Daemon Tools and Addware!

[elkangorito]

How come I have added 2GB of RAM, upgraded my video card to nVidia 7300, added a brand new 320GB HDD, added a new DVD-RW, installed Daemon Tools (adding a new Virtual Drive), changed my motherboard... and my retail Win XP x86 didn't require activation.

That's a very good question!

As for my Windows, it's XP Pro SP2 retail & legitimate. Since I built my computer & installed the OS some 18 months ago, I have not changed any hardware except for updating the DVD-RAM firmware, which was done about a week ago.

If DTools does create a virtual drive, is it not removed when DTools is uninstalled from the system? How can I check to see if this virtual drive is still there? If it is still there, how can I get rid of it?

Thanks everybody for your thoughts & suggestions so far.

[mwb1100]

Actually, OEM versions are identical to retail versions in regards to activation.

This depends on the OEM version - large OEMs (like Dell) have special code that checks the BIOS - if it's a Dell BIOS then pretty much no other changes will trigger a re-activation.

How come I have added 2GB of RAM, upgraded my video card to nVidia 7300, added a brand new 320GB HDD, added a new DVD-RW, installed Daemon Tools (adding a new Virtual Drive), changed my motherboard... and my retail Win XP x86 didn't require activation.

There might be a couple possibilities. I'm not sure, but I believe the activation trigger may be time sensitive - if you make change A then no changes for 6 months (or something - I don't think anyone outside MS would know the exact timing) then change A is 'forgotten' and Change B will not trigger a reactivation. Although I would have expected that a motherboard change would by itself trigger a reactivation. The only other possibilities that I know of only involve non-retail versions of XP (volume license, BIOS locked-OEM, ...)
Take a look at this thread: http://www.daemon-tools.cc/dtcc/reac...ows-t5875.html

[obi1kenobi]

But I made all the changes at the same time (I pretty much renovated my PC :-D ). Other than that, the thread answers the question (almost) :-)

[elkangorito]

I actually agree with a lot of what "mtb" had to say.
Here was my experience with Daemon Tools 4.09 X86, recently downloaded from the "Daemon Tools" site (http://www.daemon-tools.cc/dtcc/down...gory&catid=5);
I did read the ".....This version has an option to install client-side software applications (DAEMON Tools Searchbar and Save Now) that deliver a limited number of behaviorally targeted and contextually relevant coupons, ads and comparative shopping results directly to consumers desktops - without compromising the privacy, security or smooth functioning of peoples computers! No URL hijacking or redirects! In order to support FREE distribution of DAEMON Tools we highly encourage you at least to try out this optional software! (you can remove it anytime later when you wish: via Control Panel-> Add/Remove Programs)" information & decided that the product was safe to download, which I did. I then installed the software onto my computer (I forgot to untick the searchbar install) afterwhich, I restarted my computer. Immediately the computer booted into windows, I was alerted by both Windows Defender (which I will soon replace with Spybot) & Avast (home version). Windows defender was not specific about the problem but Avast informed me that a 'threat' had been found & this threat was listed as the Win32-Agent-AWB trojan.
Because I was not expecting a trojan to be installed onto my computer (I was expecting a harmless 'searchbar' though), I immediately placed the file(s) into quarantine.
I then tried to open Daemon Tools, which failed to respond. I then uninstalled the program by using its uninstaller, afterwhich I restarted the computer.
Upon the OS booting, I was confronted with "New hardware was found on your computer & Windows will need to be re-activated" or words to this affect. Also, MS gave me 3 days in which to re-activate my computer.
I see no mention of "Some anti-virus software may call part of our software a trojan" or "Our software may cause activation problems with Windows". BTW, my computer was 'bug free' prior to this. Now, I will reload windows because I don't want to send MS any info by re-activating my computer.
As to this date & time, I have not tried Daemon Tools (DT), which I am determined to try IF somebody (preferably an expert on DT, an administrator or a Mod) can definitively tell me that the 'Win32-Agent-AWB' trojan is not as Avast sees it (ie it's safe). Also & if possible, could somebody please offer an explanation about why my Win XP now needs re-validating?
Thanks in advance.

Just an update to what's happening now;

I've re-installed XP & all the essential software (DirectX, Java, firewall, antivirus etc) & did not allow the OS to access the internet to obtain any MS updates (my computer was physically disconnected from the internet).

I then installed DTools & deselected the searchbar option. All is now fine - checked complete system for spyware, viruses etc & everything is clear.

I do think that allowing MS to install updates may also be aiding the blocking of certain programs like DTools. From now on, my MS updates will be turned off & I will just have to rely on my firewall, antivirus & anti spyware programs, as well as common sense, to protect my system.

Thanks again for your help.

[Mephisto18m]

well, thats not a very good idea as this is definitely neither Microsoft's nor Daemon-Tool's fault.
I'm running XP with Avast and every single update provided together with the search-bar without experiencing any problems so far. I'm not using any anti-spyware-programs, though.
If you'll never connect your machine to the internet by now, you could stick to your solution, but consider upgrading to SP2 if it wasn't included in your installation.