A decade ago, Phan Hoang, an IT helpdesk worker in Hanoi, often spent his evenings reinstalling Windows and setting up cracked programs for clients after work.

His backpack always had a rescue USB drive loaded with Windows, Office, Photoshop, AutoCAD, and other cracked software downloaded from forums.

His customers were mostly students, office workers and small shop owners hoping to save money. At the time, "Windows installation" was a common side job for tech students and young IT workers. Anyone who knew how to ghost a computer, activate Windows or crack Office could earn several hundred thousand dong (VND100,000 = US$3.80) a night.

But in the last five years or so, calls to Hoang have become increasingly rare. "There are far fewer clients, and I've also changed my views on copyright through my work, so I no longer take these jobs," he says.

A desktop computer. Photo by Van Quy

Hung Vu, 29, who used to hire people to install cracked Adobe software such as Photoshop, Premiere, and Lightroom, says that as a student he loved photography but found subscription fees too steep.

But after becoming a full-time photographer, he started paying for the software he needed professionally, he says.

He found that licensed software offered greater stability and peace of mind compared to pirated versions with their hidden risks of errors, data loss, and malware.

The stories of Phan Hoang and Hung Vu reflect a positive shift in software use culture in Vietnam. An "underground economy" that once flourished is now shrinking, as users weigh licensing costs more carefully against data risks.

Speaking to VnExpress, Ha Manh Cuong, deputy general director of the Laptop24h repair chain, said the "Windows installer" trade used to be common but has now vanished.

"For laptops, nearly 100% of users no longer rely on cracked Windows the way they used to," he said.

Many customers changed their habits after experiencing an incident involving pirated software, he claimed, citing the case of a Hanoi doctor who brought in a laptop in distress after all the data on the machine had been encrypted.

The locked files were documents for an important research project. "The hackers demanded the equivalent of around VND100 million to unlock the data," he recounted.

The doctor agreed to pay but remained worried about being scammed further. Technicians then had to contact an intermediary to facilitate the exchange before the data was finally recovered.

"That is just one of many cases we have encountered," he said, pointing out that around 20% of customers who come to their centers have problems related to software, mostly from unlicensed installations, leading to issues such as slow performance, overheating, instability, and data loss.

"A lot of cracked software has tracking and data-stealing tools embedded in it. It is not free or cheap, it quietly takes user data."

A technician checks a computer. Photo by Trong Dat

As users grow unwilling to make that trade-off, the "roving Windows installer" trade, once advertised in forum posts, student housing areas, and flyers pasted on utility poles, is losing popularity.

According to a spokesperson for the Copyright Office under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, cost used to be a major barrier that prevented people from buying licensed software, but flexible subscription models are narrowing that gap.

"Many people have not fully grasped the value of intellectual property. But alongside the digital transformation process, people are starting to understand that using licensed software is not just about legal compliance, it also helps protect their own data and reputation," said Pham Thi Kim Oanh, deputy director of the Copyright Office.