Point of Activation?

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G

Guest

Hi,

I happen to had a bad eXPerince with xp and I have reinstalled XP many
times. Why do they have activation? It doesn't work because I have read on
sites there are so called "cracks". If it is a security feature then how come
hackers can get around it.
 
Will said:
Hi,

I happen to had a bad eXPerince with xp and I have reinstalled XP many
times. Why do they have activation? It doesn't work because I have read on
sites there are so called "cracks". If it is a security feature then how come
hackers can get around it.
Click to expand...

It doesn't prevent piracy. It only inconveniences paying customers and
fools some paying customers into buy another copy of XP they don't need.
MS is showing a complete lack of respect for their customers with
Windows Product Activation and Windows Genuine Advantage. The only
reason they can get away with it is because, for all practical purposes,
they have no competition.

Alias
 
Alias said:
It doesn't prevent piracy. It only inconveniences paying customers and
fools some paying customers into buy another copy of XP they don't
need. MS is showing a complete lack of respect for their customers
with Windows Product Activation and Windows Genuine Advantage. The
only reason they can get away with it is because, for all practical
purposes, they have no competition.

Alias
Click to expand...

Then why do many other companies (Norton, Intuit, Sage, etc.) use a very
similar activation process? These companies are in a very competitive
market.
 
Will said:
Hi,

I happen to had a bad eXPerince with xp and I have reinstalled XP many
times. Why do they have activation? It doesn't work because I have
read on sites there are so called "cracks". If it is a security
feature then how come hackers can get around it.
Click to expand...

Activation has helped to slow down casual piracy. With previous versions of
Microsoft products many users purchased computers without Microsoft
software. Now most computers come with Microsoft software. Many people will
argue that this is somehow morally wrong but in the end it's Microsoft's
decision and if you want to use XP you have to live with it. I work on
computers and have to reactivate them all the time. I have never had a
problem activating a legitimate copy of any Microsoft software.
 
Kerry said:
Then why do many other companies (Norton, Intuit, Sage, etc.) use a very
similar activation process?
Click to expand...

Because most people that have Norton, etc., swear by them and will
dutifully buy a copy for every computer they own. Norton, et al, see MS
doing it and monkey see, monkey do.
These companies are in a very competitive
market.
Click to expand...

Until Windows Defender takes over ... nonetheless, activation doesn't
stop piracy and only inconveniences the paying customer.

Alias
 
Kerry said:
Activation has helped to slow down casual piracy.
Click to expand...

False. It has just provided the crackers with more business.
With previous versions of
Microsoft products many users purchased computers without Microsoft
software. Now most computers come with Microsoft software. Many people will
argue that this is somehow morally wrong but in the end it's Microsoft's
decision and if you want to use XP you have to live with it. I work on
computers and have to reactivate them all the time. I have never had a
problem activating a legitimate copy of any Microsoft software.
Click to expand...

MS made Billions with Win 9x/Me/2K/NT without activation or WGA. If
piracy is so prevalent like MS would like you to believe, they would be
out of business now.

Alias
 
Once activating it said that the times I could use this key had exceeded and
I couldn't activate. I spent 3 hours speeking to microsoft about the problem
and at the end they gave me a new key.
 
Will said:
Once activating it said that the times I could use this key had exceeded and
I couldn't activate. I spent 3 hours speeking to microsoft about the problem
and at the end they gave me a new key.
Click to expand...

So, would say you were inconvenienced?

Alias
 
Kerry said:
Then why do many other companies (Norton, Intuit, Sage, etc.) use a very
similar activation process? These companies are in a very competitive
market.
Click to expand...

Not really the case. Although the market is very competitive,
it takes the knowledgeable user or consumer to be able to take
advantage of it. The average computer user goes into a store
like CompUSA, Circuit City, etc., plunks down the money and
expects a functioning computer with "automatic" activation
although a credit card might be needed on some occasions after
the purchase.
 
One can only wonder why it took you three hours for what other have
accomplished in less than three minutes.
When my PC crashed several times and I had to call because I exceeded the
activation times, I was given a new code as soon as I explained the need:
crashed PC, reinstalled Windows. I didn't have to explain how I caused the
PC to crash, what steps I used to troubleshoot it, what I had done
before/after, etc.
 
Kerry said:
Activation has helped to slow down casual piracy. <snip>
Click to expand...

Please show us the statistics you base this statement on.

--
Peace!
Kurt Kirsch
Self-anointed Moderator
http://microscum.com
"It'll soon shake your Windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'."
 
Kerry said:
Activation has helped to slow down casual piracy. With previous
versions of Microsoft products many users purchased computers without
Microsoft software. Now most computers come with Microsoft software.
Many people will argue that this is somehow morally wrong but in the
end it's Microsoft's decision and if you want to use XP you have to
live with it. I work on computers and have to reactivate them all the
time. I have never had a problem activating a legitimate copy of any
Microsoft software.
Click to expand...

The point of activation is to get people used to doing whatever
Microsoft wants them to do. It has nothing to do with piracy. It is
all about control.

--
Peace!
Kurt Kirsch
Self-anointed Moderator
http://microscum.com
"It'll soon shake your Windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'."
 
kurttrail said:
The point of activation is to get people used to doing whatever
Microsoft wants them to do. It has nothing to do with piracy. It is
all about control.
Click to expand...

Sorry Kelly . . . . , er, I mean Kerry. :-) I meant this post of mine
to be in reply to the OP's OP, not to be in reply to your post.

--
Peace!
Kurt Kirsch
Self-anointed Moderator
http://microscum.com
"It'll soon shake your Windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'."
 
kurttrail said:
The point of activation is to get people used to doing whatever
Microsoft wants them to do. It has nothing to do with piracy. It is
all about control.
Click to expand...

Very good point. Great PR that.

Alias
 
Will said:
Hi,

I happen to had a bad eXPerince with xp and I have reinstalled XP many
times. Why do they have activation? It doesn't work because I have
read on sites there are so called "cracks".
Click to expand...

It's supposed to make it difficult to break the terms they print in the
licence "by accident" so to speak. You can get around the protection with
things like cracks, sure, but you have to work a bit harder at it, and it
doesn't happen by accident.

I don't like this approach very much, I have to say. It seems to me that
Apple are doing quite well in a smaller market by making a product that
people actually want and giving people a very large discount if they want to
install Apple OSes on more than one computer.
If it is a security
feature then how come hackers can get around it.
Click to expand...

What one engineer can do another can undo. If you look around the various
warez sites you'll see just about every item of software on the planet laid
bare for those people who choose to download them. Whether or not it is a
good idea to download cracked software is another question entirely of
course.

--
--
Rob Moir, MS MVP
Blog Site - http://www.robertmoir.com
Virtual PC 2004 FAQ - http://www.robertmoir.co.uk/win/VirtualPC2004FAQ.html
I'm always surprised at "professionals" who STILL have to be asked "Have you
checked (event viewer / syslog)".
 
We've gone over this before ad nauseum. I have quoted extensive statistics
from my own sales from two retail outlets over the last 10 years. I don't
have access to Microsoft's internal statistics. In a nutshell I never used
to sell OEM Office and around 20% of PC sales the customer said they already
had a copy of Windows and to not install an OS. Now I sell Office with
around 50% of the systems and almost no systems without Windows. I don't
want to argue the ethics of activations. I'm just commenting on what I have
experienced. Talking to other small OEMs their experience is very similar.
All the statistics I have seen on piracy are not about casual copying
between friends or family.
 
kerry@kdbNOSPAMsys- said:
In a nutshell I never used
to sell OEM Office and around 20% of PC sales the customer said they already
had a copy of Windows and to not install an OS. Now I sell Office with
around 50% of the systems and almost no systems without Windows. I don't
want to argue the ethics of activations. I'm just commenting on what I have
experienced. Talking to other small OEMs their experience is very similar.
All the statistics I have seen on piracy are not about casual copying
between friends or family.
Click to expand...

My experience is the same, but more than 90% of machines include Windows
XP OEM and 70% include Office 2003 SBE or Professional.
 
William said:
One can only wonder why it took you three hours for what other have
accomplished in less than three minutes.
When my PC crashed several times and I had to call because I exceeded
the activation times, I was given a new code as soon as I explained
the need: crashed PC, reinstalled Windows. I didn't have to explain
how I caused the PC to crash, what steps I used to troubleshoot it,
what I had done before/after, etc.
Click to expand...

Because some PA phone reps get bored, and use their bureaucratic power
to f*&k with people, to entertain themselves.

--
Peace!
Kurt Kirsch
Self-anointed Moderator
http://microscum.com
"It'll soon shake your Windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'."
 
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