Hiren's now legal??

J

JW The Computer Guy

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Hiren's boot cd now warns you about certain software on the disc and says not to use it unless you have a valid licence for it. Just thought I'd let everyone know.
 

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technically it was always legal, so long as you only used the software that you owned a license to.

However, hiren is still violating copyright by distributing it without permission.

It is interesting that he is now deciding to show you a warning first.
 
It warns you but the software still executes and run as it were a full version so it is certainly illegal still.
 
Its kind of like MP3s. Its fine to have them as a "backup copy" if you have a legal copy, but most people dont. Even if having a warning like that makes it legal, I would never support it. Have you noticed its never been a Repair Tool of the Week?
 
Anyways the whole reason why I'm obsessed with hiren's is the local computer shop uses it for EVERYTHING. I did my highschool co-op there a little while back.
 
Well it shouldn't be too hard, a lot of the software is not needed - who needs 12 drive imaging programs? The hardest part I think would be getting system diagnostics software (the stuff people pay loads of money for)
 
A lot of the Hiren's stuff can be replaced by free source (I prefer BSD style licenses over 'open' source), but requires much studying in the ways of unix (same goes for GPL and 'open' source).

Cloning requires no access to the actual file system, so that one is trivial.
Same for partition tools.

Then there's a load of abandoned stuff which you couldn't get a license for anyhow, like all the hard disk diagnostic stuff: you could get it for free in past (I did), but you can make do without the old stuff and just go download the modern versions direct from Seagate et al.

The only thing you won't get for free is a replacement for the abandonware or out-of-date datarecovery stuff. But you should be making money out of data recovery stuff: there's $100 licenses out there for your initial job, after which you can then upgrade to a proper tech license.

If you use a program a lot to earn your crust, it only makes sense to support the creator by buying a proper technicians license, or, if that's not possible, spend some time finding an up-to-date replacement with proper support, commercial or free (as in freedom).

I've got a tech license for DFsee.com and use UBCD (the 'old' command line version).

If I need a windows environment to diagnose the hard disks contents, I take the customer's computer home and put their hard disk in a windows workstation (i.e. I've never even needed UBCDwindows or BartPE)

So I do not see the point of Hiren's or Antivirus bootcds (pain to keep up-to-date).
 
I only use Hiren's boot disk for the hard drive diagnostics. I'm too lazy to go to all the different hard drive manufacturer websites and create my own boot disk w/ it.
 
You know... It really just bothers my soul if I do something wrong. I find my life goes much smoother when my conscious is clear, and my soul is clean. It's just an easier way to live. It's easy to justify the things you want by taking, but where does it end. It seems small and trivial, and you laugh it off like it's nothing, but all that stuff in your life adds up, and one day it might overwhelm you. With life already being as hard as it is, I find I don't need a guilty conscious, or an uncomfortable unescapable feeling of something not quite right in my life. You may think my post is ridiculous and laughable, but I hope you give it more chance than that.
 
How do you define what is wrong?

Are the rules companies set forth our guides?
Are the law that our countries make the ultimate guide?

What is wrong to one man, is right to another.
 
Cue said:
How do you define what is wrong?

Are the rules companies set forth our guides?
Are the law that our countries make the ultimate guide?

What is wrong to one man, is right to another.
Click to expand...
Sure, we can use moral relativism all we want but that won't hold up much in a court of law.

But if one wants to wear a Militia-Man's hat and ignore the "laws of some other country":

  • If we know it's robbing the author of their due... it's wrong.
  • If that author depends on purchases for their livelihood and we rationalize its use without payment... it's wrong.
  • If the author expressly forbids the use of their software in such a manner and we ignore it and use it anyway... it's wrong.
  • If you really need someone to explain 'right' and 'wrong'....

We work with software all the time and most of the time there's a free alternative for us to use. Using commercial software in a way contrary to that company's terms.... well, you figure it out.
 
Housecalls said:
Sure, we can use moral relativism all we want but that won't hold up much in a court of law.

But if one wants to wear a Militia-Man's hat and ignore the "laws of some other country":

  • If we know it's robbing the author of their due... it's wrong.
  • If that author depends on purchases for their livelihood and we rationalize its use without payment... it's wrong.
  • If the author expressly forbids the use of their software in such a manner and we ignore it and use it anyway... it's wrong.
  • If you really need someone to explain 'right' and 'wrong'....

We work with software all the time and most of the time there's a free alternative for us to use. Using commercial software in a way contrary to that company's terms.... well, you figure it out.
Click to expand...
Right, wrong are very hard questions and definitions that we will not solve here even if we have a 100 years.

But can I then ask a question.
IF you are in China, talking badly about the government, it is illegal.
Would you consider it wrong? Would you feel badly? Would you feel that you have done something wrong?
 
I think this is going a bit too deep. We are talking about a boot CD. Lets keep it real. There is no person on this forum who has not used pirated software at some point. Or listened to pirated music...ect.

Using Hiren's might not be exactly legal but its certainly only wrong to a persons own moral code, what ever that may be. Its an option, a very good one. If you don't feel right about using it, don't.
 
Yea, a little deep :)

I was talking generally, im very much against reading the softwares disclaimer or EULA and following that as law.

We keep forgetting that we are consumers and the values software makers put forth are NOT for the end user, they make it for their own benefit, never ours.
 
Last edited:
Cue said:
Yea, a little deep :)

I was talking generally, im very much against reading the softwares disclaimer or EULA and following that as law.

We keep forgetting that we are consumers and the values software makers put forth are NOT for the end user, they make it for their own benefit, never ours.
Click to expand...

However, you shouldn't only think of yourself. Other people make a living writing that software just as you do using it.

I can not, in any remote way, rationalize in my head how it would be okay to use a piece of software I am making money off of, without paying the developer. Especially when almost every time it will pay for itself in 1 or 2 jobs at the max.
 
It's funny how people can skip a EULA which, no matter how vague it might be, they still understand the intent to be "if you use this, you agree to pay/have paid for it".
I'm no angel and have ignored them in the past but I've never tried to pretend I wasn't doing what I was doing. I knew it was wrong.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ANYWAY.... why don't we try to turn this into a more productive discussion:

The EULA-breaking software notwithstanding, what software do people add to a Hiren's CD?
 
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