Windows Vista VHD - Free Download

Thanks to odeeee for this download links. Windows Vista is now available for IT professionals and developers with MSDN and TechNet subscriptions. In the coming weeks, Microsoft will start the Windows Vista Customer Preview Program (CPP) for developers and IT professionals who are not members of the subscription services.

Windows Vista comes with a breakthrough user experience and is designed to help you feel confident in your ability to view, find, and organize information and to control your computing experience.

The visual sophistication of Windows Vista helps streamline your computing experience by refining common window elements so you can better focus on the content on the screen rather than on how to access it. The desktop experience is more informative, intuitive, and helpful. And new tools bring better clarity to the information on your computer, so you can see what your files contain without opening them, find applications and files instantly, navigate efficiently among open windows, and use wizards and dialog boxes more confidently.

Windows Vista is engineered to be the most secure version of Windows yet. The new features in Windows Vista help to give you the control and confidence you need to get the most out of your PC.

For organizations with complex desktop infrastructures, whether large or small, Windows Vista Enterprise is the operating system designed specifically to help realize a better return on IT investments. In this VHD, you'll have the opportunity to road-test new and improved features including management (e.g. MUI, BDD, etc…) usability (e.g. Search, Navigation, etc…) and security (UAC, Windows Defender, etc…), enhancements to the Windows Vista platform.

Download: Vista.part1.exe, Vista.part2.rar, Vista.part3.rar


News source: Softpedia

New Vista OEM Activation Hack - Vista Boot by gkend

Thanks to Steve Jobs for this article on his blog and to our forum members to clecha, Nighthief and fitterphil120 for most of the findings. One again the “Chinese” come up with a new method to trick out the Vista Activation. We have seen Softmode and VistaLoader, however “ Vista Boot by gkend” does promise even more.

We do not know much about it; however we know it will emulate a brand SLIC which will make an OEM Activation possible.

What is new and where this method does vary from the others is that it does integrate the SLIC table directly into BootMgr. Unlike other Paradox, this method can have no conflicts wit different chipsets, motherboards, or drivers. Unlike VistaLoader, this method has no conflicts with multiboot systems, does not require alteration of the Master Boot Record, and does not result in any text being displayed prior to Windows being booted. This method will also work equally well with Vista 32-bit or 64-bit and is independent of the version of Windows (Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Ultimate) used. The bad news are, this method is vulnerable to the same types of detection which can be used on the other cracks - so can be disabled.

Some notes on using this hack:

1. Any SLIC table can be used with this program, simply by selecting it. No special encoding is present (like in the Paradox crack). All of the SLIC tables we have collected are viable candidates for integration.

2. This crack only applies the SLIC table. It does not apply (or even have) the matching OEM certificates - nor does it install a serial number for Vista. Both of these steps must still be done manually using the command prompt and SLMGR.VBS.

3. It is completely possible to take advantage of this cracks facility of specifying the partition of the BootMgr file to create a collection of pre modified BootMgr files.

Download: http://share.gulli.com/files/999820566/vistaboot522.rar.html


News source: stevejobs.blogs.keznews.com

Hack to Run DreamScene in Vista Home Premium, Basic, Starter, Business and Enterprise

Own a non-Ultimate edition of Windows Vista, but very like the DreamScene application featured in Ultimate Extras package? With most OEM brand computers factory installed Windows Vista Home Premium or Home Basic, and corporates go for Windows Vista Enterprise edition, Microsoft will be earning a lot if everybody upgrade to Ultimate version with Windows Anytime Upgrade just for DreamScene. There’re alternative programs in VideoLAN’s VLC Player and BS.Player that can be used to set video as desktop background wallpaper, however, this is a hack to allow users in any editions of Vista to run native and original Windows DreamScene from Microsoft.

Hack to install Windows DreamScene in non-Ultimate Vista

1. Download the patched DreamScene dll files package NonUltimateDreamScene.zip (alternative link).
2. Unpack the archive content to a folder.
3. Right click on InstallDreamScene.bat and select “Run as Administrator” to install Windows DreamScene on your non-Ultimate version of Vista. Answer “Y” to continue.You can also open elevated command prompt with administrator rights and type InstallDreamScene.bat to execute the batch script.
4. Restart your computer.

Voila, your system now will run DreamScene without paying hefty Ultimate price. If you prefer to manually to install the patched DreamScene DLL files, here’s the step-by-step guide:

1. Download the patched DreamScene files as above and unpack to a folder.
2. Copy DreamScene.dll to %WinDir%\System32\ folder.
3. Copy DreamScene.dll.mui to %WinDir%\System32\en-US\ folder.
4. In Windows Explorer, navigate to %WinDir%\System32\ folder.
5. Right click on themecpl.dll file, and click on Properties on right click menu.
6. Select the Security tab, then click Advanced.
7. Subsequenly select the Owner tab, click Edit button. Press Continue (or log in if you’re not Administrator) on any User Access Control prompt.
8. Select your Vista logon user name, then click OK button. Then click OK in any dialog window that pops up, and press OK again at Advanced Security Settings window.
9. On Security tab, click the Edit button. Press Continue (or log in if you’re not already an Administrator) on User Access Control prompt.
10. Click Add button, and click on Advanced button. Next press Find Now button, and then select your logged on user name. Press OK when done.
11. Click OK again on Select Users or Groups dialog.
12. On Permissions for themecpl.dll window, highlight your user name, and check the box next to “Full Control” under “Allow” column. Hit OK when done, and confirm any message. Click OK twice to exit from ownership taking process.
13. Rename the file themecpl.dll in %WinDir%\System32 to themecpl.dll.original.
14. Copy the patched version of themecpl.dll to %WinDir%\System32\ folder.
15. Repeat step 4 - 12 on themecpl.dll.mui file located in %WinDir%\System32\en-US\ folder.
16. After taking ownership, rename the file %WinDir%\System32\en-US\themecpl.dll.mui to themecpl.dll.mui.original.
17. Copy the patched version of themecpl.dll.mui to %WinDir%\System32\en-US\ folder.
18. Create a new folder in %windir%\Web named “Windows DreamScene” (without quotes).This is the location to place all your videos want to set as DreamScene wallpaper, and can be easily configured via Control Panel Personalization applet.
19. Lastly, import and merge DreamScene.reg to registry.
20. Reboot computer.

Using DreamScene

After patching, right click on any blank space on Desktop, select “Personalize”, then click on “Desktop Background”. Under location, select “Windows DreamScene Content”, and then select a animated video you want.


News source: UnfocusedOne

'Final' iPod fix for Vista delivered

Microsoft Corporation has released what it has called the "final" fix that corrects the issue of some iPods corrupting when ejecting them using Windows Explorer or the 'Safely Remove Hardware' function in the System Tray. Within days of Vista's general availability, Apple Incorporated warned Windows iTunes users to delay upgrading to Vista. Now, however, "Apple and Windows have partnered together to ensure a great experience in using Windows Vista with iTunes and the iPod, and both companies recommend you download this update," said Nick White, a Vista program manager. The Vista iPod patch will be made available to users on May 22 via Windows Update although itis already available from Microsoft's site.

Download: Update for Windows Vista (KB936824)


News source: ComputerWorld

TweakNT 1.21

TweakNT is a utility that allows you to remove or readd the timebomb and change the edition of any NT OS. Thanks to Hack4Crack for this download.TweakNT is a utility that allows you to remove, add or edit the timebomb, and change the edition of any NT OS.

It should be fairly self-evident how to use it, if it isnt, I would suggest you don't even try, as you'll most likely break something.

I will say this as so many people dont get it even though it should be fairly obvious:TweakNT is 35k, it only makes changes to the registry. This means that converting your os to anything else is purely cosmetic, it wont install any of the extra compoenents etc... so don't expect miracles. Also, be careful if you're converting - windows may not like it.

Timebomb
Timebomb is not the same as WPA, timebomb is usually present in betas, and is normally somewhere between 120 and 360 days. If there is a timebomb, the build will always be shown on the desktop, consequently, removing the timebomb will remove the build from desktop (unless you specify it to always show) TweakNT also allows you to add a timebomb (not sure quite why you might want to do that) of anywhere between 1 and 93,206 days.

Converting can render your OS completely unusable, do not touch this unless you know what you're doing.Obviously, You can't convert Windows 2000 to web server, as it doesnt exist, these are for .net but the basic "ntswitch" will work on all versions of NT.

All changes made by TweakNT are reversible, though in some cases you may not be able to get to a point where you can run TweakNT to reverse the changes, if this happens you will need to restore the backup of the registry created by TweakNT. You will be told the location of this file after the backup is created. The backup can be restored by renaming or deleting "system" and renaming the backup file to "system". These files are in \windows\system32\config. This renaming has to be done from a secondary OS.

TweakNT requires vb6 runtimes, if you are using 2000 or NT, you may need to install these.

Improvements in 1.1:
You can now add a timebomb (don't ask why)Gives install and expiry dateFixed bug that would make a install with timebomb bigger than 364 days bsod on boot (oops)
Improvements in 1.2:
Added convert to MCE and TabletPC for XP
- not sure what might happen with these on anything other than xpsp1

Modifications with this application at you own risk !!!

CONVERTING TO TABLET PC AND MEDIA CENTER EDITION
DO NOT convert to MCE or TabPC unless you are using: XP SP1 Retail, OEM, TabPC or MCE Converting CORP will not work, windows will not let you log on.

If you are stupid enough to ignore that and try it on corp anyway, you can log on in safe mode and convert back to pro.

This conversion is cosmetic. It will not install all the extra components.

Download:
Download TweakNT 1.21 (link 1)
Download TweakNT 1.21 (link 2)
Download TweakNT 1.21 (link 3)


View: KezNews Discussion - TweakNT 1.21 download