Hidden spot on hard drives?

[D. Goss]

I wanted to say what Kirk has said well.  As a customer, if a company  
is going to overbearingly copy-protect software i'll look for an  
alternative.  I understand a license number and maybe a key  
generator, even a dial-in check to some home server.  Dongles stink  
but I have used software with them.  This all works somewhat well and  
is proven.  You can always get around anything and I certainly would  
think more than twice about any software that started messing with my  
hard drive(s) at a very low level like this.  Bad bad bad.

d.


On Oct 5, 2005, at 8:04 PM, Kirk Strauser wrote:

> On Wednesday 05 October 2005 01:44 pm, Jonathon McKitrick wrote:
>
>> the company where I work (with Windows) is evaluating a copy  
>> protection
>> product that stores info somewhere on the HDD where the [1] user  
>> cannot
>> touch it, [2] a format will not erase it, [3] and Norton Ghost  
>> will not find
>> it.
>>
>
> 1) No such animal.
> 2) Ah - the bootblock, as others have mentioned.
> 3) Of course, that doesn't say anything about Ghost v$(current + 1).
>
> To be blunt, your vendor is lying to you.  At best, they can make  
> copying less
> convenient than otherwise, but can't stop a dedicated cracker.   
> Why, then,
> would you want to make life more difficult for your paying  
> customers while
> barely slowing those capable of doing you the most harm?
>
> One thing I learned while growing up through the C=64 and Amiga  
> days is that
> copy protection never, ever, EVER works.  Ever.  Under no  
> circumstances.  It
> only makes your legitimate users (deservedly) hate you.  Are you  
> sure that's
> what your company really wants?
> -- 
> Kirk Strauser
>