Anonymous writes "I'm not going to give a lot of detail in this article, as I don't want to promote, publicly, how easy it is to hack the WinXP service packs for use or just how full of hot air M$ is about their improved key code security.However, I also see no reason why people shouldn't be aware of this information in general, and its no small secret that I despise M$.After obtaining the latest service pack last night along with several 1070 patches, I went to work seeing just how difficult it would be to install.I set up a computer, solely for this testing purpose.I tried to look at this from a script kiddy perspective, or at the very least, a basic hackers ability.I installed WinXP Pro 2600 and used a commonly found key available from many sites.I removed messenger.I removed the Ezula spyware.I disabled the firewall, restore, remote access.I also disabled the NIC.Everything installed and ran without incident within 70 minutes.I then ran a battery of tests on the service pack.It tested clean and seems authentic.I installed it, and sure enough, it aborted with a notice of an invalid key.I didn't need to know anything about encryption.The control panel displays for you, what the key translates into.Simply searching the registry, reveals 3 location where the key is stored.Exporting the 3 keys, a quick edit with notepad, restoring the modified keys, effectively resets the registrations and has XP Pro running in beta test mode, fully functional.

The next problem, a valid service pack/XP Pro key.Again, trying to keep it simple, I searched the net for XP keygens.I found, what according to many news sites, were considered the most threatening keys to M$.I then generated 200 good keys in about 20 minutes.Of those good keys, only 2 actually worked.The point however, is that it worked.I now reboot the install for WinXP Pro.I chose upgrade.I entered (key after key until one worked).Upon successful registration,I forced a reboot.The new key was entered, and as the system was already installed, booted into WinXP Pro Corp.(Most keys floating around are retail.)I ran the service pack, and it installed without a hitch.I then modified the registry, which becomes obvious from viewing in notepad, to indicate that windows had connected to M$ and was validated.I rebooted, and everything is working.I re-enabled my NIC, and the OS isn't trying to register, as it thinks it already is.All in all, this was a one night project, proved to be relatively easy, and I see no reason why M$ could possibly claim any sort of improved security in this aspect.In short, everything needed to install WinXP Pro Corp. with full service pack are freely available on the WWW and can be installed without the presence of M$ for anyone with a relatively limited knowledge of computers."