XP Home SP2 Help

[Xmn]

Guy's i heard microsoft is going to be blocking the people who steal their os, is there any way i could just copy my system files and then copy those to a friends C: and it would magically let them continue to use windows without activating

[udaki]

Nope.....you still need to add registry keys and their hardware might not be the same...

[Xmn]

sweet then this is the chance ive been waiting for to promote linux im sure their not going to go for the 150$ cd

[MrX]

yeah all you need is like zone alarm and block some programs from accessing the net or 'secretly telling on you' like when you install the sp1 and you have an invalid key.
al you get is a {hint} and then you can fix it.

Mr X

[Calum]

or instead of all this dodgy top heavy shit, you could indeed go with one of the hundreds of free, stable and secure operating systems available to home users.

[Brandon Paddock]

yeah all you need is like zone alarm and block some programs from accessing the net or 'secretly telling on you' like when you install the sp1 and you have an invalid key.
al you get is a {hint} and then you can fix it.
 
Mr X

Actually, the SP1 installer simply checks to see if your PID is invalid.  If it is, it refuses to install.  There's no "phoning home" despite what you may have heard.
 
The "Windoes Genuine Advantage" program also will not "tell on you," but simply refuse to authenticate you on an illegitimate copy of Windows.
 
I've yet to see any legitimate installations have trouble with WGA.  If you do, you should speak up to make sure it gets fixed before WGA becomes mandatory for Windows updates (probably later this year).  
 
If, however, you stole your copy of Windows... in which case I think it would better if it fucked over your computer - as opposed to simply denying you access as it does now.

[Calum]

for once, i 100% agree with you.
but i think it's a safe bet that your computer's going to end up fucked anyway if you insist on installing microsoft windows on it.