Microsoft Activation Stupidity

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mr. Frazzlebottom
  • Start date Start date
chrispsg said:
Falacy? That paragraph clearly states Microsoft OEM Operating System
software not an Academic License. The only "educational" license
available for XP is the upgrade. I am not tying any license to the
motherboard. You simply asked for proof that MS said a motherboard
constitutes a new pc.. I gave you the proof.
Click to expand...

But a motherboard, in and of itself, is not a computer without a power
supply and a few other pieces of hardware. As long as the copy of XP is
on only ONE computer at a time, MS has no complaint. Besides, activation
and WGA do not stop piracy. The crackers just laugh and the paying
customers have to jump through the WPA and WGA hoops.

Alias

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Nice, straight forward instructions. Is that what a Microsofty would
tell me if I called. ;-)

However, I am loathe to go through that process.
Click to expand...

You have been given good advice. If you don't choose to take it,
there's no point in posting anything more.
Obviously, I will have
to re-install all the service packs/updates.
Click to expand...

Oh boo hoo hoo. I did a reinstall a year ago. The updates don't take
all that long with a fast connection. And you don't have to sit and
watch them. Have a coffee, watch tv, take a walk, etc.
 
So Mr Frazzlebottom.....

Since 'drones like you' build their own PC's, and buy retail software, and
you work for a company, I would assume that you are somewhat adept at
installing Windows, have all of your CD's stashed away in a bookcase in one
office, in the original boxes with all of the manuals.

So, in the 4 and a half plus hours you were crying here about this
activation situation, I could have done a complete clean install on that
PC, probably including almost all of the 3rd party software, which would in
fact be a better thing than transferring a previous installation to
completely different hardware.

Do they pay you to b**ch here too ? How can I get that job?
 
Alias said:
But a motherboard, in and of itself, is not a computer without a power
supply and a few other pieces of hardware. As long as the copy of XP is on
only ONE computer at a time, MS has no complaint. Besides, activation and
WGA do not stop piracy. The crackers just laugh and the paying customers
have to jump through the WPA and WGA hoops.
Click to expand...

This is so true if you wanted to steal it the ways are out there. So who
does this all affect ?? Us paying customers
 
chrispsg said:
Yes one can uninstall on from the old and install on the new. But you
are not installing on the new you are simply taking the drive out and
putting it in another computer. You need to do a repair install. Then
when prompted to Activate use the telephone option tell the operator
what is going on and get your installtion ID.
Click to expand...

You are mixing up the physical way I performed the operation. Virtually
I did the same thing as a new install. My point is that the subsequent
known and expected re-activation process failed.

If I had installed the full version of XP on a new PC, and my new PC
lacked a HDD, then there would have been no way to "uninstall". (Only XP
upgrade has an uninstall feature.)

The same thing would have happened if I had just replaced the MOBO. What
is a person to do with their PC if a MOBO dies? They get a new MOBO! If
the MOBO is significantly different than the old (new brand, new model)
XP will initiate the re-activation process. Fine. If it works. If it
does not, then you are locked out?!?!??

The point is is that the re-activation "design" is, imho, flawed, in
this instance.

This anti-motherboard charade is absurd. Just last month a Dell computer
at the office had a problem. Dell said, "Its the Motherboard." The next
day a Dell tech was in and he replaced the motherboard. No re-activation
required, everything is fine.

You are giving too much weight to some opinions on a Micrsoft website by
a Microsoft engineer.

I believe the reason for this would be to thwart cloning a drive and
using the same license for multiple pc's
Click to expand...

But OEMs can do just that! By how XP is designed and by how their OEM
licensing is written!

Man, there is so much.... well, I'm just going to
 
Your office probably has a Volume License agreement which does not
require activation in the first place. As many have said before me a
repair installation will solve your problem.
 
chrispsg said:
Your office probably has a Volume License agreement which does not
require activation in the first place. As many have said before me a
repair installation will solve your problem.
Click to expand...

Wrong on the first point. Yet Dell, as an OEM, obviously does.
Either Dell's versions of XP is tied into their hardware so as
to not require re-activation or the MOBO was identical enough
thet XP did not realise thet it had been replaced.

However, as to beat a fraggin dead horse, "Repair Install" gets
stated on the group as the fix all for XP's miserable activiation
woes, yet one should not have to "Repair Install" if one changes
the hardware enough to trigger XP's re-activation flag.

The point it, if XP re-activation worked properly, I would not
have to "Repair Install".

Do ya think perhaps that the "OEMs should not replace the MOBO"
quote you referenced was written by an engineer to OEM engineers
to indicate that XP re-activation can fail miserablely?

One of the best ways to speed up a slow computer is to go to a
place like Newegg and spend $60.00 on a new COMBO MOBO. Anyone,
who can post with a straight face saying that doing so is WRONG,
legally or morally, because you have XP installed, is an
arrogrant you know what.

If Microsoft designed XP to have to be re-activated after that,
fine! But no one should have to "Repair Install" for that reason.

Maybe, there is a bug in XP, that under rare conditions, the
re-activation fails just as I described, and well, poor me.

That is fine too. But to say, repeatedly, that users who simply
try to upgrage their hardware have to "Repair Install" everytime
is just insane. If it's a bug, it's a bug. If it is designed
that way, Microsoft is to blame.
 
There is one "Technical Flaw" in the motherboard swap scenario.
If you swap Intel for Intel or VIA for VIA you might get XP to
boot. However, any significant Chipset change will likely break
the Mass Storage controller from starting XP. This is why it is
almost universally recommended to do a Repair install on a MB
Swap. Doing that purges the Device tree, so the install has the
correct drivers and doesn't maintain the previous hardware tree.
 
R. McCarty said:
There is one "Technical Flaw" in the motherboard swap scenario.
If you swap Intel for Intel or VIA for VIA you might get XP to
boot. However, any significant Chipset change will likely break
the Mass Storage controller from starting XP. This is why it is
almost universally recommended to do a Repair install on a MB
Swap. Doing that purges the Device tree, so the install has the
correct drivers and doesn't maintain the previous hardware tree.
Click to expand...

Hmm, good point. Not that I have swapped put many XPs, but Windows
actually does a good job at finding all the devices that a PC must have
in order to be called PC.

Take a look at the Windows INF folder and the I386 folder. Not that that
will explain everything, but it gives one the low down on how much
information -- ie.e. drivers -- the Core Windows System Kernel has to
have in order to install.

When Windows installs it does not install every device driver available
of course, but it always has with it drivers for all the basics, always.

But, there could be that one case where there is something missing.

(All the XP/Win98 installs I swapped out actually found all the most
needed hardware successfully. Although there was just that _one_ XP
swap... And, stubborn me, who has installed, upgraded, and mangled
dozens of Windows installations in just the lasty year.)

P.S.

Yes, Windows does sometimes leave registry and DLL information behind
after ine removes or replaces a hardware device.
 
If the motherboard is
replaced because it is defective, you do NOT need to acquire a new
operating system license for the PC.
Click to expand...

How do they know for a fact that it was replaced due to a defect, and
not simply as an upgrade. Do they just take your word for it when
you try to activate?

W
 
DanS said:
So Mr Frazzlebottom.....

Since 'drones like you' build their own PC's, and buy retail software, and
you work for a company, I would assume that you are somewhat adept at
installing Windows, have all of your CD's stashed away in a bookcase in one
office, in the original boxes with all of the manuals.
Click to expand...

Sort of. So what?
So, in the 4 and a half plus hours you were crying here about this
activation situation, I could have done a complete clean install on that
PC, probably including almost all of the 3rd party software, which would in
Click to expand...

Me too. So what? That was not the point.
fact be a better thing than transferring a previous installation to
completely different hardware.
Click to expand...

"Better"? How? It was a sucessfull transfer until the re-activation broke.

I suppose, the proper rebuttal is that Windows XP does was not designed
to handle a change of completely different motherboard, and _that_ is
the reason why it broke.

That is a valid theory. It is good that you bring it up. Better than
saying "It's your fault. You violated the EULA." isn't it?

If that is the case then that is what should be said. But motherboards
and all their electronics are built to standards. Hardware must pass
combatibility tests to be Windows compliant. I of course was using name
brand, supposedly compliant hardware. That was my point.
Do they pay you to b**ch here too ? How can I get that job?
Click to expand...

Naw. I just like bitching on Usenet.
 
I think your problem can easily be solved if you learn something about
displomacy. People on this NG will bend backwards to help you but the
way you have started only winds them up. There are only real humans
here not voice mail asking you to press the keys!.

Now tell us briefly what is your real problem so that I can help you.

Thank you for visiting us and please call again.

Best regards,
 
Windom said:
How do they know for a fact that it was replaced due to a defect, and
not simply as an upgrade. Do they just take your word for it when
you try to activate?

W
Click to expand...

There is no need to tell them either way. MS only requires that you tell
them the 50 digit activation number.

http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/activation_faq.mspx#details

Alias

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Windom said:
How do they know for a fact that it was replaced due to a defect, and
not simply as an upgrade. Do they just take your word for it when
you try to activate?

W
Click to expand...



The bottom line is that you buy the product and these are conditions of the
purchase.
Moaning about this does not change it however many times you get angry or
the tears start. It is part of the conditions of use whether implicitly or
knowledgably agreed to.
Don't like it? Buy an alternative system then get on with life.
 
Alan said:
The bottom line is that you buy the product and these are conditions
of the purchase.
Click to expand...

On pre-installed systems, the purchaser doesn't *SEE* the conditions of
purchase......
 
Gordon said:
On pre-installed systems, the purchaser doesn't *SEE* the conditions of
purchase......
Click to expand...

And with Retail or generic OEMs, you don't get to agree or disagree with
the EULA until it's too late to get your money back due to having opened
the package.


Alias

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ANONYMOUS said:
I think your problem can easily be solved if you learn something about
displomacy. People on this NG will bend backwards to help you but the
way you have started only winds them up. There are only real humans
here not voice mail asking you to press the keys!.
Click to expand...

But, humans being humans, bending over backwards to help is most
certainly not always the case Mr. Anonymous, yet it happens, perhaps
more often than not, but not always. Issues regarding the XP's EULA and
activation and motherboard changes have frequently been verbal battles,
generally with blind obedience on one side and bewilderment on the
other. My bigotry toward MS MVPs showed. My cynicism about XP influenced
me. (I am not justifying myself, just explaining, not that it matters,
actually.) I did not come here to "ask for help," as I expected canned
answers -- and got some of them. I came here to _complain_ about how
XP's re-activation code screwed me. Not that I could not fix it, I can,
and will, that was not the point.

Shall we continue this "battle" of the EULA some more? Please, let us not.
Now tell us briefly what is your real problem so that I can help you.
Click to expand...

I shall now ask question of you.

Is it "bad/wrong/not a good idea" to swap out a motherboard because:

1. It violates the EULA
2. XP may not be able to load all the proper drivers and may not work.
4. XP's re-activation code can "lock" you out of the system
 
Mr. Frazzlebottom said:
But, humans being humans, bending over backwards to help is most
certainly not always the case Mr. Anonymous, yet it happens, perhaps
more often than not, but not always. Issues regarding the XP's EULA and
activation and motherboard changes have frequently been verbal battles,
generally with blind obedience on one side and bewilderment on the
other. My bigotry toward MS MVPs showed. My cynicism about XP influenced
me. (I am not justifying myself, just explaining, not that it matters,
actually.) I did not come here to "ask for help," as I expected canned
answers -- and got some of them. I came here to _complain_ about how
XP's re-activation code screwed me. Not that I could not fix it, I can,
and will, that was not the point.

Shall we continue this "battle" of the EULA some more? Please, let us not.



I shall now ask question of you.

Is it "bad/wrong/not a good idea" to swap out a motherboard because:

1. It violates the EULA
Click to expand...

No mention of a motherboard in the EULA.
2. XP may not be able to load all the proper drivers and may not work.
Click to expand...

Download any drivers that you need that XP doesn't have.
4. XP's re-activation code can "lock" you out of the system
Click to expand...

No reason for that.

Where's number 3?

Alias

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Utiliza Responder al Remitente para mandarme un mail.
 
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