I wonder if the guys at Microsoft ever heard of input validation?

boingboing.net: “This week, Microsoft started requiring users to verify their serial number before using Windows Update. This effort to force users to either buy XP or tell them where you got the illegal copy is called ‘Genuine Advantage.’ It was cracked within 24 hours.”

But actually you can’t call that cracking, imho. Before pressing ‘Custom’ or ‘Express’ buttons paste this text to the address bar and press enter:

javascript:void(window.g_sDisableWGACheck='all')

It turns off the trigger for the key check, or so it would seem. If somebody could explain me how exactly doing that, ’cause I couldn’t reproduce this. I fail to understand how simply pasting that javascript snippet to the address bar will help.

Update: ok, it appears you have to

1. paste the javascript snippet to the address bar
2. hit enter and don’t wait for any fancy responce
3. let stuff happen in the background
4. hit either the ‘Custom’ or the ‘Express’ button
5. rock, roll and have whisky

Thanks to Carlos Woodson for pointing me that out.