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Cracking Windows has never been that easy

I read the story at connected internet who got it from cybernetnews. who got it from tgdaily. Someone apparently bought a copy of Windows Vista in a store in Thailand for $3.50 and was astonished when he read the sticker that normally contained the product activation key.

The sticker told him to set the time of his bios to 2099, install Vista and set the time of the desktop to the current time. This should have the effect that Vista would not ask the user to activate the system after 14 days of usage, heck it will never ask for activation in the next 93 years. It is not sure if this method works with every version of Vista that will be sold but it surely sounds to easy to be true.

Microsoft got never tired of mentioning that the developers did a lot of concentration on security aspects – makes one wonder if those can be bypassed that easily as well. Is it illegal to do this ? I’m not sure but it does not seem to be, you are not tinkering with the software at all. Time will tell, if you try this one out let me know.

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About the Author:Martin Brinkmann is a journalist from Germany who founded Ghacks Technology News Back in 2005. He is passionate about all things tech and knows the Internet and computers like the back of his hand. You can follow Martin on Facebook or Twitter.

Author: , Monday December 11, 2006 -
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Responses so far:

  1. z says:

    eh… why would anyone buy it for $3.5 when it’s floading all over newsgroup and torrents. old news…

  2. Martin says:

    I don’t think so. The news is not that you can buy it in Thailand for $3.5 but that you can activate it for a lifetime by simply changing the date in the bios to 2099.

  3. fraz says:

    does anyone know if the vista versions available on the torrent sites proper versions or should they be avoided?

  4. booster says:

    Bios date change not works.
    Confirmed.

  5. Martin says:

    Which version of Vista did you try to install ?

  6. olenolenko says:

    bios date change $WORKS$

    You just don’t get it

    Loser

  7. backfire_11 says:

    it really works!!!on home premium and ultimate edition.
    i never expect this kind of easy stuff works on a multi-million $
    “masterpiece” of microsoft!!!!

  8. x083 says:

    Microsoft Windows Vista = NSA backdoor.. besides that its slow

  9. Alex says:

    Can you still download updates if you get around the activation this way?

    Thanks

  10. GrandJosie says:

    Umm..

    Computer = NSA backdoor. & cell phone = computer

    How many Square yards (miles?) of underground computing power do they have now that they have built all the new iron to eavesdrop on “terrorist communications.”
    Why do you think microphones are standard on every laptop since waaaay before video conferencing.
    Why do in-the-know executives take the batteries out of their phones before the *really* important meetings.

    Find and read James Bamford’s books on the subject if you think I am in any way joking.

    Ben Franklin was right about this: two can keep a secret if one is dead. We have just entered the era where “one” of the “two” no longer needs to be human.

    If your going to worry about that then don’t use anything but a paper notepad. Oh, and keep a lighter handy.

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