If you’re using Windows XP with a product key of dubious origin, you may have noticed that your computer just got a lot more obnoxious.

After a recent Windows update, every time you log-on to XP, the OS frankly tells you that you are a no good, dirty thief. Additionally, an annoying warning balloon perpetually inflates in your system tray, telling you what a scummy jerk you are.

Luckily, it’s just an annoyance. Microsoft’s wording on the messages threatens to turn off security updates, but Microsoft can’t actually do that: any insecure Windows XP box is a threat to every other.

Still, if (like me) you ever lost your key and reinstalled with one of more dubious quality to avoid paying a redundant couple hundred of bucks, this is going to make you start stripping flesh from your face within microseconds.

You may be the victim of software counterfeiting [Coding Horror]