.:Computer Defense:.

What concerns me is not your distaste for piracy but your method of dealing with it. By letting companies install malware in programs you buy for the sole purpose of tracking and catching pirates, you expose yourself to “Legitimate” software companies who bundle malware on with their programs only to take advantage of you! I don’t want malware on my computer in any form and I don’t support the catching of pirates. They do what they want and in no way does it affect my computing experience. Companies who think that their efforts to stop piracy will ever be fruitful are foolish. Even this stupid CPA thing will not stop piracy. You can’t stop freedom, even if its illegal. Crack on!

Hi everyone,
i bought an xp home edition OS version 2002.i been using it since.i had to install it may be 5 times .And each time i install it i had to activate it on line.
Recentely (just last sunday april 22,2007) my laptop crash so i have to install xp again from the CD i had purchase.When i been on line to activate windows on line.SURPRISE.

Microsoft decide that i can’t activate my copy.Because in their record i have activate my Xp to many time.!!!!

So what i have to do in country like mine (morocco)???
Ask Microsoft for a solution.May be .But they DO NOT EVEN ANSWER the phone to help me.After Many #&@# .I HAVE DECIDE TO GO AND DOWNLOAD A NEW PIRATED COPY.Use a killBill solution for free.Now my XP is activated .
At the end if You are in my situation what will you DO?

XP Black has virus and trojans, if you refuse to believe that, simple, download and install it, see for your self. Trend Security finds more than Norton Security does, but both find virus and trojans.

Cptn Morgan is an idiot, what he suggests will not hurt anything but the nearest phone switch, and prolly all his own phone lines too.

Salvador…….run a good virus program on the XP Black files, it will even name the offenders, they are real.

Well, i read basically the whole thing.. haha.. well my main opinions about this:

1. If you are from another country, dont say you “Hate” M$ and at the same time use their software (whether it be pirated or not) In this country thats called Hippocratic.

2. imo there should be no argument whether M$ has Over Priced softwares. However, they have a virtual monopoly on at least the OS market so what they are going to do is put it at the highest cost that businesses will pay for and people above average in wealth can afford.

3. I dont see any problem with those either too young or too poor to afford paying for the various softwares.

4. I support the pirating of softwares for personal use. I dont think it should be legal for anyone to sell pirated software or make money off of it it any way. However, if someone wants to gain editing skills or express their creativity via photoshop, i see no problem in them doing so. Photoshop is an AMAZING program, but theres no possible way the average student (or I) could afford to pay for Adobe’s Retail Software.

The only reasons I would buy (or have bought) software is to use for my personal gain, and or if I really like the manufacturers product and I would like to support their software.

5. Theres NO viruses in the original uploaded version of this OS. Spyware/Antivirus software are VERY well known to bring up false results ESPECIALLY on apps such as keygens because keygen.exe has been known to be fake in some altered or fake downloads.

- DONT always trust what an antivirus program tells you, they are made to be more safe than sorry, and if you Do happen to find a legitimate “hazardous file” then you have downloaded an altered copy of Black Edition.

- Most fake files are put out by the anti-piracy agencies themselves, the other small percentage is almost all scammers/advertisements.

- And about spelling. Thcenilacly in the hmuan mnid we can raed any amslot any wrod we cmoe aocrss as lnog as all the lrettes are slitl terhe.

haha. some people either cant spell well or just dont care enough to correct their mistakes. (however I myself cant stand looking at a word I’ve misspelled)

im done :]

Great article, you call for software developers to do what they are already doing to prevent piracy. Applications such as Photoshop and internet software such as vBulletin already “phone home” to help prevent piracy.

Too bad the people who crack the software disable it from phoning home.

i am having a problem starting the installation it comes up with this thing that sais current options with a description and it sais these things like delay=off and lend=on what should i do is has a place to type a word
have any of you expirienced this problem

I have personally paid for about six copies of Windows xp. On some of the home computers I had to buy a second copy as the restore disk was lost. That’s about $1200 dollars I paid Mr.Gates.

I have always been against software policy on the theory that theft is theft.

When the XBOX 360 first came out I bought one off Ebay for xmas 2005. Paid about $500 dollars for it. Within 1 year it died (3 flashing lights). Microsoft admitted that the earlier xboxes suffered from manufacturing defects and offered to repair them for free. This offer ended Jan 1 2007. So if your xbox died after 11 months they repaired it for free. If your xbox died after 13 months you have to pay them $140 plus shipping and handling for them to repair it.

Now who is stealing from Who?

How concerned should I be about XP Black and Microscrews software being pirated?

U SUCK DI_K FOR EVEN SUGGESTING THIS!!!

Way to go….it takes a big person to stand up for the corporations! Thx asshole!

Well, i think Microsoft is a BIG JOKE!! They are ripping people off. It was said on the news that they were charging people way to much for there software. And as for pirating goes…..I have to aggree i cant afford Microsofts software, i am a single mother!!! So i say if you can get it for free, then why the hell not download free versions!!! :p

Please. The whole argument that ’software is expensive because it’s pirated’ holds no water. If by some miracle all pirated software was suddenly wiped from the face of the earth and people HAD to buy software from then on, they’d walk in the store and STILL find the software priced at $399 same as it was before. Its just the way companies like to do business. This is the same argument the RIAA uses in their ’sharing music is bad’ arguments. Yet they had to pay back consumers for price hiking thier CDs. Its a load of crap.

blah blah blah blah yada yada yada… gemme tha link to dl it NOW!!!

i need it!

Hi’. I just read all the comments.
And i’d say F*uck Billy Gay..
I am running a pirated version of Windows Vista, just because i am unable to install any other operating system, somehow every other operating system, manages to NOT work with my harddrive, after i tested Vista RC1.

I would be more than happy to switch to Linux if i could, because i only use consoles to play games on, i only use my laptop to be creative and listen to my tons of music…

And again i say F*uck Billy Gay,
Because he locked my computer, to only run his f*cked up crappy system!!!

w.e u guys re all full of shit pirates rule and hackers rule u assholes were the 1 shapin the futue not fuckin microsft

Hi,

You can make your own edition of windows. Just go to ryanvm.net and check out the forums. There isn’t any commercial software, but there are instructions how to integrate almost any program or theme pack into the startup-it isn’t difficult at all. Windows Post Install WPI makes it easy to create a checklist of programs to install. About the only knowledge you need to know is about windows filing system, burning a cd, using a notepad editor and a few other things. Learning about how windows installs things is always useful. NliteOS.com makes it easy to pre-answer questions about install and using your own serial number. I think this version Black (not having used it) throws in the kitchen sink. So I wouldn’t use it except on a loaded machine (at least 1GB or more of mem). The more progs you select, and themes you install the more errors you will get when physical mem. runs out.
Other programs (like IE7, Firefox) have memory leaks (due to non-standard web programming, java errors) than can spill over (try to write to memory being used by something else) into another program. (If the leak is bad enough, explorer will reboot itself in order to free up any temp “scratchpad” memory. If very few programs are open and this happens, suspect a virus or rootkit). Linux is better here in that it separates out program data from user or computer generated data (video card settings, etc).

how can anyone with internet access criticize piracy? how many of u idiots here download movies, games, music, tv shows etc? we have all done it at one point or another so dont even start sayin “piracy is wrong” & “it takes money off the developers” the developers charge extortionate prices to the end user, and even higher rates to companies (corporate editions anyone?)

they take piracy into account when they set the rrp, and then charge the shops if the sales are below the rrp.

FUCK U TREE HUGGING TWATS!

i make unnattended isos of xp all the time (legally) in work for install on multiple machines containing all the necessary software for each company section and i can tell you this – those “troj_generic” flags are normally false.
some av’s flag certain .bat or .exe files simply because they implant a serial key into software or they change the registry without being certified (i.e. msoft certified), some get flagged simply because of the compression used on the .exe file is such that the av cannot search the contents.
99% of “troj_generic” flags are for these reasons alone, that said there is still the 1% risk that they are infected files
the “fixer” soft usually supplied by the av vendor is usually just a kludged patch for their av so that it wont recognise files from a specific vendor as virii (as in the case of the .exe files with the wierd proprietary compression format)

and yes i do know my shit, ive been a network administrator for the past 15 years

If you don’t like Microsoft, don’t use their products!

Invest a little bit of time getting to know Linux. You’ll find out that you don’t need Windows.

At the computer Defense team

=====================
You should really sit down and reread your original post. and then check to see if you have any ethics at all.

It’s not OK for companies to spy on consumers. There are such things as “PRIVACY LAWS”. If this is how you think… well your a bit of freak.
I think the term unscrupulous would be better applied to yourself then the venerable Gamerman, who puts out Black.

I’d like to reiterate what the above poster said
FUCK YOU !!! AND YOUR FUCKED UP SENSE OF MORAL JUSTICE

I haven’t read your comments, so I don’t know if this has been mentioned before. Lots, and lots, of higher priced softwares actually do have code in them that calls home, giving the IP address, and the name and email address of the person that registers the program. When a program is released by a warez group, this code will be removed, so realistically, it is a very ineffective way of stopping piracy. The only people this will stop is the people that borrow and make a copy of their friends software, not any major pirates.

I’m also pretty sure it’s illegal for a company to include a keylogger and other obvious malware in their programs, although with anti-piracy nowadays, who knows.

Personally, I’m for piracy in every way, I don’t think there are many people who can afford to buy thousands of pounds for Photoshop or Dreamweaver. I do download these things, but I buy reasonably priced software.
I download films, mainly because I think £17 ($33USD) is a absolutely stupid price to pay for a film, and I realistically do not see the difference in quality.

Besides, getting back onto the point – what’s to stop me setting up a software firewall, such as ZoneAlarm Pro, and blocking these applications from accessing the internet?

No calling home for you

I say for, You don’t want you info being broad casted? Then don’t put your info on the most vulnerable object on the planet, a computer. Black is a really good version of Windows and it’s the only reason why I even use Windows. Windows is a piece of shit OS and always has been and this edition actually gave me some respect about the OS in general. I personally would rather use Ubuntu or Slackware but meh, Black is pretty nice.

I will say this, Pirated software does have it’s place in the world. Why? Try software like CaptureOne from PhaseOne. The “Activation” is appalling. If you want to within your LEGAL RIGHTS un-install and re-install on another computer, you can’t. You can with a pirated copy. Same goes with other applications like Photoshop. Not using these pirated apps to “STEAL” but use the applications according to the guidelines of the software license. I was told by Adobe that they would not grant additional activations to my copy of CS2. What was I to do (after suffering from multiple computer problems forcing several OS re-installs.)??? Pay $800 for another copy of Photoshop OR obtain the crack that allows me to use my legal software?

To all the FOLKs that made the “BLACK” edition ur great! this simply emphasizes that some people are not dumb nor a slave or blind to the greedy society of business corporates who’s merely intention is to gain profit from people disregard of which clan (rich or poor) they came from.

We all know the DOs and DONTs of the so called “PIRACY” law but the mere fact the lawyers, the senate and the government making more laws on how to stop piracy or any other crimes, they should start looking on the other side for the betterment of life for everyone. There should be:

1.) NO DISCRIMAINATION.
2.) NO CORRUPTION
3.) EQUAL RIGHTS TO EVERYONE.

Do you think if everyone is equally treated in every aspect in life there will be crime?

way back to the topic, why are some people (”computer elites”) do progamming of useful and harmul softwares? do hacking, do cracking sofisticated programs, and making viruses? isn’t it that some of the reasons are POVERTY, HATRED, REVENGE, SELF EXPRESSION, RECOGNITION, GAIN RESPECT, SURVIVAL TO THE WORLD OF TECHNOLOGY or simply the main reason is LOVE OF MONEY?

I don’t know what is the motive of of you guys who make the BLACK EDITION but all i can say is GO ON WITH YOUR WORK FOR THE BENEFITS OF THE MAJORITY!!!

/-=:[xprezzo]:=-/ “LIVE without purpose is LIFE without direction…”

yes, thanks to the ppl behind Black ed. But if you really want to stand out, i think you should prevent the low trojan threats and even the spelling errors, create a patch to fix this so stupid people dont have anything to point the finger at you and more people use it!

By the way, can i download a version without all that other software? or in installation i can choose what i do want to install or not?

That network problem an user point it out, the one that he cannot connect computers with this OS, is real? i need to connect 2 pc’s, and im not yet sure i install this OS just because i dont have the time and knowledge to test and correct that if its true.

fuck ms

Hello i have another question for u and others : are u with me when i say that the microsoft and other companyes are making softwares like windows xp and products like vista and so many other and then after less that a month they make a virus to ensure the company budget because they know that the products will be cracked. If u have original products is the same like the cracked products ,the virus infection is same in both cases. so ,what is the diference betwen an original product and a cracked product ?

ok, downloaded the 4.02 gig xp black edition from iso hunt last night. woke up this morning and there it was, waiting to be explored …………….. ran Avast scanner on it and, there are indeed 3 instances of badness in the iso file. 2 trojan/generic, and 1 virus/worm. well, instead of all the badmouthing and craziness that people on here seem to want to throw around, why dont you just download the iso, find the infected files, delete them, and THEN BURN YOUR ISO !!! its not that difficult a task if you just sit back and THINK for a minute !!

I’m a Linux user, so most of the time I have no need in pirating software. However, I don’t feel bad when I (in theory) do.

I don’t think piracy can be compared with stealing apples (or whatever. Sorry, it’s getting pretty late here, and I just had a surgery). If you steal an apple from someone, he/she actually -looses- the apple. You -take- something. With piracy, however, you copy. You know, ctrl+c – ctrl+v. Compare that to ctrl+x – ctrl+v.
Feel free to discuss. I’m going to bed.

Oh, and to Antwon Starr, right above me.
There’s a lot that you don’t see.

well, i completely removed the 3 instances of badness from the 4.02 gig windows xp black edition iso file, re-scanned it and it came up clean. ran panda’s anti rootkit prog on it, all is well. then had forgotten that i did not have nero installed, because i am in the process of trying out several operating systems, all different versions of xp pro enterprise, made by different people, and 3 of them made by myself using the NLITE program. so, instead of going through all the trials and tribulations that we all know nero puts you through on first install on a fresh operating system, i downloaded a small iso burning prog called active iso burner. well, i guess that was a mistake, because now i cant get the system to boot from the dvd !!! hmmmm …….. i guess i should have taken the time to install the nero, a program that i really trust, and know how to operate really well. so, now i am gonna have to take this 4 gig monster, drop it into NLITE and rework it. there is a bit of goodness that all this will bring, i will be able to weed out some of the crap that i dont want on the dizk, and make it more personal !! ok, as to the issue of piracy or not ……… i believe that if you purchase one copy of say windows xp pro, which use to cost 200-$300, you should be able to to do what ever you want to with the plethora of microsuck progz !! $200-$300 might only buy bill gatekeeper one pair of shoes, but to some of us it is a lot of money……. ok, i liken this to taking the family to disney world……. for $200-$300 you and your whole family can ride all the rides all you want to !! microsuck should do the same thing, you give them $200-$300 and you should be able to get a general license to use all of their products as much as you want to !! it’s not gonna happen, i know this, probably bill gatekeeper’s talking house will tell him its a bad idea !! but, its all just the way they want it. i am a beta tester of microsuck progs, which means i can download their latest stuff, they give me the serials and all, and i end up with shiny new products, that are full of bugs and holes !!! the microsuck office 2007 download completely locked my system, and the first versions of vista were a joke. step right up folks !!! welcome to the microsuck circus !!! as you pass through the entry gate, be sure to give us all your money !!! if you follow us around to the tent on the right, you can see alexa……. alexa is a mindreader of sorts, and will attempt to tell us all the sites you have visited, and your web surfing habbits…… step over to the tent on the left, you can see bill gatekeeper wiping his ass with $100 bills !!! walk a little further and look at this cage…. you will see steve………. nah, hes not there, something bad must have happend to poor old steve. ok, well, i wrote some good stuff and then had some fun with this, but i do believe youz get the idea. let the ridicule begin !!!

You all are fucking computer-illiterate idiots. These releases are meant for fun and people only download them to play around. And these “piracy” groups do NOT put in any malware. Stop being stupid Sony and Apple users and join the rest of the educated computing crowd you fruitcakes.

Ok for one I have Downloaded and Used a bunch of different OS’s than what came with my computer (Win. XP Home Edition SP1). Main reason is because it’s SP1 and I really dont like the download time for that update. At any rate I am currently running Black Edition with No Problems at all and I have Norton Anti-Virus fully updated running as well with no problems along with some mal-aware, Trojan sweeper’s and spy-ware software to check and double check the system and personally from my experience with it there isn’t one single problem I have run across with this OS. Although I can say that I haven’t used one of the Keygen’s to unlock any of the programs mainly because I didn’t have the OS actually install any software that actually needed to be unlocked. Also for those people using P2P or any type of File Share…..A LOT of People doing that put viruses and or Trojans on any program they are sharing intentionally so if you are going to Download programs such as Full OS’s I would suggest Finding a Forum that you can visit regularly and just keep a watch on the site and see if anyone bitches about a program or what not. Also if you ever come across such a site you will probably notice that most of the admins. on those sites will virus scan the programs and make sure they work.

As for Bill Gates, he just has money plain and simple and as far as I am concerned way too much for one person to have. Money may make the world go round but too much in one person’s hands will corrupt them and make them want More and More, which I believe is half the reason MS Charges such an outragous price for pretty much All of their Software.

it is a matter of privacy. any vendor that would stoop that low would fall under the same laws as sony did. they did sneak a rootkit on peoples systems. people would most likely would not pirate software if the makers did not rip people off. microsoft is a prime example. with all overhead taken in to consideration it cost them less than 10 dollars to produce a copy of xp. very little of the 189 plus change that is charged for xp goes to the store selling it. if that is not sear greed i do no0t know what it. as they say people are not made of money. so who is the real pirate?

(I found this post as a result to a search to find out what “black edition” was)

In reading the comments, I notice a general feeling of “Microsoft charges too much for their software so it is okay to pirate it, while 3rd parties need to sell software to earn a living”.

I can’t even begin to describe the cognitive dissonance that must exist to actually believe such a statement. Last I checked, Microsoft had something like 70,000 employees, many of whom also have families, and they all depend on the sales of Windows, Office, etc. It’s not just Bill Gates who makes windows singlehandedly. When you pirate Windows, you aren’t hurting Bill Gates, you are hurting Microsofts employees and their families!

Also, who is to say that Windows is “too expensive” what is the bar? What is a normal value for an OS? If we look at Vista, MS had thousands of engineers develop it over a 5+ year time frame (lets say 4000 employees on Windows [ a guess] at $80000 a year [slightly above starting salary according to leaked documents] for 5 years = $1.6 billion). That cost alone is gigantic, even ignoring that it is based off of the work of engineers for years before. Add in the manufacturing and distribution costs, and the price begins to skyrocket. If you really think that their OSs are too expensive, take a look at their stock price. It’s been pretty stagnant for a very long time now. If they were able to pull in boatloads of cash from sales of Vista et al., then we should see some change in the stock price.

And to another point. We all have rights to a few things, life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, free speech, etc, but there is no right to be able to use any certain product. I’m sorry if Windows is outside of your budget, that is unfortunate, but you don’t have any inherent right to use the software. A Rolls Royce is out of my budget, but I don’t have the right to go hotwire one (yes I know that real world theft != digital world copying, but this is the best analogy I can make). If you can’t afford Windows, use Linux. That’s what I did.

Dan … you are 100% right and i never thought about it this way, well you made me think about the results for these actions, thanks.
there is alot i want to say but my english is not helping me, hope everyone reads this post think deeply about what Dan has said :
Dan said,
July 16, 2007 at 1:52 pm

you are hurting Microsofts employees and their families!

for the people using the black edition
how do you remove the tag on the bottom right corner?
It says “Windows XP Professional Build 2600.xpsp.061012-0254 (Service Pack 2)”

I could not in good conscience say that M$ is any different than any other capital driven company, although when i buy a car and exchange the factory fitted set of tyres with a nicer set of alloys i wont be harassed for copy right infringement, even if i sold this vehicle the buyer could quite easily re-register this vehicle with no FBI warning whatsoever?? (Small fee for registration of course). So my point is this: why would a multi billion $ company like Ford, Mercedes or BMW allow you to modify and even resell their product but M$ is too afraid to licence modified copies of XP?

I would love to live in a world where i can obtain a copy of XP that was custom made for my needs (probably not by M$) and still be able to register it, for a small fee?? and no be worried a bout the US Federal Gov. putting my name on a “list”.

Sadly M$ is a capitalistic organisation with spies every ware (sounds like the STASI to me)!

I ended up here by coincidence, but I read the above piece and found it ironic that a website called “computerdefense” was where I was reading about an argument for corporate vigilantes installing any sort of rootkits/malware/etc. on users machines.
Marked bills are produced and used only by government agents (agents as in both law enforcement, and simply individuals who act on behalf of institutions such as the dept of treasury), for specifically sanctioned uses. While I believe whole-heartedly in the fairness of making a profit on hard work, I don’t believe that this right gives anyone carte-blanche to trample on anyone else’s right to privacy and property (because that is what your computer is, your property, any software installed should do only what is advertised).
Law enforcement is there for a reason, as is the judicial system, and the domains of their functions should be their’s alone. That is the social contract we all wordlessly agree to, not one where extra privileges are granted due to having merely claimed some nebulous sense of entitlement to them.

You know i would just like to say this…

I have heard that there are ALOT of people using an ‘illegal’ version of windows…. You know if microsoft didnt charge $300 for their freaking OS then im sure more people would buy it… i mean would you rather have an illegal copy of windows, or would you rather go buy one for $20? hell i’d buy 2…..

Dan you said that it costs aprx 1.6 Billion to make a new OS (I’ll round it to 2 billion just to be fair)… 2 billion… DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH MONEY BILL GATES HAS?????? about $56 BILLION DOLLARS, that has 9 0s behing it $56,000,000,000 if bill gates was to spend his money on what it cost to make windows vista he would still have at least $53,000,000,000, have you heard or seen what the microsoft places have on their campuses its insaine, no way in hell they need to be charging $300 for an OS, that can ONLY be installed on one computer…. its stupid

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2163005,00.asp
“The software giant announced it sold 60 million copies of Windows Vista this year”

60,000,000 (copies of vista) X $300 =$18,000,000,000
i dont know the price of vista but here it is at $100
60,000,000 X $100 = 6,000,000,000

from my math i’d say that microsoft has already made… 4-16 BILLION dollars just from vista sales alone…

you know what WE have families too… You know most schools excpect that most kids have computer at home, with internet… what about us poor folk? we cant afford no $300 piece of software… so what does it matter if we use an illegal version?

Doesn’t microsoft realize that by people using illegal versions of windows, that it, as you could say benifts them… let me ask this… Would you rather 2 billion people using your software legaly or would you rather have 2 billion people using your sotware legaly and 4 million using it illegaly? i think i would want the 2.4 billion people using my software, because it means that i am making something good, something that people want….

Oh just so you know i am planning on running windows XP black edition… but i wouldn’t really concider the install illegal conidering i have 2 LEGAL versions, CD keys of windows, and i WILL NOT be using one of them while i have black edition installed….

After XP was released, I went to Linux and never looked back. Not because of $$$ reasons, because I wanted an OS that was wide open and ENCOURAGED code modification and expansion and one that wouldn’t make me lose money.. I have a personal grudge against Microsoft due to a legal, purchased copy of XP being de-activated by them. I called them to get it re-activated and they said they wouldn’t do it because it was being used on another PC. It’s not my fault if someone else happens to be using the same serial. I guess my original sales receipt and the original software packaging isn’t enough proof that I purchased it. So I lost the $200+ for XP plus all the other files/programs I had installed. Anyways, I’ve swore never to purchase another microsoft product after that.

With that said, I actually need a copy of windows installed again. There are a few programs I need for engine tuning and editing/burning BIN files that only run on windows. Wine, VMware, virtual box, etc. doesn’t work with them. I’m working on getting wine to work with them but it’s going to take some time an I need these working now! So I am downloading several versions of XP that have been pre-modded. I’m going to check them out thoroughly before installing and this Black Edition is one of them. I am only installing windows for use for those specific programs that REQUIRE it. Otherwise, I’m a happy Linux user for the rest of my life.

So in short, I WAS a loyal paying microsoft user until THEY stole my license from me. Now I have no issues downloading their stuff for free. Windows is mainly for the computer-illiterate and coding-impaired people anyways. Real computer guys go open-source wherever possible.

An idea for microsoft would be to release an open-source version for free use. If you wish to have support or use it in a corporate environment where you’re making money off it it, then require a license for it. Otherwise keep it free. I don’t see it happening though.

Just to let you guys know, I got a small, pre-modded XP called “Crystal Edition”. It fits on a single CD (about 673mb) and mostly has cosmetic changes and registry tweaks but doesn’t have all the third party software. This is perfect for me because I will only be using it a few times a month and specifically for engine tuning. No viruses or malware found. It’s available on most of the P2P networks and also at rapidshare – http://rapidshare.com/users/58QOF6

The Unattended XP Black Edition Has 3 virus’ inbedded in the ISO ,so unpack it and clean it first using a good antivirus program such as AVAST because if your using Norton you might as well just put a revolving door on your PC so virus’s can enter more quickly.After uninstalling Norton AV Avast found like 300+ Virus’s that Norton missed.Anyway after you clean and do a deep scan you will find three virus’s two in the keygens folder and one in the Magic ISO folder.Delete them and burn the cleaned files to DVD.I have run Black edition for over a year now and it is clean stable and secure,much unlike the regular XP Home (legal version)i had on my system previously.True the three trojans are considered low risk but i still had to make sure it was 100% safe.As an OS i haven’t really encountered any bugs or problems(yet).So have fun with the Black Edition and keep providing feedback.Thanks!

As for piracy,alot of developers are going with the online account type where you must login online to play like with Half Life 2 and Battlefield 2 and 2142.They have cracked that now too as with Lost Planet which required Steam .Now there is a cracked version that doesn’t use Steam.I think the prices are Rediculous and criminal in itself.Especially with Microsucks Products.The markup is insane on their OS’s and other software making it virtually unaffordable to the average user.If anything piracy will force the manufacturers to create better products.If i download a program or game if it’s good i don’t mind buying the retail version.But at least now if its crap we didn’t waste any of our money on crap.Personally im waiting for the release of CRYSIS in November on the 16th.I really don’t care about the price because they designed and built the game around what the end user wanted from the game.It is going to be the one game you will have to buy in 2007/2008,and the one game that every game developer in the future will be using as their benchmark to aspire to.Ith biggest crooks in the computer world today is undoubtably lexmark.It is absolutely criminal that they can charge $50 for a printer and$100 for ink every 3-5 months.You are better off buying a new printer every 3 months.It’s insane and one of the worst problems for our environment poluting our landfills,unnecessarily.So they can charge $100 bucks for 3-5 cents worth of ink?They say it’s because of the strip of circuitry on the cartrige but they could have it in the machine and not on the cartrige itself.But they woulnt make as much money selling us new printers we don’t need.

Robert i agree with you….

but not with the viruses.. i did a scan and those were not viruses they were “Potentialy unwanted programs” theres nothing wrong with them… the only reason they poped up is because ussualy hackers use them, like one of the files is the angry ip sweeper or something like…

Suppose you guys took a ‘legal’ copy of XP and re-burn it on a new DVD adding whatever ‘legal’ third party software you might like and have everything set for silent install ( installation options and ‘legal’ CD keys/SNs entered through txt files and implemented silently). Would that make the thing illegal? As far as MS’s concerned, you wouldn’t be tampering with any of their code, right? The original OS would still be intact and the changes made through the installation process would be exactly the changes you would make if you decided to go for manual installation of the OS and the 3rd party SW. I believe doing so does not violate any of MS rights (or any other vendor’s for that matter). I have been making my own (unattended windows xp) installation DVDs for a while now and very happy with the result.

The author must surely be on eof the most stupid people on the planet.

sir, I know your scared. I know why you are willing to give up your freedoms and right to expression. I mean who wouldnt? Theres terrorism, war, global warming, war, peak oil, threat of airborne epidemic etc etc etc.
In the near future you wont have the freedom to think and speak as you see fit. Your every movement will be monitored and coerced in to submission by your government, media and globalization loving businessmen.
But deary me, must you be such a willing participant in our destruction?

It is your government who should fear you not the other way around. But then again with such willing citizens as your self they surely can and will write their own history with you being nothing but a slave.

Thanks.

Well I’ve read most of these posts and found the opinions interesting. Is it right or wrong really doesn’t matter, what does matter is people are going to do it anyway. I do believe that you will lessen the act if some software companies would try to think more about those that do such things and make titles more affordable. Many people that I know rode the fence on the issue and ended up going for it because they could not afford to buy them. No, you will not stop it but many people I’ve talked to say straight out they do not like it and would rather buy their software but simply can not. The argument can be made that living within your means might mean you don’t get to play with the same toys as a more affluent computer users but you’re going to have to contend with a Robin Hood frame of mind and will remain that way until prices go down.

Windows is the industry standard and that is a simple truth. That means the o.s. is going to be what many use at work along with the software that is added on to it. It’s a no brainer then that is going to be what people want to use at home.

I personally believe that a lot would change if some developers would try making the bigger profits on more volume sold and not how much profit was made on each sale.

If anyone has trouble getting the Black DVD to boot try making it at a slower speed. i made one at 8x and it would read but would not boot. I later made one at 4x (same brand media in same DVDRW) and that one booted fine.

And BTW.many AV programs will show keymaker exe files as viri even though they have no virus aspects to them. I have even had some little scripts that I wrote show up in an AV scan as bad and they were not

n00bs. i’ve been using black over a year now. its by far more stable than vista and faster than xp. if your paranoid about the alleged malware and trojans, it comes with 4 or 5 anti virus progs to clean it up. stop being paranoid, and give probs to the teams that release better versions than M$ themselves. as for pirating being a crime, well, i’m in international waters bitches.
tum0r

to the kid up there who said something about vista costing 1.6billion and how we are stealing from the families of workers,,

has anyone forgotten that bill gates is the richest man in America……1.6 bil is nothing thats chump change besides vista is one of the worst os’s that M$ has come out with in my opinion it came out to early…..5 years….. and that it is very unstable and peaty much impossible for everyday game play.

xp black is honestly the best thing i have ever seen …. Every program i need was pre-installed

What more can u ask for???
People need to stop whining!

Is it just me or is this thread full of noobs talking all types of crap.

Know why those keygens and magic ISO come up as ‘trojans’? Cause the anti-virus companies consider anything used in pirating / cracking / keygenning to be a ‘virus’. Magic ISO is generally used for pirating, just like some anti-virus flag daemon tools as a virus. Its called a false positive.

Oh yah and $300 for an O/S makes sense for the record. Just be cause a bunch of broke ass kids or cheap ass adults can’t afford it doesn’t mean the price is wrong. I can’t afford a lot of shit I want and you don’t see me crying to bring down the prices on that.