Busted! (In more way than one)

[dougall]

There is an article in the Microsoft Knowlege base that tells you how to remove it

I am running Linux by the way

[Dips]

I've bought a few OEM copies from Newegg, and as long as you buy a piece of hardware with it -- pretty much any piece of hardware qualifies, you should be OK. It even says in the description, "Must be purchased with hardware." I never tried purchasing one without purchasing hardware, but I assume it wouldn't let you complete the transaction.

IIRC, I've bought three copies from them. Once with a hard drive, once with a DVD-burner, and once with a complete set of parts to build a whole new system. If nothing else, the latter had to have been OK.

Yeah. Newegg is probably fine. They have an address in California and have being in business for quite some time. If they didn't have a legitimate OEM contract with Microsoft, they'd have been shut down within about two weeks of setting up. I'm still paranoid enough to double check, though. I'd rather do that then get burned.

You would be surprised how many people buy an OEM copy of something from an outfit in China or some guy on eBay for $35 and then are shocked [SHOCKED!] that they have an illegal copy. I see it on PFB from time to time, "But the seller said it was legal!"

[Crosshair]

One major reason why more people pirated XP than usual is because people like me reinstall XP every few months and like to change hardware often. Meaning we have to put up with being treated like a thief every time we mess with our system. I still have the legit copy in my book of software CD's, but just downloaded and use a cracked version so I can reinstall without M$ telling me that I can use something I bought. Retarded, yes. Easier for me, heck yes.

[symposes]

I find that I have to reformat my computer almost 6 months when i use it alot.
Thats just how windows XP is. It starts to get sloppy, or the registry gets cluttered with bad info. etc etc.
Its the time in a computer's life, when reformat/reinstall actually makes it run better.
The time before last, I reinstalled and was told i would have to call tech support to activate my copy of windows xp pro (which i bought for the amazingly high price that it was when it was brand new, course i got the update not the full install. ferk M$ it was $100 cheaper and i have a copy of win2k i can use to verify.)
Anyway the tech support guy was like, "Why are you needing to reactivate your copy?"

I so wanted to say "Because windows is a buggy piece of shit that has to be reinstalled every 6 months."

I mean seriously, Linux and Mac both can run for a very long time without falling apart, but windows just falls apart.
Ive heard the windows emulators for linux, ie WINE, can be finicky and are hard to get working just right. If i heard, There is a very easy to use one that mimics windows perfectly enough to run all those games you like to play, but not perfect enough to crash your comp... heh... then id so ditch windows.
Thats really the only reason i use it, the games.

[BravoOrig]

I built my parents a new pc and bought most parts from mwave.com Had a defective mobo and they exchanged it. What I didn't notice at the time, was the OEM copy of WinXP Home, didn't have the license key sticker on the card. When I contacted them about it, they claimed it was on the shrinkwrap and if I lost that, too bad. Well, from checking previous copies I've purchased for other computers, and eBay auctions for the same OEM edition, the sticker is always on the card, and under where the sticker goes, it says to look on your pc itself, as the manufacturer must of placed it there. So I replied to their email, and no response. Put in another RMA request, no response. Next contact will be a call from my wife who can be a SC on the phone when it counts. I can see their point of view, as I could easily just be trying to rip them off, but I'm not. It's a case where a customer with legitimate return/exchange reasons, is caught in the middle. Guess I'll doublecheck everything next time. Microsofts website suggested contacting them and the BBS if the seller won't refund or exchange, will do that as well.

On another note, I always loved how you could buy the retail "Upgrade" version for Windows, stick in a CD of previous Windows, and still get a full install on a fresh harddrive. Whats the point in the extra $100? Always buy the upgrade, and there you go. Remember the floppy disk version of Windows 95? All 65+ 3.5" disks?

[chryso]

Writing this from my Ubuntu box with its free operating system, so if I may add:

neener neener neener.

*this she says while trying to troubleshoot the bootloader*

Oooo, how do you like it? I am thinking about installing edubuntu on the kids computer.

[Tanasi]

Remember the floppy disk version of Windows 95? All 65+ 3.5" disks?

No but I do remember the 120+ 3.5 disks for SCO Unix Enterprise 5.0. It took two days to load, Lord help you if a disk went bad.

I really line Fedora Core 2.0

Knock Wood, I've never had to reload XP on any of my machines. Then again I'm not a gamer and I don't change hardware unless it fubars. I'd dare say the vast majority of reloads are because of constant barage of installing and then a few minutes later uninstalling of software. As I'm a software engineer I can write my OS it won't be near as nice as XP or even DOS but I could put something together. A lot of you don't remember the pre-GUI days when all commands were typed and you had to know what you were doing. Yes it was simpler but then again it had to be. XP is a very sophisticated piece of software, it's nearly impossible to create code that is so accomodating to all kinds of hardware, other software, and ID10T operators. I'll admit I'm a MS fan and I'm also a Linux fan what the vast majority of folks don't understand is sometimes when you may the slightest smallest change in a piece of code of a program that is 10s or millions of lines long is that bugs show up. It's impossible to anticipate all bugs and when you have jerks activily trying to crash your software you're in a no win situation. I'm gratful to have XP it's the best OS I've ever had and that includes all versions of Unix/Linux.

[BravoOrig]

I'm only 26 but I know the pre-gui world vastly. First "computer" was a C64 bought from Montgomery Wards, remember programming in BASIC, and editing a text adventure Star Trek game to say naughty things, when I was 10. Then later Dad brought home a salvaged IBM XT from his company's factory that was closing after the floods of 93 in NW MO. Load the DOS disk, then switch out for Jeopardy, etc. Then we purchased a Leading Edge 486 SX 33Mhz, with Windows 3.1. Sound/CD-Rom was extra at the time, guess which version we got that my friends dad opted for? I love XP, and I haven't had to reload it on my machine for atleast a year. When cleaning out a basement closet and finding a bunch of 3.5" floppies to search through, instead of My Computer or Windows Explorer(File Manager), I opened a command prompt and used the old A: & dir commands. Simple and fast. I still love how everything within DOS prints out very fast, espically on old dot-matrix printers. Out of hundreds of floppies, I only found about 20 with anything worth saving, the rest were blank or had drivers for long-lost hardware.

[friendofjimmyk]

It turns out the jackass ex-friend I got to build this computer, last year, must have used an illegal or bootleg copy of Windows XP Pro, because about 2 months ago I started getting that message on the logon screen that my copy of windows was not genuine. This is pathetic. .

Yeah, I got my current computer from my brother. He "forgot" to tell me that the copy of windows was a pirated copy. Well, the first time the computer asked me to update windows, I clicked on "OK" and BAM! Got caught with the pirated copy. From that day forward until I had my computer completely overhauled...I got the pop up that my version was not genuine please fix it.

I took it to a friend that wiped everything out and uploaded another program. Now, I just don't click that link anymore and I can have my computer.

[technical.angel]

Eh. I just use the Uni's copy of Win XP. No activation, no nothin'.

That's MY cup o' tea.

Jenni

[protege]

...and I get to deal with this now. Yay.

My home machine is having "difficulties," and I'm tired of messing with it. It's easier to move all of my files over to the other hard drive, reformatting and reinstalling WinBlows on the main drive. However, the copy that was used to set my machine up in the first place was well, um, pirated. Didn't know it at the time though. Soooooo it looks like I'll be buying a copy of XP soon.

[Kogarashi]

Like Tanasi, I don't have to reinstall my copy of XP Pro very often. It's been the best Windows OS I've dealt with in a while (and I'm too lazy to get a Linux box and I highly dislike Macs with a passion). My last reinstall was about two years ago, and that was due to a massive overrun of spyware (and possibly one or two worms) that I just couldn't clean up. It's still running smoothly enough, especially since I run my spyware/adware removal programs regularly, have a good antivirus, and don't play stupid with my downloading.

Luckily for me, my copy of XP is legal, so I've yet to see that little notice. It's an update disc, but it's legal (bought it while an undergrad when I could get the nice student discount on software. Yay $200 Adobe Creative Suite 2 Premium, baby). Admittedly, the OS I use to build my update on is pirated, but I wouldn't want to stick with that one anyway. It's Windows ME (which I had, in pirated form, before I bought the XP update; ::gag:: ME is probably the buggiest OS I've ever dealt with).

[Mr. Rager!]

One major reason why more people pirated XP than usual is because people like me reinstall XP every few months and like to change hardware often. Meaning we have to put up with being treated like a thief every time we mess with our system. I still have the legit copy in my book of software CD's, but just downloaded and use a cracked version so I can reinstall without M$ telling me that I can use something I bought. Retarded, yes. Easier for me, heck yes.

I had to call once to re-verify my key, out of the 4 times I've had to re-install XP.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Like Tanasi, I don't have to reinstall my copy of XP Pro very often. It's been the best Windows OS I've dealt with in a while (and I'm too lazy to get a Linux box and I highly dislike Macs with a passion). My last reinstall was about two years ago, and that was due to a massive overrun of spyware (and possibly one or two worms) that I just couldn't clean up. It's still running smoothly enough, especially since I run my spyware/adware removal programs regularly, have a good antivirus, and don't play stupid with my downloading.

Luckily for me, my copy of XP is legal, so I've yet to see that little notice. It's an update disc, but it's legal (bought it while an undergrad when I could get the nice student discount on software. Yay $200 Adobe Creative Suite 2 Premium, baby). Admittedly, the OS I use to build my update on is pirated, but I wouldn't want to stick with that one anyway. It's Windows ME (which I had, in pirated form, before I bought the XP update; ::gag:: ME is probably the buggiest OS I've ever dealt with).

Windows ME (or as we call it here, Moron Edition) is crappy, especially for USB plug and play peripheral installation. I went through 3 hours of hell trying to get my camera software installed on the damn PC. It's a wonder I'm not bald currently

Which is why the last time I had to do a complete reinstall on my PC, I just put 98 back on instead. If it's not my old desktop I'm having to reformat, it's my brother's (and his is due to downloading screensavers/boob pics/you name it and as a result, spyware galore.)

Even though he has Spybot and AdAware, it's not going to pick up everything. The Avast home edition anti-virus is good about spotting quite a bit of stuff and will shut down that program (free for download - just renew your license key annualy) so you can't continue to install it.

But still, I end up having to redo his b/c of the wireless connection program will shut down and not come back up, nor reinstall (and he has the Moron Edition of Windows at that.)

I've only had to redo my laptop once since I've had it and that was due to a bug picked up while browsing free desktop theme sites. Since then, it's been okay.

XP is way better and seems to be more stable. Only thing is with my current laptop, is that I don't have CD's for Windows. The restoration programs are all on the HDD. Just hit Funciton-F11 to reformat. It does the rest.

My only concern with that, is what happens if the HDD fails and I have to replace it? I have no restoration XP CD's for this laptop (it's a Dell BTW.)

I'd much rather have the CD's as a backup.

[Jayn_Newell]

Only thing is with my current laptop, is that I don't have CD's for Windows. The restoration programs are all on the HDD. Just hit Funciton-F11 to reformat. It does the rest.

Hmm, wonder if my old laptop had that? (Fujitsu) I was kinda surprised when I went to reformat and found I didn't have any install discs for Windows, so I wound up using a cracked copy to re-install. I reformated twice in the two years I had it--once after about a year, when things were going slow, plus I happened to catch a small virus. Then again about a year later, when I caught a nasty rootkit infection that I was never able to remove, though fortunately I did manage to disable it (it seriously crippled my computer while it was active). At this point it was running extremely slow too.