Comments on: Microsoft spyware project

By: Reader's Write

Reader's Write — Sun, 21 May 2006 13:07:02 +0000

I just reinstalled my fully licensed copy of WinXP and got the Validation Failure error when trying to update.. So, apparently this issue affects not only ‘unlicensed’ copies, but anything they suspect of being unlicensed, regardless of whether it is or not.

I recall a company installing spyware on people’s compys recently that compromised their systems.. Strange how M$ can get away with this, but Sony got a blackeye from the rootkit bs.

By: Reader's Write

Reader's Write — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 20:03:40 +0000

It would be nice if MS spent as much time staying current as it does harassing people.
How come SATA drivers are still (as far as I know) not included on XP? For those who don’t know, installing those drivers involves a floppy drive which most new computers don’t even have.

By: Reader's Write

Reader's Write — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 05:58:09 +0000

or you can just find a patch that corrects the microsoft spyware problem. The internet is a netherworld with many dark corners….

By: Reader's Write

Reader's Write — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 04:16:31 +0000

Give it two days.

Then go check on the big torrent sites. No doubt here will be a crack for this rendition of WGA. It’s less that a 1MB download and easier to install than Linux.

Alternative, one could find out what service running on XP is spewing out this annoyance and roll it back or get rid of it if it’s stand-alone.

By: Reader's Write

Reader's Write — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 03:05:26 +0000

Why is it that people expect to be able to use computers as if they were simple white goods? They’re not, they’re complex pieces of machinery. You have to *learn* to drive a car. Which is a darned sight less complex to operate than a computer. If people bothered to put a little bit of effort into actually learning to use the damned things, they’d get a lot more out of them - and be liberated of the Microsoft behemoth at the same time.

By: Reader's Write

Reader's Write — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 02:08:37 +0000

You may be right that Linux does virtually run itself, but the problem is that the average user isn’t capable of installing Linux on their computer. Heck, there are a lot of folks who are not capable of installing windows. I don’t know how to help them out with a new OS other than Linux, but surely they can avoid the Office alarm by using something like gOFFICE or Zimbra.

By: Reader's Write

Reader's Write — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 01:19:38 +0000

Linux may not quite be up to high speed, high density gaming yet, but it’s great for everything else. Suse Linux is certainly really easy to set up and it virtually runs itself. It beats all the security and maintainence problems that have to be attended to while using Windows that’s for sure. I use Linux - Windows used to use me!

By: Reader's Write

Reader's Write — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 19:24:06 +0000

Or roll back to 2000 sp2! Most of the differences between it and XP involve IE, Outlook, the movie player and the junk “protection” that can replaced to good advantage with third party stuff. I dont need a one-way firewall or a crippled video player so 2000 works fine for me.

By: Reader's Write

Reader's Write — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 18:41:11 +0000

Linux is not for everyone, hardcore gamers are out of luck with Linux. It has come a long way, but is still not ready for prime time desktop use, I know people who can barely use Windows, Linux would not work for them. Linux sucks to configure, there is no way people who are used to clicking on icons are going to be happy about editing text files instead. Hardware support is another issue, Joe six pack is not going to be into “recompiling the kernal” every time he needs to add new drivers.
The first thing people should do to get control of their Windows computers is to make sure automatic updating is OFF!! You are probably better off with third party software(zonealarm, spywareblaster, spybot search and destroy) than relying on Microsoft to plug up it’s numerous security holes anyway.
I would guess if you had system restore running you could probably roll back the changes. If not, or if that does not work, the other less pleasant option is to reformat and reinstall XP. (back up your important files first )