Continuing its crusade against software piracy, Microsoft today announced lawsuits against 20 companies it alleges are selling software illegally.

Microsoft is charging the companies with selling counterfeit software or loading unlicensed copies of software onto computer hard drives. The suits were filed in Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon and Texas.

"Microsoft is determined to protect its intellectual property, while also helping protect consumers and honest resellers from the deceptive and dangerous practices of counterfeiting and hard-disk loading," Microsoft senior attorney Mary Jo Schrade said in a statement.

At the same time, Microsoft announced results from a June study of 348 counterfeit copies of Windows XP. According to the company, one in three copies would not install and 43 percent had other problems that could lead to security lapses.

Here are the companies named in the lawsuits. The only defendant in the region is Byte Me Computers of La Grande, Ore.