Vista's activation nag screens for about one year (12 periods of 30
>>>> days).
>>>>
>>>> . On a copy of the upgrade version of Vista Home Premium that I bought
>>>> in a retail store on Jan. 30, slmgr -rearm also worked 3 times and
>>>> SkipRearm worked 8 times before losing their effect. This combination
>>>> would, as with Vista Ultimate, permit a one-year use of Vista without
>>>> nag screens appearing.
>>>>
>>>> . On a copy of the full version of Vista Home Premium that I bought in
>>>> a retail store on Mar. 14, SkipRearm had no effect on extending the use
>>>> of slmgr -rearm at all. This suggests that Microsoft has slipstreamed a
>>>> new version into stores, eliminating the SkipRearm feature in Vista
>>>> Home. That could mean that changing the key from 0 to 1 will now work
>>>> only in the business editions of Vista - Business, Enterprise, and
>>>> Ultimate - so corporations can use the loophole.
>>>>
>>>> Where is the usage count of slmgr -rearm stored? Where is the usage
>>>> count of SkipRearm stored? These bytes won't be hard for expert users
>>>> to find. The use restrictions may be easily lifted. If so, this would
>>>> allow crooked PC sellers to truly create machines that would never need
>>>> activation, ever.
>>>>
>>>> The financial impact of SkipRearm on Microsoft
>>>>
>>>> I'd like to repeat here that I'm not advocating that anyone use the
>>>> above technique to violate Microsoft's EULA or avoid paying for Vista.
>>>> Any company that used SkipRearm to install Vista on multiple machines
>>>> for as long as possible would have little defense against a surprise
>>>> inspection by the Business Software Alliance. This coalition of
>>>> software makers, which includes Microsoft, investigates reports of
>>>> unlicensed software and obtains warrants to conduct audits.
>>>>
>>>> As a journalist, my job is to report the facts. SkipRearm was
>>>> specifically built into Vista to be used. Microsoft executives made
>>>> Vista's activation overly complex and cumbersome. So the development
>>>> team apparently invented a Registry key to lift the burden of Vista's
>>>> activation deadline, for at least a year and probably more.
>>>>
>>>> The technique is so powerful and basic, however, that hackers around
>>>> the world may soon use the feature to install millions of extra copies
>>>> of Vista without buying them. This could have a major impact on
>>>> Microsoft's revenues. The company's employees and shareholders might
>>>> want to be aware of this.
>>>>
>>>> Product activation does little or nothing to stop mass software piracy.
>>>> It's become so convoluted, the way Microsoft has implemented it, that
>>>> it's more of an irritation to legitimate users than a worthwhile
>>>> antipiracy measure. In my opinion, Microsoft should concentrate on
>>>> legal action against true pirates instead of inventing more ways to
>>>> drive honorable users bonkers.
>>>>
>>>> I invite my readers to send me information about SkipRearm using the
>>>> Windows Secrets contact page. I'd like to thank my program director,
>>>> Brent Scheffler, for tirelessly testing SkipRearm dozens of times, and
>>>> reader Reine T. for being the first to point out the use of SkipRearm
>>>> to me. He'll receive a gift certificate for a book, CD, or DVD of his
>>>> choice for sending me a tip that I used.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>[/color]
>>[/color]
>[/color]

It's a full OEM version of Vista, bought on Vista Release Day - 31st Jan I
think.

He may have done other things like initially install Vista at a future date,
such as 2080, before resetting it back to the current date, though which he
didn't mention.

Each time you run 'slmgr -rearm' it adds three new keys under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\WPA

These also need to be removed in safe mode, to continue using 'slmgr -rearm'
indefinitely afaik.

--
Jon


"MICHAEL" <u158627_emr2@dslr.net> wrote in message
news:%23l9asSYaHHA.5032@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...[color=blue]
> What version of Vista are you using, Jon?
>
> When did you get it?
>
>
> -Michael
>
> "Jon" <Email_Address@SomewhereOrOther.com> wrote in message
> news:uVzPpLYaHHA.4616@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...[color=green]
>> Sticking to the 'technical point at hand', the article should have been
>> released on April Fools' Day. It's complete misinformation.
>>
>> --
>> Jon
>>
>>
>>
>> "Mike Brannigan" <Mike.Brannigan@localhost> wrote in message
>> news:OfzQZHYaHHA.1244@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...[color=darkred]
>>> Bypassing the mandatory activation to run unlicensed software is not
>>> allowed under the terms of the EULA that you agree to abide by when you
>>> install the software.
>>> The SkipRearm key is well documented for its intended purpose - the use
>>> of the this key to avoid your mandatory activation is in breach of the
>>> EULA and not the intended purpose of this key. The fact that it is
>>> possible does not mean it should be used to run unlicensed software, no
>>> more so then the lack of any activation processes in early versions of
>>> Windows meant that it was possible to breach your licensing terms and
>>> install more then one copy to multiple machines.
>>>
>>> Also for the sake of brevity can you withhold your usual rantings and
>>> stick to the technical point at hand.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Mike Brannigan
>>>
>>> "Chad Harris" <vistaneedsmuchowork.net> wrote in message
>>> news:uUErJsXaHHA.3272@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>>>> Mike--
>>>>
>>>> MSFT Ineffective at Preventing Vista Piracy/Prolonging Time to Activate
>>>>
>>>> I have revised the subject heading to reflect the title of Brian
>>>> Livingston's article. As you know Brian is the author of Windows Vista
>>>> Secrets with Paul Thurrott.
>>>>
>>>> I should have made the subject line "MSFT Ineffective at Stopping Vista
>>>> Piracy". I am not and never have advocated piracy on any of these
>>>> groups. I always use legititmat Windows and other MSFT software and
>>>> have a good time doing it. However these keys can be used to prolong
>>>> use of Vista without activation--and of course "installing the product"
>>>> isn't activating it. We have had a number of situations here where
>>>> activation glitches have reared their head, and cases (I'm not sure of
>>>> the number yet, are being reported on these groups and elsewhere that
>>>> confirm my worst fears: That the "SPP" aka the "Software Protection
>>>> Policy" has forced users of legit Vista into reduced functionality mode
>>>> erratically just as WGA has failed in a significant number of cases
>>>> with legit Windows XP.
>>>>
>>>> MSFT has made many claims promulgated by Brad Smith and his Associate
>>>> General Counsel Nancy Anderson that they effectively prevent piracy on
>>>> an individual basis. They are effective only because ignorance is the
>>>> coin of the realm in my country the U.S. and many other countries.
>>>>
>>>> I'm going to bet that Nancy Anderson, who is paid well over a million
>>>> dollars a year at MSFT and has held MSFT stock for years worth several
>>>> million, hasn't lived in a mud hut with no plumbing nor struggled to
>>>> pay the bills. She's in the subset that pay her Congress to pass laws
>>>> to protect her and exempt her economically. I'm not justifying
>>>> piracy because of retail cost. I am saying it's pandemic because
>>>> multiple countries, including yours, has systemic legislation and
>>>> economic policy that skewers the laws to rob from the poor and
>>>> disinfranchise and rob from the "middle class" socio-economically and
>>>> cater to the rich.
>>>>
>>>> Note the skew here:
>>>>
>>>> Q&A: How Software Piracy Undermines Economic Recovery
>>>> Microsoft Associate General Counsel Nancy Anderson leads Microsoft's
>>>> efforts to strike back at piracy's economic drain.
>>>> [url]http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2001/oct01/10-19piracyqa.mspx[/url]
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I don't think Nancy Anderson is very aware of this reg hack. I point
>>>> out that MSFT's Antipiracy measures are competent to the degree people
>>>> are ignorant of what's in the registry in regards to activation, and
>>>> that it can be a convenience if people run into glitches with
>>>> activation that do exist.
>>>>
>>>> CH
>>>>
>>>> The White House in the U.S. got caught using the DOJ and US Attorneys
>>>> as a political arm of the Republican party. Simply put, they fired 9
>>>> (not 7 or 8) US Attorneys who were pursuing major Republican
>>>> congressmen like Jerry Lewis. The pursuit of Democrats for prosecution
>>>> was in the ball park of 100 to 1 statistically. US Attorneys were being
>>>> directly pressured to go after Democrats. Alberto Gonzales' claiming
>>>> he knew nothing about this is beyond incompetent and he has functioned
>>>> at the level of a twit. He had no federal litigation experience and
>>>> was put in a job for which he had no skills and it shows. His DAG
>>>> McNulty has lied under oath to Congress as has he, and lying to
>>>> Congress whether under oath or not is purjery under federal law. I
>>>> give him less time than MSFT gives you to activate Vista. A number of
>>>> people in the EOUSA and at the highest levels of DOJ are guilty of
>>>> breaking the law in major ways.
>>>>
>>>> The legacy of the Bush administration will be efficiency at filling
>>>> coffins at Dover for generations to come and the effective slaughter of
>>>> millions of Iraquis and Americans while squandering treasure that
>>>> should have been directed to bolstering the domestic policies that Bill
>>>> Gates among others has spent significant time, effort and parts of his
>>>> personal fortune and his Foundation to champion.
>>>>
>>>> The only effective way to stop the wasteful killing is a DRAFT. That
>>>> is the only policy that will get oblivious, completely apathetic
>>>> Americans engaged--the threat of skin in the game.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "Mike Brannigan" <Mike.Brannigan@localhost> wrote in message
>>>> news:B230A84A-80B9-4683-BF2E-5ABB62EE9EE0@microsoft.com...
>>>>> Chad,
>>>>>
>>>>> The use of the well documented SkipRearm registry key does not allow a
>>>>> LEGAL use of the OS past the activation deadline.
>>>>>
>>>>> Your use of the product is covered under your End User License
>>>>> Agreement (EULA) that you must agree to to install the product.
>>>>> Section 4 clearly states that Activation is mandatory.
>>>>> Failure to activate past the notified period means you are using
>>>>> unlicensed software.
>>>>> The use of the registry key does not remove you mandatory requirement
>>>>> to activate.
>>>>> Modification for the OS by any means (including registry edits) to
>>>>> breach the terms of the EULA doe not mean that you are "legally" doing
>>>>> anything - you are using unlicensed software.
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Mike Brannigan
>>>>>
>>>>> "Chad Harris" <vistaneedsmuchowork.net> wrote in message
>>>>> news:O2Z5G7PaHHA.2316@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>>>>>> Brian Livingston has a new trick:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Microsoft has built into Vista a function that allows anyone to
>>>>>> extend the operating system's activation deadline not just three
>>>>>> times, but many times. The same one-line command that postpones
>>>>>> Vista's activation deadline to 120 days can be used an indefinite
>>>>>> number of times by first changing a Registry key from 0 to 1.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> This isn't a hacker exploit. It doesn't require any tools or
>>>>>> utilities whatsoever. Microsoft even documented the Registry key,
>>>>>> although obtusely, on its Technet site.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> But dishonest PC sellers could use the procedure to install thousands
>>>>>> of copies of Vista and sell them to unsuspecting consumers or
>>>>>> businesses as legitimately activated copies. This would certainly
>>>>>> violate the Vista EULA, but consumers might not realize this until
>>>>>> the PCs they bought started demanding activation - and failing -
>>>>>> months or years later.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The following describes the Registry key that's involved.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Step 1. While running a copy of Windows Vista that hasn't yet been
>>>>>> activated, click the Start button, type regedit into the Search box,
>>>>>> then press Enter to launch the Registry Editor.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Step 2. Explore down to the following Registry key:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \
>>>>>> CurrentVersion \ SL
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Step 3. Right-click the Registry key named SkipRearm and click Edit.
>>>>>> The default is a Dword (a double word or 4 bytes) with a hex value of
>>>>>> 00000000. Change this value to any positive integer, such as
>>>>>> 00000001, save the change, and close the Registry Editor.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Step 4. Start a command prompt with administrative rights. The
>>>>>> fastest way to do this is to click the Start button, enter cmd in the
>>>>>> Search box, then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. If you're asked for a
>>>>>> network username and password, provide the ones that log you into
>>>>>> your domain. You may be asked to approve a User Account Control
>>>>>> prompt and to provide an administrator password.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Step 5. Type one of the following two commands and press Enter:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> slmgr -rearm
>>>>>> or
>>>>>> rundll32 slc.dll,SLReArmWindows
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Either command uses Vista's built-in Software Licensing Manager
>>>>>> (SLMGR) to push the activation deadline out to 30 days after the
>>>>>> command is run. Changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allows SLMGR to do
>>>>>> this an indefinite number of times. Running either command
>>>>>> initializes the value of SkipRearm back to 0.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Step 6. Reboot the PC to make the postponement take effect. (After
>>>>>> you log in, if you like, you can open a command prompt and run the
>>>>>> command slmgr -xpr to see Vista's new expiration date and time. I
>>>>>> explained the slmgr command and its parameters in my Feb. 15
>>>>>> article.)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Step 7. To extend the activation deadline of Vista indefinitely,
>>>>>> repeat steps 1 through 6 as necessary
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Read full story and other tricks at source:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> [url]http://windowssecrets.com/comp/070315/#story1[/url]
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Microsoft allows bypass of Vista activation
>>>>>>
>>>>>> By Brian Livingston
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Microsoft always says it opposes "software pirates" who sell
>>>>>> thousands of unauthorized copies of Windows.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> But the Redmond company has made things a lot easier for pirates by
>>>>>> adding a line to the Registry that can be changed from 0 to 1 to
>>>>>> postpone the need to "activate" Vista indefinitely.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Activation doesn't stop true software piracy
>>>>>>
>>>>>> As most Windows users know, Microsoft has required "product
>>>>>> activation" since the release of Windows XP in 2001. XP must be
>>>>>> activated by communicating with servers in Redmond within 30 days of
>>>>>> installation. By contrast, Microsoft Office XP, 2003, and 2007
>>>>>> require activatation before the package is used 5 to 50 times,
>>>>>> depending on the version, according to a company FAQ. If a PC has no
>>>>>> Internet connection, a user may activate a product by dialing a
>>>>>> telephone number in various countries.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The activation process will complete successfully only if the
>>>>>> software has not been previously activated, such as on a different
>>>>>> machine. If activation isn't completed within the trial period,
>>>>>> Microsoft products temporarily shut down some of their features. MS
>>>>>> Office loses the ability to edit and save files. After Vista's
>>>>>> activation deadline runs out, the user can do little other than use
>>>>>> Internet Explorer to activate the operating system or buy a new
>>>>>> license.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Microsoft describes its product activation scheme as a way to foil
>>>>>> software pirates. However, as I previously described in an InfoWorld
>>>>>> Magazine article on Oct. 22, 2001, activation does nothing to stop
>>>>>> mass piracy. The Redmond company actually included in Windows XP a
>>>>>> small file, Wpa.dbl, that makes it easy for pirates to create
>>>>>> thousands of machines that validate perfectly.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Far from stopping software piracy, product activation has primarily
>>>>>> been designed to prevent home users from installing one copy of
>>>>>> Windows on a home machine and a personal-use copy on a laptop. As I
>>>>>> explained in an article on Mar. 8, buying a copyrighted work and
>>>>>> making another copy strictly for personal use is specifically
>>>>>> permitted to consumers by the U.S. Copyright Act and the copyright
>>>>>> laws of many other countries.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> For example, courts have repeatedly ruled that consumers can make
>>>>>> copies of copyrighted songs or television programs for personal use
>>>>>> (not for distribution or resale). This principle is legally known as
>>>>>> "fair use." The home edition of Microsoft Office 2007 reflects this
>>>>>> principle, allowing consumers to activate three copies of a single
>>>>>> purchased product. Microsoft Windows XP and Vista, however, allow
>>>>>> only one activation.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Surprisingly, Microsoft has embedded into its new Vista operating
>>>>>> system a feature that makes things easier than ever for true, mass
>>>>>> software pirates. These tricksters will be able to produce thousands
>>>>>> of Windows PCs machines that won't demand activation indefinitely -
>>>>>> at least for a year or more.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Leaving the activation barn door open
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I reported in a Feb. 1 article that the upgrade version of Windows
>>>>>> Vista allows itself to be clean-installed to a new hard drive. The
>>>>>> new Microsoft operating system completely omits any checking for a
>>>>>> qualifying previous version of Windows. This allows the upgrade
>>>>>> version of Vista to successfully upgrade over a nonactivated, trial
>>>>>> version of itself.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> After my article appeared, ZDnet blogger Ed Bott summarized the
>>>>>> secret in a post on Feb. 15. He flatly states, "You satisfied every
>>>>>> condition of the license agreement and aren't skating by on a
>>>>>> technicality. The fact that you have to use a kludgey workaround to
>>>>>> use the license you've purchased and are legally entitled to is
>>>>>> Microsoft's fault."
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In my own piece, I had speculated that clean-installing the upgrade
>>>>>> version of Vista "probably violates the Vista EULA (End User License
>>>>>> Agreement)." But more and more computer experts are saying that the
>>>>>> procedure is fully compliant with the EULA and, in any event, is
>>>>>> perfectly legal.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I wrote a follow-up story on Feb. 15. I reported that Microsoft
>>>>>> includes in Vista a one-line command that even novices can use to
>>>>>> postpone the product's activation deadline three times. This can
>>>>>> extend the deadline from its original 30 days to as much as 120
>>>>>> days - almost four months.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> PCWorld.com posted a report on my story on Feb. 17. The magazine
>>>>>> quotes a Microsoft spokeswoman as saying that extending Vista's
>>>>>> activation deadline as I described it "is not a violation of the
>>>>>> Vista End User License Agreement." I'm glad that's clear.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The feature that I've revealing today shows that Microsoft has built
>>>>>> into Vista a function that allows anyone to extend the operating
>>>>>> system's activation deadline not just three times, but many times.
>>>>>> The same one-line command that postpones Vista's activation deadline
>>>>>> to 120 days can be used an indefinite number of times by first
>>>>>> changing a Registry key from 0 to 1.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> This isn't a hacker exploit. It doesn't require any tools or
>>>>>> utilities whatsoever. Microsoft even documented the Registry key,
>>>>>> although obtusely, on its Technet site.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> But dishonest PC sellers could use the procedure to install thousands
>>>>>> of copies of Vista and sell them to unsuspecting consumers or
>>>>>> businesses as legitimately activated copies. This would certainly
>>>>>> violate the Vista EULA, but consumers might not realize this until
>>>>>> the PCs they bought started demanding activation - and failing -
>>>>>> months or years later.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The following describes the Registry key that's involved.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Step 1. While running a copy of Windows Vista that hasn't yet been
>>>>>> activated, click the Start button, type regedit into the Search box,
>>>>>> then press Enter to launch the Registry Editor.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Step 2. Explore down to the following Registry key:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \
>>>>>> CurrentVersion \ SL
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Step 3. Right-click the Registry key named SkipRearm and click Edit.
>>>>>> The default is a Dword (a double word or 4 bytes) with a hex value of
>>>>>> 00000000. Change this value to any positive integer, such as
>>>>>> 00000001, save the change, and close the Registry Editor.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Step 4. Start a command prompt with administrative rights. The
>>>>>> fastest way to do this is to click the Start button, enter cmd in the
>>>>>> Search box, then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. If you're asked for a
>>>>>> network username and password, provide the ones that log you into
>>>>>> your domain. You may be asked to approve a User Account Control
>>>>>> prompt and to provide an administrator password.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Step 5. Type one of the following two commands and press Enter:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> slmgr -rearm
>>>>>> or
>>>>>> rundll32 slc.dll,SLReArmWindows
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Either command uses Vista's built-in Software Licensing Manager
>>>>>> (SLMGR) to push the activation deadline out to 30 days after the
>>>>>> command is run. Changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allows SLMGR to do
>>>>>> this an indefinite number of times. Running either command
>>>>>> initializes the value of SkipRearm back to 0.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Step 6. Reboot the PC to make the postponement take effect. (After
>>>>>> you log in, if you like, you can open a command prompt and run the
>>>>>> command slmgr -xpr to see Vista's new expiration date and time. I
>>>>>> explained the slmgr command and its parameters in my Feb. 15
>>>>>> article.)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Step 7. To extend the activation deadline of Vista indefinitely,
>>>>>> repeat steps 1 through 6 as necessary.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Any crooked PC seller with even the slightest technical skill could
>>>>>> easily install a command file that would carry out steps 1 through 6
>>>>>> automatically. The program could run slmgr -rearm three times, 30
>>>>>> days apart, to postpone Vista's activation deadline to 120 days. It
>>>>>> could then run skip -rearm every 30 days, for a period of months if
>>>>>> not years, by first resetting the SkipRearm key.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The program could be scheduled to check Vista's activation deadline
>>>>>> during every reboot, and to remind the user to reboot once a month if
>>>>>> a deadline was nearing. The buyer of such a PC would never even see
>>>>>> an activation reminder, much less be required to go through the
>>>>>> activation process.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> If you happen to buy a Vista PC from a little-known seller, and the
>>>>>> price was too good to be true, use Vista's search function to look
>>>>>> for the string SkipRearm in files. You may discover that your
>>>>>> "bargain" computer will mysteriously start demanding activation in a
>>>>>> year or two - but your product key won't be valid.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I asked Microsoft why SkipRearm is included in Vista if it can be
>>>>>> used to create machines that appear not to need activation for long
>>>>>> periods. A Microsoft spokewoman replied, "I connected with my
>>>>>> colleagues and learned, unfortunately, we do not have information to
>>>>>> share at this time." (I can't identify the speaker because the policy
>>>>>> of Waggener Edstrom, Microsoft's public-relations firm, prohibits the
>>>>>> naming of p.r. spokespersons.)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In my testing of Microsoft's back-door loophole, I've found that the
>>>>>> technique can be used to postpone the activation deadline one year or
>>>>>> longer. It may or may not, however, work forever, as I describe
>>>>>> below.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Why does SkipRearm even exist in Vista?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The Vista development teaam apparently inserted the SkipRearm
>>>>>> loophole to help major corporations work around Microsoft's new
>>>>>> Volume Licensing Agreement. This new program, which the Redmond
>>>>>> company calls "Volume Licensing 2.0," requires buyers to set up a Key
>>>>>> Management Service (KMS) host, as described by a Microsoft FAQ.
>>>>>> Companies must choose from two types of digital keys and three
>>>>>> different methods of activation to validate thousands of individual
>>>>>> Vista machines within the corporate LAN.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Activation of Windows XP, by comparison, requires merely that volume
>>>>>> purchasers use a single product key. Corporate buyers obtain a unique
>>>>>> key when signing a Volume Licensing Agreement. Microsoft has said,
>>>>>> however, that most Windows XP piracy involves stolen product keys
>>>>>> that are used by others to activate unauthorized machines.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The new KMS requirement is intended to discourage such piracy, but it
>>>>>> places a heavy burden on corporate IT administrators. For example,
>>>>>> Microsoft provides a tool called System Preparation (sysprep.exe) to
>>>>>> prepare Vista machines for use. If a system can't be completely
>>>>>> prepped within 30 days after installation, an admin can run the
>>>>>> command sysprep /generalize to postpone the activation deadline
>>>>>> another 30 days. However, like the slmgr -rearm command, sysprep
>>>>>> /generalize will only succeed three times.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> To work around this, as a Technet document states, "Microsoft
>>>>>> recommends that you use the SkipRearm setting if you plan on running
>>>>>> Sysprep multiple times on a computer." This is echoed by Microsoft
>>>>>> Knowledge Base article 929828.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Contributing editor Susan Bradley points out, "The good guys have to
>>>>>> go through this stupid implementation of a KMS deployment because of
>>>>>> bad guys abusing the system." She strongly feels that users should
>>>>>> comply with Microsoft's EULA provisions. "The operating system
>>>>>> license has always been a one-machine install. ... Many of us forget
>>>>>> the multiple-install rule [for Microsoft Office] since we are so used
>>>>>> to the one license, one install rule," she adds.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In its TechNet documents, Microsoft recommends the repeated use of
>>>>>> SkipRearm. How many times is "multiple times"? My testing revealed
>>>>>> that the answer is, well, indefinite.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> . On a copy of Vista Ultimate that Microsoft released in New York
>>>>>> City on Jan. 29, I found that changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allowed
>>>>>> the command slmgr -rearm to postpone Vista's activation deadline
>>>>>> eight separate times. After that, changing the 0 to 1 had no effect,
>>>>>> preventing slmgr -rearm from moving the deadline. The use of
>>>>>> slmgr -rearm 3 times, plus using SkipRearm 8 times would eliminate
>>>>>> Vista's activation nag screens for about one year (12 periods of 30
>>>>>> days).
>>>>>>
>>>>>> . On a copy of the upgrade version of Vista Home Premium that I
>>>>>> bought in a retail store on Jan. 30, slmgr -rearm also worked 3 times
>>>>>> and SkipRearm worked 8 times before losing their effect. This
>>>>>> combination would, as with Vista Ultimate, permit a one-year use of
>>>>>> Vista without nag screens appearing.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> . On a copy of the full version of Vista Home Premium that I bought
>>>>>> in a retail store on Mar. 14, SkipRearm had no effect on extending
>>>>>> the use of slmgr -rearm at all. This suggests that Microsoft has
>>>>>> slipstreamed a new version into stores, eliminating the SkipRearm
>>>>>> feature in Vista Home. That could mean that changing the key from 0
>>>>>> to 1 will now work only in the business editions of Vista - Business,
>>>>>> Enterprise, and Ultimate - so corporations can use the loophole.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Where is the usage count of slmgr -rearm stored? Where is the usage
>>>>>> count of SkipRearm stored? These bytes won't be hard for expert users
>>>>>> to find. The use restrictions may be easily lifted. If so, this would
>>>>>> allow crooked PC sellers to truly create machines that would never
>>>>>> need activation, ever.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The financial impact of SkipRearm on Microsoft
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I'd like to repeat here that I'm not advocating that anyone use the
>>>>>> above technique to violate Microsoft's EULA or avoid paying for
>>>>>> Vista. Any company that used SkipRearm to install Vista on multiple
>>>>>> machines for as long as possible would have little defense against a
>>>>>> surprise inspection by the Business Software Alliance. This coalition
>>>>>> of software makers, which includes Microsoft, investigates reports of
>>>>>> unlicensed software and obtains warrants to conduct audits.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> As a journalist, my job is to report the facts. SkipRearm was
>>>>>> specifically built into Vista to be used. Microsoft executives made
>>>>>> Vista's activation overly complex and cumbersome. So the development
>>>>>> team apparently invented a Registry key to lift the burden of Vista's
>>>>>> activation deadline, for at least a year and probably more.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The technique is so powerful and basic, however, that hackers around
>>>>>> the world may soon use the feature to install millions of extra
>>>>>> copies of Vista without buying them. This could have a major impact
>>>>>> on Microsoft's revenues. The company's employees and shareholders
>>>>>> might want to be aware of this.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Product activation does little or nothing to stop mass software
>>>>>> piracy. It's become so convoluted, the way Microsoft has implemented
>>>>>> it, that it's more of an irritation to legitimate users than a
>>>>>> worthwhile antipiracy measure. In my opinion, Microsoft should
>>>>>> concentrate on legal action against true pirates instead of inventing
>>>>>> more ways to drive honorable users bonkers.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I invite my readers to send me information about SkipRearm using the
>>>>>> Windows Secrets contact page. I'd like to thank my program director,
>>>>>> Brent Scheffler, for tirelessly testing SkipRearm dozens of times,
>>>>>> and reader Reine T. for being the first to point out the use of
>>>>>> SkipRearm to me. He'll receive a gift certificate for a book, CD, or
>>>>>> DVD of his choice for sending me a tip that I used.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>[/color]
>>[/color]
>[/color]

I don't see a scintilla of misniformation. I don't know if this has occured
to you Jon, but when you make a sweeping generalization, it'd be appropriate
to get off your butt and back it up with substantive fact. Every step in
the article is fact. Any idiot can debunk an article, but if you want to do
it intelligently specify why you think it is complete misinformation. The
fact that you haven't or can't speaks volumes.

CH

"Jon" <Email_Address@SomewhereOrOther.com> wrote in message
news:uVzPpLYaHHA.4616@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...[color=blue]
> Sticking to the 'technical point at hand', the article should have been
> released on April Fools' Day. It's complete misinformation.
>
> --
> Jon
>
>
>
> "Mike Brannigan" <Mike.Brannigan@localhost> wrote in message
> news:OfzQZHYaHHA.1244@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...[color=green]
>> Bypassing the mandatory activation to run unlicensed software is not
>> allowed under the terms of the EULA that you agree to abide by when you
>> install the software.
>> The SkipRearm key is well documented for its intended purpose - the use
>> of the this key to avoid your mandatory activation is in breach of the
>> EULA and not the intended purpose of this key. The fact that it is
>> possible does not mean it should be used to run unlicensed software, no
>> more so then the lack of any activation processes in early versions of
>> Windows meant that it was possible to breach your licensing terms and
>> install more then one copy to multiple machines.
>>
>> Also for the sake of brevity can you withhold your usual rantings and
>> stick to the technical point at hand.
>>
>> --
>> Mike Brannigan
>>
>> "Chad Harris" <vistaneedsmuchowork.net> wrote in message
>> news:uUErJsXaHHA.3272@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...[color=darkred]
>>> Mike--
>>>
>>> MSFT Ineffective at Preventing Vista Piracy/Prolonging Time to Activate
>>>
>>> I have revised the subject heading to reflect the title of Brian
>>> Livingston's article. As you know Brian is the author of Windows Vista
>>> Secrets with Paul Thurrott.
>>>
>>> I should have made the subject line "MSFT Ineffective at Stopping Vista
>>> Piracy". I am not and never have advocated piracy on any of these
>>> groups. I always use legititmat Windows and other MSFT software and have
>>> a good time doing it. However these keys can be used to prolong use of
>>> Vista without activation--and of course "installing the product" isn't
>>> activating it. We have had a number of situations here where activation
>>> glitches have reared their head, and cases (I'm not sure of the number
>>> yet, are being reported on these groups and elsewhere that confirm my
>>> worst fears: That the "SPP" aka the "Software Protection Policy" has
>>> forced users of legit Vista into reduced functionality mode erratically
>>> just as WGA has failed in a significant number of cases with legit
>>> Windows XP.
>>>
>>> MSFT has made many claims promulgated by Brad Smith and his Associate
>>> General Counsel Nancy Anderson that they effectively prevent piracy on
>>> an individual basis. They are effective only because ignorance is the
>>> coin of the realm in my country the U.S. and many other countries.
>>>
>>> I'm going to bet that Nancy Anderson, who is paid well over a million
>>> dollars a year at MSFT and has held MSFT stock for years worth several
>>> million, hasn't lived in a mud hut with no plumbing nor struggled to pay
>>> the bills. She's in the subset that pay her Congress to pass laws to
>>> protect her and exempt her economically. I'm not justifying piracy
>>> because of retail cost. I am saying it's pandemic because multiple
>>> countries, including yours, has systemic legislation and economic policy
>>> that skewers the laws to rob from the poor and disinfranchise and rob
>>> from the "middle class" socio-economically and cater to the rich.
>>>
>>> Note the skew here:
>>>
>>> Q&A: How Software Piracy Undermines Economic Recovery
>>> Microsoft Associate General Counsel Nancy Anderson leads Microsoft's
>>> efforts to strike back at piracy's economic drain.
>>> [url]http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2001/oct01/10-19piracyqa.mspx[/url]
>>>
>>>
>>> I don't think Nancy Anderson is very aware of this reg hack. I point
>>> out that MSFT's Antipiracy measures are competent to the degree people
>>> are ignorant of what's in the registry in regards to activation, and
>>> that it can be a convenience if people run into glitches with activation
>>> that do exist.
>>>
>>> CH
>>>
>>> The White House in the U.S. got caught using the DOJ and US Attorneys as
>>> a political arm of the Republican party. Simply put, they fired 9 (not
>>> 7 or 8) US Attorneys who were pursuing major Republican congressmen like
>>> Jerry Lewis. The pursuit of Democrats for prosecution was in the ball
>>> park of 100 to 1 statistically. US Attorneys were being directly
>>> pressured to go after Democrats. Alberto Gonzales' claiming he knew
>>> nothing about this is beyond incompetent and he has functioned at the
>>> level of a twit. He had no federal litigation experience and was put in
>>> a job for which he had no skills and it shows. His DAG McNulty has lied
>>> under oath to Congress as has he, and lying to Congress whether under
>>> oath or not is purjery under federal law. I give him less time than
>>> MSFT gives you to activate Vista. A number of people in the EOUSA and at
>>> the highest levels of DOJ are guilty of breaking the law in major ways.
>>>
>>> The legacy of the Bush administration will be efficiency at filling
>>> coffins at Dover for generations to come and the effective slaughter of
>>> millions of Iraquis and Americans while squandering treasure that should
>>> have been directed to bolstering the domestic policies that Bill Gates
>>> among others has spent significant time, effort and parts of his
>>> personal fortune and his Foundation to champion.
>>>
>>> The only effective way to stop the wasteful killing is a DRAFT. That is
>>> the only policy that will get oblivious, completely apathetic Americans
>>> engaged--the threat of skin in the game.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> "Mike Brannigan" <Mike.Brannigan@localhost> wrote in message
>>> news:B230A84A-80B9-4683-BF2E-5ABB62EE9EE0@microsoft.com...
>>>> Chad,
>>>>
>>>> The use of the well documented SkipRearm registry key does not allow a
>>>> LEGAL use of the OS past the activation deadline.
>>>>
>>>> Your use of the product is covered under your End User License
>>>> Agreement (EULA) that you must agree to to install the product.
>>>> Section 4 clearly states that Activation is mandatory.
>>>> Failure to activate past the notified period means you are using
>>>> unlicensed software.
>>>> The use of the registry key does not remove you mandatory requirement
>>>> to activate.
>>>> Modification for the OS by any means (including registry edits) to
>>>> breach the terms of the EULA doe not mean that you are "legally" doing
>>>> anything - you are using unlicensed software.
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Mike Brannigan
>>>>
>>>> "Chad Harris" <vistaneedsmuchowork.net> wrote in message
>>>> news:O2Z5G7PaHHA.2316@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>>>>> Brian Livingston has a new trick:
>>>>>
>>>>> Microsoft has built into Vista a function that allows anyone to extend
>>>>> the operating system's activation deadline not just three times, but
>>>>> many times. The same one-line command that postpones Vista's
>>>>> activation deadline to 120 days can be used an indefinite number of
>>>>> times by first changing a Registry key from 0 to 1.
>>>>>
>>>>> This isn't a hacker exploit. It doesn't require any tools or utilities
>>>>> whatsoever. Microsoft even documented the Registry key, although
>>>>> obtusely, on its Technet site.
>>>>>
>>>>> But dishonest PC sellers could use the procedure to install thousands
>>>>> of copies of Vista and sell them to unsuspecting consumers or
>>>>> businesses as legitimately activated copies. This would certainly
>>>>> violate the Vista EULA, but consumers might not realize this until the
>>>>> PCs they bought started demanding activation - and failing - months or
>>>>> years later.
>>>>>
>>>>> The following describes the Registry key that's involved.
>>>>>
>>>>> Step 1. While running a copy of Windows Vista that hasn't yet been
>>>>> activated, click the Start button, type regedit into the Search box,
>>>>> then press Enter to launch the Registry Editor.
>>>>>
>>>>> Step 2. Explore down to the following Registry key:
>>>>>
>>>>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \
>>>>> CurrentVersion \ SL
>>>>>
>>>>> Step 3. Right-click the Registry key named SkipRearm and click Edit.
>>>>> The default is a Dword (a double word or 4 bytes) with a hex value of
>>>>> 00000000. Change this value to any positive integer, such as 00000001,
>>>>> save the change, and close the Registry Editor.
>>>>>
>>>>> Step 4. Start a command prompt with administrative rights. The fastest
>>>>> way to do this is to click the Start button, enter cmd in the Search
>>>>> box, then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. If you're asked for a network
>>>>> username and password, provide the ones that log you into your domain.
>>>>> You may be asked to approve a User Account Control prompt and to
>>>>> provide an administrator password.
>>>>>
>>>>> Step 5. Type one of the following two commands and press Enter:
>>>>>
>>>>> slmgr -rearm
>>>>> or
>>>>> rundll32 slc.dll,SLReArmWindows
>>>>>
>>>>> Either command uses Vista's built-in Software Licensing Manager
>>>>> (SLMGR) to push the activation deadline out to 30 days after the
>>>>> command is run. Changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allows SLMGR to do this
>>>>> an indefinite number of times. Running either command initializes the
>>>>> value of SkipRearm back to 0.
>>>>>
>>>>> Step 6. Reboot the PC to make the postponement take effect. (After you
>>>>> log in, if you like, you can open a command prompt and run the command
>>>>> slmgr -xpr to see Vista's new expiration date and time. I explained
>>>>> the slmgr command and its parameters in my Feb. 15 article.)
>>>>>
>>>>> Step 7. To extend the activation deadline of Vista indefinitely,
>>>>> repeat steps 1 through 6 as necessary
>>>>>
>>>>> Read full story and other tricks at source:
>>>>>
>>>>> [url]http://windowssecrets.com/comp/070315/#story1[/url]
>>>>>
>>>>> Microsoft allows bypass of Vista activation
>>>>>
>>>>> By Brian Livingston
>>>>>
>>>>> Microsoft always says it opposes "software pirates" who sell thousands
>>>>> of unauthorized copies of Windows.
>>>>>
>>>>> But the Redmond company has made things a lot easier for pirates by
>>>>> adding a line to the Registry that can be changed from 0 to 1 to
>>>>> postpone the need to "activate" Vista indefinitely.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Activation doesn't stop true software piracy
>>>>>
>>>>> As most Windows users know, Microsoft has required "product
>>>>> activation" since the release of Windows XP in 2001. XP must be
>>>>> activated by communicating with servers in Redmond within 30 days of
>>>>> installation. By contrast, Microsoft Office XP, 2003, and 2007 require
>>>>> activatation before the package is used 5 to 50 times, depending on
>>>>> the version, according to a company FAQ. If a PC has no Internet
>>>>> connection, a user may activate a product by dialing a telephone
>>>>> number in various countries.
>>>>>
>>>>> The activation process will complete successfully only if the software
>>>>> has not been previously activated, such as on a different machine. If
>>>>> activation isn't completed within the trial period, Microsoft products
>>>>> temporarily shut down some of their features. MS Office loses the
>>>>> ability to edit and save files. After Vista's activation deadline runs
>>>>> out, the user can do little other than use Internet Explorer to
>>>>> activate the operating system or buy a new license.
>>>>>
>>>>> Microsoft describes its product activation scheme as a way to foil
>>>>> software pirates. However, as I previously described in an InfoWorld
>>>>> Magazine article on Oct. 22, 2001, activation does nothing to stop
>>>>> mass piracy. The Redmond company actually included in Windows XP a
>>>>> small file, Wpa.dbl, that makes it easy for pirates to create
>>>>> thousands of machines that validate perfectly.
>>>>>
>>>>> Far from stopping software piracy, product activation has primarily
>>>>> been designed to prevent home users from installing one copy of
>>>>> Windows on a home machine and a personal-use copy on a laptop. As I
>>>>> explained in an article on Mar. 8, buying a copyrighted work and
>>>>> making another copy strictly for personal use is specifically
>>>>> permitted to consumers by the U.S. Copyright Act and the copyright
>>>>> laws of many other countries.
>>>>>
>>>>> For example, courts have repeatedly ruled that consumers can make
>>>>> copies of copyrighted songs or television programs for personal use
>>>>> (not for distribution or resale). This principle is legally known as
>>>>> "fair use." The home edition of Microsoft Office 2007 reflects this
>>>>> principle, allowing consumers to activate three copies of a single
>>>>> purchased product. Microsoft Windows XP and Vista, however, allow only
>>>>> one activation.
>>>>>
>>>>> Surprisingly, Microsoft has embedded into its new Vista operating
>>>>> system a feature that makes things easier than ever for true, mass
>>>>> software pirates. These tricksters will be able to produce thousands
>>>>> of Windows PCs machines that won't demand activation indefinitely - at
>>>>> least for a year or more.
>>>>>
>>>>> Leaving the activation barn door open
>>>>>
>>>>> I reported in a Feb. 1 article that the upgrade version of Windows
>>>>> Vista allows itself to be clean-installed to a new hard drive. The new
>>>>> Microsoft operating system completely omits any checking for a
>>>>> qualifying previous version of Windows. This allows the upgrade
>>>>> version of Vista to successfully upgrade over a nonactivated, trial
>>>>> version of itself.
>>>>>
>>>>> After my article appeared, ZDnet blogger Ed Bott summarized the secret
>>>>> in a post on Feb. 15. He flatly states, "You satisfied every condition
>>>>> of the license agreement and aren't skating by on a technicality. The
>>>>> fact that you have to use a kludgey workaround to use the license
>>>>> you've purchased and are legally entitled to is Microsoft's fault."
>>>>>
>>>>> In my own piece, I had speculated that clean-installing the upgrade
>>>>> version of Vista "probably violates the Vista EULA (End User License
>>>>> Agreement)." But more and more computer experts are saying that the
>>>>> procedure is fully compliant with the EULA and, in any event, is
>>>>> perfectly legal.
>>>>>
>>>>> I wrote a follow-up story on Feb. 15. I reported that Microsoft
>>>>> includes in Vista a one-line command that even novices can use to
>>>>> postpone the product's activation deadline three times. This can
>>>>> extend the deadline from its original 30 days to as much as 120 days -
>>>>> almost four months.
>>>>>
>>>>> PCWorld.com posted a report on my story on Feb. 17. The magazine
>>>>> quotes a Microsoft spokeswoman as saying that extending Vista's
>>>>> activation deadline as I described it "is not a violation of the Vista
>>>>> End User License Agreement." I'm glad that's clear.
>>>>>
>>>>> The feature that I've revealing today shows that Microsoft has built
>>>>> into Vista a function that allows anyone to extend the operating
>>>>> system's activation deadline not just three times, but many times. The
>>>>> same one-line command that postpones Vista's activation deadline to
>>>>> 120 days can be used an indefinite number of times by first changing a
>>>>> Registry key from 0 to 1.
>>>>>
>>>>> This isn't a hacker exploit. It doesn't require any tools or utilities
>>>>> whatsoever. Microsoft even documented the Registry key, although
>>>>> obtusely, on its Technet site.
>>>>>
>>>>> But dishonest PC sellers could use the procedure to install thousands
>>>>> of copies of Vista and sell them to unsuspecting consumers or
>>>>> businesses as legitimately activated copies. This would certainly
>>>>> violate the Vista EULA, but consumers might not realize this until the
>>>>> PCs they bought started demanding activation - and failing - months or
>>>>> years later.
>>>>>
>>>>> The following describes the Registry key that's involved.
>>>>>
>>>>> Step 1. While running a copy of Windows Vista that hasn't yet been
>>>>> activated, click the Start button, type regedit into the Search box,
>>>>> then press Enter to launch the Registry Editor.
>>>>>
>>>>> Step 2. Explore down to the following Registry key:
>>>>>
>>>>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \
>>>>> CurrentVersion \ SL
>>>>>
>>>>> Step 3. Right-click the Registry key named SkipRearm and click Edit.
>>>>> The default is a Dword (a double word or 4 bytes) with a hex value of
>>>>> 00000000. Change this value to any positive integer, such as 00000001,
>>>>> save the change, and close the Registry Editor.
>>>>>
>>>>> Step 4. Start a command prompt with administrative rights. The fastest
>>>>> way to do this is to click the Start button, enter cmd in the Search
>>>>> box, then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. If you're asked for a network
>>>>> username and password, provide the ones that log you into your domain.
>>>>> You may be asked to approve a User Account Control prompt and to
>>>>> provide an administrator password.
>>>>>
>>>>> Step 5. Type one of the following two commands and press Enter:
>>>>>
>>>>> slmgr -rearm
>>>>> or
>>>>> rundll32 slc.dll,SLReArmWindows
>>>>>
>>>>> Either command uses Vista's built-in Software Licensing Manager
>>>>> (SLMGR) to push the activation deadline out to 30 days after the
>>>>> command is run. Changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allows SLMGR to do this
>>>>> an indefinite number of times. Running either command initializes the
>>>>> value of SkipRearm back to 0.
>>>>>
>>>>> Step 6. Reboot the PC to make the postponement take effect. (After you
>>>>> log in, if you like, you can open a command prompt and run the command
>>>>> slmgr -xpr to see Vista's new expiration date and time. I explained
>>>>> the slmgr command and its parameters in my Feb. 15 article.)
>>>>>
>>>>> Step 7. To extend the activation deadline of Vista indefinitely,
>>>>> repeat steps 1 through 6 as necessary.
>>>>>
>>>>> Any crooked PC seller with even the slightest technical skill could
>>>>> easily install a command file that would carry out steps 1 through 6
>>>>> automatically. The program could run slmgr -rearm three times, 30 days
>>>>> apart, to postpone Vista's activation deadline to 120 days. It could
>>>>> then run skip -rearm every 30 days, for a period of months if not
>>>>> years, by first resetting the SkipRearm key.
>>>>>
>>>>> The program could be scheduled to check Vista's activation deadline
>>>>> during every reboot, and to remind the user to reboot once a month if
>>>>> a deadline was nearing. The buyer of such a PC would never even see an
>>>>> activation reminder, much less be required to go through the
>>>>> activation process.
>>>>>
>>>>> If you happen to buy a Vista PC from a little-known seller, and the
>>>>> price was too good to be true, use Vista's search function to look for
>>>>> the string SkipRearm in files. You may discover that your "bargain"
>>>>> computer will mysteriously start demanding activation in a year or
>>>>> two - but your product key won't be valid.
>>>>>
>>>>> I asked Microsoft why SkipRearm is included in Vista if it can be used
>>>>> to create machines that appear not to need activation for long
>>>>> periods. A Microsoft spokewoman replied, "I connected with my
>>>>> colleagues and learned, unfortunately, we do not have information to
>>>>> share at this time." (I can't identify the speaker because the policy
>>>>> of Waggener Edstrom, Microsoft's public-relations firm, prohibits the
>>>>> naming of p.r. spokespersons.)
>>>>>
>>>>> In my testing of Microsoft's back-door loophole, I've found that the
>>>>> technique can be used to postpone the activation deadline one year or
>>>>> longer. It may or may not, however, work forever, as I describe below.
>>>>>
>>>>> Why does SkipRearm even exist in Vista?
>>>>>
>>>>> The Vista development teaam apparently inserted the SkipRearm loophole
>>>>> to help major corporations work around Microsoft's new Volume
>>>>> Licensing Agreement. This new program, which the Redmond company calls
>>>>> "Volume Licensing 2.0," requires buyers to set up a Key Management
>>>>> Service (KMS) host, as described by a Microsoft FAQ. Companies must
>>>>> choose from two types of digital keys and three different methods of
>>>>> activation to validate thousands of individual Vista machines within
>>>>> the corporate LAN.
>>>>>
>>>>> Activation of Windows XP, by comparison, requires merely that volume
>>>>> purchasers use a single product key. Corporate buyers obtain a unique
>>>>> key when signing a Volume Licensing Agreement. Microsoft has said,
>>>>> however, that most Windows XP piracy involves stolen product keys that
>>>>> are used by others to activate unauthorized machines.
>>>>>
>>>>> The new KMS requirement is intended to discourage such piracy, but it
>>>>> places a heavy burden on corporate IT administrators. For example,
>>>>> Microsoft provides a tool called System Preparation (sysprep.exe) to
>>>>> prepare Vista machines for use. If a system can't be completely
>>>>> prepped within 30 days after installation, an admin can run the
>>>>> command sysprep /generalize to postpone the activation deadline
>>>>> another 30 days. However, like the slmgr -rearm command, sysprep
>>>>> /generalize will only succeed three times.
>>>>>
>>>>> To work around this, as a Technet document states, "Microsoft
>>>>> recommends that you use the SkipRearm setting if you plan on running
>>>>> Sysprep multiple times on a computer." This is echoed by Microsoft
>>>>> Knowledge Base article 929828.
>>>>>
>>>>> Contributing editor Susan Bradley points out, "The good guys have to
>>>>> go through this stupid implementation of a KMS deployment because of
>>>>> bad guys abusing the system." She strongly feels that users should
>>>>> comply with Microsoft's EULA provisions. "The operating system license
>>>>> has always been a one-machine install. ... Many of us forget the
>>>>> multiple-install rule [for Microsoft Office] since we are so used to
>>>>> the one license, one install rule," she adds.
>>>>>
>>>>> In its TechNet documents, Microsoft recommends the repeated use of
>>>>> SkipRearm. How many times is "multiple times"? My testing revealed
>>>>> that the answer is, well, indefinite.
>>>>>
>>>>> . On a copy of Vista Ultimate that Microsoft released in New York City
>>>>> on Jan. 29, I found that changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allowed the
>>>>> command slmgr -rearm to postpone Vista's activation deadline eight
>>>>> separate times. After that, changing the 0 to 1 had no effect,
>>>>> preventing slmgr -rearm from moving the deadline. The use of
>>>>> slmgr -rearm 3 times, plus using SkipRearm 8 times would eliminate
>>>>> Vista's activation nag screens for about one year (12 periods of 30
>>>>> days).
>>>>>
>>>>> . On a copy of the upgrade version of Vista Home Premium that I bought
>>>>> in a retail store on Jan. 30, slmgr -rearm also worked 3 times and
>>>>> SkipRearm worked 8 times before losing their effect. This combination
>>>>> would, as with Vista Ultimate, permit a one-year use of Vista without
>>>>> nag screens appearing.
>>>>>
>>>>> . On a copy of the full version of Vista Home Premium that I bought in
>>>>> a retail store on Mar. 14, SkipRearm had no effect on extending the
>>>>> use of slmgr -rearm at all. This suggests that Microsoft has
>>>>> slipstreamed a new version into stores, eliminating the SkipRearm
>>>>> feature in Vista Home. That could mean that changing the key from 0 to
>>>>> 1 will now work only in the business editions of Vista - Business,
>>>>> Enterprise, and Ultimate - so corporations can use the loophole.
>>>>>
>>>>> Where is the usage count of slmgr -rearm stored? Where is the usage
>>>>> count of SkipRearm stored? These bytes won't be hard for expert users
>>>>> to find. The use restrictions may be easily lifted. If so, this would
>>>>> allow crooked PC sellers to truly create machines that would never
>>>>> need activation, ever.
>>>>>
>>>>> The financial impact of SkipRearm on Microsoft
>>>>>
>>>>> I'd like to repeat here that I'm not advocating that anyone use the
>>>>> above technique to violate Microsoft's EULA or avoid paying for Vista.
>>>>> Any company that used SkipRearm to install Vista on multiple machines
>>>>> for as long as possible would have little defense against a surprise
>>>>> inspection by the Business Software Alliance. This coalition of
>>>>> software makers, which includes Microsoft, investigates reports of
>>>>> unlicensed software and obtains warrants to conduct audits.
>>>>>
>>>>> As a journalist, my job is to report the facts. SkipRearm was
>>>>> specifically built into Vista to be used. Microsoft executives made
>>>>> Vista's activation overly complex and cumbersome. So the development
>>>>> team apparently invented a Registry key to lift the burden of Vista's
>>>>> activation deadline, for at least a year and probably more.
>>>>>
>>>>> The technique is so powerful and basic, however, that hackers around
>>>>> the world may soon use the feature to install millions of extra copies
>>>>> of Vista without buying them. This could have a major impact on
>>>>> Microsoft's revenues. The company's employees and shareholders might
>>>>> want to be aware of this.
>>>>>
>>>>> Product activation does little or nothing to stop mass software
>>>>> piracy. It's become so convoluted, the way Microsoft has implemented
>>>>> it, that it's more of an irritation to legitimate users than a
>>>>> worthwhile antipiracy measure. In my opinion, Microsoft should
>>>>> concentrate on legal action against true pirates instead of inventing
>>>>> more ways to drive honorable users bonkers.
>>>>>
>>>>> I invite my readers to send me information about SkipRearm using the
>>>>> Windows Secrets contact page. I'd like to thank my program director,
>>>>> Brent Scheffler, for tirelessly testing SkipRearm dozens of times, and
>>>>> reader Reine T. for being the first to point out the use of SkipRearm
>>>>> to me. He'll receive a gift certificate for a book, CD, or DVD of his
>>>>> choice for sending me a tip that I used.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>[/color]
>>[/color]
>[/color]

Try it. Set 'SkipRearm' set to 1, and run the 'slmgr -rearm' command from
an elevated command prompt, on an unactivated installation.

Right-click Computer > Properties and look at the activation counter. You'll
see that there is no change. Why? Because that is precisely what it is
intended to do - 'skip the rearm process'

This article makes it abundantly clear what the effect of changing the value
of 'SkipRearm' is
[url]http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsVista/en/library/aefc41f4-a3ec-4f98-a1dc-88a0d045172b1033.mspx?mfr=true[/url]

--
Jon


"Chad Harris" <vistaneedsmuchowork.net> wrote in message
news:%23N8NPZYaHHA.4940@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...[color=blue]
>I don't see a scintilla of misniformation. I don't know if this has
>occured to you Jon, but when you make a sweeping generalization, it'd be
>appropriate to get off your butt and back it up with substantive fact.
>Every step in the article is fact. Any idiot can debunk an article, but if
>you want to do it intelligently specify why you think it is complete
>misinformation. The fact that you haven't or can't speaks volumes.
>
> CH
>
> "Jon" <Email_Address@SomewhereOrOther.com> wrote in message
> news:uVzPpLYaHHA.4616@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...[color=green]
>> Sticking to the 'technical point at hand', the article should have been
>> released on April Fools' Day. It's complete misinformation.
>>
>> --
>> Jon
>>
>>
>>
>> "Mike Brannigan" <Mike.Brannigan@localhost> wrote in message
>> news:OfzQZHYaHHA.1244@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...[color=darkred]
>>> Bypassing the mandatory activation to run unlicensed software is not
>>> allowed under the terms of the EULA that you agree to abide by when you
>>> install the software.
>>> The SkipRearm key is well documented for its intended purpose - the use
>>> of the this key to avoid your mandatory activation is in breach of the
>>> EULA and not the intended purpose of this key. The fact that it is
>>> possible does not mean it should be used to run unlicensed software, no
>>> more so then the lack of any activation processes in early versions of
>>> Windows meant that it was possible to breach your licensing terms and
>>> install more then one copy to multiple machines.
>>>
>>> Also for the sake of brevity can you withhold your usual rantings and
>>> stick to the technical point at hand.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Mike Brannigan
>>>
>>> "Chad Harris" <vistaneedsmuchowork.net> wrote in message
>>> news:uUErJsXaHHA.3272@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>>>> Mike--
>>>>
>>>> MSFT Ineffective at Preventing Vista Piracy/Prolonging Time to Activate
>>>>
>>>> I have revised the subject heading to reflect the title of Brian
>>>> Livingston's article. As you know Brian is the author of Windows Vista
>>>> Secrets with Paul Thurrott.
>>>>
>>>> I should have made the subject line "MSFT Ineffective at Stopping Vista
>>>> Piracy". I am not and never have advocated piracy on any of these
>>>> groups. I always use legititmat Windows and other MSFT software and
>>>> have a good time doing it. However these keys can be used to prolong
>>>> use of Vista without activation--and of course "installing the product"
>>>> isn't activating it. We have had a number of situations here where
>>>> activation glitches have reared their head, and cases (I'm not sure of
>>>> the number yet, are being reported on these groups and elsewhere that
>>>> confirm my worst fears: That the "SPP" aka the "Software Protection
>>>> Policy" has forced users of legit Vista into reduced functionality mode
>>>> erratically just as WGA has failed in a significant number of cases
>>>> with legit Windows XP.
>>>>
>>>> MSFT has made many claims promulgated by Brad Smith and his Associate
>>>> General Counsel Nancy Anderson that they effectively prevent piracy on
>>>> an individual basis. They are effective only because ignorance is the
>>>> coin of the realm in my country the U.S. and many other countries.
>>>>
>>>> I'm going to bet that Nancy Anderson, who is paid well over a million
>>>> dollars a year at MSFT and has held MSFT stock for years worth several
>>>> million, hasn't lived in a mud hut with no plumbing nor struggled to
>>>> pay the bills. She's in the subset that pay her Congress to pass laws
>>>> to protect her and exempt her economically. I'm not justifying
>>>> piracy because of retail cost. I am saying it's pandemic because
>>>> multiple countries, including yours, has systemic legislation and
>>>> economic policy that skewers the laws to rob from the poor and
>>>> disinfranchise and rob from the "middle class" socio-economically and
>>>> cater to the rich.
>>>>
>>>> Note the skew here:
>>>>
>>>> Q&A: How Software Piracy Undermines Economic Recovery
>>>> Microsoft Associate General Counsel Nancy Anderson leads Microsoft's
>>>> efforts to strike back at piracy's economic drain.
>>>> [url]http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2001/oct01/10-19piracyqa.mspx[/url]
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I don't think Nancy Anderson is very aware of this reg hack. I point
>>>> out that MSFT's Antipiracy measures are competent to the degree people
>>>> are ignorant of what's in the registry in regards to activation, and
>>>> that it can be a convenience if people run into glitches with
>>>> activation that do exist.
>>>>
>>>> CH
>>>>
>>>> The White House in the U.S. got caught using the DOJ and US Attorneys
>>>> as a political arm of the Republican party. Simply put, they fired 9
>>>> (not 7 or 8) US Attorneys who were pursuing major Republican
>>>> congressmen like Jerry Lewis. The pursuit of Democrats for prosecution
>>>> was in the ball park of 100 to 1 statistically. US Attorneys were being
>>>> directly pressured to go after Democrats. Alberto Gonzales' claiming
>>>> he knew nothing about this is beyond incompetent and he has functioned
>>>> at the level of a twit. He had no federal litigation experience and
>>>> was put in a job for which he had no skills and it shows. His DAG
>>>> McNulty has lied under oath to Congress as has he, and lying to
>>>> Congress whether under oath or not is purjery under federal law. I
>>>> give him less time than MSFT gives you to activate Vista. A number of
>>>> people in the EOUSA and at the highest levels of DOJ are guilty of
>>>> breaking the law in major ways.
>>>>
>>>> The legacy of the Bush administration will be efficiency at filling
>>>> coffins at Dover for generations to come and the effective slaughter of
>>>> millions of Iraquis and Americans while squandering treasure that
>>>> should have been directed to bolstering the domestic policies that Bill
>>>> Gates among others has spent significant time, effort and parts of his
>>>> personal fortune and his Foundation to champion.
>>>>
>>>> The only effective way to stop the wasteful killing is a DRAFT. That
>>>> is the only policy that will get oblivious, completely apathetic
>>>> Americans engaged--the threat of skin in the game.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "Mike Brannigan" <Mike.Brannigan@localhost> wrote in message
>>>> news:B230A84A-80B9-4683-BF2E-5ABB62EE9EE0@microsoft.com...
>>>>> Chad,
>>>>>
>>>>> The use of the well documented SkipRearm registry key does not allow a
>>>>> LEGAL use of the OS past the activation deadline.
>>>>>
>>>>> Your use of the product is covered under your End User License
>>>>> Agreement (EULA) that you must agree to to install the product.
>>>>> Section 4 clearly states that Activation is mandatory.
>>>>> Failure to activate past the notified period means you are using
>>>>> unlicensed software.
>>>>> The use of the registry key does not remove you mandatory requirement
>>>>> to activate.
>>>>> Modification for the OS by any means (including registry edits) to
>>>>> breach the terms of the EULA doe not mean that you are "legally" doing
>>>>> anything - you are using unlicensed software.
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Mike Brannigan
>>>>>
>>>>> "Chad Harris" <vistaneedsmuchowork.net> wrote in message
>>>>> news:O2Z5G7PaHHA.2316@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>>>>>> Brian Livingston has a new trick:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Microsoft has built into Vista a function that allows anyone to
>>>>>> extend the operating system's activation deadline not just three
>>>>>> times, but many times. The same one-line command that postpones
>>>>>> Vista's activation deadline to 120 days can be used an indefinite
>>>>>> number of times by first changing a Registry key from 0 to 1.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> This isn't a hacker exploit. It doesn't require any tools or
>>>>>> utilities whatsoever. Microsoft even documented the Registry key,
>>>>>> although obtusely, on its Technet site.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> But dishonest PC sellers could use the procedure to install thousands
>>>>>> of copies of Vista and sell them to unsuspecting consumers or
>>>>>> businesses as legitimately activated copies. This would certainly
>>>>>> violate the Vista EULA, but consumers might not realize this until
>>>>>> the PCs they bought started demanding activation - and failing -
>>>>>> months or years later.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The following describes the Registry key that's involved.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Step 1. While running a copy of Windows Vista that hasn't yet been
>>>>>> activated, click the Start button, type regedit into the Search box,
>>>>>> then press Enter to launch the Registry Editor.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Step 2. Explore down to the following Registry key:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \
>>>>>> CurrentVersion \ SL
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Step 3. Right-click the Registry key named SkipRearm and click Edit.
>>>>>> The default is a Dword (a double word or 4 bytes) with a hex value of
>>>>>> 00000000. Change this value to any positive integer, such as
>>>>>> 00000001, save the change, and close the Registry Editor.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Step 4. Start a command prompt with administrative rights. The
>>>>>> fastest way to do this is to click the Start button, enter cmd in the
>>>>>> Search box, then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. If you're asked for a
>>>>>> network username and password, provide the ones that log you into
>>>>>> your domain. You may be asked to approve a User Account Control
>>>>>> prompt and to provide an administrator password.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Step 5. Type one of the following two commands and press Enter:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> slmgr -rearm
>>>>>> or
>>>>>> rundll32 slc.dll,SLReArmWindows
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Either command uses Vista's built-in Software Licensing Manager
>>>>>> (SLMGR) to push the activation deadline out to 30 days after the
>>>>>> command is run. Changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allows SLMGR to do
>>>>>> this an indefinite number of times. Running either command
>>>>>> initializes the value of SkipRearm back to 0.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Step 6. Reboot the PC to make the postponement take effect. (After
>>>>>> you log in, if you like, you can open a command prompt and run the
>>>>>> command slmgr -xpr to see Vista's new expiration date and time. I
>>>>>> explained the slmgr command and its parameters in my Feb. 15
>>>>>> article.)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Step 7. To extend the activation deadline of Vista indefinitely,
>>>>>> repeat steps 1 through 6 as necessary
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Read full story and other tricks at source:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> [url]http://windowssecrets.com/comp/070315/#story1[/url]
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Microsoft allows bypass of Vista activation
>>>>>>
>>>>>> By Brian Livingston
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Microsoft always says it opposes "software pirates" who sell
>>>>>> thousands of unauthorized copies of Windows.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> But the Redmond company has made things a lot easier for pirates by
>>>>>> adding a line to the Registry that can be changed from 0 to 1 to
>>>>>> postpone the need to "activate" Vista indefinitely.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Activation doesn't stop true software piracy
>>>>>>
>>>>>> As most Windows users know, Microsoft has required "product
>>>>>> activation" since the release of Windows XP in 2001. XP must be
>>>>>> activated by communicating with servers in Redmond within 30 days of
>>>>>> installation. By contrast, Microsoft Office XP, 2003, and 2007
>>>>>> require activatation before the package is used 5 to 50 times,
>>>>>> depending on the version, according to a company FAQ. If a PC has no
>>>>>> Internet connection, a user may activate a product by dialing a
>>>>>> telephone number in various countries.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The activation process will complete successfully only if the
>>>>>> software has not been previously activated, such as on a different
>>>>>> machine. If activation isn't completed within the trial period,
>>>>>> Microsoft products temporarily shut down some of their features. MS
>>>>>> Office loses the ability to edit and save files. After Vista's
>>>>>> activation deadline runs out, the user can do little other than use
>>>>>> Internet Explorer to activate the operating system or buy a new
>>>>>> license.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Microsoft describes its product activation scheme as a way to foil
>>>>>> software pirates. However, as I previously described in an InfoWorld
>>>>>> Magazine article on Oct. 22, 2001, activation does nothing to stop
>>>>>> mass piracy. The Redmond company actually included in Windows XP a
>>>>>> small file, Wpa.dbl, that makes it easy for pirates to create
>>>>>> thousands of machines that validate perfectly.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Far from stopping software piracy, product activation has primarily
>>>>>> been designed to prevent home users from installing one copy of
>>>>>> Windows on a home machine and a personal-use copy on a laptop. As I
>>>>>> explained in an article on Mar. 8, buying a copyrighted work and
>>>>>> making another copy strictly for personal use is specifically
>>>>>> permitted to consumers by the U.S. Copyright Act and the copyright
>>>>>> laws of many other countries.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> For example, courts have repeatedly ruled that consumers can make
>>>>>> copies of copyrighted songs or television programs for personal use
>>>>>> (not for distribution or resale). This principle is legally known as
>>>>>> "fair use." The home edition of Microsoft Office 2007 reflects this
>>>>>> principle, allowing consumers to activate three copies of a single
>>>>>> purchased product. Microsoft Windows XP and Vista, however, allow
>>>>>> only one activation.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Surprisingly, Microsoft has embedded into its new Vista operating
>>>>>> system a feature that makes things easier than ever for true, mass
>>>>>> software pirates. These tricksters will be able to produce thousands
>>>>>> of Windows PCs machines that won't demand activation indefinitely -
>>>>>> at least for a year or more.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Leaving the activation barn door open
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I reported in a Feb. 1 article that the upgrade version of Windows
>>>>>> Vista allows itself to be clean-installed to a new hard drive. The
>>>>>> new Microsoft operating system completely omits any checking for a
>>>>>> qualifying previous version of Windows. This allows the upgrade
>>>>>> version of Vista to successfully upgrade over a nonactivated, trial
>>>>>> version of itself.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> After my article appeared, ZDnet blogger Ed Bott summarized the
>>>>>> secret in a post on Feb. 15. He flatly states, "You satisfied every
>>>>>> condition of the license agreement and aren't skating by on a
>>>>>> technicality. The fact that you have to use a kludgey workaround to
>>>>>> use the license you've purchased and are legally entitled to is
>>>>>> Microsoft's fault."
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In my own piece, I had speculated that clean-installing the upgrade
>>>>>> version of Vista "probably violates the Vista EULA (End User License
>>>>>> Agreement)." But more and more computer experts are saying that the
>>>>>> procedure is fully compliant with the EULA and, in any event, is
>>>>>> perfectly legal.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I wrote a follow-up story on Feb. 15. I reported that Microsoft
>>>>>> includes in Vista a one-line command that even novices can use to
>>>>>> postpone the product's activation deadline three times. This can
>>>>>> extend the deadline from its original 30 days to as much as 120
>>>>>> days - almost four months.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> PCWorld.com posted a report on my story on Feb. 17. The magazine
>>>>>> quotes a Microsoft spokeswoman as saying that extending Vista's
>>>>>> activation deadline as I described it "is not a violation of the
>>>>>> Vista End User License Agreement." I'm glad that's clear.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The feature that I've revealing today shows that Microsoft has built
>>>>>> into Vista a function that allows anyone to extend the operating
>>>>>> system's activation deadline not just three times, but many times.
>>>>>> The same one-line command that postpones Vista's activation deadline
>>>>>> to 120 days can be used an indefinite number of times by first
>>>>>> changing a Registry key from 0 to 1.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> This isn't a hacker exploit. It doesn't require any tools or
>>>>>> utilities whatsoever. Microsoft even documented the Registry key,
>>>>>> although obtusely, on its Technet site.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> But dishonest PC sellers could use the procedure to install thousands
>>>>>> of copies of Vista and sell them to unsuspecting consumers or
>>>>>> businesses as legitimately activated copies. This would certainly
>>>>>> violate the Vista EULA, but consumers might not realize this until
>>>>>> the PCs they bought started demanding activation - and failing -
>>>>>> months or years later.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The following describes the Registry key that's involved.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Step 1. While running a copy of Windows Vista that hasn't yet been
>>>>>> activated, click the Start button, type regedit into the Search box,
>>>>>> then press Enter to launch the Registry Editor.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Step 2. Explore down to the following Registry key:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \
>>>>>> CurrentVersion \ SL
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Step 3. Right-click the Registry key named SkipRearm and click Edit.
>>>>>> The default is a Dword (a double word or 4 bytes) with a hex value of
>>>>>> 00000000. Change this value to any positive integer, such as
>>>>>> 00000001, save the change, and close the Registry Editor.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Step 4. Start a command prompt with administrative rights. The
>>>>>> fastest way to do this is to click the Start button, enter cmd in the
>>>>>> Search box, then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. If you're asked for a
>>>>>> network username and password, provide the ones that log you into
>>>>>> your domain. You may be asked to approve a User Account Control
>>>>>> prompt and to provide an administrator password.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Step 5. Type one of the following two commands and press Enter:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> slmgr -rearm
>>>>>> or
>>>>>> rundll32 slc.dll,SLReArmWindows
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Either command uses Vista's built-in Software Licensing Manager
>>>>>> (SLMGR) to push the activation deadline out to 30 days after the
>>>>>> command is run. Changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allows SLMGR to do
>>>>>> this an indefinite number of times. Running either command
>>>>>> initializes the value of SkipRearm back to 0.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Step 6. Reboot the PC to make the postponement take effect. (After
>>>>>> you log in, if you like, you can open a command prompt and run the
>>>>>> command slmgr -xpr to see Vista's new expiration date and time. I
>>>>>> explained the slmgr command and its parameters in my Feb. 15
>>>>>> article.)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Step 7. To extend the activation deadline of Vista indefinitely,
>>>>>> repeat steps 1 through 6 as necessary.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Any crooked PC seller with even the slightest technical skill could
>>>>>> easily install a command file that would carry out steps 1 through 6
>>>>>> automatically. The program could run slmgr -rearm three times, 30
>>>>>> days apart, to postpone Vista's activation deadline to 120 days. It
>>>>>> could then run skip -rearm every 30 days, for a period of months if
>>>>>> not years, by first resetting the SkipRearm key.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The program could be scheduled to check Vista's activation deadline
>>>>>> during every reboot, and to remind the user to reboot once a month if
>>>>>> a deadline was nearing. The buyer of such a PC would never even see
>>>>>> an activation reminder, much less be required to go through the
>>>>>> activation process.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> If you happen to buy a Vista PC from a little-known seller, and the
>>>>>> price was too good to be true, use Vista's search function to look
>>>>>> for the string SkipRearm in files. You may discover that your
>>>>>> "bargain" computer will mysteriously start demanding activation in a
>>>>>> year or two - but your product key won't be valid.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I asked Microsoft why SkipRearm is included in Vista if it can be
>>>>>> used to create machines that appear not to need activation for long
>>>>>> periods. A Microsoft spokewoman replied, "I connected with my
>>>>>> colleagues and learned, unfortunately, we do not have information to
>>>>>> share at this time." (I can't identify the speaker because the policy
>>>>>> of Waggener Edstrom, Microsoft's public-relations firm, prohibits the
>>>>>> naming of p.r. spokespersons.)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In my testing of Microsoft's back-door loophole, I've found that the
>>>>>> technique can be used to postpone the activation deadline one year or
>>>>>> longer. It may or may not, however, work forever, as I describe
>>>>>> below.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Why does SkipRearm even exist in Vista?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The Vista development teaam apparently inserted the SkipRearm
>>>>>> loophole to help major corporations work around Microsoft's new
>>>>>> Volume Licensing Agreement. This new program, which the Redmond
>>>>>> company calls "Volume Licensing 2.0," requires buyers to set up a Key
>>>>>> Management Service (KMS) host, as described by a Microsoft FAQ.
>>>>>> Companies must choose from two types of digital keys and three
>>>>>> different methods of activation to validate thousands of individual
>>>>>> Vista machines within the corporate LAN.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Activation of Windows XP, by comparison, requires merely that volume
>>>>>> purchasers use a single product key. Corporate buyers obtain a unique
>>>>>> key when signing a Volume Licensing Agreement. Microsoft has said,
>>>>>> however, that most Windows XP piracy involves stolen product keys
>>>>>> that are used by others to activate unauthorized machines.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The new KMS requirement is intended to discourage such piracy, but it
>>>>>> places a heavy burden on corporate IT administrators. For example,
>>>>>> Microsoft provides a tool called System Preparation (sysprep.exe) to
>>>>>> prepare Vista machines for use. If a system can't be completely
>>>>>> prepped within 30 days after installation, an admin can run the
>>>>>> command sysprep /generalize to postpone the activation deadline
>>>>>> another 30 days. However, like the slmgr -rearm command, sysprep
>>>>>> /generalize will only succeed three times.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> To work around this, as a Technet document states, "Microsoft
>>>>>> recommends that you use the SkipRearm setting if you plan on running
>>>>>> Sysprep multiple times on a computer." This is echoed by Microsoft
>>>>>> Knowledge Base article 929828.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Contributing editor Susan Bradley points out, "The good guys have to
>>>>>> go through this stupid implementation of a KMS deployment because of
>>>>>> bad guys abusing the system." She strongly feels that users should
>>>>>> comply with Microsoft's EULA provisions. "The operating system
>>>>>> license has always been a one-machine install. ... Many of us forget
>>>>>> the multiple-install rule [for Microsoft Office] since we are so used
>>>>>> to the one license, one install rule," she adds.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In its TechNet documents, Microsoft recommends the repeated use of
>>>>>> SkipRearm. How many times is "multiple times"? My testing revealed
>>>>>> that the answer is, well, indefinite.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> . On a copy of Vista Ultimate that Microsoft released in New York
>>>>>> City on Jan. 29, I found that changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allowed
>>>>>> the command slmgr -rearm to postpone Vista's activation deadline
>>>>>> eight separate times. After that, changing the 0 to 1 had no effect,
>>>>>> preventing slmgr -rearm from moving the deadline. The use of
>>>>>> slmgr -rearm 3 times, plus using SkipRearm 8 times would eliminate
>>>>>> Vista's activation nag screens for about one year (12 periods of 30
>>>>>> days).
>>>>>>
>>>>>> . On a copy of the upgrade version of Vista Home Premium that I
>>>>>> bought in a retail store on Jan. 30, slmgr -rearm also worked 3 times
>>>>>> and SkipRearm worked 8 times before losing their effect. This
>>>>>> combination would, as with Vista Ultimate, permit a one-year use of
>>>>>> Vista without nag screens appearing.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> . On a copy of the full version of Vista Home Premium that I bought
>>>>>> in a retail store on Mar. 14, SkipRearm had no effect on extending
>>>>>> the use of slmgr -rearm at all. This suggests that Microsoft has
>>>>>> slipstreamed a new version into stores, eliminating the SkipRearm
>>>>>> feature in Vista Home. That could mean that changing the key from 0
>>>>>> to 1 will now work only in the business editions of Vista - Business,
>>>>>> Enterprise, and Ultimate - so corporations can use the loophole.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Where is the usage count of slmgr -rearm stored? Where is the usage
>>>>>> count of SkipRearm stored? These bytes won't be hard for expert users
>>>>>> to find. The use restrictions may be easily lifted. If so, this would
>>>>>> allow crooked PC sellers to truly create machines that would never
>>>>>> need activation, ever.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The financial impact of SkipRearm on Microsoft
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I'd like to repeat here that I'm not advocating that anyone use the
>>>>>> above technique to violate Microsoft's EULA or avoid paying for
>>>>>> Vista. Any company that used SkipRearm to install Vista on multiple
>>>>>> machines for as long as possible would have little defense against a
>>>>>> surprise inspection by the Business Software Alliance. This coalition
>>>>>> of software makers, which includes Microsoft, investigates reports of
>>>>>> unlicensed software and obtains warrants to conduct audits.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> As a journalist, my job is to report the facts. SkipRearm was
>>>>>> specifically built into Vista to be used. Microsoft executives made
>>>>>> Vista's activation overly complex and cumbersome. So the development
>>>>>> team apparently invented a Registry key to lift the burden of Vista's
>>>>>> activation deadline, for at least a year and probably more.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The technique is so powerful and basic, however, that hackers around
>>>>>> the world may soon use the feature to install millions of extra
>>>>>> copies of Vista without buying them. This could have a major impact
>>>>>> on Microsoft's revenues. The company's employees and shareholders
>>>>>> might want to be aware of this.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Product activation does little or nothing to stop mass software
>>>>>> piracy. It's become so convoluted, the way Microsoft has implemented
>>>>>> it, that it's more of an irritation to legitimate users than a
>>>>>> worthwhile antipiracy measure. In my opinion, Microsoft should
>>>>>> concentrate on legal action against true pirates instead of inventing
>>>>>> more ways to drive honorable users bonkers.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I invite my readers to send me information about SkipRearm using the
>>>>>> Windows Secrets contact page. I'd like to thank my program director,
>>>>>> Brent Scheffler, for tirelessly testing SkipRearm dozens of times,
>>>>>> and reader Reine T. for being the first to point out the use of
>>>>>> SkipRearm to me. He'll receive a gift certificate for a book, CD, or
>>>>>> DVD of his choice for sending me a tip that I used.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>[/color]
>>[/color]
>[/color]

To add to what Michael has appropriately underscored, Technet gives
instructions on how to prolong activation repeatedly, and we've posted them
several times on both of these groups. Some of the links are listed here
for people who might want or need them. By the way MSFT revised the Vista
EULA last week for Anytime Upgrades--see last question here:
[url]http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/buyorupgrade/windowsanytimeupgrade/faq.mspx[/url]

Windows Vista Rearm Unlimited Patch
[url]http://www.mydigitallife.info/2006/12/20/windows-vista-rearm-unlimited-patch-grace-priod-crack-to-skip-activation/[/url]

Search for "slmgr" on [url]www.technet.microsoft.com[/url]
[url]http://search.technet.microsoft.com/search/default.aspx?siteId=1&tab=0&query=slmgr[/url]

Windows Vista Volume Activation 2.0
[url]http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/plan/faq.mspx[/url]

[url]http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/plan/volact1.mspx[/url]

Implementing KMS Activation
[url]http://www.microsoft.com/technet/desktopdeployment/bdd/2007/VolumeAct_6.mspx[/url]

KMS Activation Configuration
[url]http://www.microsoft.com/technet/desktopdeployment/bdd/2007/VolumeAct_9.mspx[/url]

Windows Vista Volume Activation 2.0: Technical Attributes
[url]http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/plan/volact2.mspx[/url]

Troubleshooting Problems Using Volume Activation
[url]http://www.microsoft.com/technet/desktopdeployment/bdd/2007/VolumeAct_8.mspx[/url]

CH

I'd like to Congratulate all the Americans, particularly the 99% of
indifferent ones, on entering the 5th year of suicide and hemorrhage of
your treasury in Iraq. Dover coffin filling is a vibrant and proliferative
industry even though your government refuses to allow pictures of them
increasing.

Mike Brannigan says this is only ranting--but Mike Brannigan walks around
with both of his arms and legs. Here's what Bush doesn't want you to think
about. Take a good look. America is oblivious to this. They are in the
war; Americans in the states sure as hell are not except for the families of
the people in these coffins.
[url]http://www.thememoryhole.org/war/coffin_photos/dover/[/url]

[url]http://www.thememoryhole.org/war/coffin_photos/dover/gallery.htm[/url]

Welcome to the 5th Year of Wasted Lives, Wasted Billions per Month and
Incremental and exponential racheting of Hatred of Americans among other
Nations--Your current West Wing and President and Irresponsible Congress
will set you back for generations among other countries.

Saturday, March 17, 2007

FRANK RICH: The Ides of March 2003

TOMORROW night is the fourth anniversary of President Bush's prime-time
address declaring the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In the broad sweep
of history, four years is a nanosecond, but in America, where memories are
congenitally short, it's an eternity. That's why a revisionist history of
the White House's rush to war, much of it written by its initial
cheerleaders, has already taken hold. In this exonerating fictionalization
of the story, nearly every politician and pundit in Washington was duped by
the same "bad intelligence" before the war, and few imagined that the
administration would so botch the invasion's aftermath or that the
occupation would go on so long. "If only I had known then what I know now
...." has been the persistent refrain of the war supporters who subsequently
disowned the fiasco. But the embarrassing reality is that much of the
****ing truth about the administration's case for war and its hubristic
expectations for a cakewalk were publicly available before the war, hiding
in plain sight, to be seen by anyone who wanted to look.

By the time the ides of March arrived in March 2003, these warning signs
were visible on a nearly daily basis. So were the signs that Americans were
completely ill prepared for the costs ahead. Iraq was largely anticipated as
a distant, mildly disruptive geopolitical video game that would be over in a
flash.

Now many of the same leaders who sold the war argue that escalation should
be given a chance. This time they're peddling the new doomsday scenario that
any withdrawal timetable will lead to the next 9/11. The question we must
ask is: Has history taught us anything in four years?

Here is a chronology of some of the high and low points in the days leading
up to the national train wreck whose anniversary we mourn this week [with
occasional "where are they now" updates].

March 5, 2003

"I took the Grey Poupon out of my cupboard."

- Representative Duke Cunningham, Republican of California, on the floor of
the House denouncing French opposition to the Iraq war.

[In November 2005, he resigned from Congress and pleaded guilty to accepting
bribes from defense contractors. In January 2007, the United States attorney
who prosecuted him - Carol Lam, a Bush appointee - was forced to step down
for "performance-related" issues by Alberto Gonzales's Justice Department.]

March 6, 2003

President Bush holds his last prewar news conference. The New York Observer
writes that he interchanged Iraq with the attacks of 9/11 eight times, "and
eight times he was unchallenged." The ABC News White House correspondent,
Terry Moran, says the Washington press corps was left "looking like
zombies."

March 7, 2003

Appearing before the United Nations Security Council on the same day that
the United States and three allies (Britain, Spain and Bulgaria) put forth
their resolution demanding that Iraq disarm by March 17, the director
general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei,
reports there is "no evidence or plausible indication of the revival of a
nuclear weapons program in Iraq.". He adds that documents "which formed the
basis for the report of recent uranium transaction between Iraq and Niger
are in fact not authentic." None of the three broadcast networks' evening
newscasts mention his findings.

[In 2005 ElBaradei was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.]

March 10, 2003

Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks tells an audience in England, "We do not
want this war, this violence, and we're ashamed that the president of the
United States is from Texas." Boycotts, death threats and anti-Dixie Chicks
demonstrations follow.

[In 2007, the Dixie Chicks won five Grammy Awards, including best song for
"Not Ready to Make Nice."]

March 12, 2003

A senior military planner tells The Daily News "an attack on Iraq could last
as few as seven days."

"Isn't it more likely that antipathy toward the United States in the Islamic
world might diminish amid the demonstrations of jubilant Iraqis celebrating
the end of a regime that has few equals in its ruthlessness?"

- John McCain, writing for the Op-Ed page of The New York Times.

"The Pentagon still has not given a name to the Iraqi war. Somehow
'Operation Re-elect Bush' doesn't seem to be popular."

- Jay Leno, "The Tonight Show."

March 14, 2003

Senator John D. Rockefeller, Democrat of West Virginia, asks the F.B.I. to
investigate the forged documents cited a week earlier by ElBaradei and
alleging an Iraq-Niger uranium transaction: "There is a possibility that the
fabrication of these documents may be part of a larger deception campaign
aimed at manipulating public opinion and foreign policy regarding Iraq."

March 16, 2003

On "Meet the Press," Dick Cheney says that American troops will be "greeted
as liberators," that Saddam "has a longstanding relationship with various
terrorist groups, including the Al Qaeda organization," and that it is an
"overstatement" to suggest that several hundred thousand troops will be
needed in Iraq after it is liberated. Asked by Tim Russert about ElBaradei's
statement that Iraq does not have a nuclear program, the vice president
says, "I think Mr. ElBaradei frankly is wrong."

"There will be new recruits, new recruits probably because of the war that's
about to happen. So we haven't seen the last of Al Qaeda."

- Richard Clarke, former White House counterterrorism czar, on ABC's "This
Week."

[From the recently declassified "key judgments" of the National Intelligence
Estimate of April 2006: "The Iraq conflict has become the cause célèbre for
jihadists, breeding a deep resentment of U.S. involvement in the Muslim
world and cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement."]

"Despite the Bush administration's claims about Iraq's weapons of mass
destruction, U.S. intelligence agencies have been unable to give Congress or
the Pentagon specific information about the amounts of banned weapons or
where they are hidden, according to administration officials and members of
Congress. Senior intelligence analysts say they feel caught between the
demands from White House, Pentagon and other government policy makers for
intelligence that would make the administration's case 'and what they say is
a lack of hard facts,' one official said."

- "U.S. Lacks Specifics on Banned Arms," by Walter Pincus (with additional
reporting by Bob Woodward), The Washington Post, Page A17.

March 17, 2003

Representative Henry Waxman, Democrat of California, who voted for the Iraq
war resolution, writes the president to ask why the administration has
repeatedly used W.M.D. evidence that has turned out to be "a hoax" -
"correspondence that indicates that Iraq sought to obtain nuclear weapons
from an African country, Niger."

[Still waiting for "an adequate explanation" of the bogus Niger claim four
years later, Waxman, now chairman of the chief oversight committee in the
House, wrote Condoleezza Rice on March 12, 2007, seeking a response "to
multiple letters I sent you about this matter."]

In a prime-time address, President Bush tells Saddam to leave Iraq within 48
hours: "Every measure has been made to avoid war, and every measure will be
taken to win it." After the speech, NBC rushes through its analysis to join
a hit show in progress, "Fear Factor," where men and women walk with bare
feet over broken glass to win $50,000.

March 18, 2003

Barbara Bush tells Diane Sawyer on ABC's "Good Morning America" that she
will not watch televised coverage of the war: "Why should we hear about body
bags and deaths, and how many, what day it's going to happen, and how many
this or what do you suppose? Or, I mean, it's, it's not relevant. So, why
should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?"

[Visiting the homeless victims of another cataclysm, Hurricane Katrina, at
the Houston Astrodome in 2005, Mrs. Bush said, "And so many of the people in
the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this - this is
working very well for them."]

In one of its editorials strongly endorsing the war, The Wall Street Journal
writes, "There is plenty of evidence that Iraq has harbored Al Qaeda
members."

[In a Feb. 12, 2007, editorial defending the White House's use of prewar
intelligence, The Journal wrote, "Any links between Al Qaeda and Iraq is a
separate issue that was barely mentioned in the run-up to war."]

In an article headlined "Post-war 'Occupation' of Iraq Could Result in
Chaos," Mark McDonald of Knight Ridder Newspapers quotes a "senior leader of
one of Iraq's closest Arab neighbors," who says, "We're worried that the
outcome will be civil war."

A questioner at a White House news briefing asserts that "every other war
has been accompanied by fiscal austerity of some sort, often including tax
increases" and asks, "What's different about this war?" Ari Fleischer
responds, "The most important thing, war or no war, is for the economy to
grow," adding that in the president's judgment, "the best way to help the
economy to grow is to stimulate the economy by providing tax relief."

After consulting with the homeland security secretary, Tom Ridge, the
N.C.A.A. announces that the men's basketball tournament will tip off this
week as scheduled. The N.C.A.A. president, Myles Brand, says, "We were not
going to let a tyrant determine how we were going to lead our lives."

March 19, 2003

"I'd guess that if it goes beyond three weeks, Bush will be in real
trouble."

- Andrew Bacevich, a retired Army colonel teaching at Boston University,
quoted in The Washington Post.

[The March 2007 installment of the Congressionally mandated Pentagon
assessment "Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq" reported that from
Jan. 1 to Feb. 9, 2007, there were more than 1,000 weekly attacks, up from
about 400 in spring 2004.]

Robert McIlvaine, whose 26-year-old son was killed at the World Trade Center
18 months earlier, is arrested at a peace demonstration at the Capitol in
Washington. He tells The Washington Post: "It's very insulting to hear
President Bush say this is for Sept. 11."

"I don't think it is reasonable to close the door on inspections after three
and a half months," when Iraq's government is providing more cooperation
than it has in more than a decade.

- Hans Blix, chief weapons inspector for the United Nations.

The Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that 71 percent of Americans support
going to war in Iraq, up from 59 percent before the president's March 17
speech.

"When the president talks about sacrifice, I think the American people
clearly understand what the president is talking about."

- Ari Fleischer

[Asked in January 2007 how Americans have sacrificed, President Bush
answered: "I think a lot of people are in this fight. I mean, they sacrifice
peace of mind when they see the terrible images of violence on TV every
night."]

Pentagon units will "locate and survey at least 130 and as many as 1,400
possible weapons sites."

- "Disarming Saddam Hussein; Teams of Experts to Hunt Iraq Arms" by Judith
Miller, The Times, Page A1.

President Bush declares war from the Oval Office in a national address: "Our
nation enters this conflict reluctantly, yet our purpose is sure."

Price of a share of Halliburton stock: $20.50

[Value of that Halliburton share on March 16, 2007, adjusted for a split in
2006: $64.12.]

March 20, 2003

"The pictures you're seeing are absolutely phenomenal. These are live
pictures of the Seventh Cavalry racing across the deserts in southern Iraq.
They will - it will be days before they get to Baghdad, but you've never
seen battlefield pictures like these before."

- Walter Rodgers, an embedded CNN correspondent.

"It seems quite odd to me that while we are commenced upon a war, we have no
funding for that war in this budget."

-Hillary Clinton.

"Coalition forces suffered their first casualties in a helicopter crash that
left 12 Britons and 4 Americans dead."

- The Associated Press.

Though the March 23 Oscar ceremony will dispense with the red carpet in
deference to the war, an E! channel executive announces there will be no
cutback on pre-Oscar programming, but "the tone will be much more somber."

March 21, 2003

"I don't mean to be glib about this, or make it sound trite, but it really
is a symphony that has to be orchestrated by a conductor."

- Retired Maj. Gen. Donald Shepperd, CNN military analyst, speaking to Wolf
Blitzer of the bombardment of Baghdad during Shock and Awe.

["Many parts of Iraq are stable. But of course what we see on television is
the one bombing a day that discourages everyone."

- Laura Bush, "Larry King Live," Feb. 26, 2007.]

"The president may occasionally turn on the TV, but that's not how he gets
his news or his information. ... He is the president, he's made his
decisions and the American people are watching him."

- Ari Fleischer.

[The former press secretary received immunity from prosecution in the
Valerie Wilson leak case and testified in the perjury trial of Scooter Libby
in 2007.]

"Peter, I may be going out on a limb, but I'm not sure that the first stage
of this Shock and Awe campaign is really going to frighten the Iraqi people.
In fact, it may have just the opposite effect. If they feel that they've
survived the most that the United States can throw at them and they're still
standing, and they're still able to go about their lives, well, then they
might be rather emboldened. They might feel that, well, look, we can stand a
lot more than this."

- Richard Engel, a Baghdad correspondent speaking to Peter Jennings on ABC's
"World News Tonight."

"Mike Brannigan" <Mike.Brannigan@localhost> wrote in message
news:OfzQZHYaHHA.1244@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...[color=blue]
> Bypassing the mandatory activation to run unlicensed software is not
> allowed under the terms of the EULA that you agree to abide by when you
> install the software.
> The SkipRearm key is well documented for its intended purpose - the use of
> the this key to avoid your mandatory activation is in breach of the EULA
> and not the intended purpose of this key. The fact that it is possible
> does not mean it should be used to run unlicensed software, no more so
> then the lack of any activation processes in early versions of Windows
> meant that it was possible to breach your licensing terms and install more
> then one copy to multiple machines.
>
> Also for the sake of brevity can you withhold your usual rantings and
> stick to the technical point at hand.
>
> --
> Mike Brannigan
>
> "Chad Harris" <vistaneedsmuchowork.net> wrote in message
> news:uUErJsXaHHA.3272@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...[color=green]
>> Mike--
>>
>> MSFT Ineffective at Preventing Vista Piracy/Prolonging Time to Activate
>>
>> I have revised the subject heading to reflect the title of Brian
>> Livingston's article. As you know Brian is the author of Windows Vista
>> Secrets with Paul Thurrott.
>>
>> I should have made the subject line "MSFT Ineffective at Stopping Vista
>> Piracy". I am not and never have advocated piracy on any of these
>> groups. I always use legititmat Windows and other MSFT software and have
>> a good time doing it. However these keys can be used to prolong use of
>> Vista without activation--and of course "installing the product" isn't
>> activating it. We have had a number of situations here where activation
>> glitches have reared their head, and cases (I'm not sure of the number
>> yet, are being reported on these groups and elsewhere that confirm my
>> worst fears: That the "SPP" aka the "Software Protection Policy" has
>> forced users of legit Vista into reduced functionality mode erratically
>> just as WGA has failed in a significant number of cases with legit
>> Windows XP.
>>
>> MSFT has made many claims promulgated by Brad Smith and his Associate
>> General Counsel Nancy Anderson that they effectively prevent piracy on an
>> individual basis. They are effective only because ignorance is the coin
>> of the realm in my country the U.S. and many other countries.
>>
>> I'm going to bet that Nancy Anderson, who is paid well over a million
>> dollars a year at MSFT and has held MSFT stock for years worth several
>> million, hasn't lived in a mud hut with no plumbing nor struggled to pay
>> the bills. She's in the subset that pay her Congress to pass laws to
>> protect her and exempt her economically. I'm not justifying piracy
>> because of retail cost. I am saying it's pandemic because multiple
>> countries, including yours, has systemic legislation and economic policy
>> that skewers the laws to rob from the poor and disinfranchise and rob
>> from the "middle class" socio-economically and cater to the rich.
>>
>> Note the skew here:
>>
>> Q&A: How Software Piracy Undermines Economic Recovery
>> Microsoft Associate General Counsel Nancy Anderson leads Microsoft's
>> efforts to strike back at piracy's economic drain.
>> [url]http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2001/oct01/10-19piracyqa.mspx[/url]
>>
>>
>> I don't think Nancy Anderson is very aware of this reg hack. I point out
>> that MSFT's Antipiracy measures are competent to the degree people are
>> ignorant of what's in the registry in regards to activation, and that it
>> can be a convenience if people run into glitches with activation that do
>> exist.
>>
>> CH
>>
>> The White House in the U.S. got caught using the DOJ and US Attorneys as
>> a political arm of the Republican party. Simply put, they fired 9 (not 7
>> or 8) US Attorneys who were pursuing major Republican congressmen like
>> Jerry Lewis. The pursuit of Democrats for prosecution was in the ball
>> park of 100 to 1 statistically. US Attorneys were being directly
>> pressured to go after Democrats. Alberto Gonzales' claiming he knew
>> nothing about this is beyond incompetent and he has functioned at the
>> level of a twit. He had no federal litigation experience and was put in
>> a job for which he had no skills and it shows. His DAG McNulty has lied
>> under oath to Congress as has he, and lying to Congress whether under
>> oath or not is purjery under federal law. I give him less time than MSFT
>> gives you to activate Vista. A number of people in the EOUSA and at the
>> highest levels of DOJ are guilty of breaking the law in major ways.
>>
>> The legacy of the Bush administration will be efficiency at filling
>> coffins at Dover for generations to come and the effective slaughter of
>> millions of Iraquis and Americans while squandering treasure that should
>> have been directed to bolstering the domestic policies that Bill Gates
>> among others has spent significant time, effort and parts of his personal
>> fortune and his Foundation to champion.
>>
>> The only effective way to stop the wasteful killing is a DRAFT. That is
>> the only policy that will get oblivious, completely apathetic Americans
>> engaged--the threat of skin in the game.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> "Mike Brannigan" <Mike.Brannigan@localhost> wrote in message
>> news:B230A84A-80B9-4683-BF2E-5ABB62EE9EE0@microsoft.com...[color=darkred]
>>> Chad,
>>>
>>> The use of the well documented SkipRearm registry key does not allow a
>>> LEGAL use of the OS past the activation deadline.
>>>
>>> Your use of the product is covered under your End User License Agreement
>>> (EULA) that you must agree to to install the product.
>>> Section 4 clearly states that Activation is mandatory.
>>> Failure to activate past the notified period means you are using
>>> unlicensed software.
>>> The use of the registry key does not remove you mandatory requirement to
>>> activate.
>>> Modification for the OS by any means (including registry edits) to
>>> breach the terms of the EULA doe not mean that you are "legally" doing
>>> anything - you are using unlicensed software.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Mike Brannigan
>>>
>>> "Chad Harris" <vistaneedsmuchowork.net> wrote in message
>>> news:O2Z5G7PaHHA.2316@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>>>> Brian Livingston has a new trick:
>>>>
>>>> Microsoft has built into Vista a function that allows anyone to extend
>>>> the operating system's activation deadline not just three times, but
>>>> many times. The same one-line command that postpones Vista's activation
>>>> deadline to 120 days can be used an indefinite number of times by first
>>>> changing a Registry key from 0 to 1.
>>>>
>>>> This isn't a hacker exploit. It doesn't require any tools or utilities
>>>> whatsoever. Microsoft even documented the Registry key, although
>>>> obtusely, on its Technet site.
>>>>
>>>> But dishonest PC sellers could use the procedure to install thousands
>>>> of copies of Vista and sell them to unsuspecting consumers or
>>>> businesses as legitimately activated copies. This would certainly
>>>> violate the Vista EULA, but consumers might not realize this until the
>>>> PCs they bought started demanding activation - and failing - months or
>>>> years later.
>>>>
>>>> The following describes the Registry key that's involved.
>>>>
>>>> Step 1. While running a copy of Windows Vista that hasn't yet been
>>>> activated, click the Start button, type regedit into the Search box,
>>>> then press Enter to launch the Registry Editor.
>>>>
>>>> Step 2. Explore down to the following Registry key:
>>>>
>>>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion
>>>> \ SL
>>>>
>>>> Step 3. Right-click the Registry key named SkipRearm and click Edit.
>>>> The default is a Dword (a double word or 4 bytes) with a hex value of
>>>> 00000000. Change this value to any positive integer, such as 00000001,
>>>> save the change, and close the Registry Editor.
>>>>
>>>> Step 4. Start a command prompt with administrative rights. The fastest
>>>> way to do this is to click the Start button, enter cmd in the Search
>>>> box, then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. If you're asked for a network
>>>> username and password, provide the ones that log you into your domain.
>>>> You may be asked to approve a User Account Control prompt and to
>>>> provide an administrator password.
>>>>
>>>> Step 5. Type one of the following two commands and press Enter:
>>>>
>>>> slmgr -rearm
>>>> or
>>>> rundll32 slc.dll,SLReArmWindows
>>>>
>>>> Either command uses Vista's built-in Software Licensing Manager (SLMGR)
>>>> to push the activation deadline out to 30 days after the command is
>>>> run. Changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allows SLMGR to do this an
>>>> indefinite number of times. Running either command initializes the
>>>> value of SkipRearm back to 0.
>>>>
>>>> Step 6. Reboot the PC to make the postponement take effect. (After you
>>>> log in, if you like, you can open a command prompt and run the command
>>>> slmgr -xpr to see Vista's new expiration date and time. I explained the
>>>> slmgr command and its parameters in my Feb. 15 article.)
>>>>
>>>> Step 7. To extend the activation deadline of Vista indefinitely, repeat
>>>> steps 1 through 6 as necessary
>>>>
>>>> Read full story and other tricks at source:
>>>>
>>>> [url]http://windowssecrets.com/comp/070315/#story1[/url]
>>>>
>>>> Microsoft allows bypass of Vista activation
>>>>
>>>> By Brian Livingston
>>>>
>>>> Microsoft always says it opposes "software pirates" who sell thousands
>>>> of unauthorized copies of Windows.
>>>>
>>>> But the Redmond company has made things a lot easier for pirates by
>>>> adding a line to the Registry that can be changed from 0 to 1 to
>>>> postpone the need to "activate" Vista indefinitely.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Activation doesn't stop true software piracy
>>>>
>>>> As most Windows users know, Microsoft has required "product activation"
>>>> since the release of Windows XP in 2001. XP must be activated by
>>>> communicating with servers in Redmond within 30 days of installation.
>>>> By contrast, Microsoft Office XP, 2003, and 2007 require activatation
>>>> before the package is used 5 to 50 times, depending on the version,
>>>> according to a company FAQ. If a PC has no Internet connection, a user
>>>> may activate a product by dialing a telephone number in various
>>>> countries.
>>>>
>>>> The activation process will complete successfully only if the software
>>>> has not been previously activated, such as on a different machine. If
>>>> activation isn't completed within the trial period, Microsoft products
>>>> temporarily shut down some of their features. MS Office loses the
>>>> ability to edit and save files. After Vista's activation deadline runs
>>>> out, the user can do little other than use Internet Explorer to
>>>> activate the operating system or buy a new license.
>>>>
>>>> Microsoft describes its product activation scheme as a way to foil
>>>> software pirates. However, as I previously described in an InfoWorld
>>>> Magazine article on Oct. 22, 2001, activation does nothing to stop mass
>>>> piracy. The Redmond company actually included in Windows XP a small
>>>> file, Wpa.dbl, that makes it easy for pirates to create thousands of
>>>> machines that validate perfectly.
>>>>
>>>> Far from stopping software piracy, product activation has primarily
>>>> been designed to prevent home users from installing one copy of Windows
>>>> on a home machine and a personal-use copy on a laptop. As I explained
>>>> in an article on Mar. 8, buying a copyrighted work and making another
>>>> copy strictly for personal use is specifically permitted to consumers
>>>> by the U.S. Copyright Act and the copyright laws of many other
>>>> countries.
>>>>
>>>> For example, courts have repeatedly ruled that consumers can make
>>>> copies of copyrighted songs or television programs for personal use
>>>> (not for distribution or resale). This principle is legally known as
>>>> "fair use." The home edition of Microsoft Office 2007 reflects this
>>>> principle, allowing consumers to activate three copies of a single
>>>> purchased product. Microsoft Windows XP and Vista, however, allow only
>>>> one activation.
>>>>
>>>> Surprisingly, Microsoft has embedded into its new Vista operating
>>>> system a feature that makes things easier than ever for true, mass
>>>> software pirates. These tricksters will be able to produce thousands of
>>>> Windows PCs machines that won't demand activation indefinitely - at
>>>> least for a year or more.
>>>>
>>>> Leaving the activation barn door open
>>>>
>>>> I reported in a Feb. 1 article that the upgrade version of Windows
>>>> Vista allows itself to be clean-installed to a new hard drive. The new
>>>> Microsoft operating system completely omits any checking for a
>>>> qualifying previous version of Windows. This allows the upgrade version
>>>> of Vista to successfully upgrade over a nonactivated, trial version of
>>>> itself.
>>>>
>>>> After my article appeared, ZDnet blogger Ed Bott summarized the secret
>>>> in a post on Feb. 15. He flatly states, "You satisfied every condition
>>>> of the license agreement and aren't skating by on a technicality. The
>>>> fact that you have to use a kludgey workaround to use the license
>>>> you've purchased and are legally entitled to is Microsoft's fault."
>>>>
>>>> In my own piece, I had speculated that clean-installing the upgrade
>>>> version of Vista "probably violates the Vista EULA (End User License
>>>> Agreement)." But more and more computer experts are saying that the
>>>> procedure is fully compliant with the EULA and, in any event, is
>>>> perfectly legal.
>>>>
>>>> I wrote a follow-up story on Feb. 15. I reported that Microsoft
>>>> includes in Vista a one-line command that even novices can use to
>>>> postpone the product's activation deadline three times. This can extend
>>>> the deadline from its original 30 days to as much as 120 days - almost
>>>> four months.
>>>>
>>>> PCWorld.com posted a report on my story on Feb. 17. The magazine quotes
>>>> a Microsoft spokeswoman as saying that extending Vista's activation
>>>> deadline as I described it "is not a violation of the Vista End User
>>>> License Agreement." I'm glad that's clear.
>>>>
>>>> The feature that I've revealing today shows that Microsoft has built
>>>> into Vista a function that allows anyone to extend the operating
>>>> system's activation deadline not just three times, but many times. The
>>>> same one-line command that postpones Vista's activation deadline to 120
>>>> days can be used an indefinite number of times by first changing a
>>>> Registry key from 0 to 1.
>>>>
>>>> This isn't a hacker exploit. It doesn't require any tools or utilities
>>>> whatsoever. Microsoft even documented the Registry key, although
>>>> obtusely, on its Technet site.
>>>>
>>>> But dishonest PC sellers could use the procedure to install thousands
>>>> of copies of Vista and sell them to unsuspecting consumers or
>>>> businesses as legitimately activated copies. This would certainly
>>>> violate the Vista EULA, but consumers might not realize this until the
>>>> PCs they bought started demanding activation - and failing - months or
>>>> years later.
>>>>
>>>> The following describes the Registry key that's involved.
>>>>
>>>> Step 1. While running a copy of Windows Vista that hasn't yet been
>>>> activated, click the Start button, type regedit into the Search box,
>>>> then press Enter to launch the Registry Editor.
>>>>
>>>> Step 2. Explore down to the following Registry key:
>>>>
>>>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion
>>>> \ SL
>>>>
>>>> Step 3. Right-click the Registry key named SkipRearm and click Edit.
>>>> The default is a Dword (a double word or 4 bytes) with a hex value of
>>>> 00000000. Change this value to any positive integer, such as 00000001,
>>>> save the change, and close the Registry Editor.
>>>>
>>>> Step 4. Start a command prompt with administrative rights. The fastest
>>>> way to do this is to click the Start button, enter cmd in the Search
>>>> box, then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. If you're asked for a network
>>>> username and password, provide the ones that log you into your domain.
>>>> You may be asked to approve a User Account Control prompt and to
>>>> provide an administrator password.
>>>>
>>>> Step 5. Type one of the following two commands and press Enter:
>>>>
>>>> slmgr -rearm
>>>> or
>>>> rundll32 slc.dll,SLReArmWindows
>>>>
>>>> Either command uses Vista's built-in Software Licensing Manager (SLMGR)
>>>> to push the activation deadline out to 30 days after the command is
>>>> run. Changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allows SLMGR to do this an
>>>> indefinite number of times. Running either command initializes the
>>>> value of SkipRearm back to 0.
>>>>
>>>> Step 6. Reboot the PC to make the postponement take effect. (After you
>>>> log in, if you like, you can open a command prompt and run the command
>>>> slmgr -xpr to see Vista's new expiration date and time. I explained the
>>>> slmgr command and its parameters in my Feb. 15 article.)
>>>>
>>>> Step 7. To extend the activation deadline of Vista indefinitely, repeat
>>>> steps 1 through 6 as necessary.
>>>>
>>>> Any crooked PC seller with even the slightest technical skill could
>>>> easily install a command file that would carry out steps 1 through 6
>>>> automatically. The program could run slmgr -rearm three times, 30 days
>>>> apart, to postpone Vista's activation deadline to 120 days. It could
>>>> then run skip -rearm every 30 days, for a period of months if not
>>>> years, by first resetting the SkipRearm key.
>>>>
>>>> The program could be scheduled to check Vista's activation deadline
>>>> during every reboot, and to remind the user to reboot once a month if a
>>>> deadline was nearing. The buyer of such a PC would never even see an
>>>> activation reminder, much less be required to go through the activation
>>>> process.
>>>>
>>>> If you happen to buy a Vista PC from a little-known seller, and the
>>>> price was too good to be true, use Vista's search function to look for
>>>> the string SkipRearm in files. You may discover that your "bargain"
>>>> computer will mysteriously start demanding activation in a year or
>>>> two - but your product key won't be valid.
>>>>
>>>> I asked Microsoft why SkipRearm is included in Vista if it can be used
>>>> to create machines that appear not to need activation for long periods.
>>>> A Microsoft spokewoman replied, "I connected with my colleagues and
>>>> learned, unfortunately, we do not have information to share at this
>>>> time." (I can't identify the speaker because the policy of Waggener
>>>> Edstrom, Microsoft's public-relations firm, prohibits the naming of
>>>> p.r. spokespersons.)
>>>>
>>>> In my testing of Microsoft's back-door loophole, I've found that the
>>>> technique can be used to postpone the activation deadline one year or
>>>> longer. It may or may not, however, work forever, as I describe below.
>>>>
>>>> Why does SkipRearm even exist in Vista?
>>>>
>>>> The Vista development teaam apparently inserted the SkipRearm loophole
>>>> to help major corporations work around Microsoft's new Volume Licensing
>>>> Agreement. This new program, which the Redmond company calls "Volume
>>>> Licensing 2.0," requires buyers to set up a Key Management Service
>>>> (KMS) host, as described by a Microsoft FAQ. Companies must choose from
>>>> two types of digital keys and three different methods of activation to
>>>> validate thousands of individual Vista machines within the corporate
>>>> LAN.
>>>>
>>>> Activation of Windows XP, by comparison, requires merely that volume
>>>> purchasers use a single product key. Corporate buyers obtain a unique
>>>> key when signing a Volume Licensing Agreement. Microsoft has said,
>>>> however, that most Windows XP piracy involves stolen product keys that
>>>> are used by others to activate unauthorized machines.
>>>>
>>>> The new KMS requirement is intended to discourage such piracy, but it
>>>> places a heavy burden on corporate IT administrators. For example,
>>>> Microsoft provides a tool called System Preparation (sysprep.exe) to
>>>> prepare Vista machines for use. If a system can't be completely prepped
>>>> within 30 days after installation, an admin can run the command sysprep
>>>> /generalize to postpone the activation deadline another 30 days.
>>>> However, like the slmgr -rearm command, sysprep /generalize will only
>>>> succeed three times.
>>>>
>>>> To work around this, as a Technet document states, "Microsoft
>>>> recommends that you use the SkipRearm setting if you plan on running
>>>> Sysprep multiple times on a computer." This is echoed by Microsoft
>>>> Knowledge Base article 929828.
>>>>
>>>> Contributing editor Susan Bradley points out, "The good guys have to go
>>>> through this stupid implementation of a KMS deployment because of bad
>>>> guys abusing the system." She strongly feels that users should comply
>>>> with Microsoft's EULA provisions. "The operating system license has
>>>> always been a one-machine install. ... Many of us forget the
>>>> multiple-install rule [for Microsoft Office] since we are so used to
>>>> the one license, one install rule," she adds.
>>>>
>>>> In its TechNet documents, Microsoft recommends the repeated use of
>>>> SkipRearm. How many times is "multiple times"? My testing revealed that
>>>> the answer is, well, indefinite.
>>>>
>>>> . On a copy of Vista Ultimate that Microsoft released in New York City
>>>> on Jan. 29, I found that changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allowed the
>>>> command slmgr -rearm to postpone Vista's activation deadline eight
>>>> separate times. After that, changing the 0 to 1 had no effect,
>>>> preventing slmgr -rearm from moving the deadline. The use of
>>>> slmgr -rearm 3 times, plus using SkipRearm 8 times would eliminate
>>>> Vista's activation nag screens for about one year (12 periods of 30
>>>> days).
>>>>
>>>> . On a copy of the upgrade version of Vista Home Premium that I bought
>>>> in a retail store on Jan. 30, slmgr -rearm also worked 3 times and
>>>> SkipRearm worked 8 times before losing their effect. This combination
>>>> would, as with Vista Ultimate, permit a one-year use of Vista without
>>>> nag screens appearing.
>>>>
>>>> . On a copy of the full version of Vista Home Premium that I bought in
>>>> a retail store on Mar. 14, SkipRearm had no effect on extending the use
>>>> of slmgr -rearm at all. This suggests that Microsoft has slipstreamed a
>>>> new version into stores, eliminating the SkipRearm feature in Vista
>>>> Home. That could mean that changing the key from 0 to 1 will now work
>>>> only in the business editions of Vista - Business, Enterprise, and
>>>> Ultimate - so corporations can use the loophole.
>>>>
>>>> Where is the usage count of slmgr -rearm stored? Where is the usage
>>>> count of SkipRearm stored? These bytes won't be hard for expert users
>>>> to find. The use restrictions may be easily lifted. If so, this would
>>>> allow crooked PC sellers to truly create machines that would never need
>>>> activation, ever.
>>>>
>>>> The financial impact of SkipRearm on Microsoft
>>>>
>>>> I'd like to repeat here that I'm not advocating that anyone use the
>>>> above technique to violate Microsoft's EULA or avoid paying for Vista.
>>>> Any company that used SkipRearm to install Vista on multiple machines
>>>> for as long as possible would have little defense against a surprise
>>>> inspection by the Business Software Alliance. This coalition of
>>>> software makers, which includes Microsoft, investigates reports of
>>>> unlicensed software and obtains warrants to conduct audits.
>>>>
>>>> As a journalist, my job is to report the facts. SkipRearm was
>>>> specifically built into Vista to be used. Microsoft executives made
>>>> Vista's activation overly complex and cumbersome. So the development
>>>> team apparently invented a Registry key to lift the burden of Vista's
>>>> activation deadline, for at least a year and probably more.
>>>>
>>>> The technique is so powerful and basic, however, that hackers around
>>>> the world may soon use the feature to install millions of extra copies
>>>> of Vista without buying them. This could have a major impact on
>>>> Microsoft's revenues. The company's employees and shareholders might
>>>> want to be aware of this.
>>>>
>>>> Product activation does little or nothing to stop mass software piracy.
>>>> It's become so convoluted, the way Microsoft has implemented it, that
>>>> it's more of an irritation to legitimate users than a worthwhile
>>>> antipiracy measure. In my opinion, Microsoft should concentrate on
>>>> legal action against true pirates instead of inventing more ways to
>>>> drive honorable users bonkers.
>>>>
>>>> I invite my readers to send me information about SkipRearm using the
>>>> Windows Secrets contact page. I'd like to thank my program director,
>>>> Brent Scheffler, for tirelessly testing SkipRearm dozens of times, and
>>>> reader Reine T. for being the first to point out the use of SkipRearm
>>>> to me. He'll receive a gift certificate for a book, CD, or DVD of his
>>>> choice for sending me a tip that I used.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>[/color]
>>[/color]
>[/color]

"Jon" <Email_Address@SomewhereOrOther.com> wrote in message
news:e95yBfYaHHA.5044@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...[color=blue]
> Try it. Set 'SkipRearm' set to 1, and run the 'slmgr -rearm' command from an elevated
> command prompt, on an unactivated installation.
>
> Right-click Computer > Properties and look at the activation counter. You'll see that there
> is no change. Why? Because that is precisely what it is intended to do - 'skip the rearm
> process'[/color]

Did you reboot after running 'slmgr -rearm'?

[color=blue]
> This article makes it abundantly clear what the effect of changing the value of 'SkipRearm'
> is
> [url]http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsVista/en/library/aefc41f4-a3ec-4f98-a1dc-88a0d045172b1033.mspx?mfr=true[/url]
>
> --
> Jon
>
>
> "Chad Harris" <vistaneedsmuchowork.net> wrote in message
> news:%23N8NPZYaHHA.4940@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...[color=green]
>>I don't see a scintilla of misniformation. I don't know if this has occured to you Jon, but
>>when you make a sweeping generalization, it'd be appropriate to get off your butt and back it
>>up with substantive fact. Every step in the article is fact. Any idiot can debunk an
>>article, but if you want to do it intelligently specify why you think it is complete
>>misinformation. The fact that you haven't or can't speaks volumes.
>>
>> CH
>>
>> "Jon" <Email_Address@SomewhereOrOther.com> wrote in message
>> news:uVzPpLYaHHA.4616@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...[color=darkred]
>>> Sticking to the 'technical point at hand', the article should have been released on April
>>> Fools' Day. It's complete misinformation.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Jon
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> "Mike Brannigan" <Mike.Brannigan@localhost> wrote in message
>>> news:OfzQZHYaHHA.1244@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>>>> Bypassing the mandatory activation to run unlicensed software is not allowed under the
>>>> terms of the EULA that you agree to abide by when you install the software.
>>>> The SkipRearm key is well documented for its intended purpose - the use of the this key to
>>>> avoid your mandatory activation is in breach of the EULA and not the intended purpose of
>>>> this key. The fact that it is possible does not mean it should be used to run unlicensed
>>>> software, no more so then the lack of any activation processes in early versions of
>>>> Windows meant that it was possible to breach your licensing terms and install more then
>>>> one copy to multiple machines.
>>>>
>>>> Also for the sake of brevity can you withhold your usual rantings and stick to the
>>>> technical point at hand.
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Mike Brannigan
>>>>
>>>> "Chad Harris" <vistaneedsmuchowork.net> wrote in message
>>>> news:uUErJsXaHHA.3272@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>>>>> Mike--
>>>>>
>>>>> MSFT Ineffective at Preventing Vista Piracy/Prolonging Time to Activate
>>>>>
>>>>> I have revised the subject heading to reflect the title of Brian Livingston's article.
>>>>> As you know Brian is the author of Windows Vista Secrets with Paul Thurrott.
>>>>>
>>>>> I should have made the subject line "MSFT Ineffective at Stopping Vista Piracy". I am
>>>>> not and never have advocated piracy on any of these groups. I always use legititmat
>>>>> Windows and other MSFT software and have a good time doing it. However these keys can
>>>>> be used to prolong use of Vista without activation--and of course "installing the
>>>>> product" isn't activating it. We have had a number of situations here where activation
>>>>> glitches have reared their head, and cases (I'm not sure of the number yet, are being
>>>>> reported on these groups and elsewhere that confirm my worst fears: That the "SPP" aka
>>>>> the "Software Protection Policy" has forced users of legit Vista into reduced
>>>>> functionality mode erratically just as WGA has failed in a significant number of cases
>>>>> with legit Windows XP.
>>>>>
>>>>> MSFT has made many claims promulgated by Brad Smith and his Associate General Counsel
>>>>> Nancy Anderson that they effectively prevent piracy on an individual basis. They are
>>>>> effective only because ignorance is the coin of the realm in my country the U.S. and many
>>>>> other countries.
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm going to bet that Nancy Anderson, who is paid well over a million dollars a year at
>>>>> MSFT and has held MSFT stock for years worth several million, hasn't lived in a mud hut
>>>>> with no plumbing nor struggled to pay the bills. She's in the subset that pay her
>>>>> Congress to pass laws to protect her and exempt her economically. I'm not justifying
>>>>> piracy because of retail cost. I am saying it's pandemic because multiple countries,
>>>>> including yours, has systemic legislation and economic policy that skewers the laws to
>>>>> rob from the poor and disinfranchise and rob from the "middle class" socio-economically
>>>>> and cater to the rich.
>>>>>
>>>>> Note the skew here:
>>>>>
>>>>> Q&A: How Software Piracy Undermines Economic Recovery
>>>>> Microsoft Associate General Counsel Nancy Anderson leads Microsoft's efforts to strike
>>>>> back at piracy's economic drain.
>>>>> [url]http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2001/oct01/10-19piracyqa.mspx[/url]
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> I don't think Nancy Anderson is very aware of this reg hack. I point out that MSFT's
>>>>> Antipiracy measures are competent to the degree people are ignorant of what's in the
>>>>> registry in regards to activation, and that it can be a convenience if people run into
>>>>> glitches with activation that do exist.
>>>>>
>>>>> CH
>>>>>
>>>>> The White House in the U.S. got caught using the DOJ and US Attorneys as a political arm
>>>>> of the Republican party. Simply put, they fired 9 (not 7 or 8) US Attorneys who were
>>>>> pursuing major Republican congressmen like Jerry Lewis. The pursuit of Democrats for
>>>>> prosecution was in the ball park of 100 to 1 statistically. US Attorneys were being
>>>>> directly pressured to go after Democrats. Alberto Gonzales' claiming he knew nothing
>>>>> about this is beyond incompetent and he has functioned at the level of a twit. He had no
>>>>> federal litigation experience and was put in a job for which he had no skills and it
>>>>> shows. His DAG McNulty has lied under oath to Congress as has he, and lying to Congress
>>>>> whether under oath or not is purjery under federal law. I give him less time than MSFT
>>>>> gives you to activate Vista. A number of people in the EOUSA and at the highest levels of
>>>>> DOJ are guilty of breaking the law in major ways.
>>>>>
>>>>> The legacy of the Bush administration will be efficiency at filling coffins at Dover for
>>>>> generations to come and the effective slaughter of millions of Iraquis and Americans
>>>>> while squandering treasure that should have been directed to bolstering the domestic
>>>>> policies that Bill Gates among others has spent significant time, effort and parts of his
>>>>> personal fortune and his Foundation to champion.
>>>>>
>>>>> The only effective way to stop the wasteful killing is a DRAFT. That is the only policy
>>>>> that will get oblivious, completely apathetic Americans engaged--the threat of skin in
>>>>> the game.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> "Mike Brannigan" <Mike.Brannigan@localhost> wrote in message
>>>>> news:B230A84A-80B9-4683-BF2E-5ABB62EE9EE0@microsoft.com...
>>>>>> Chad,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The use of the well documented SkipRearm registry key does not allow a LEGAL use of the
>>>>>> OS past the activation deadline.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Your use of the product is covered under your End User License Agreement (EULA) that you
>>>>>> must agree to to install the product.
>>>>>> Section 4 clearly states that Activation is mandatory.
>>>>>> Failure to activate past the notified period means you are using unlicensed software.
>>>>>> The use of the registry key does not remove you mandatory requirement to activate.
>>>>>> Modification for the OS by any means (including registry edits) to breach the terms of
>>>>>> the EULA doe not mean that you are "legally" doing anything - you are using unlicensed
>>>>>> software.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> Mike Brannigan
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "Chad Harris" <vistaneedsmuchowork.net> wrote in message
>>>>>> news:O2Z5G7PaHHA.2316@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>>>>>>> Brian Livingston has a new trick:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Microsoft has built into Vista a function that allows anyone to extend the operating
>>>>>>> system's activation deadline not just three times, but many times. The same one-line
>>>>>>> command that postpones Vista's activation deadline to 120 days can be used an
>>>>>>> indefinite number of times by first changing a Registry key from 0 to 1.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> This isn't a hacker exploit. It doesn't require any tools or utilities whatsoever.
>>>>>>> Microsoft even documented the Registry key, although obtusely, on its Technet site.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> But dishonest PC sellers could use the procedure to install thousands of copies of
>>>>>>> Vista and sell them to unsuspecting consumers or businesses as legitimately activated
>>>>>>> copies. This would certainly violate the Vista EULA, but consumers might not realize
>>>>>>> this until the PCs they bought started demanding activation - and failing - months or
>>>>>>> years later.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The following describes the Registry key that's involved.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Step 1. While running a copy of Windows Vista that hasn't yet been activated, click the
>>>>>>> Start button, type regedit into the Search box, then press Enter to launch the Registry
>>>>>>> Editor.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Step 2. Explore down to the following Registry key:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \ SL
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Step 3. Right-click the Registry key named SkipRearm and click Edit. The default is a
>>>>>>> Dword (a double word or 4 bytes) with a hex value of 00000000. Change this value to any
>>>>>>> positive integer, such as 00000001, save the change, and close the Registry Editor.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Step 4. Start a command prompt with administrative rights. The fastest way to do this
>>>>>>> is to click the Start button, enter cmd in the Search box, then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter.
>>>>>>> If you're asked for a network username and password, provide the ones that log you into
>>>>>>> your domain. You may be asked to approve a User Account Control prompt and to provide
>>>>>>> an administrator password.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Step 5. Type one of the following two commands and press Enter:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> slmgr -rearm
>>>>>>> or
>>>>>>> rundll32 slc.dll,SLReArmWindows
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Either command uses Vista's built-in Software Licensing Manager (SLMGR) to push the
>>>>>>> activation deadline out to 30 days after the command is run. Changing SkipRearm from 0
>>>>>>> to 1 allows SLMGR to do this an indefinite number of times. Running either command
>>>>>>> initializes the value of SkipRearm back to 0.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Step 6. Reboot the PC to make the postponement take effect. (After you log in, if you
>>>>>>> like, you can open a command prompt and run the command slmgr -xpr to see Vista's new
>>>>>>> expiration date and time. I explained the slmgr command and its parameters in my Feb.
>>>>>>> 15 article.)
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Step 7. To extend the activation deadline of Vista indefinitely, repeat steps 1 through
>>>>>>> 6 as necessary
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Read full story and other tricks at source:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> [url]http://windowssecrets.com/comp/070315/#story1[/url]
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Microsoft allows bypass of Vista activation
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> By Brian Livingston
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Microsoft always says it opposes "software pirates" who sell thousands of unauthorized
>>>>>>> copies of Windows.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> But the Redmond company has made things a lot easier for pirates by adding a line to
>>>>>>> the Registry that can be changed from 0 to 1 to postpone the need to "activate" Vista
>>>>>>> indefinitely.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Activation doesn't stop true software piracy
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> As most Windows users know, Microsoft has required "product activation" since the
>>>>>>> release of Windows XP in 2001. XP must be activated by communicating with servers in
>>>>>>> Redmond within 30 days of installation. By contrast, Microsoft Office XP, 2003, and
>>>>>>> 2007 require activatation before the package is used 5 to 50 times, depending on the
>>>>>>> version, according to a company FAQ. If a PC has no Internet connection, a user may
>>>>>>> activate a product by dialing a telephone number in various countries.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The activation process will complete successfully only if the software has not been
>>>>>>> previously activated, such as on a different machine. If activation isn't completed
>>>>>>> within the trial period, Microsoft products temporarily shut down some of their
>>>>>>> features. MS Office loses the ability to edit and save files. After Vista's activation
>>>>>>> deadline runs out, the user can do little other than use Internet Explorer to activate
>>>>>>> the operating system or buy a new license.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Microsoft describes its product activation scheme as a way to foil software pirates.
>>>>>>> However, as I previously described in an InfoWorld Magazine article on Oct. 22, 2001,
>>>>>>> activation does nothing to stop mass piracy. The Redmond company actually included in
>>>>>>> Windows XP a small file, Wpa.dbl, that makes it easy for pirates to create thousands of
>>>>>>> machines that validate perfectly.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Far from stopping software piracy, product activation has primarily been designed to
>>>>>>> prevent home users from installing one copy of Windows on a home machine and a
>>>>>>> personal-use copy on a laptop. As I explained in an article on Mar. 8, buying a
>>>>>>> copyrighted work and making another copy strictly for personal use is specifically
>>>>>>> permitted to consumers by the U.S. Copyright Act and the copyright laws of many other
>>>>>>> countries.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> For example, courts have repeatedly ruled that consumers can make copies of copyrighted
>>>>>>> songs or television programs for personal use (not for distribution or resale). This
>>>>>>> principle is legally known as "fair use." The home edition of Microsoft Office 2007
>>>>>>> reflects this principle, allowing consumers to activate three copies of a single
>>>>>>> purchased product. Microsoft Windows XP and Vista, however, allow only one activation.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Surprisingly, Microsoft has embedded into its new Vista operating system a feature that
>>>>>>> makes things easier than ever for true, mass software pirates. These tricksters will be
>>>>>>> able to produce thousands of Windows PCs machines that won't demand activation
>>>>>>> indefinitely - at least for a year or more.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Leaving the activation barn door open
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I reported in a Feb. 1 article that the upgrade version of Windows Vista allows itself
>>>>>>> to be clean-installed to a new hard drive. The new Microsoft operating system
>>>>>>> completely omits any checking for a qualifying previous version of Windows. This allows
>>>>>>> the upgrade version of Vista to successfully upgrade over a nonactivated, trial version
>>>>>>> of itself.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> After my article appeared, ZDnet blogger Ed Bott summarized the secret in a post on
>>>>>>> Feb. 15. He flatly states, "You satisfied every condition of the license agreement and
>>>>>>> aren't skating by on a technicality. The fact that you have to use a kludgey workaround
>>>>>>> to use the license you've purchased and are legally entitled to is Microsoft's fault."
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> In my own piece, I had speculated that clean-installing the upgrade version of Vista
>>>>>>> "probably violates the Vista EULA (End User License Agreement)." But more and more
>>>>>>> computer experts are saying that the procedure is fully compliant with the EULA and, in
>>>>>>> any event, is perfectly legal.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I wrote a follow-up story on Feb. 15. I reported that Microsoft includes in Vista a
>>>>>>> one-line command that even novices can use to postpone the product's activation
>>>>>>> deadline three times. This can extend the deadline from its original 30 days to as much
>>>>>>> as 120 days - almost four months.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> PCWorld.com posted a report on my story on Feb. 17. The magazine quotes a Microsoft
>>>>>>> spokeswoman as saying that extendi