This week, I was disassembling software that a major, to-remain-nameless OEM, put out for their netbook customers. I was ready to call them out on code that deliberately bypassed a licensed feature check in Windows, enabling ad-hoc wireless networking… but when I booted up an Eee PC, ad-hoc wireless networking worked out of the box.
Huh? But why does Microsoft explicitly state Starter Edition cannot participate in ad-hoc networks? And why is this OEM patching Windows code? More specifically, why were they intercepting the SLGetWindowsInformation function (within the Explorer process), waiting for Microsoft-Windows-DOT11PREF-AllowAdhoc as a parameter and returning a true value every time? (Some of us call this a “crack”.)
I couldn’t find the difference in ad-hoc networking between the Starter and Home Premium editions. Paul Thurrott did, however. (Of course he did, he’s a robot.)
Yep, that’s the difference.
On Windows 7 Starter Edition, the “Set up a wireless ad hoc network” link in the dialog above is missing. That’s the licensed “feature” you’re missing out on. I repeat: You’re licensed to use ad-hoc networking. You’re not licensed to use the shortcut in this dialog. To access the wizard that this link normally points to, simply Start Menu search for ‘adhoc’. It’s a lot of work, I know.
Given how ridiculous this behaves, I believe it’s safe to assume this is an unintentional screw up. Enjoy it while you can, netbook cheapos — it’ll probably be fixed in a future hotfix or service pack. Kudos to the unnamed OEM for “fixing” this screw up in their software.
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