pirated or legal xp retail ?

[daryl]

i purchased a retail xp pro on ebay which was an open box but has all the
original materials, box and all. the seller said that it was not
registered. when i received it, i installed and tried to activate. it said
that it has "exceeded the activation limit and call the number below". I
went thru all the rest with a MS person and he activated it for me. Is this
copy legal? Will the person(s) who installed it before be able to call MS
and reactivate their (now illegal) copy or receive updates on this now that
the activation number has been changed? should i seek a refund?

 

[Harry Ohrn]

If it was possible to activate by phone then yes the version is legitimate.
However, as you've found out, it has been activated before. Activation is
mandatory but registration is not. The owner obviously activated the product
but could very well have not registered. If he didn't register then he
didn't lie to you. You can try seeking a refund but it will likely be a
waste of time and effort on your part. You would have to prove that the
seller misled you.

Unfortunately whoever has a copy of the same Product Key will be able to
call MS and reactivate on another system. If this goes on long enough MS
might decide to not give a new activation code.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

i purchased a retail xp pro on ebay which was an open box but has
all
the original materials, box and all. the seller said that it was
not
registered. when i received it, i installed and tried to activate.
it said that it has "exceeded the activation limit and call the
number below". I went thru all the rest with a MS person and he
activated it for me. Is this copy legal? Will the person(s) who
installed it before be able to call MS and reactivate their (now
illegal) copy or receive updates on this now that the activation
number has been changed? should i seek a refund?

The fact that you had to activate via telephone does indicate that
that particular Product Key had been used within the last 120 days.
Whether it's still installed somewhere else or not is unknowable, and
possible irrelevant, in this specific instance.

It may be that the eBay seller installed and activated WinXP, only
to decide he didn't like it. So he removed it and sold it to you. If
so, you have a legitimate license.

It could also be that the eBay seller purchased the WinXP license,
installed it, burned a copy of the CD and wrote down the Product Key,
and then decided to make some extra money by reselling the retail
package, keeping the copied items for his own future use. Even if
this were to be the case, _you_ have the legitimate license as you
state that you have all of the original materials and documentation.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having
both at once. - RAH

 

[Phil McCracken]

-----Original Message-----
If it was possible to activate by phone then yes the version is legitimate.
However, as you've found out, it has been activated before. Activation is
mandatory but registration is not. The owner obviously activated the product
but could very well have not registered. If he didn't register then he
didn't lie to you. You can try seeking a refund but it will likely be a
waste of time and effort on your part. You would have to prove that the
seller misled you.

Unfortunately whoever has a copy of the same Product Key will be able to
call MS and reactivate on another system. If this goes on long enough MS
might decide to not give a new activation code.

The OP was given a new activation code; wouldn't this mean
that he shouldn't be affected by the seller's use of the
original key?

 

[Bruce Chambers]

The OP was given a new activation code; wouldn't this mean
that he shouldn't be affected by the seller's use of the
original key?

No, not at all. The activation code given during a telephone
activation is simply a 42-character, one-use code that's used to tell
the OS that's it's been activated. The 25-character Product Key is
something completely different, and is required to perform the initial
installation of the OS.

--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having
both at once. - RAH

 

[Phil McCracken]

-----Original Message-----



No, not at all. The activation code given during a telephone
activation is simply a 42-character, one-use code that's used to tell
the OS that's it's been activated. The 25-character Product Key is
something completely different, and is required to perform the initial
installation of the OS.

--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having
both at once. - RAH

OK, thanks. I thought maybe it was a new product key that
was given,which, now that I think about it, wouldn't make
much sense.

 

[daryl]

will any previous user(s) of this license be able to call in and activate
with a burned copy and the original key? what if i have to reinstall
sometime down the road? if some else reactivates illegally, then i will
have to call in again.

 

[Harry Ohrn]

Yes to all three of your questions.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

will any previous user(s) of this license be able to call in and
activate with a burned copy and the original key?

Yes, they (the theoretical software pirates) would. If they
happen to reinstall and activate their illicit copy more than 120 days
after you'd last activated your legitimate copy, then the automatic
Internet activation would proceed without a wobble. If they happened
to have bad timing and did have to activate via telephone, they'd need
only lie to the activation call center personnel (which they'd not
hesitate to do, having already demonstrated a complete lack of
integrity by making and using the illicit copy in the first place).

what if i have to
reinstall sometime down the road? if some else reactivates
illegally, then i will have to call in again.

That could happen, as well. If you happen to reinstall and
activate your legitimate copy more than 120 days after they'd last
activated their illicit copy, then the automatic Internet activation
would proceed without a wobble. If you happened to have bad timing,
you'll have to activate via telephone.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having
both at once. - RAH

 

[Alex Nichol]

i purchased a retail xp pro on ebay which was an open box but has all the
original materials, box and all. the seller said that it was not
registered. when i received it, i installed and tried to activate. it said
that it has "exceeded the activation limit and call the number below". I
went thru all the rest with a MS person and he activated it for me. Is this
copy legal? Will the person(s) who installed it before be able to call MS
and reactivate their (now illegal) copy or receive updates on this now that
the activation number has been changed? should i seek a refund?

To transfer a license requires that it be removed from a previous
installation, and hand over Product Key and Certificate of Authenticity
(the hologram label usually on the end of the box) as well as CD and
documents. If he has done that your title is good, and were you to have
to activate again and got the conflict you have the grounds to explain
on the point. You could accuse him of not supplying just what he had
specified in that it *had* been activated before, but he could probably
get out on it being activated but not registered (which is separate and
entirely voluntary), On the whole I doubt if it would be worth the
bother