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Thread ID: 22483	2002-07-22 10:08:00	monday news	tweak'e (174)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
64355	2002-07-22 10:08:00	The big news to start the day is the planned surprise that Microsoft has for warez copies of the corporate version of Windows XP and the upcoming SP1. BetaOne has posted this (www.betaone.net) explaining how Microsoft, is changing the CD key algorithm for Windows XP Corporate edition in an attempt to thwart those who pirated the operating system. Here's part of the article: Currently, Microsoft is in the works of completely rewriting the algorithm for the way Windows XP Corporate keys are generated, and is rewriting the code for Windows XP to recognize this new algorithm. This new code will be an added ‘feature’ of Service Pack 1 due out later this year. At the present moment, an upgrade to Windows XP SP1 from Windows XP with no SP installation will not give any problems or errors about an invalid CD-Key on a corporate version of Windows XP. This is because the new algorithm feature has been switched off in SP1 upgrades. To get to see this new feature, you would have to slipstream SP1 into the Windows XP installation media and setup Windows. Once you’ve reached the CD-key, no current Corporate Windows XP key (none of the 75 that we’ve tried) will work, as they are all invalid. Even if a corporate key is managed to be found, the chances of it working when SP1 final comes out are slim to none, as Microsoft is rumored to ‘still be working on the algorithm for SP1 for Corporate customers’. So why is Microsoft keeping this a secret? To put it mildly, they are a bit perturbed that warezers have been able to exploit the corporate edition of Windows XP to completely bypass WPA. They are planning to keep it a complete surprise until SP1 final has been released and shut down as many warez users from using Windows XP as possible. They know if it’s made widely known what they are planning, nobody will upgrade to SP1 until an appropriate patch has been made. And as far as patches go, as far as we can guess right now the only patch that is going to work will be the ever popular "Reset" patch. If you slipstream a corporate version of Windows XP as you’re supposed to do, it will upgrade the algorithm. Note that the slipstream patches the DLL files which generate the CD keys, it doesn’t replace them. This is why you cannot slipstream a non corporate version of Windows XP and drop the corporate files in and expect the installation to work properly. Windows also checks for the DLL files version numbers and if they don’t match, errors will be created during install. It could be possible to find these DLL’s, replace the version numbers with those of SP1, and put them back into the installation media, but you’d also have to find a way to replicate the Microsoft signature on the DLL’s as well as the CAB files for setup to actually copy the files to the hard drive It looks like Microsoft is starting to take their security seriously for once. Version 1.7 of Front Line Force (http://www.flfmod.com/) for Half-Life has been released with the following changes: New Maps flf_rmego - A new Key Capture gameplay map (like flf_sogem) takes place in a large mansion flf_cyprus - A quiet village soon to feel battle over its capture points Weapon Balance Improvements Definition: Potency is a broad term meaning one, or several of: ROF, damage, drop of range, accuracy, etc HK21 decreased in potency AK5 decreased in potency FAMAS increased in potency SAKO unzooms again - Unzoom comes about .5 seconds after shoot - Net effect is you see your shot hit/miss and overall unzoomed time is decreased View bobbing effect when getting hit (irritated snipers) has been decreased Weapon penetration has been decreased across the board +use sniping removed Cheating Death compatibility changes (should work fine now) Logging improvments to conform better to the Half-Life logging standard Assorted bug fixes A version 1.7a update has also been released for server side versions only, so go and grab the new version from one of the many links on the Front Line Force download page here (www.flfmod.com). Jadetec Corporation has released the world's smallest PC. The MicroPC is the size of a CD-ROM with full working functionality of a desktop computer. It's specs cater for Intel Pentium III CPU, 256 Mb RAM, 30Gb Hard Drive, CD/DVD/ CDRW it features onboard 56k V90 Fax/Modem &,10/100 Base-T Ethernet, 2 USB Ports, Serial & Parallel connections and it's IrDA compliant. It's ready to run Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP or Linux. Check out the pic below and read more about it over at Jadetec (www.jadetec.co.uk). Tweakers Asylum (http://tweakersasylum.com) has taken apart the new Omega Detonator Drivers to see what makes them special and have published the results for all to see. Here's a bit from the post: This write-up began as a simple exercise of benchmarking the Omega drivers for the Detonator Database. I originally intended to collect my data and let that be the end of the story but while I was running the benchmarks I began to see some disturbing visual behavior from drivers that were supposedly optimized for "quality." A final version and a disclaimer later, the Omega drivers have seen some slight improvements but there is still the question of whether or not the drivers actually offer a significant quality advantage over the stock nVidia competition. View the whole story here (www.tweakersasylum.com). Nvidia has released a new WDM driver version 1.16 for it's Personal Cinema. The drivers are for Windows 98SE/ME/2000 and XP and are available for download here (www.warp2search.net). Ultima Electronics has announced the release of the world's fastest IDE CD-RW recorder which cuts the figures of 52x Write, 24x Re-Write and 52x Read. You can read more details on the drive here (www.cdrinfo.com). Remember the early days of the PC and a small company called Trident who manufactured mass market video cards. Well after living in obscurity for nearly 10 years, they are back, and next month Trident will return to the desktop graphics market. The company will targeting the budget consumer only and have no intention of taking on Nvidia. Here's some of the story covering the announcement: Trident next month will unveil a new line of graphics chips aimed at mainstream PC buyers. Video cards based on Trident's XP4 chips will offer performance comparable to the latest mid-range graphics processors, with prices starting at $70, compared with $100 for comparable Nvidia and ATI products and up to $400 for high-end graphics cards. Peter Glaskowsky, editor in chief of influential industry newsletter Microprocessor Report, said there's more room lately for smaller graphics players such as Trident, thanks to Microsoft's efforts to standardize graphics programming. The current and upcoming versions of the software giant's DirectX graphics libraries include support for high-level programming instructions that formerly required specific support from the chipmaker. "Microsoft has standardized it so that a company like Trident that doesn't have $150 million to spend on R&D can pretty much keep up," he said. "Companies like Matrox and Trident can make very competitive products. And if they have a lower cost structure for development and manufacturing, they can use price to gain a piece of the market." Good to see the return of a once dominant manufacturer. Version 2.1 of Reaction Quake 3 (www.reactionquake3.com) is now available for download. Reaction is a variation on the Action Quake 2 mod and the new release adds a capture the briefcase (CTB) mode reminiscent of AQ2's Espionage CTB mode, a bunch of new maps, as well as various enhancements and bug fixes. The patch is 55MB and you must have version 2.0 already installed. You can grab the new patch from the link above. HLGuard (www.unitedadmins.com) anti-cheating package for Half-Life version 1.07 has been released. The new release has the following changes: FIXED: Flickering/vanishing players with ping less than 30ms. FIXED: Improved Wallhack Blocking for thin walls and doors. FIXED: Nemesis 1.9 disabling. FIXED: Invisible Script detection. FIXED: CSG to HLG in aimbot detection lines. FIXED: File & Cvar to Alias & Cvar throughout. The new version is available from here (www.unitedadmins.com), but you must register first to be able to download.	tweak'e (174)
64356	2002-07-24 05:43:00	hey dude have read this posted on The Inquirer sent in by some dude: Sirs, I am writing to you regarding your article . Microsoft set to include new anti-piracy measures in SP1 In a round about way, and perhaps knowing a few of these "pir8's", this whole subject has the underground population laughing . I don't know what you know of how the underground works, who does the work, or what have you, but this new algorithm will be broken within approximately 24 hours . There is currently a keygenerator out there that whips up new numbers for you already, so you're not using the original "FCKGW" key that is widely known . If the new system consists of blacklisting that key, it has already been circumvented . Im sure MS has something more tricky up its sleeve, but there is NO doubt it will be broken . As they say, "As quick as software can be made, software can be taken apart" .	Ritzz (731)
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