Tool cracks Vista activation for the ultra-patient
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A tool has been posted online that can apparently crack Vista's activation process by applying brute force -- and lots of time -- to come up with valid product keys. But the author is now telling users it's wrong to use it.
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Because of a bug in Windows Vista's antipiracy technology, some users are being told that they need to reactivate the operating system after installing new device drivers or software.
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(InfoWorld) - A Windows feature designed to simplify computing for disabled users could be misused in Vista, a McAfee researcher reported Monday. Attackers could use this feature, called StickyKeys, to trick a user into launching unauthorized software on the Vista machine, according to Vinoo Thomas, a McAfee researcher who blogged about the issue on Monday. StickyKeys is launched when a Windows user hits a modifier key like Shift or Alt five times. This makes the modifier key "sticky" so commands like Shift-F1 can be launched without having to hit two keys simultaneously. An attacker could replace the sethc.exe file used to launch StickyKeys with some other executable, like the Windows command utility, Thomas wrote. This backdoor vulnerability was already known to exist in Windows 2000 and Windows XP, according to Thomas. Although it is interesting that Vista is also vulnerable, it's not clear how useful the backdoor would be to an attacker because one must first gain access to the machine in order to replace the StickyKeys file. Thomas believes that it could be used by an inside attacker to bypass log-in on terminal servers and workstations. Microsoft executives were not immediately available to comment on the issue. To avoid the problem, "one can uninstall the Accessibility Tools feature, which is installed by default, to avoid this fairly simple, yet potentially serious built-in backdoor," he wrote. "And don't forget to hit the shift key five times and see what pops up on your desktop."
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An anonymous hacker who claimed last week to have found a way to generate valid Windows Vista activation codes now says his crack was a joke. But some users who tried it say it worked for them.
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Tycho:  I don't know whose fault it is exactly, mine or theirs, but I won't be installing Vista anytime soon.  I would like some crazy shit to happen when I minimize something don't get me wrong.  I want my windows to go Waja-wajow(!) is possible.  But if there's a great reason to "trade horses midstream" or whatever the going metaphor is I haven't discovered it.
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A Croatian college student has created a utility that installs a seriously stripped-down Windows Vista, saying the heft of Microsoft's biggest desktop operating system is just too big to believe."Who can justify a 15GB operating system?" asked Dino Nuhagic, a fifth-year student from Split, a Croatian city on the Adriatic. Not Nuhagic, or the uncounted users who have turned to his creation, vLite.The free program lets users pick and choose which Vista components, hot fixes, drivers, and even language packs are installed, then builds a disk image that can be burned to a DVD for unattended installation of the operating system."Why did I do it? Well, it's performance and work environment," Nuhagic said when asked why he came up with vLite. "Performance, that's easy to explain. The less things running, the more responsive the OS. But the environment part is where it gets down to personal preference."Those preferences include options for leaving out virtually every component of Windows Vista, from the minor -- such as the bundled screensavers -- to the major, such as the firewall or Universal Plug and Play.Some vLite users, in fact, have made it a contest of sorts to come up with the puniest-possible installation package for the operating system. While Microsoft recommends that users set aside 15GB of hard-disk space to install its pride and joy, Nuhagic's fans boast of squeezing it into an image file as small as 515MB that takes up just 1.4GB on the hard drive.One user reported condensing Windows Vista Home Basic into a 526MB .iso file and installing it in a virtual machine that used just 1.3GB of drive space. "It worked well inside the virtual machine and since I have 1GB of RAM on the host I guess the little Vista would work well," said amocanu.Nuhagic didn't come right out and say it, but he hinted that he -- like more critical users and pundits -- thought Vista was bloated and could use some reducing. "To be frank, I don't need 90 percent of Windows. But that 10 percent, which guarantees that you can run [the] majority of games out there, is what is worth isolating."Crafting vLite wasn't easy, he said. But the time Nuhagic spent on its predecessor, nLite, which similarly squeezes Windows 2000 and Windows XP, paid off in spades. "Since I had four years of experience with tampering [with] older Windows, it was a lot easier than nLite," Nuhagic said of the development of vLite. "Also, it was easier than in XP because Vista does not have the old-style installation. It doesn't install components one by one, but simply extracts the image. Where XP would fail during install because a certain file was missing, that issue is not present in Vista."Even though vLite features a simple graphical interface that lets users remove a component with a click, Nuhagic warned that the utility isn't designed for the average user: "Because of certain possible compatibility issues with the programs out there [that] expect full Windows, I'd recommend [it] only to users [that] want exactly that kind of tool. In other words, I would not recommend it to someone who installs their OS once every few years. But if you do it every few months, then it's a must."Nuhagic couldn't say how many people use vLite, or even the number of times it's been downloaded from his Web site. "I don't have counters installed because the FTP mirrors were donated, and I would have to upgrade my hosting for some extra script processing," he said of his shoestring operation. It shouldn't be a surprise, however, that nLite, the Windows XP miniaturizer, remains four to five times more popular than vLite, based on the number of visitors to the different nLite and vLite Web sites.Microsoft knows of the tools -- Nuhagic said the company has contacted him in the past about possible employment -- but it's done little to quash the condensing. When asked whether it had any thoughts on vLite, a company spokeswoman e-mailed a lukewarm warning."Microsoft does not recommend using any tool to strip out applications from Windows Vista prior to installing it on your system, as it may affect your ability to download future Windows Updates and Service Packs, and may cause your system to become unstable," she said.But vLite's users praised Nuhagic's efforts with blunter language. "Thanks for spending your time making our OS less bloated," said one.VLite 1.1 can be downloaded from Nuhagic's Web site.
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DecemberÃ¢ÂÂs Patch Tuesday finds Vista in the bad guysÃ¢ÂÂ sights. Plus: Get Office 2007 SP1, get your fix for Flash, and avoid an HP laptop disaster.
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The New Vista Waiting Game &gt;&gt; Advertisement &lt;&lt;  ALERT: "How A Hacker Launches A Blind SQL Injection Attack Step-by-Step"!" - White Paper  Blind SQL Injection can deliver total control of your server to a hacker giving them the ability to read, write and manipulate all data stored in your backend systems! Download this *FREE* white paper from SPI Dynamics for a complete guide to protection! https://download.spidynamics.com/1/ad/bsq.asp?Campaign_ID=701600000004c29
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SEATTLE/SAN FRANCISCO  - Computer hackers are off  and running trying to find vulnerabilities in Microsoft Corp.'s  new Windows Vista operating system, putting to test the  software maker's claim that it is the most secure Windows  program ever.
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Windows XP Service Pack 2 promises to raise the security bar for the sometimes beleaguered operating system. Unfortunately, one of the new features could be spoofed so that it reports misleading information
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"MelindaGates" hack allows users to activate Vista without alerting Microsoft.
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(InfoWorld) - A security vendor is offering an add-on product for Windows Vista's User Account Control feature, which has been flagged as a threat to business users because it can be easily bypassed by hackers. BeyondTrust's Privilege Manager 3.0, which will be available on March 19 and costs $30 per user, protects enterprise desktops running Vista with User Account Control in two major ways, said John Moyer, CEO of BeyondTrust. First, it grants elevated privileges to certain applications and functions transparently to end users, instead of involving them in the process with dialogue boxes, he said. Hackers can use these dialogue boxes to trick users into unknowingly allowing malicious code to run on the machine. Security vendor Symantec recently released research thatÂ outlined some of Vista's security holes and listed User Account Control as one of them for the reason Moyer outlined. Microsoft has said it is evaluating Symantec's research about Vista and will take steps to fix any vulnerabilities in the OS. Microsoft included User Account Control in Vista to add security by limiting the access individual users have to applications or functions. While this is an enhancement for home users, it presents a security problem for business users because in order to access certain applications that are beyond the scope of their limited privileges, they must set up and use administrator passwords to set higher access rights, Moyer said. These dialogue boxes that ask them for passwords provide a way for hackers to get in, he said. The second feature of Privilege Manager that helps prevent intrusion through User Access Control gives IT administrators centralized administration of setting the elevation of privileges for users, even though Privilege Manager itself runs locally, Moyer said. BeyondTrust's application connects to the group policy features of Vista to allow for this type of administration, he said. BeyondTrust spun off from Desktop Standards, a company which Microsoft announced it had purchased on Oct. 2. Twenty employees of DesktopStandard took the Policy Maker Application Security product and became BeyondTrust. That product later was rebranded Privilege Manager, Moyer said.
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Microsoft guru predicts Vista half as buggy &gt;&gt; Advertisement &lt;&lt;  ALERT: "How A Hacker Launches A Blind SQL Injection Attack Step-by-Step"!" - White Paper  Blind SQL Injection can deliver total control of your server to a hacker giving them the ability to read, write and manipulate all data stored in your backend systems! Download this *FREE* white paper from SPI Dynamics for a complete guide to protection! https://download.spidynamics.com/1/ad/bsq.asp?Campaign_ID=701600000004c29
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(InfoWorld) - Hoping to accelerate the adoption of Vista for businesses, MicrosoftÂ on Tuesday unveiled toolsÂ that willÂ help companies deploy the new Windows client OS, including software that allows older versions of Windows to run virtually alongside Vista. The company released six tools designed to help business customers migrate from previous versions of Windows to Vista, which was widely released on Jan. 30. The tools are the Virtual PC 2007, Microsoft Solution Accelerator for BDD (Business Desktop Deployment) 2007, the Microsoft ACT (Application Compatibility Toolkit) 5.0, the Windows Vista Hardware Assessment 1.0, and two volume activation tools -- Volume Activation Management Tool and Key Management Service for Windows Server 2003. Businesses have said they are in no rush to update to Vista, and Microsoft seems concerned about their apparent reluctance. Last Thursday during a meeting with financial analysts, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer called analysts' sales estimates for Vista "overly aggressive" and tried to downplay expectations for OS sales. The company is hoping the tools will make moving to Vista less painless for business customers, particularly those who depend on older versions of Windows. Virtual PC 2007, a virtualization tool that lets businesses simultaneously run multiple OSes on a single PC, could come in handy in this scenario. The tool allows business customers to move computers to Vista while keeping previous versions of Windows available for those PCs to run legacy or custom applications in a virtual environment, Microsoft said. Virtual PC 2007 is available for free from this Web site. Solution Accelerator for BDD 2007 includes user migration tools, remote deployment tools, and integration with other Microsoft deployment products, such as System Management Server 2003. BDD also includes or can be used to integrate other tools unveiled Tuesday, including ACT 5.0, Windows Vista Hardware Assessment, and the Volume Activation 2.0, into the deployment process. A free download of BDD 2007 is available to all customers and partners here. ACT 5.0 helps businesses handle potential application compatibility issues encountered when moving to Windows Vista, Microsoft said. The tool includes a series of compatibility evaluators that lets companies assess whether applications will be compatible with Vista and, if not, how to resolve conflicts. ACT 5.0 also includes a link to an online community that provides users with updated application assessments and test results not only from Microsoft, but also its partners. It is available as a free download here. The Windows Vista Hardware Assessment tool helps businesses determine which existing PCs can upgrade to Vista and gives them the resources required to complete the process, Microsoft said. The tool assesses PCs' hardware and device compatibility with Vista,Â and itÂ provides reports with upgrade recommendations for each PC. The tool is available for download here. Microsoft Volume Activation 2.0 and KMS (Key Management Service) for Windows Server 2003 provide volume activation technologies so businesses can activate multiple Vista PCs across the company. The Windows VAMT (Volume Activation Management Tool) enables IT professionals to automate and manage the volume activation process using a Multiple Activation Key, which requires a one-time communication with Microsoft either independently by each computer or by multiple computers at once. KMS for Windows Server 2003 lets business customers host a local service within their environment that can be used to activate Windows Vista without sending information to Microsoft. VAMT and KMS for Windows Server 2003 are available on the Microsoft Download Center here and here.
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New virtual-machine technology can be used to test software patches and migrate aging Windows NT applications. By John Foley, Paula Rooney, CRN.
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Members of Microsoft&#39;s Developer Network got a sneak peek at Microsoft&#39;s Avalon windowing elements technology last week. Avalon, which will make the user interface much more than just a
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A collection of new technologies to be built into Microsoft's Vista and Longhorn operating systems will improve detection of pirated versions and force unauthorized versions of the software into a limited-functionality mode, the company said Wednesday.