I am only posting this as a guide for persons who have an OEM version
of Windows XP Professional that came with their PC, and don't have a
copy of the CD, lost the CD or their serial Number has been compromised, and Microsoft Genuine Advantage website reports it as not genuine.

This happens in many cases where generic PC manufacturers use
volume licenses for the Windows XP version they install on the
PC or use the same Installation on multiple PCs they sell to you.

I am in no way sanctioning piracy of software.
Also as the old disclaimer goes, this is strictly for educational purposes only and I am in no way responsible for how any individual or group uses this information.

The process takes only about 5 minutes excluding download time for the software.

1. Download MGADiag.exe from Microsoft's website for the main purpose of testing after all the steps that your copy of Windows XP is genuine.

2. Download WGAPluginInstall.exe form Microsoft's web site

3. Make sure that after installation you delete or rename the data.dat file in the Windows Genuine Advantage folder.
You can find the file in the location C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Windows Genuine Advantage\data where C: is drive of the Windows XP installation.

4. Next go to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\ directory, and you will find the 'hosts' file, open it using Notepad or any other text editor and add the line below to the end of the file.

127.0.0.1 mpa.one.microsoft.com

5. Run MGAdiag.exe to see if your copy of Windows XP is now genuine.

*Please Note I have only tested this on Windows XP Professional with
Service Pack 2 installed.

If the above steps fail to work you may post your questions here.

It is 4:56 PM in the office on Christmas Eve working my ass of as usual.

This has been going on now for the last 7 years. Thought I would not still be in this situation after all this time. Topping it all I am working on Christmas day too.

Life Is Good!

Merry Christmas One and All!

I visited a Microsoft Live search website Ms. Dewey. It is a nice attempt at making searching for information more entertaining I guess.

She is really sexy too and does a pretty good acting job, she really has personality.

However I realised that the actress Microsoft used actually looked familiar to an actress I have seen in a movie before. I could not remember the name of the movie or the name of the actress so I did some searching.

Well her name is Janina Gavankar and she appeared in Barbershop 2 and also starred in a movie named 'Cup Of My Blood' in which she did some really raunchy sex scenes.

I am not debasing Janina Gavankar in anyway as I think she is indeed a good actress and the roles she chooses to play in these movies is of her own right.

My point with posting this however is that it makes no difference with all this nonsense with these companies with regards to values they claim to support and yet at the same time they endorse other values.

Simply hypocrisy again.

Download some movie clips from Cup Of Blood.

MS. DEWEY, reviewed by Cartoonist Jeff Swenson

This post Should be titled 'Innocence Lost', or 'How The Music Industry took my Virginity'.

I have heard much rambling or complaints about the XCP copy protected Coldplay X&Y CD, and other CDs.
However every blog or forum that I have posted on how to fix this issue, my post has been removed.
I wonder why? I only hear complaints, but no one has suggested how to totally avoid the issues of the copy Protection Sony, EMI and other companies are using. So I decided to post the solution here.
Scroll to near the end of this post to read the solution.

Anyway a friend bought me the CD (UK release) for a Christmas gift, as Coldplay is one of my favourite bands. Being that at the time I had a DVD/CD/MP3 player and a pretty decent stereo system, Harmon Kardon Amplifier, 4 JBL Subwoofers, 6 mid ranges, 8 satellites (tweeters), I would listen to the CD on the system at home to get the full effect of the CD.

That being said, I decided I would like to play the CD from my laptop while doing work on the road (I did not even think of even ripping it to my iPOD at the time).
This event did not play fair. In inserting the CD I was prompted by a very beta type pre 2001 generation 'Player Software' to be installed on my laptop for me to be able to play the CD. My laptop is for development work only and no freaking way in hell would I install some crap software I know nothing about or even the company that created it.

This is what lead to me actually questioning if I should actually copy the CD to my iPod.

Upon investigation there were no .cda files(compact disc audio, standard cd audio files) on the disc when read using the CD-ROM drive on my laptop. There was no way to play the files without installing the crappy music player that came on the CD.

I could not have been more irked, I could use more profane language to describe my intense feeling of disappointment for not being able to listen to my own FUCKING CD in anyway I wanted to.

The company responsible for the copy protection is some upstart asses named First 4 Internet, I think they worked in some way with Macrovision who probably convinced EMI to use their so-called XCP CD copy protection because of them knowing someone there or perhaps through other questionable relations. Funnily at the time of writing, First for Internet's UK based website was off-line.

It is the worst copy protection I have ever come across, even I could devise better copy protection. They simply convert the CDA files to a batched up ASF compressed propriety (MS Windows sound format) file format and use a playlist so you can choose individual tracks using the player included on the CD. I have not confirmed this however.

The Crack/Copy Solution
The solution is simple. Just insert the CD in a *CDRW and open Windows Media Player Verison 9 and simply hit the Rip Music button.

*I have only tested these XCP CDs on one device, a generic MITSUMI CR-488ETE CDRW that costs US$15.00.

I may know the reason for this working. It is all about the CDRW itself. CDRWs or any other generic device manufactured only for the Asian market usually is able to bypass any form of copy protection or restrictions. I won't expound on this any further at this point, because I would not want to give interest into destroying the beautiful life in most parts of Asia that allows you total freedom from DRM, Fairplay and other monopolistic nonsense and issues, due to the technologies available here.

I welcome feedback if it works on other brands of CDRWs too.

An interesting read on who are the guys out there fucking with your music.

Or download the PDF directly.

Jon Johansen is perhaps one of the most focused individuals of today, I think. His pure enthusiasm for actually focusing his energies on that which matters mostly to the populus, with regards to contesting what I would say is industry monopoly. I think perhaps he was the catalyst in the revolution, that made the "Big Boys" in the film industry out there to start their Anti-Piracy campaigns after he cracked encryption on DVDs as a mere 15 year old. Now he has brought to light more than any other so-called advocate of anti-drm issues, the problem with monopoly, DRM, DMCA, and FairPlay issues on the fifth anniversary of the launch of the Apple iPod. This revolution will be televised!

Hacker unlocks Apple music download protection

DVD Jon's DoubleTwist Unlocks the iPod

Jon Lech Johansen's web presence

Another screw up. How do things like this happen? It would be interesting to see if the figures will continue to increase in the future. Companies we trust to provide good value are becoming more questionable with regards to the QA these days and the defects and recalls are becoming more frequent. We constantly pay higher pricess for so-called trusted brands only to learn of defects.
I am of a mind to invest in generic products more now than traditional brands.

"Sony announced on Thursday that the number of laptop batteries the company plans to recall globally will reach a staggering figure of 9.6 million; this adds to the depth of an issue that has come to haunt the company's image.

The number was released soon after Sony cut its fiscal year profit expectations as a result of the massive battery recalls and cuts in prices for its PlayStation 3 video game consoles sold in Japan."

Link To Story - Sony Battery Recall To Hit 9.6 Million

This I would surmise is a 'fuck up'. What is worse is that Apple blames Microsoft also.

Some of Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod digital music players shipped in the past month carry a computer virus, according to a posting on Apple's technical support Web site.

Apple said since September 12, less than 1 percent of Video iPods -- the pocket-sized devices that can play music files and video clips -- left the company's contract manufacturer carrying the virus RavMonE.exe. The virus affects computers running Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system.

Link to the release on Apple's Website.

Link to the story - Apple says shipped iPods carrying computer virus.

Updated responses to the Apple 'fuck up' - Excuses on iPod virus not credible