It seems that Microshite have finally found a way to combat the JavaScript string (window.g_sDisableWGACheck=’all’) to disable their WGA system to stop people running illegal copies of Windows downloading Windows Updates. But there is yet another work around in the form of a hacked ‘LegitCheckControl.dll’ file. Why does Microsoft think that they can stop people using illegal copies of Windows? It’s a pointless exercise as there are enough clever people out there in Internet-land to find workarounds and hacks to get around their protection systems. All you need to do is download this file, and overwrite your existing copy in WINDOWS >> System32. I also searched the WINDOWS folder and replaced the backup file; and now everything works fine again, no updates to download at this time, but it goes straight to the downloads page bypassing the Windows Genuine Advantage nag screen. I know that some people will say that I should buy a legit copy of Windows, but I am not willing to shell out £200+ for Windows XP Pro, even the OEM version is nearly £100. If Microsoft sold it’s OSes for £30 – £40 then I would buy a copy, but as things stand, I don’t think I should be paying extortionate prices for something that I have been forced to use. When I say forced to use, I mean that because Microsoft and OEM manufacturers are in cahoots having every new ‘off the shelf’ PC preinstalled with Windows, so all the software developers/makers make their software exclusive to Windows based machines. I would love to be able to move to Linux (which is free to download and use in many cases) but the lack of support by the major players in the software industry (e.g. Adobe/Macromedia) means that such a move isn’t possible, and games developers are even worse with only a handful porting their games to Linux based machines, so by default I need to have Windows to be able to use my favourite software. Also Microsoft are promoting the spread of viruses and malware around the Internet, by not allowing users of pirated versions of Windows to download the latest updates to prevent the spread of such Internet nasties; so in actual fact Microsoft are damaging the Internet. Why are they so worried anyway, most users will have a legit version of Windows as the average ‘Joe’ will buy an off the shelf PC which comes with an OEM version of Windows XP (usually Home Edition). All this comes from the company that blatantly flouts anti-competition law by bundling media players, firewalls, CD burning applications and soon antivirus software. The problems with the American government is that they are too ‘Pro’ big business and allows these companies to get away with murder, despite several courts ruling that Microsoft are using illegal business practices; anyway; that turned into a serious rant didn’t it?
While were on the subject of quasi-legal things, it seems that Russian based music download sites AllTunes and AllOfMp3 are currently experiencing technical difficulties, or are they? There are rumours flying about that because Russia wants to join WTO (World Trade Organization) and the yanks are blocking their entry unless Russian president Vladimir Putin promises to crack down on intellectual property rights infringement, so it’s a case of the big powerful country leaning on the poor struggling country to get their own way again. From what I have been reading around the Internet, allofmp3.com has moved from Windows 2000 hosting to a Linux based server platform, which may have been caused by America leaning on the Russian government. Although the allofmp3.com website is currently up, it’s very sluggish and alltunes.com is currently completely down at the moment, which means that the desktop client is also out of action. I really hope that the people behind allofmp3/alltunes.com can fight the pressure and keep the site going as I am definitely not paying 79 pence per download on iTunes, when you consider that if each track is 79p, based on an average of 12 tracks per album, that’s £9.48, which is a lot when you consider that it’s a virtual thing, it doesn’t exist in the real world. And because its DRM enabled you can’t make it physical because you can’t burn it off to CD-R. At least if you buy a CD off the shelf, you have the artwork, jewel case and physical CD, so if labels/eTailers want people to use online purchases of music, the prices need to drop drastically and the files need to DRM free. Which is where allofmp3.com came in, tracks can be downloaded for about 10 cents, and a whole album costs about $1.50, which is more sensible and the files are DRM free, so you can do whatever you want with the music files, and you have a choice of file formats and bitrates, so you are not stuck with Apple’s proprietary AAC format!