Pirated XP warning

[nightcat]

Got myself this warning crap about my windos being pirated from Windoes update.

Does anyone know how to get rid of it?

[nihil]

If it's the XP one with the icon then your first move should be to check your system time and date.

If it is way out then replace your CMOS battery.

Let me know

[Und3ertak3r]

Do you want to know how come your getting it? or Just How to get rid of it?

The time issue is a good one to check.. What the message means is that your systems OS product key hash was detected as being a a duplicate.. or a known pirated Key..
The fix here is to contact MS and explain your situation.. and in about 15 to 30mins you will no longer be annoyed by that little tray icon and popup...

[thehorse13]

While those ideas are good, I think you have another issue.

See here:
http://seclists.org/lists/fulldisclo.../May/0534.html

More or less, MS knows you have a bogus copy of their product.

--TH13

[rcgreen]

C:\>FORMAT C:
C:\>DIR
FILE NOT FOUND

Why put up with their insolence? Call Microsoft. Get irate, and then
in the middle of the conversation, tell them, "I'm sorry for bothering
you. I fixed it myself. I downloaded and installed linux. Have a nice
day"

[nihil]

Errrrr..............excuse me folks?

There are a number of issues with this new DRM activity from MS.

The CMOS RTC is a known "bug" as it happens, and will hit machines in legitimate environments that have a run-down battery.

There are probably other bugs?

I assumed that because the original poster was apparently complaining, that he had a legitimate beef with MS. It can accept your version when you correct the RTC data, but won't get rid of the annoying icon, last time I heard.

Obviously, if you have a pirate copy, then this will show up, but you should have expected that and taken precautions, or go onto Google and find a work around yourself?

I will criticise MS on this one, as I believe that the software should say something like:

"Unable to update your software at this moment; please check your CMOS battery and calendar/time settings"

That would not remove the effectiveness of their DRM either, as lots of machines with pirate software will have functional CMOS batteries.

AFAIK MS do not have an underhand deal with Duracell, Varta, Eveready, Exide or whoever, which would really be the justification for this "feature"

[cgkanchi]

Heh,
Microsoft really screwed up on this one. A friend who was running a genuine OEM copy of XP got this message, while numerous friends running pirated copies of Windows with automatic updates enabled haven't seen it yet. Maybe they got lucky and got a valid cd-key from their keygens?
I think this method is pretty invasive, especially since it throws up false positives now and again.

Cheers,
cgkanchi

[dalek]

Originally posted here by cgkanchi
Heh,
Microsoft really screwed up on this one. A friend who was running a genuine OEM copy of XP got this message, while numerous friends running pirated copies of Windows with automatic updates enabled haven't seen it yet. Maybe they got lucky and got a valid cd-key from their keygens?
I think this method is pretty invasive, especially since it throws up false positives now and again.

Cheers,
cgkanchi

Seems like it's more of a concentrated effort at the moment:

Microsoft isn't pushing Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications out to all Windows users, but to a random subset.

As part of the WGA program, Microsoft has developed a Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications software that notifies you through annonying pop-up messages if your copy of Windows is not genuine

Following download and installation of the "Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications" tool, users of a pirated copy will see alerts at startup, login and during their use of the operating system.

The WGA Notifications patch is installed if the user has opted to automatically update Windows via the Windows Update Website or if a XP users manually downloads the latest Windows updates.

Source

[bagggi]

hey nightcat,

i have tried a lot to get around this, and i have found out one thing that "one cant"

after installing windows, it asks for activation. then if you do....it tells you that your cd key is not valid and cannot register. after beating my head on it for weeks, managed to get past that. (there are patches available on the net.

then when you update it tells you "windows didnt pass the validation check" in a big red screen of death.

have tried a lot of things,
1) modified the winlogon.exe--nothing
2) altered the legitcheckcontrol.dll in the system32 folder--nothing.
the thing is when you change the name of this dll. windows checks it and gives you a new update which installs it again. didnt work for me but you can try it. and dont forget to save this one first somewhere.
3) tried the method given by thehorse13--nothing.
this method was useful to download individual programs from the microsoft website. but updating windows...it still failed the test.

so far there is no way around unless you contact microsoft and tell them that you got it preinstalled in your laptop or something and it failed the validation check.

i came across this machine where after smoothly installing the windows and all the drivers, when we first ran the windows update. the computer went into constant repeated re-starting.

maybe its something to do with the windows update.

[cgkanchi]

Actually, all those methods work partially. You just have to get the right versions of the files.

Cheers,
cgkanchi

PS: I do not encourage software piracy. However, if the problem is genuine, these approaches can save a ton of support calls.