Question Current legal status of Hiren's Boot Disk?

[Pimpom]

A long time ago, Hiren's Boot CD (HBCD) used to be banned on this and other forums that strive to avoid any illegal software. This was because it included a lot of pirated programs.

I believe the authors claimed to have removed all such utilities in its later incarnations. Is it still prohibited to discuss or recommend it here?

 

[kerberos_20]

should be okay, win pe doesnt contain license and bundled utilities are either freeware or shareware

 

[Pimpom]

Thanks for the reply. I asked because I sometimes see posts by people who might benefit from using HBCD to solve their problem.

 

[COLGeek]

Use of Hiren's is not an issue on this site. When appropriate for the problem, it is a perfectly acceptable tool to use and recommend.

 

[TerryLaze]

Use of Hiren's is not an issue on this site. When appropriate for the problem, it is a perfectly acceptable tool to use and recommend.

Really? I would have thought that MS not allowing the redistribution of their OS would be kind of a red flag, same for all the other software.
Even the free apps, you are not allowed to just put on a disk and pass around, every individual has to go to each webpage and download their own copy.
Of course there are exceptions where they state in the eula that you can redistribute it.

 

[COLGeek]

Yes, it is fine.

Frequently Asked Questions | Hiren's BootCD PE

Nothing really to discuss otherwise. Feel free to use or not.

 

[kerberos_20]

Really? I would have thought that MS not allowing the redistribution of their OS would be kind of a red flag, same for all the other software.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/winpe-intro?view=windows-11

win pe has free distribution and its not OS