Update on the Windows 7 USB/DVD Tool

by Peter Galli in port25

As you've likely read and as was originally reported here, we've been investigating a report that the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool, might contain GPLv2 code. The WUDT is a free tool that was offered by the Microsoft Store and which enabled customers to create bootable USB drives or DVD backup media from the electronic software (ESD) edition of Windows 7 that comes in an ISO format.

After looking at the code in question, we are now able to confirm this was indeed the case, although it was not intentional on our part. While we had contracted with a third party to create the tool, we share responsibility as we did not catch it as part of our code review process. We have furthermore conducted a review of other code provided through the Microsoft Store and this was the only incident of this sort we could find.

When it comes to our attention that a Microsoft component contains third party code, our aim is to be respectful of the terms under which that code is being shared. As a result, we will be making the source code as well as binaries for this tool available next week under the terms of the General Public License v2 as described here, and are also taking measures to apply what we have learned from this experience for future code reviews we perform.

source : http://port25.technet.com

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Microsoft ditches Windows 7 beta download limit

It will be available through Jan. 24; company apologizes for Friday foul-up

Microsoft Corp. on Saturday ditched the download limit on Windows 7 beta, saying that users will be able to grab the preview through Jan. 24 -- even if the total exceeds the 2.5 million cap it had set earlier.

The company also apologized for the stalled servers that prevented users from obtaining the operating system preview on Friday, the day the public beta was originally slated to launch.


"I know many of you have had issues with the Windows 7 beta site over the last 24 hours," company spokesman Brandon LeBlanc acknowledged in a posting to Microsoft's Windows 7 blog late Saturday. "We apologize for the inconvenience that it caused some of you."

Rather than cap the number of beta activation keys at 2.5 million -- the original plan to limit the test pool -- Microsoft will instead make Windows 7 available for two weeks, though Jan. 24, said LeBlanc. If fewer than 2.5 million people request and receive activation keys during that time, Microsoft will continue to offer the beta until the limit is reached.

"However, the more likely scenario is that we will surpass 2.5 million downloads, and so the beta downloads will be stopped after the 24th," wrote Kevin Remdes, a Microsoft-employed IT evangelist, on his blog Sunday.

The move came after Microsoft fumbled the Windows 7 public beta launch on Friday. At midday, it postponed the beta, citing "very heavy traffic" and saying it needed to beef up its servers and bandwidth to meet demand. Earlier in the day, Microsoft's main page and other URLs had been brought to their knees by users eager to download the preview. Hours later, when a link to the download was added to a page dedicated to IT professionals, users saw only messages such as "Server is too busy," and, "This site is currently experiencing technical difficulties, please check back in the next business day" when they tried to grab the file.

Microsoft restarted the beta launch Saturday, posting links to the download on its main Windows 7 page.

Computerworld had no difficulty on Monday morning reaching the download page, receiving activation keys or initiating downloads of the 32- and 64-bit versions of the new operating system.

After Jan. 24, users will still probably be able to download the beta because Microsoft rarely removes previews from its servers, instead relying on activation-key limits to restrict the number of testers. People who grab the beta after Microsoft stops delivering keys can install the operating system, then run it under Microsoft's usual 30-day trial policy. By using the same "slmgr -rearm" command that gained notoriety after Windows Vista's debut, they can extend that trial period to a total of 120 days.

Microsoft's decision to put a time limit on Windows 7 beta's availability mimics its practice more than two years ago, when it launched Windows Vista Beta 2. That beta, launched June 7, 2006, was available for just over three weeks, through June 30.

source : http://www.computerworld.com

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Microsoft restarts botched Windows 7 beta downloads

After 24-hour delay, activates download pages and begins handing out keys

Microsoft Corp. on Saturday restarted its rollout of the Windows 7 beta, 24 hours after it aborted the launch because heavy demand had stalled its servers.

As of noon PST, the company said that the primary beta download site, an offshoot of the Windows section of Microsoft.com, was "up and working."

Computerworld confirmed that the Windows 7 beta download page was online and taking download requests. Springboard Series, another public download location targeting IT professionals, was also live.

Also on Saturday, Microsoft was providing beta activation keys, offering them to users just prior to beginning the download. Computerworld was able to obtain an activation key, download the 32-bit version of the beta, and install and activate Windows 7.


Originally slated to start Friday at noon PST, Windows 7's public debut was postponed by Microsoft, which cited "very heavy traffic" across its Web properties. "Due to very heavy traffic we're seeing as a result of interest in the Windows 7 Beta, we are adding some additional infrastructure support to Microsoft.com properties," a spokeswoman said Friday afternoon.

On Wednesday, when Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced the Friday launch of the public beta, he urged everyone to grab a copy. "I encourage you all to get out and download it," he said.

Ballmer's comment, as well as the fact that Microsoft said it would cap the number of activation keys for the beta at 2.5 million, may have contributed to the crush of users who attempted to reach the download sites on Friday. Hours before the beta was to be posted, in fact, Microsoft's main page and other URLs were sporadically unavailable.

Later in the day, attempts to reach the download via the Springboard Series page, which for a time touted the beta, were stymied, with users seeing messages such as "Server is too busy," and "This site is currently experiencing technical difficulties, please check back in the next business day."

Users blasted Microsoft for Friday's snafu on the company's own blog. In comments posted to the postponement announcement, some raged at Microsoft's inability to launch the beta as promised. "I'm disappointed, and many others are too," said a user identified as "AA4PC" in a comment Friday evening. "The delay is going to hurt the credibility of Microsoft statements."

"Couldn't you learn anything from [the] last Vista beta distributions?" asked another user, "Seagull."

In June 2006, Microsoft urged users to order a DVD copy of Windows Vista Beta 2 preview rather than download the disk image, claiming that boosting bandwidth even more could cripple the Internet as a whole. "We are literally saying that if we increased our bandwidth any further, there's a possibility of taking down the Internet," an unidentified Microsoft representative told Dutch blogger Steven Bink at the time.

Microsoft also reportedly considered, then rejected, distributing Vista Beta 2 using the BitTorrent file-sharing protocol, an idea that several users pitched to the company via blog comments on Friday and Saturday.

"Time to give the torrent some love," argued "Xepol" on the same comment thread. "It isn't like it isn't already on BitTorrent ... Microsoft might as well benefit from it." Over the past two weeks, pirated copies of the 32- and 64-bit Windows 7 beta build leaked to BitTorrent sites.

Users can begin the beta download by heading to this page on the Windows 7 site, then selecting the 32- or 64-bit version, and the desired language.

More details on the download and Windows 7 can be found in the FAQ and recent review of the new operating system posted to Computerworld's site.

Source : http://www.computerworld.com

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