A Nottingham-based security company claims Chinese crackers had disabled Windows XP's anti-piracy system within a few hours of the product's launch.

BitArts Labs' chief technology officer, John Safa, said that crackers have developed illegal installation files that bypass the registration process for Microsoft's new operating system.

"These files can now be downloaded from websites in the Far East and cracked copies of Windows XP, with the protection mechanism stripped out, can be downloaded from Warez sites across the internet," Safa said.

vnunet.com