Dark Side of WinXP

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Security Issues
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Steve Gibson - Denial Of Service

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Bandwidth Problems
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The Register
Windows XP helps itself to 20 per cent of your bandwidth, a useful tip at TweakXP reveals. But although this sounds like the sort of thing that could easily fuel paranoia (what's it doing with it?), it's more just a case of sloppy and wasteful configuration.

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Activations and Updates
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Microsoft Software Piracy
Software piracy continues to be a worldwide problem and Microsoft is committed to a long-term strategy of protecting intellectual property through innovative technologies.

Product Key Check
Microsoft has released details of the changes being made in Windows Product Activation (WPA) with WinXP Service Pack 1. As expected, SP1 will fail to install if either of "two well-known pirated product keys" has previously been used to activate the system, and such systems will also be denied access to Windows Update. But the changes will have a far wider impact than this, as Microsoft appears to be trying to cover all currently known holes in WPA security.

Access Denied
Because Windows Update will also be checking keys after October 2nd, Microsoft can deny access to updates even if SP1 has been successfully installed on a system whose key is subsequently found to be abused.
"Service Pack 1 for Windows XP will contain fixes to cracks used by software pirates to circumvent activation," the company said. "Installations of Windows XP patched by a crack will require activation after SP1 has been installed."