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Windows Genuine Advantage Gets More Lenient
Troglodyte writes in with word that Microsoft is revamping its Windows Genuine Advantage program so that it labels fewer users pirates. WGA now has a third category besides "genuine and "not genuine," called "not sure." Quoting: "[I]t's quite obvious what is going on here: Microsoft has added 'not sure' as a way of cutting down on the number of false positives associated with WGA. As many as one in five PCs were failing WGA checks, but this new setting should both reduce this and give Microsoft the chance to investigate further the kinds of things that are landing folks in the 'not sure' category."
Is this a genuine first post?
I'm not sure I want them to change anything else after being told my genuine copy was pirated.
"No freeman shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson
Me thinks I need ta be labeled 'genuine pirate'. Aaaarrrrrrrr!
So I guess the new categories are:
1. Not a pirate
2. Pirate
3. Ninja
There is no mod option "-1: Disagree" for a reason. "Overrated" is not an acceptable substitute. Post something instead.
Just do away with all this crap and stop bothering paying customers. Hackers will always find a way around whatever scheme MS or any other company devises. It's just a fact of life. If humans make it, humans can break it. Vista is already hacked and it will always continue. HDDVD has met the same fate.
gasmonso http://religiousfreaks.com/It seems even MS is willing to admit a major screw up and is willing to give consumers the benefit of the doubt once again.
Do you think people inside MS are starting to finally stop listening to Ballmer and his business/money only mentality?
It could be quite earth shaking for MS to start caring about consumers more than $$ again.
When is the category 'We were wrong' coming?
Not sure does not mean MSFT does not know whether or not the Windows installation is genuine or not. It just means that MSFT is not sure, if they crack down too hard on the bootleg copies of windows, whether it will push people into Linux camp and create more marketshare, installs and toe/foothold for Linux.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
They simply need to combine this new categorization with Live's matchmaking schema. They'll get rid of the software pirates by matching an appropriate ninja to go and kill them.
I'm a Mac
I'm a PC
I'm not sure
I mean, how hard can it be? The key either is valid or it isn't. Compare the key for validity using the same algorithm that Windows installation uses and compare it against the database of invalidated keys and that's it. No other software products have no problems with validating keys, why is this causing so much problems for Microsoft?
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=218426&cid=17
I hate to say it but "I told you so!"
Ok, I enjoy saying it
After this change takes place, can I please upgrade my CPU without having to grovel on the phone to some tech support bozo for a new key?
This sig is inappropriate in a post-9/11 world.
They very obviously know what sorts of things are landing people in the "not sure" category. Their software will is doing the labeling. Perhaps they want to quantify how much specific factors are contributing.
This is all well and good, but what about activation? I own a student edition of WinXP Pro and every time I install the OS the internet activation fails. I'm prompted (forced) to call a 1-800 number to activate manually within 30 days. When I do so I must key in or speak a 48-digit activation key which also fails every time. I'm then forwarded to a human being (in India, I'm quite positive) who asks me to repeat part of that 48-digit key, has the audacity to ask me WHY I'M INSTALLING WINDOWS, and then reads back a corresponding 48-digit key which always works.
I have never had trouble using pirated editions of Windows. Regardless of this softened WGA check, Microsoft punishes their legitimate customers. Period.
But its still missing some very important identifiers. We must have at least TRUE, FALSE, and FILE_NOT_FOUND!
Soon the options will be:
* Signs point to yes.
* Yes.
* Most likely.
* Without a doubt.
* Yes - definitely.
* As I see it, yes.
* You may rely on it.
* Chances are good.
* It is certain.
* It is decidedly so.
* Reply hazy, try again.
* Better not tell you now.
* Ask again later.
* Concentrate and ask again.
* Cannot predict now.
* My sources say no.
* Very doubtful.
* My reply is no.
* Chances not so good.
* Don't count on it.
You can't talk about Wikipedia's flaws on Wikipedia
While I know my copy of XP is the real deal as I bought it off the shelf at a box store, I have something loaded on my machine that doesn't get along with genuine advantage update - and that update blows up midway through install. Thanks Microsoft. I didn't need those security updates anyhow, right?
Eleven years prior (~1996), I was mostly fed up with Microsoft's business practices--quasi-monopoly, and vowed to switch to Redhat Linux or FreeBSD exclusively as I'd used them for server OSes. That proved more effort at the time than it was worth, so I resolved to use Windows 98. Once WGA expired my workstation license, rather than bother with phone calls to customer service, etc., I vowed this was THE straw that broke the camel's back, promptly loaded Kubuntu 5.10 and haven't looked back since. Microsoft OS won't be a first choice for any projects, nor will it run outside of a virtual machine on any hardware I oversee in the future.
Furthermore, I think Microsoft should grant every computer geek/technician at least one free license as we're the people that help keep them in business, recommend them, etc.
Too little, too late Microsoft; Goodbye and good riddance!
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt. (When catapults are outlawed, only outlaws will
You forgot the best one of all!
* Outlook not so good.
What if the Hokey Pokey really is what it's all about?
Have YOU ever had to argue with Microsoft to get another activation code? Has anyone you know (in real life, not on the net) had to argue with Microsoft to get a code? Every single time I have needed a new code I've called up the number that appears on the screen, told them that the motherboard failed and I replaced it, and then they gave me a new code.
Having to "argue" with Microsoft (if you are a legit owner of a non-OEM copy of Windows) is nothing but pure FUD. Now trying to get another activation code out of an OEM... I'd be willing to believe that is a headache.
#define MAYBE (random()&1)
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
Novell would have each NetWare server broadcast its license on the network. If two boxes used the same license, both boxes would shut down.
And Novell tracked each license number by company. You could transfer your license to a different company by sending Novell a letter on your company's letterhead.
Microsoft couldn't distinguish between the serial number for a mouse and the serial number for NT server. Microsoft didn't keep a record of what licenses you had registered. They couldn't even tell you if you HAD registered any licenses.
So you could get one license code for NT server and install 1,000 "pirated" servers.
And Microsoft liked it like that. That gave them the edge over Novell.
Now that Microsoft's competition is practically dead, Microsoft is looking for ways to increase their revenue by making sure that every single license is paid for. Just like Novell was doing in the 90's.
...because in those days 1 copy of windows would supply dozens of people (family, friends, their family, etc). I'm sure it was an even bigger problem for schools and businesses. Now, I'm sure some of you believe that all software should be free or open source, however, I can also see MS's view of wanting to actually get money for their OS. I don't believe WGA is necessarily the best way of doing this, but MS will never go back to "free copies for everyone win98" days.
Give credit where credit is due: http://worsethanfailure.com/Articles/Rarely_Just_T RUE_or_FALSE.aspx
"Stop failing the Turing test!" -- Dilbert
In the United States, it's pretty difficult to buy a pre-made PC without a license for Microsoft Windows. Yes, I've heard about the Dell "N" series, yes, I know you can build your own. But go to CompUSA, BestBuy, Costco, Dell direct, and these machines all have licenses for Windows.
So ask yourself this... in the current situation, why is microsoft investing so heavily in WGA? Surely, there are no more licenses to be sold.
But apparently there is. Microsoft has so narrowly defined the definition of a "legal copy of windows" that you really can't be sure.
If my Dell is smoked, and I replace the motherboard, apparently, I don't have a valid license? Or maybe I do. MS will let me know when they decide.
If I've changed too many things too many times in my PC (RAM, HD, Memory, etc), apparently, I am a software pirate. Go figure.
Going back to my original point. If MS is saying 1 of 5 PC's fail this test, they're saying 20% of all PC's don't have a license for Windows. If I assume that 2% of new PC's are sold in the U.S. without a Windows license, then what happened to those other 18% of licenses?
It doesn't add up.
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
No, actually, in my experience it's not a problem. I work on systems for folks on the side, and it's fairly often that I have to replace an OEM mainboard with a retail one. Every time I've done so (I can remember at least 5 times), I've called Microsoft and after answering yes to "Is this the only computer this key is used on?", received an activation code.
I wonder if this is the WGA update XP keeps pestering me to install every time I boot it. I let the bloody thing "validate" me long ago and then blocked it in my firewall from accessing the net. I swear, I'm *this* close (and I'm holding my thumb and finger VERY close together) to deleting the XP partition altogether.
1 in 4 Maine children in struggle with hunger.
Are you listening Microsoft? Here is an opportunity to make some money. Package and sell the pirated version as 'Windows Freebooter', perhaps for a $50 premium over regular price. Seriously, I'll bet there's a market for it.
Loose lips lose spit.
Sounds real easy until you get a batch of 20 Dells with OEM S/N that won't activate.... You call the number and read a g'zilion numbers and codes for each of them .....
And now we (hopefully) will have Linux/BSD, which you can legally and in perpetuity install onto as many servers as you want, and not have to worry about the cycle repeating.
My blog. Good stuff (when I remember to update it). Read it.
Good, because ultimately it will be Microsoft's undoing. Small shops that were 100% Microsoft but were able to do so only by paying for what they cord afford and pirating what they couldn't will now be forced to dump Microsoft or stick with older versions of Microsoft software because the new versions are so locked down they can no longer engage in the casual copying they used to engage in to upgrade those PC's that they otherwise couldn't afford to upgrade. They'll then focus on finding less expensive or free alternatives that can integrate with the existing Microsoft software that they are running. Standards suddenly become important to these shops and they are now open to and aware of alternatives they were not open to or aware of before. Suddenly paying the Microsoft tax seems more and more ridiculous.
This reminds me of the movie Idiocracy. The guy ends up in the future, and is mistakenly identified as Mr. "Not Sure" by the ID processing machine.
I guess it was running Windows Genuine Advantage.
What's sad is all WGA does is prevent EVERYONE from getting easy access to installing security updates, leaving systems more vunerable and a possible danger down the road to the legitmate users.
And that's to no one's advantage.
If you've never been modded as "flamebait" or "troll," you've never tried to argue a minority viewpoint here!
Ok, so it's clear that they don't trust us. Should we trust them? I don't trust them when their narkware/malware tool forbids me from logging into computer because "A problem is preventing Windows from accurately checking the license for this computer". Not even safe mode worked. Each time I logged in, I was immediately was booted out again with that WGA message. The MS solution is to edit the registry - although one cannot even log in! A repair-install was the only solution for me. :-(
I swear this is true.
The Dutch version of WGA, after validation, is showing this option at the bottom:
"Laat mij enkele voordelen zien van het gebruik van illegale software als ik op voltooien klik."
Which translates to:
"Show me some advantages of the use of illegal software when I click Finish."
This is not the sig you're looking for.
Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
Novell sells SuseLinux which is openly 'pirated' and Novell likes it like that :P
Heh, even M$ buys it!
Hope this won't repeat the cycle.
Patents Drive Free Software as Hurricanes Drive Construction Industry
ID Processing Computer: "Please repeat your license key as it occurs on your M$ identity card. Document number G24L8"
Joe: "Well, I'm not sure if--"
ID Processing Computer: "You have entered the license status of 'Not Sure'. Is this correct, Not sure?"
Joe: "No, it is not correct."
ID Processing Computer: "Thank you. 'Not' is correct. Is 'Sure' correct?
Joe: No, it's not. My license key is rm233-"
ID Processing Computer: "You've already confirmed that your license key starts with 'Not'."
ID Processing Computer: "Please confirm the last part of your key, 'Sure'."
Joe: "My ke-- The last part of my key is not sure. No."
ID Processing Computer: "Thank you. Your pirating status has been entered as Not Sure."
Joe: "What I mean is my status is legi--"
ID Processing Computer: "Confirmation is complete. Please wait while I tattoo your pirate status on all your word documents and email correspondences."
Joe: "Tattoo, wait what?!?"
I'll just use my special getting high powers one more time...
* CowboyNeal says maybe.
For security, the MD5 hash of this message and sig is 09f911029d74e35bd84156c5635688c0.
Ah, so it's coded in C+-?
Being an enterprise administrator, is having to now use key management service to 'activate' Vista PCs. We have no plans to migrate any time soon, but when that time comes (another two years?) then I can guarantee tears will be shed.
Every other enterprise admin says the same thing, they dread when they have to migrate because of activation problems.
I've joked with them about setting up a public KMS (like the china one) so we make it easier amongst ourselves.
The price is always right if someone else is paying.
All of the discussions I've had about Linux vs. Windows were about Linux vs. Pirated (or at least loose use of the EULA) Windows. As long as people can give Windows away to their brother-in-law (which is very hard to do under the EULA), they like it. If they ever couldn't, Linux would look a lot more attractive.
Since Vista seems to be having a lukewarm reception, Microsoft is wisely making it easier to use.
Hopefully I didn't put any [] around my words.
Reminds me of the usual drug dealer tactics. First it is for free (that is, no copy protection), but as soon as someone gets addicted they will have to pay for it. Produce a new drug called Vista promising a totally new experience and all the addicts run to their local dealer, just to find out they can't afford it, can't get it for free (being protected from themselves by something called WGA) and having to buy 24 carat golden needles to use Vista (Aero. 4GB, +3Ghz CPU etc).
I've never encountered any entity that paid "what it could afford" unless it was for a religion or organized crime. You either pirate Windows or you don't. If I'm running a shop where I have 100 boxen, but only 10 of them are licensed, I am a certified idiot because getting busted will put me in as much trouble as if I had ZERO licenses. Might as well go all out.
A more accurate statement is: companies that buy what they absolutely have to, and pirate what they can get away with. I live in a big capital city, and of the hundred computer shops around here, I'd say about 80 of those will take a good look at you and based on how dumb you look, they'll just preload a cracked OS but still charge you the $200 or so for the software you don't legally own. They do it because 1. they're crooks and 2. you're the kind of person who will bring the PC to the shop if/when the WGA starts complaining, at which point they will quickly re-patch it and send you on your way. They're also the kind of shop who will conveniently make any cash payments "disappear" from their tax reports, claim losses for products that were RMA'ed (thus refunded/replaced), or conveniently declare bankruptcy after a particularly successful year.
Heck, if you were diagnosed with a terminal illness, you suddenly wouldn't be afraid of having unprotected sex or any other unsafe activity, because you're dying no matter what. Same thing applies to crooks.. whether it's the tax evasion, or piracy, welfare fraud, skipping alimony, hell even immigration affairs.. who cares, if you don't get busted for one, you will for the other, or you just might get away with all of it. Black or white. Good techie, bad techie. There's no such thing as a half-bad techie.
-Billco, Fnarg.com
Hopefully "18 reinstalls on the same damned computer because the forker crashed every three months from infestations" counts as "not sure" rather than "you are a stealing mofo".
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
I personally had to argue with Microsoft to get an activation code for Windows XP. The hard drive on my IBM Thinkpad failed, and I replaced it under warranty. Windows refused to authenticate using the product key printed on the bottom of my computer, saying the key was invalid. (I had bought the computer directly from IBM, which I expect eliminates the possibility this was a bogus key.) I called the Microsoft authentication hotline, which had an automated voice that insisted that I read out loud the 54-digit code that Windows provided. I tried typing it in, but it ignored me. When I read it out loud, the Hotline told me that number was invalid and hung up on me.
I called back. This time, I didn't try to read it the 54 digits again. When I was silent, it hung up on me. So I called back again. This time, I made random noises at it. After five minutes of random noises (which was quite amusing to those working nearby), I finally got hold of a person.
It took 20 minutes to convince the person at the other end of the phone that my license was legitimate. They gave me a new key to enter. Windows said the key was valid, and everything seemed ok.
Then I rebooted, and Windows again said I had an invalid key. I had to call back again, make random noises for five minutes--my coworkers were laughing hysterically--and get a new key. I told them to wait until my machine rebooted, and they said they couldn't. I asked for a way to reach them directly without making noises at their stupid voicemail, and she said there wasn't a way. While I rebooted, I said I wanted to speak to a supervisor. She waited a moment and then said there was a supervisor there--but I couldn't speak to him. She would relay what he said. (Yeah, right, Microsoft.) The "supervisor" told me I should type the "0" key on the phone when I got the first voicemail prompt, which would connect me back to a human operator. I said I didn't believe that would work (since I had tried typing the number already, when it insisted I read it). She laughed and said the "supervisor" had told her to tell me that, and she hung up on me. At least my stalling tactic worked--she stayed on the line until the machine rebooted so I could confirm it wasn't useless key.
I have lived through Microsoft's reactivation hell, personally. It's not FUD.
"Every single time I have needed a new code I've called up the number that appears on the screen, told them that the motherboard failed and I replaced it, and then they gave me a new code."
The very fact that you need to call to prove your innocent of piracy should be very insulting to you.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
I had the exact same situation, with Windows not accepting the product key on the bottom of my ThinkPad during activation after I wiped the hard drive clean... maybe there's something going on there? Anyways, I called them up, failed the automated service, and automatically got switched to a human. She gave me some sort of alternate code, waited until it finished rebooting, and that was that. Personally, I think that Microsoft has an average percentage of bad reps; it's just that since they have so many more customers, and that people tend to report bad (and not good) service that it seems like MS CSRs are so much worse.
Piracy is still helping Microsoft. I don't know about Ballmer, but I'm sure Gates realizes this. If Microsoft could come up with the Perfect Anti-Piracy Defense (TM), they'd be royally screwed a year later. In Central and Eastern Europe, there are numerous countries that don't get super-cheap MS software like some Asian countries do, but where the salaries are low. Low as in laughable by Americans standards, as in less than the worst-paid jobs. Example? Romania, with an average gross wage of 545 USD. Piracy is prevalent in these countries, and if they could no longer pirate, most home users would have to seek alternatives. And every Linux enthusiast would start advertising it really actively, and Microsoft's market share would be gone just like that. MS are smart enough to realize that they should fight those who produce counterfeit software or companies that have the money but decide to save up by not buying legal software. But certainly they shouldn't fight piracy by home users who can't afford the software and would switch to an alternative the moment they could no longer pirate.
I had a machine that I upgraded piece-by-piece. I changed hard drives, upgraded to gigabit ethernet, put in a faster CPU, changed graphics cards and eventually upgraded the motherboard.
Microsoft India told me that I had "reached the limit" on that license and that they could "no longer issue a code for that Windows XP ID number". I shouted the guy down for 10 minutes (yes, I lost it) and eventually asked him for a supervisor.
I told the supervisor that I was a technical person, changed my hardware often and was sick and tired of being bothered every time I made a legitimate hardware change and could they just remove my number from validation checking altogether?
They told me there was "absolutely no way" they could remove a Windows ID from validation.
That copy of XP has NEVER asked for validation since...no matter what hardware changes I make. :)
Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
The 90's??? The 1990's??? The decade in which MS stock went from sixty cents a share to sixty dollars a share? Those 90's?
my guess is it will probably force you to play this on every single bootupe lated&search=
forcing this incredibly annoying song to go through your head all day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEBbu-wkKrs&mode=r
if that isn't a deterrent, I don't know what is
It turns out that their servers dealing with volume licenses were down and not everyone knew about it. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I finally got it out, but it wasted well over an hour of my time and annoyed the hell out of me. And before someone says volume licenses don't require activation, that is not always true. Terminal services licenses do require activation even under volume licensing programs.
Then, there was the time that they insisted I needed to buy a new copy of XP even though I was just re-installing it on the same system it came on. After a few minutes of arguing, they hung up on me. On the second call, I was able to talk to someone with a clue, but ththis situation wasted time and annoyed the hell out of me.
I'm sick of having to ask for permission to use software that has already been paid for, and even more sick of dealing with bullshit like this. If I have to implement a Linux server very quickly without advance notice, I know I can actually do it without running into issues like this.
I've calld in between 50-100 times for various computer (very annoying having to do this). I have never been asked any questions out of the ordinary or been accused of using an invalid key. They simply follow a script of questions to ask and give you a authentication code to type in.
Yes, I had to call them, after I registered the same key on the same computer 25 times.
This brings up the question of what wga really costs Microsoft, from installing the corporate wga backend to handling these inevitable calls. If techs worldwide have similar experiences to you, let's assume they only call 10 times/year for activation & not 50-100 like you, the callcenter cost to MS still must easily be in the tens of millions, even if they're outsourcing to overseas scriptmonkeys.
This loss does not include the losses from sales resistance as a result of badwill, etc from customer annoyance. If the receipts of sales keys does not balance, I would expect MS to soften up on this.
While it was funny in its own right, what movie was it paraphrased from?
---
DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
Actually, the algorithm for XP VLKs was only "sorta" cracked; they're not "perfectly" valid, but only somewhat valid. The crack algorithm(s) generate keys in the recognizably valid keyspace, but only in parts of that (enormous) keyspace that Microsoft knows it hasn't ever used. So, a publicly generated key will (presently maybe?) install fine, but Microsoft knows it's outside the range of legitimate keys. All they should have to do is actually revoke keys outside this range (via update or service pack), effectively shrinking the size of the keyspace by disallowing a portion of it.
Therefore, it's not actually a database of keys "actually sold", which is the more robust thing to do although it is logistically difficult even for Microsoft. Creating a secret keyspace, with a secret mapping, and a secret key to that mapping, is one way to do it and it's the way they used for XP. Keeping an actual database only raises the difficulty of attack a somewhat, but it vastly increases the record-keeping requirement on their part from "a vanishingly small percent of keys to blacklist plus the decompiled and reconstructed crack algorithms' analysis" to "ever valid key we sell and obviously a list of those we've not yet sold" in a symmetric relationship with every copy of Windows (or Word or Office or Excel or anything else) that they sell, ever.
Your experience closely mirrors my own, just a month ago. Except in my case it was an HP system, and after getting fucked-over once, I went to http://astalavista.box.sk/ and downloaded and used WGA crack v2.0. Problem solved.
If there's a technological measure preventing me from using my property, I have the absolute right to bypass it, and will proudly defend that in court if Microsoft or anyone else even considers coming after me for a "pirated" version of XP. If the next update breaks anything, you can bet I'm going to be as big a nuisance to them, as they've been to me.
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
Easy solution: delete the offending O/S install (yes it was/is a legit key) and promptly installed Linux.
So to answer your question: No I didn't argue but the pain of activation has moved me thoroughly into the arms of open sauce.
Proof by very large bribes. QED.
Working as designed.
Little known fact: Keys from major OEMs printed on stickers on your box / under your laptop are DUMMY KEYS. You can install the OS with them, but it will NOT activate.
If you use manufacturer's recommended recovery method (Recovery CD, recovery partition), the key is never asked. If you use some other media, the key is accepted, but it _will not activate_. If you call MS and actually get a human, they usually give you a new key when you explain the situation, but the sticker key not working is WORKING AS DESIGNED.
The sticker keys used to work, but then people stole them by writing them down from PCs (shocking!), so the MS answer was to make them essentially duds.
I have personally had to argue with MS to get a new activation key for a perfectly legal copy of Windows XP pro...
I moved my Windows install from VMware on Linux to Parallels on OS X. I am still only running it in one place and it is a retail copy.
On top of all of this, it cost me real money to get this key because the toll free number that you have to call to get it isn't toll free or included in my monthly minutes allowance on my cell phone.
So Microsoft made me pay extra money to use a product I had already bought, and on top of that argued with me when I phoned. They kept insisting that I was using the copy in two places at once, when I am very definitely only using it in one place.
It's 'Secretary Not Sure, ma'am'!
Even if in its basic level, the raw 80x86 assembly, Windows code is readable by humans, and therefore it can be altered. A few years back you had to have a hardware debugger; today, a simple virtual environment with debugging capabilities will perfectly do the job.
The only chance against piracy is either to make self-encrypting code, so as that the moment it is altered it can not run any more (which is impossible), or make the code invisible through hardware means.
This article: "As many as one in five PCs were failing WGA checks"
/. source
Another article: "...estimates that at this point one in four computers is infected with botnet software."
Weird.
Money is the root of all evil?
Keygen.
Over this last weekend my wife brought my mother-in-laws computers back to the house because it was "behaving badly". Hard drive was making some noise and thrashing constantly. This even though she had a nice anti-virus/spyware/whateverware package on it (AVG), updated regularly, and had FINALLY broken her habit of opening all those cool attachments her other computer novice friends kept e-mailing her.
Turns out the HD was going south on her, it had developed some bad sectors and whatnot and was having issues coping with these, and I suspect had some corrupted files because of it. I pull one of my spare 60G drives from my workshop slap it in and proceed to tell Norton Ghost to make that puppy the new C drive.
Still has trouble on booting because it's hanging trying to load some files which seemed to be broken. Next easy step. Pop in her XP CD (which still had the booklet with sticker showing her key) and tell it to repair the install. It does, and things boot, but now it says it's failing WGA checks. I wrestled with it for a good hour before finding that even though it had a fresh install of windows some of the WGA stuff had failed to install right and was giving "not sure" messages. I had to dig through more MS KB stuff to find the files to re-download and fix. And I kept eying that CD on my desk with the "fix WGA... but good!" tools on it that don't come from microsoft, but I know would have straightened it's nasty WGA habit right up...
They seriously need to make that less intrusive, and considerably "smarter". Before further punishing innocents with it. Of course from what I hear Vista WGA has already been cracked, so it gets back to the "why punish people with DRM that gets cracked as fast as you can release it anyways" argument.
I'm a fiscal conservative, it's a pity we don't have a political party anymore
The very fact that you need to call to prove your innocent of piracy should be very insulting to you.How do you figure? I respect Microsoft's right to protect their revenue stream. If you don't like their protection routines, you don't have to use the software. The production activation isn't nearly as draconian of a copy protection measure as say, a hardware dongle. As someone who used to courier warez as a hobby, I don't particularly find it insulting to have to spend five minutes on very rare occassions to obtain a new install code. I've done it over a dozen times and never once run into any of the problems that others seem to have.
I believe that the cost they get from people having to purchase valid copies of Windows generates more money then they loose in call centers. Not to mention that MS can swallow the cost without doing Even though this annoys me 'greatly' what else am I going to do? Run Windows 2000, which will no longer receive updates soon? or run some other OS like MAC or a Linux based OS? None of these are valid options for me at this time. I am hoping that Vista improves this situation.
I have never had the problems you describe, and I have talked to Microsoft's re-activation call center many, many times. It has always been my impression that they really do not care, and that if giving you an activation key (or even a new license key all together) will get you to go away, they are more than happy to do it. The worst part is getting through automated voice hell though. After that, the "techs" are about as easygoing as you could ever hope for.
I do know someone who had to argue with Microsoft to get an activation code, and then had to argue some more to get one that actually worked. Just last night, as a matter of fact...
"I am become Gerund, Destroyer of Verbs"
They have told me it had to be fixed with the Compaq center ;
;)
because it was an OEM copy; called them back FOUR times and at the end they gave me a working key.
This happened to me two times; only the second time I've managed to cut it out to two times
--- I am known for the ones who want to find me on the net. Is that a privacy risk or a privilege? One might wonder..