Microsoft Starts Windows Auto-piracy Check Today

[Thaising]

Is this an act in response to Microsoft Software giant starts Microsoft Office pilot verification program?

SAN FRANCISCO -- A group of self-titled "political activists" in Massachusetts has started an aggressive campaign to get browser users to switch from Microsoft's Internet Explorer to Mozilla'sFirefox.

Taking advantage of a new program by Google, the campaign, called Explorer Destroyer, pays users $1 for each referral to Firefox made through Google Toolbar, according to the group's Web site.

"You already want people to switch to Firefox. Now's the time to get serious about it," according to the site. "Google is paying $1 for each new Firefox user you refer....Now you can advance your ideals, save people from popups and spyware hel_l, and make some serious money."

Google did not return calls seeking comment for this story, but the search giant offers a standard $1 per user referral fee to Web sites that generate new downloads of Firefox with the Google Toolbar.

How It Works

According to the Explorer Destroyer Web site, the group offers Web-site owners scripting technology that detects whether a visitor is running IE. If so, an alert will appear advising the visitor to download Firefox so they can either view the site better or view it at all. Whenever a visitor to a Web site using the group's technology switches to Firefox from IE, the owner of the Web site will get the referral fee if they have signed up for Google's AdSense program.

There are three types of alerts site owners can put on their page--"gentle encouragement," "semi-serious," or "dead serious."

If a Web site owner chooses "gentle encouragement," site visitors who are using IE will see a banner across the top of the page that encourages them to download Firefox. A "semi-serious" site will put up a splash page encouraging a user to download Firefox, with a link for downloading Mozilla's browser as well as a link to the Web site.

Those who choose the "dead serious" alert actually block users with IE from viewing the page, informing them they must install Firefox to view the site. View a demo of what happens when a user clicks on a site with this rating.

Why Attack IE?

In addition to the Explorer Destroyer Web site, where users can download the scripts for their sites and get more information, the group also has launched another Web site that parodies IE and provides users with reasons why they should switch to Firefox.

One reason for switching, according to the site? "It will make Bill Gates soooooooooo mad." "Seriously--super, super mad," the site goes on to say. "And even more than Bill, let's think about Steve 'I'm going to ... kill Google' Ballmer for a second. If there's anyone that's going to absolutely blow a gasket when they see this Web site, it will be him."

Other reasons the site offers for switching from IE to Firefox include: "Reduce your weekly family and friends tech support load to eight hours"--a reason that pokes fun at various problems users encounter when using IE--and "If we knew Web designers would hurl themselves off it, we wouldn't have put the Golden Gate bridge so close to San Francisco," which cites developer difficulties in making Web sites IE-compatible.

The Explorer Destroyer group did not immediately respond to an e-mail requesting an interview Tuesday. A Mozilla spokesperson declined to comment on the group's efforts, and Microsoft did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Edited April 26, 2006 by Thaising

[hardy1943]

this is old news...as in 6months+ old.i used a crack on one of my pcs but left the other,about a month later it just reverted to normal and started downloading updates normally.

i think microsoft realised they would be causing more problems for legitamate users by not updating pirate versions.

one of there wonderful ideas that was not so good in practice.

regards scmok

This has been the case for a long time. Maybe now it’s official. But I can remember this happening when trying to update to SP2. That must have a been a year ago.

1, The windows system/sucess was copied from Apple anyway.

2, Does Bill Gates need more money?

Wheres there's a will there'll always be a way.

Glad i live in Thailand.

[gbswales]

As I have said in many forums - all the hype companies make about how much money they lose through piracy (inc films music etc) is just tosh - It makes the huge assumption that the people who pirate something would otherwise pay for it. Most people pirate things because they cannot afford them - what teenage Thai kid in Bangkok can afford to buy genuine windows for his 5th hand PC!

The reality is that if piracy could be stopped tomorrow the likely profit return to companies would probasbly be less than they currently spend trying to erradicate it. The only thing, as someone else points out, that keeps microsoft top of the tree is that it is easy for those who cant afford it to get it on the black market.

Personally I wish them well in erradicating piracy as this will support the furhter development of community focaussed systems like Linux where vast profits are not the key issue

[ljerams]

I already have Linux installed on a dual boot system so Microshaft is already on it's way out.

[hardy1943]

this is old news...as in 6months+ old.i used a crack on one of my pcs but left the other,about a month later it just reverted to normal and started downloading updates normally.

i think microsoft realised they would be causing more problems for legitamate users by not updating pirate versions.

one of there wonderful ideas that was not so good in practice.

regards scmok

This has been the case for a long time. Maybe now it’s official. But I can remember this happening when trying to update to SP2. That must have a been a year ago.

1, The windows system/sucess was copied from Apple anyway.

2, Does Bill Gates need more money?

Wheres there's a will there'll always be a way.

Glad i live in Thailand.

DOS was developed by a small company in Seattle and MSN bought it for a small amount and released it in 1980 as MS-DOS it has nothing to do with Apple, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple computers in 1976 and Manufactured Computers and they had nothing to do with developing the original computer language.I am more interested when are we ever get the infratructure running on a consistant basis in Thailand.Will we ever see the DAY???

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

I find it interesting that Linux and now the Apple platform is attempting to run Windows applications within their OS's without rebooting.. I think that will be a great development. I personally run Apple and would like to run some Windows Apps which in general are top notch.

I think you have to give MS their due though.. They got the world working in a standardized fashion. Hats off to that. Beats the days of OS/2 and Vax/VMS.

Windows did help establish their dominance by letting people copy their software and displace competitors... And now they could really clamp down but they are still not really trying very hard. Probably just upping their revenue a little. While I used to hate Gates and the whole MS thing I know have a lot of respect for the guy.. He is giving away billions and has plans to give away about 70% of his wealth and for really good causes.... I think he did a lot for the computing world and has be made the villian just because he has been very successful.

[anon467367354]

I don't know anything about this, but I sure enjoy the witty dialogue. My suggestion is to put it out of your mind. In no time, it will be a forgotten memory. I always wanted to say that somewhere. thanx

It is the conflict in the individual mind that manifests as war. When individuals change, the society will automatically change.

— Amma

[wolf5370]

They are advised to contact their supplier if they bought the software in good faith, pre-loaded on a PC.

This is a naf statement form M$. It is also their usual one. They ignore the fact that they never used to allow PC makers to supply the OS without Disks. They changed this, and now users have little recourse. If you HDD dies and you have a pre-installed OS then you have to pay a not insignificant fee to have the PC vendor reinstall the OS for you. These are always OEM copies, so you can not use your legit Serial Number on a 'back-up' copy of the OS from Ebay see (which should be legal given that they are the same version of the same software and you are only using one version with under you own paid for Serial). The sting really comes when companies famous for this - like Tiny/Time goes tits up and takes their over priced crap support with them. Now the only recourse is to buy a new copy at full price or break the law.

eBay is going to love this as many genuine "not for resale" copies of MS products are sold on there as discs + license only (contravening the license conditions - sale with a new PC only).

Not quite correct. The license for OEM Windows OS states that it must be sold with hardware. On Ebay, this is got around by adding a cheap old fashioned mouse (i.e. the hardware). There are no 'Not for Resale' copies sold as this was found to be illegal in many countries. Instead the EULA states that the software can noly be installed on one machine at a time. So ifn you sell the disks on, then you must wipe it from your machine.

The windows system/sucess was copied from Apple anyway.

This is the usual BS response. Actually 'Windows' was created by Bill Gates Microsoft. The idea for a windows based (i.e. mouse, click and windowed panels) cam from Apple, who 'borrowed' it from Xerox. So they either both created their own versions of a Xerox idea, or they are both plagerists.

I thought the Graphical interface came from the O'l Commodore Amgia

Nope the Xerox Star was the first (1977), but even this was based on the Alto from the early 70's. The Xerox Star was not developed in PARC despite the common assertion it was! Wikipedia

I think you have to give MS their due though.. They got the world working in a standardized fashion. Hats off to that. Beats the days of OS/2 and Vax/VMS.

Windows was already out when OS/2 came out - in fact it had an inbuilt windows emulation to allow user to run most windows apps. It was way ahead of its time - with features like auto-restart and recover on a PC crash (something XP promised and never really gave, years later). OS/2 was not very well followed by the software community, so it was starved out. IBM tried again with OS/2 Warp, but same problem. There were problems reported with the OS, but they were nothing compared to Windows problems. Vax/VMS, OS370, MVS, VM, Unix etc all were standard in their own fields, but were not OS in modern terms. They were Disk Operating Systems that allowed for other apps to sit on top and communicate with the machine without needing to talk to individual components. Modern OS' are not realy DOS', they are DOS with GUI interfaces and a multitude of apps and utilities all in one package.

Windows outsold all the other apps out there that sat on MS-DOS (leased to IBM the defacto business machine in offices across the world at that time - IBM or a clone) - probably because of their tie in with the leading hardware manufacturer and the fact that they knew MS-DOS from the codebase so could hook in better. There were lots of other IBM PC Gui OS fron-ends, but Windows was simply the best runner at the time. The rest was marketing and riding the massive wave of the 80's PC revolution.

*Typo (used Thier instead of There - I hate that!)

Edited April 26, 2006 by wolf5370

[Guest endure]

II think you have to give MS their due though.. They got the world working in a standardized fashion. Hats off to that. Beats the days of OS/2 and Vax/VMS.

The project leader who developed VMS (Dave Cutler) left DEC in 1988 to become project leader for the new Microsoft operating system, Windows NT. As of 2005 he was still at Microsotf working on Windows x64.

[astral]

Customers are being cheated because they are not entitled to full support, she added.

Reaaaaaly??

How much does MS charge for support, if you have a real problem?

$100 a phone call or some similar ridiculous sum.

Strange we never see the guys offering Linux making such ridiculous claims.

[wolf5370]

Agree Astral - like someone buying Windows 2003 Executive for 100Baht would really think they were being sold a legit copy that comes with Support. As you say MSN Subscriptions are horrendously expensive - most small companies can't afford it!

[Guest endure]

Customers are being cheated because they are not entitled to full support, she added.

Reaaaaaly??

How much does MS charge for support, if you have a real problem?

$100 a phone call or some similar ridiculous sum.

Microsoft offer quite a lot of support free at Technet. It contains all the same information that their helpdesk has. http://technet.microsoft.com

Also if you place a support call to them and it turns out to be a fixable problem that they don't know about you aren't charged.

Edited April 26, 2006 by endure

[Guest endure]

Agree Astral - like someone buying Windows 2003 Executive for 100Baht would really think they were being sold a legit copy that comes with Support. As you say MSN Subscriptions are horrendously expensive - most small companies can't afford it!

Small developers and VARs can obtain the 'Action Pack' which contains all Microsoft's Server products, many apps and 10 licenses for all their desktop products. All you have to do is show that you're involved in some way with developing or supporting Msoft products. In the UK it costs £199 a year.

https://partner.microsoft.com/40009848

[Estrada]

Microsoft starts Windows auto-piracy check today

Microsoft launches Windows auto-piracy check

PCs vetted during Windows automatic updates

PCs using Microsoft's automatic Windows update service will be checked for pirate versions of the operating system from today – and dodgy copies will be refused all upgrades except critical security patches.

Users will have the option, in a pop-up box that appears at the start of a scheduled update, to opt out of the validation, but they too will be refused full updates.

Validation under Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) scheme is already necessary to get downloads of programs such as Internet Explorer.

Unvalidated users will also be nagged by a reminder box that appears at any time the automatic update procedure is run.

'You will be able to suppress the box but you will not be able to remove it,' said Michala Alexander, head of anti-piracy at Microsoft.

Users who fail the test can opt to go to a page explaining why and advising how to get a genuine copy of the operating system.

They are advised to contact their supplier if they bought the software in good faith, pre-loaded on a PC.

Alexander said this is the case with nearly one in 10 pirated copies and that it is not simply Microsoft that loses out.

Customers are being cheated because they are not entitled to full support, she added.

'And if Dodgy Dave is selling multiple copies of Windows on several machines he is undercutting genuine dealers,' she said.

A pilot of the validation system has been running in Norway and Sweden and is extended today to Britain, the US, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand.

Launched today is a parallel scheme called Office Genuine Advantage which will validate Microsoft Office code.

This will be completely voluntary at the start but is expected to go the way of WGA by being linked to automatic updates.

A similar scheme is being extended to Microsoft Office installations but it is not clear whether this will be voluntary.

Alexander said: 'Our aim is to educate our customers about the risks associated with using counterfeit software and equally, the value they can gain from ensuring the software they are running at home and at work is genuine.'

--Personal Computer World 2006-04-26

This is an old story, they introduced the Automatic Check using Genuine Advantage last year. Result was that the Microsoft Update System checked my rather expensive B149,500 Sony Computer with an absolutely genuine Version of Windows XP professional and declared that I had an illegal non-registered copy of Windows XP. Since my copy could only be activated by myself by logging onto the Microsoft Web Site, it was certainly correctly registered with Microsoft and genuine.

Microsoft then tells me that at Great Expense to myself, I have to take the Computer back to Sony Thailand and find out the problem. Why should I lose B100,000's of my time running around Bangkok when it is just another example of Microsoft Software which they expect us to pay for when it doesn't work properly.

We, and I expect Bill Gates also, would not expect to buy a Mercedes Benz, that keeps breaking down, tells you that you have made an illegal move frequently, and needs to have numerous fixes downloaded onto it to keep it running at all!!! You would not expect to pay for a +duff Mercedes until they finally fixed the Bugs, would you? Likewise, I would expect we would all like to buy a genuine version of Windows when they finally give us a version that works without crashing.

Fortunately, I just ran a search on Google, and then I found that many genuine owners have the same problem. It takes around 3 Minutes to defeat the Automatic Software Check permanently by unticking a few boxes in the Internet options in The Security Centre control window.

Amazing thing is that my works Computer has all illegal Copies and I get windows updates Automatically with no questions asked, but for the legal copies we are being hassled by Microsoft. So the true situation seems to be that if you have a pirate version Microsoft will give you updates for free no questions asked, but for a Genuine Copy of XP, be prepared to be told that you have an illegal copy, and that you must buy another Genuine Copy.

I am still waiting for a Windows operating program that works properly first time and does not need constant patching up. I believe that the patches so far for Windows XP, now exceed the size of the original program.

[britmaveric]

Work arounds as Francois are already in progress. Every move MS implements, counter moves are made to bypass them.

[buzz]

How much is the legal price of Windows XP in Thailand anyway ?

And how much the U.S. , and say UK and/or Australia ?

[Maejo Man]

How much is the legal price of Windows XP in Thailand anyway ?

And how much the U.S. , and say UK and/or Australia ?

In Australia the RRP is A$160.00 but as OEM software it's less.

[dseawarrior]

Same old story for years...

Apple rocks and

Windows sucks!

Get with the 21st Century and live comfortably with a technology that gives you true freedom...

OSX is SOOOOOOOO much better than Windows and it has been for years!!!!

I am loyal to the Apple brand because they make a superior product that is getting better and cheaper all the time...

I have never seen a windows store but Apple stores are popping up everywhere!

Check them out!

dseawarrior

[makavelithedon]

What I wonder in all this is what 'VETTED' entails? I cannot believe that law suits in the US will not pop up in regard invasion of privacy issues etc in the near future with these moves. When you go through the recent changed update procedure it takes forever and I just wonder what the hel_l they are scanning and obtaining?

Furthermore, have to agree with a large number of other posters especially in regard developing and third world countries like Thailand where 1 genuine copy costs around a full months average wage. It's modern corporate unchecked excess and pure unaldulterated GREED.

They surely have a big enough public image problem in most of the world as it is and it just highlights how out of touch and arrogant they have become to boot- no ok nothing new I know!

I was recently informed by the MS validation department (because mine failed like the sony owner)that on reinstall of the system say when wiping your drive etc you have to telephone anyway!!! SO, my genuine XP has become the javascript hacked version like so many- I don't want the hassle of 20 minutes in a phone queue blah blah blah with them.

Suffice to say I won't be buying another ever.

Finally:

As with the music industry and film producers, and as another poster rightly pointed out, if 1 million copies of a Hollywood blockbuster are bootlegged the film industry screams they are losing 1 million x $20 dollars etc in DVD revenue. Rubbish I for one simply wouldn't buy it no doubt along with 1000's more. Get the prices down you greedy scum.

WOW haven't had a rant like this for sometime,anyone else care to join me!!!!

MAK

Edited April 26, 2006 by makavelithedon

[Johpa]

I think you have to give MS their due though.. They got the world working in a standardized fashion. Hats off to that. Beats the days of OS/2 and Vax/VMS.

Yea, easier now to learn and use Windows than my high school days trying to parse BASIC or FORTRAN or COBOL using a time shared PDP 10. I certainly failed in the effort and sometimes think about the fifty yards that separated the ravine where me and the bad boys spent our time out of class and the computer room where the original, and now very wealthy, computer geeks spent their time.

No tears for MSN. They cry alot about piracy, but it doesn't really hit them in the pocket book (apart from the infinite greed) and they know that if and when these "pirates" are successful, they buy a registered program.

[bluelampshade]

On a slightly different topic.....is the new Vista system available yet. if so ...where? and is it any good?

[Anon999]

Sounds fair to me! The little guy has pushed Microsoft around for far too long!!

How do you think Bill Gates et al got where they are? Simple really, they conned IBM, coerced, bought out or acquired marketing rights to competitive products on the understanding the designers would provide support and development then immediately binned the product and incorporated any good parts into their own software. They also threatened to sue small companies and if all else failed the 'heavy mob' would take it on.

What about all the problems Netscape had?

It was common practise for Microsoft to make PC's lock up or crash when using competitors products with Windows installed. They of course blamed the 'other' product despite the fact it had worked perfectly well in testing and furthermore proven that this tactic was being employed to destroy their customer base.

Do you call that being pushed around by the little guy? Maybe you have shares in them!

My sentiment is good luck to anyone who can screw Microsoft

PS At this time Microsoft are in Luxembourg trying to get and anti trust ruling by the EC overturned along with the massive fine that was imposed.

[Scott]

How absolutely disgusting! It's happening more and more often here--people are either expected to follow the law or something bad will happen to them. My God, what is this country coming to?!

[jaapfries]

As I have said in many forums - all the hype companies make about how much money they lose through piracy (inc films music etc) is just tosh - It makes the huge assumption that the people who pirate something would otherwise pay for it. Most people pirate things because they cannot afford them - what teenage Thai kid in Bangkok can afford to buy genuine windows for his 5th hand PC!

The reality is that if piracy could be stopped tomorrow the likely profit return to companies would probasbly be less than they currently spend trying to erradicate it. The only thing, as someone else points out, that keeps microsoft top of the tree is that it is easy for those who cant afford it to get it on the black market.

Personally I wish them well in erradicating piracy as this will support the furhter development of community focaussed systems like Linux where vast profits are not the key issue

=================================================================

Besides all that; is there any truth to the rumour that some Irish Software Dev. outfit will soon launch a totally free os dubbed MACROSOFT DOORS ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

[sajal]

1, The windows system/sucess was copied from Apple anyway.

Yes... what fewer people know though, is that Apple stole the idea of the computer mouse as well as the idea of a graphical operating system from Xerox...

Well...

apple didnt exactly steal from xerox....

xerox 'donated' the concept to apple...

What bill did to apple was totally legal...but unethical...

- i think ive watched the movie more times than you ;-)

totally unrelated to above....

I just dont get it why do ppl complain abt the greed of m$...

they have every right to charge whatever they feel. They are here to make money and keep their investers happy, not some social service....if you dont like the price dont buy it...thats simple....switch to linux...

But simply accusing anyone of overcharging doesnt sound right to me.

the price is high cause there are takers at that price...

I think last year m$ had introduced some lower priced windows xp specifically for thailand in mind...

I use a lot of m$ shit on my pcs and servers..some pirated too....cause i simply dont have the time and patience to switch entirely to OSS.....doing it in parts...

whats funny is that the folks at M$ feel its unfair to them that Free software is free.

[raro]

Slowly switching to Linux too. Still lots of open questions and problems, though. For stand-alone very easy to install (easier and faster than Windows!) but connecting computers is still a miracle to me....

I'm running Suse 10.0 as dual boot. Still wondering if there is a beginner-friendly (i.e. understandable) how-to somewhere that explains what happens if I choose a specific option. So far I do teach myself searching the net for all my questions, but it is very tideous.

[sajal]

Slowly switching to Linux too. Still lots of open questions and problems, though. For stand-alone very easy to install (easier and faster than Windows!) but connecting computers is still a miracle to me....

I'm running Suse 10.0 as dual boot. Still wondering if there is a beginner-friendly (i.e. understandable) how-to somewhere that explains what happens if I choose a specific option. So far I do teach myself searching the net for all my questions, but it is very tideous.

all my main OS is still windoze...but slowly making all my applications OS independant... that way itll be easier to eventually change the OS......most of the components i use are already opensource...

i had tried ubantu linux a while back on virtual machine....it was very easy to use and seems to work out of the box.

http://www.ubuntu.com/

it seems to have become really popular now

[simcity]

Microsoft starts Windows auto-piracy check today

Microsoft launches Windows auto-piracy check

PCs vetted during Windows automatic updates

PCs using Microsoft's automatic Windows update service will be checked for pirate versions of the operating system from today – and dodgy copies will be refused all upgrades except critical security patches.

Users will have the option, in a pop-up box that appears at the start of a scheduled update, to opt out of the validation, but they too will be refused full updates.

Validation under Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) scheme is already necessary to get downloads of programs such as Internet Explorer.

Unvalidated users will also be nagged by a reminder box that appears at any time the automatic update procedure is run.

'You will be able to suppress the box but you will not be able to remove it,' said Michala Alexander, head of anti-piracy at Microsoft.

Users who fail the test can opt to go to a page explaining why and advising how to get a genuine copy of the operating system.

They are advised to contact their supplier if they bought the software in good faith, pre-loaded on a PC.

Alexander said this is the case with nearly one in 10 pirated copies and that it is not simply Microsoft that loses out.

Customers are being cheated because they are not entitled to full support, she added.

'And if Dodgy Dave is selling multiple copies of Windows on several machines he is undercutting genuine dealers,' she said.

A pilot of the validation system has been running in Norway and Sweden and is extended today to Britain, the US, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand.

Launched today is a parallel scheme called Office Genuine Advantage which will validate Microsoft Office code.

This will be completely voluntary at the start but is expected to go the way of WGA by being linked to automatic updates.

A similar scheme is being extended to Microsoft Office installations but it is not clear whether this will be voluntary.

Alexander said: 'Our aim is to educate our customers about the risks associated with using counterfeit software and equally, the value they can gain from ensuring the software they are running at home and at work is genuine.'

--Personal Computer World 2006-04-26

This is an old story, they introduced the Automatic Check using Genuine Advantage last year. Result was that the Microsoft Update System checked my rather expensive B149,500 Sony Computer with an absolutely genuine Version of Windows XP professional and declared that I had an illegal non-registered copy of Windows XP. Since my copy could only be activated by myself by logging onto the Microsoft Web Site, it was certainly correctly registered with Microsoft and genuine.

Microsoft then tells me that at Great Expense to myself, I have to take the Computer back to Sony Thailand and find out the problem. Why should I lose B100,000's of my time running around Bangkok when it is just another example of Microsoft Software which they expect us to pay for when it doesn't work properly.

We, and I expect Bill Gates also, would not expect to buy a Mercedes Benz, that keeps breaking down, tells you that you have made an illegal move frequently, and needs to have numerous fixes downloaded onto it to keep it running at all!!! You would not expect to pay for a +duff Mercedes until they finally fixed the Bugs, would you? Likewise, I would expect we would all like to buy a genuine version of Windows when they finally give us a version that works without crashing.

Fortunately, I just ran a search on Google, and then I found that many genuine owners have the same problem. It takes around 3 Minutes to defeat the Automatic Software Check permanently by unticking a few boxes in the Internet options in The Security Centre control window.

Amazing thing is that my works Computer has all illegal Copies and I get windows updates Automatically with no questions asked, but for the legal copies we are being hassled by Microsoft. So the true situation seems to be that if you have a pirate version Microsoft will give you updates for free no questions asked, but for a Genuine Copy of XP, be prepared to be told that you have an illegal copy, and that you must buy another Genuine Copy.

I am still waiting for a Windows operating program that works properly first time and does not need constant patching up. I believe that the patches so far for Windows XP, now exceed the size of the original program.

I use to have this information :

In Internet Explorer, go to "Tools\Manage Add-ons". The select "Add-ons that have been used by Internet Explorer". Scroll down to the "Windows Genuine Advantage" control and disable it. Exit Internet Explorer and launch Windows Update

but that do not work anymore ! could you tell me more about the :

It takes around 3 Minutes to defeat the Automatic Software Check permanently by unticking a few boxes in the Internet options in The Security Centre control window.

Edited April 27, 2006 by simcity

[stumonster]

It takes around 3 Minutes to defeat the Automatic Software Check permanently by unticking a few boxes in the Internet options in The Security Centre control window.

They already fixed that ActiveX control disable.

Now it tells you that "This add-on is managed by your Administrator", and the button is grayed out.

but start->run gpedit.msc ?

[asterisk]

There's still Autopatcher where you can get all the patches you need for XP.

If I could run all the software I use regularly on Linux I would switch in an instant.