Vista Activation Crack Improved

It wasn't so long ago that we reported on a Vista crack, which gave hackers access to the new operating system (OS) without ever paying a dime. Now, it appears that crack has been improved, and it means more headaches for Microsoft as the home release of Vista nears in only a month's time.

The original crack surrounded setting up a Key Management Server, and then exposing a weakness in Microsoft supported Voice Activation 2.0. By doing this, hackers could gain free access to Vista for 180 days before the activation ran out. That's six months, and although not an eternity, it's certainly enough free OS to make it worthwhile. (Source: Microsoft-watch.com)

Now, it appears a second crack has eliminated the 180 day countdown, allowing users to run Vista, for free, as long as they want. The crack, which works best with 32-bit versions of the new OS, fools Vista into a perpetual state of 30 days until reactivation. It requires some tinkering with the system's internal clock, but that's nothing interested hackers can't easily work around. (Source: Microsoft-watch.com)

Microsoft is reportedly on top of the issue, and is trying to scare wannabe hackers by warning them that using the crack could expose their systems to Trojans and other malware. The company is denying that the problem is a massive one, but are certainly not shying away from the fact that the crack does exist.

The crack activation does appear to be dangerous to those using it, however. That's a result of tampering with Vista's internal time device, but it may not be enough to scare users away from a potentially free OS.