Bitlocker- Microsoft gives dual-boot the elbow

[raul_]

http://www.theregister.com/2006/04/27/schneier_infosec/

Oh crap! Now i'll never be able to install Vista on my pc :rolleyes:

[ffi]

Maybe it's not an entirely bad idea. I always wonder how come it's so easy to get root access by just popping in a livecd.... not that I don't mind on my system, I would never be able to fix it else, but I guess it could be a security hazard....

[maagimies]

Maybe it's not an entirely bad idea. I always wonder how come it's so easy to get root access by just popping in a livecd....Then you have a password for BIOS setup, and disable cdrom booting from there. When you want to use a livecd, you use the password and tempoarily enable booting from cd.
This is much better practice than this Microsoft stuff.

[Tomosaur]

I am sick to the back teeth of Vista's endless hardware 'infringements'. When I buy a computer, it is absolutely my right to do whatever the hell I like with it. If Microsoft thinks it's putting it's crappy licence all over my hardware, then they've got another thing coming. Not that I'll be buying vista anyway, but you get my point :)

[ffi]

Then you have a password for BIOS setup, and disable cdrom booting from there. When you want to use a livecd, you use the password and tempoarily enable booting from cd.
This is much better practice than this Microsoft stuff.

That wouldn't stop someone from taking out the HD and putting it in another computer to get the data....

[Rhubarb]

As well as the foul stench of TPM I smell, there's a repugnant odor of anti-competitiveness there too.

If it smells bad, don't consume it. Simple.

[GeneralZod]

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=167427

[PurplePenguin]

Interesting! But has any other news about this come out since the article was published on April 27th, 2006? Have people tried dualbooting with versions of Vista that are already out there?

[Rhubarb]

Interesting! But has any other news about this come out since the article was published on April 27th, 2006? Have people tried dualbooting with versions of Vista that are already out there?

Yes, I've managed to dual boot vista RC1 and Dapper (or was it Edgy ... I can't remember which).
Having said that I know for a fact my laptop doesn't have a TPM, so bitlocker was unsupported on my vista test install.

[Lord Illidan]

Then you have a password for BIOS setup, and disable cdrom booting from there. When you want to use a livecd, you use the password and tempoarily enable booting from cd.
This is much better practice than this Microsoft stuff.

You can just reset the bios by taking out the battery and resetting a jumper.

Live CDs are a vulnerability to any unencrypted directory on your harddrive.

[rai4shu2]

This will just encourage people to format and install over Windows, which is a good thing.

[Lord Illidan]

This will just encourage people to format and install over Windows, which is a good thing.

I disagree with you here. Most newbies start out with dual booting systems. I would have never gone to Linux if I knew I couldn't dual boot, and chose Windows when I needed to play a game or do something I couldn't do on Linux.

[speedwell68]

This will just encourage people to format and install over Windows, which is a good thing.

Yep, :mrgreen:

[prizrak]

BitLocker is not enabled by default and is also not TPM dependant it can use a USB flash drive to keep the key if no TPM chip is present. It's also not something that is impossible to turn off by the user (assuming they turned it on in the first place) and is mostly aimed at business users. From what I know BitLocker isn't even supported by anything but Enterprise and Ultimate since it's an organizationally oriented feature.

I do wish that you (people in this thread) would first check their facts and then post.

[Mateo]

You people and your conspiracy theories. ;) If you read the article it says that difficulty with dual boot is a side effect of the security measure, it's not a reason for it.

[bonzodog]

Also, you need to remember that inter-operability between linux and Windows is now one of MS's priorities.
It will be available as a tool to put into vista now, and only, Enterprise and Ultimate at that, but it will not be default.

Don't worry, people. Also, I haven't seen many TPM mobos or hardware. TPM never made it much beyond an idea and some possible specs. The same thing is happening to DRM - it's going to be a distant memory by 2008.

[Bloodfen Razormaw]

Then you have a password for BIOS setup, and disable cdrom booting from there. When you want to use a livecd, you use the password and tempoarily enable booting from cd.
This is much better practice than this Microsoft stuff.
A BIOS password as good security practice? HAHAHAHAHA! Please take the bucket of paint away from your nose. :p
I'm guessing you were whining when Linux introduced encrypted volumes, too? How anticompetitive of them to actually allow us to secure our data!

[raul_]

There are always ways of getting data. If you can't remove the HD, you can crack the password by sleeping with the owner's wife or something. The point is making it more difficult. More steps mean more chances of failing.

Maybe the official reason for this measure is not to affect Linux, but hey, you can kill 2 birds with one shot ;)

I can say that I never saw so much hype around Linux as now. With Vista coming, people are now finding out (thanks Youtube) that you can get a much nicer Desktop with Beryl than with Aero, withouth having to spend 1000$. I don't want to turn this into a flamewar/yet another Linux Desktop Thread, but I think that Linux has never been so exposed as now, also because of Ubuntu, that is doing a great job demythifying Linux.

I'm so used to Ubuntu that I get the chills even thinking about moving to another Distro. Automatic updates, apt-get, excellent forums. Maybe a little less of "geek" factor (not as much as Sabayon or Gentoo in any means) but I'm not ready to leave Ubuntu yet (hummm...i remember saying this about Windows many months ago)

[raul_]

It seems that there was already another thread about this subject. I searched for BitLocker and nothing popped up, so...maybe they'll get merged.

[esaym]

I am sick to the back teeth of Vista's endless hardware 'infringements'. When I buy a computer, it is absolutely my right to do whatever the hell I like with it. If Microsoft thinks it's putting it's crappy licence all over my hardware, then they've got another thing coming. Not that I'll be buying vista anyway, but you get my point :)

Thats the reason I moved to ubuntu. I just got totally sick of hearing all the crap with vista. It just made me want to puke. I have been trying to move to linux of 3 years and kubuntu finally did it for me:mrgreen:

I only have a small partition on my laptop that has win2000 on it. I haven't booted that in several months:rolleyes:

[marx2k]

You can just reset the bios by taking out the battery and resetting a jumper.

I wish that were the case on this Sony VAIO laptop I once inherited. I didnt know the BIOS password and no amount of hacking at or in the lappy would do it... battery, no battery, hard drive, no hard drive, etc...

[raul_]

You don't even need to reset the jumper. Just let it out for 30 seconds or so (or some minutes to be sure) and *poof*, it's gone. It's a volatile memory

[Johnsie]

The 30 seconds thing doesn't work with all motherboards... Some of them retain the data in different ways. I recently had to deal with one such motherboard and it was a pain. However, with regard to this story.... Wasn't "TheRegister" the site who came out with the whole Goobuntu story? I'm pretty sure that site has featured some dodgy reporting before.

[BarfBag]

This is old news, but still hasn't worn off. One of the many reasons XP is my last Windows. I hate having it linger around on my system. :(

[prizrak]

The 30 seconds thing doesn't work with all motherboards... Some of them retain the data in different ways. I recently had to deal with one such motherboard and it was a pain. However, with regard to this story.... Wasn't "TheRegister" the site who came out with the whole Goobuntu story? I'm pretty sure that site has featured some dodgy reporting before.
Goobuntu was confirmed by Google themselves they just never meant for it to be used for anything but Google. You can also short the CMOS by putting couple of electrods in certain places (was actually in mobo documentation for one of my boards). Of course the issue is actually being able to open the case (pain with laptops).

[spockrock]

umm....is grub working properly with vista now, I read that there were issues with grub and vista.....

[Johnsie]

Goobuntu was confirmed as a hobby project but that site speculated that google might have been planning something a lot bigger than that.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/01/31/google_goes_desktop_linux/

What I'm saying is that the people at theregister are very imaginative when it comes to predicting what MIGHT happen in the future and might be wrong. This wouldn't be the first time they've speculated in order to get attention.

[happy-and-lost]

I can see all this encryption being a real headache for the police...

[Omnios]

Yet just another reason not to buy a M$ os!

[prizrak]

I can see all this encryption being a real headache for the police...

Considering that 2K's EFS had an NSA backdoor I don't see it as being much of a headache ;)