According to Computer World, Microsoft Corp. will feed users of Windows Vista with an update next week in order to target pirated copies with cracks that the company will bust when it released Service Pack 1 (SP1), in mid-March.
The announcement of the upgrade, which will take place through Windows Update (WU) and will be automatically installed on most Vista machines, detect two commonly used cracks which activate pirated copies of the operating system. The cracks bypasses Vista’s detection technology incorporated in the software and circumvents it by the activation of fake products as a legitimate installation.
One of the cracks, “Grace timer”, works by extending the actual activation grace period until the year 2099. The other crack, named as OEM BIOS, modifies the file system as well as the PC BIOS to simulate activation of the product as is done by computer-maker in the factory.
Both will be blocked by Vista SP1, the main update by WU, which will be offered as an optional download by mid-March and will download and install automatically next month.