
Vista SP1 won't install on dual-boot systems (Trusted computing veers its ugly head) - nickb
http://apcmag.com/vista_sp1_wont_install_on_dualboot_systems_microsoft.htm
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KirinDave
Damnit, can we _please_ stop this "TPM = Trusted Computing" FUD that's been
floating around. The TPM is a hardware-secured cryptographic assist that
anyone can use. It is extremely useful in security applications, and if you
read the article what Microsoft is trying to do is both correct and secure.

Trusted Computing is part of a larger effort of which the TPM chips were only
one small part, and a part which is arguably one of the most beneficial-to-
the-consumer parts of the system.

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anamax
How is it "correct and secure" to make dual boot more difficult? How is it
"correct and secure" to make dual boot unavailable when bitlocker is used?

~~~
KirinDave
They can't verify what every executable in the bootloading chain will do, so
they simply refuse to boot vista in the event that they can't verify it is
being booted by known code. This is "secure", because they do a best-effort
guarantee to prevent foreign code from entering the boot process. Refusing to
boot is "correct" because it is the only course of action the Vista bootloader
has to avoid loading tainted code. A far worse decision would be to modify the
system to remove that bootloader and then reboot.

This is not a MS vs. the world thing, and I am certainly not a microsoft
apologist. Whole-disk encryption for Linux should do something similar, and
hopefully will make use of TPM chips if they are available.

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olefoo
OK, this is lame.

The original article explains fairly clearly that.

    
    
          a. this only applies when the vista volume is protected
    
          b. that it stops installing the vista upgrade so it wont step on your bootloader.
    

So now we're kicking microsoft for doing the right thing?

I mean personally I'd rather experiment with recreational cholera infections
than run any version of Windows, but come on, this headline is some quality
flamebait.

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dhimes
The article is from March. Not news.

