"My rights have been violated!"

And some people wonder why alternate OSes are becoming popular? Dell, HP, and quite a few others now ship their systems with Linux. Hell, I would rather spend $60 for a copy of Red Hat than $200 for a copy of an unstable OS.

As for the licensing, could we possilby make it any harder to understand. There are so many little frigging loop holes to get snagged in no wonder people are fed up. If a company can sell a copy of Windows xx only for that machine, it should be a hell of a lot cheaper than the full retail version or even the full OEM version. I figure if you are going to take away functionality, you should take away the price, i wouldn't buy a lawn mower that could only cut crab grass, or a shovel that could only dig a foot into the ground before it stopped.

I'm going back to text based OSes, at least then they were made for intelligent people who wouldn't put up with this crap.

--Thank you.--

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How do you set a laser printer to stun?

Here is the legal stuff. The most valuable part of the licence/restore disk combo is the licence. For example, (using a previously posted situation) you buy a Dell that comes with a BIOS locked restore cd and a win98 licence, and later you decide to upgrade your motherboard. You can use any full version plain old win98 cd to load a clean windows load on that machine using your licence number that originaly came with the Dell. The licence is for 1 copy of windows run on 1 machine. As long as you stay within that rule you are square with M$. The win98 (or 95 or ME or 2k or NT 4.0) cd is worth NOTHING. The valuable part is the licence with its number.

Gumby

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The problem with your machine sir is that the nut behind the wheel has a screw loose.

Quote:

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Originally posted by jballon:
When you buy a new PC from most OEMs you are not the one licensing the version of Windows that ships on the PC. Your OEM licenses that copy of Windows for use on that specific PC for you. The Gartner Group has had a number of articles about this because of Microsoft forbidding businesses without a Select or Enterprise License to ghost new PCs with a company image. You can not legally ghost a PC that ships for example with Windows 2000 w/ a company image containing another copy of Windows 2000 unless the OEM license agreement clearly states the license included with the PC is tranferable. To restate the point, the license for Windows on an OEM PC is not your license but a license that permits the OEM to use the copy of Windows that shipped with that PC on that PC.

James Ballon

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And this is a perfect example of how the legal mumbo-jumbo of the software industry has gotten out of hand.


At our shop, we've also been getting the Win98, ME, and 2000's with the Liscense sticker on the shrinkwrap. We just put the sticker on the back of the manual for the software.

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Welcome to the enigma of the mind.
Welcome to the wonders of human nature.
Welcome to something that would enthrall the average Joe.
Welcome to Stupid.

WOW!!! You have hit a real sore spot. First it is not about piracy, it is about $$$$$$$. I have 5 computers in my house. Mine, wifes, and 3 kids all have their own. They were all built in our shop. And no! I didn't purchase 5 copies of win98 as that to me is so much BS. When a person purchase a computer he should be able to modify or make changes as they see fit without consulting the OEM or having to send big $$$s. All our systems are open case. No "void if removed seals". and they receive a new copy of win98 with manual. As far as we are concerned that is theirs and none of our business what they do with it. We give them a choice of bundled software w/original copies and install it for them. Also in our shop our fees are $10.00 more an hour if you have one of the propriatary systems of which Compaq and HP are the worst. We have had too many systems have major HD crashs due to everything from power outages, magic screwdrivers, magic fingers and our favorite "Gee all I did was turn it on". We have also found that people who borrow a copy of an OS will usually buy their own copy eventually. Do we like Linux? You can bet your sweet *** we do! Lets see, How many computers are there in the world and what percentage are running a MS OS? You do the math. Maybe if all the upper management in the industry were paid just what they were worth for what they produced, we could get a reliable OS for a fair price with $10.00 upgrade. After all Win ME is only what Win95 should have been and how much have we paid for all the upgrades. And worse yet How much have the people with Compaqs and such paid for upgrades and just plain operator/owner mistakes?

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If life is a bitch then what is death? I believe I will take the bitch!

You hit that one right on the nose. Upgrades apon upgrades for what? Just so you can get what the software company wanted to release the first time, but due to other companies at their heels forcing them to release crappy software we all have to pay out the *** and pocket book!

Actually, those CD's are pretty fair since those are what you purchase when you buy the system.
When you spend the money to buy one of these OEM systems, they can cut corners on cost (which lowers the price of the PC) by providing an OS load that only works on that PC. The vendor sells these copies for say, 50 bucks a piece for a full install of Windows ME that only works on this computer. That's a pretty good deal compared to spending 180 bucks or whatever it is for a normal full version of the CD's that you can use on different computers.
So, complain all you want about not being able to duplicate or it only working on one system... but you get what you pay for in this case. It sounds bad, I realize, but that's the way it is across the industry for various software programs.

I think it all comes down to this; If you want flexability in your hardware and software options. First build your own machine or have one built for you then purchase the copy or copies of the software you want! This way your hard drive isn't clogged up with a bunch of crap you don't want or need and you can upgrade components of the machine as you see fit or just plain get a new machine, without worrying about wether or not the OS software license and CD you already own will work. That is just my opinion do with it what you will

I think from M$ end, they will be the creators of their own downfall. That's why Linux is gaining such a stronghold. I do computer repair work, and many times when I have to rebuild a system in an office, I know already that the office has enough licenses for their machines, because most places even keep their old windows licenses. So, I grab a CD and download the Win98 subdirectory onto the hard drive, and the install runs flawlessly, unless the machine is pre-PNP, and there aren't many of those left in offices. Now, I'll have to jump through hoops just to install a new OS? The idea I had was this- why not build an image of the completed hard drive to a network folder and save it as a drive image. Then when going to do a rebuild, just use a boot disk to load the network and run a program like "Ghost" to rebuild the failed drive. Of course, the machine would have a license previously. How would you disable the motherboard from making that install automatic? I can see why more and more people are choosing Linux...

Actually they are using stickers as another means to tie the software to a particular computer. So now you can't even upgrade to a larger case without buying a new copy of windows.

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From the President of the Universe.

yes noticed how compaq and hp and them are no longer asking for the serial code they just use it to its own machine ... ether way im glad i build my machines with the stuff and software i want however i do make my own backups and burn them to use and which is why 3-4 times a month i format my drive but its a quick fix (i play around alot and like to see how to fix and do this and that and see whats happens, and let me tell you these problems i create have saved me many times fixing others puters) and no it doesnt mean i have too much time on my hands im just a true tech

I don't really like the Recovery CD very much at all, but it is better then the HD approach, i think we all agree with that. But one thing that i believe has been over looked is the fact that most every computer that comes with the OEM windows loaded has a full copy of windows hidden on the primary hard drive somewhere. If you know how to use the registery this is easy to find, but i am not going to support piracy, cause software is already too expensive. Secondly i notice someone asked if you could use the same Windows code from a OEM on a retail version. The answer is it works sometimes but not every time, I have found in the past 5 years of being a techy.

Wow, where do I start? Beast you should be the Customer Service Rep. with your tallent.
As far as loading the system and moving the drive to an other system, won;t work unless it has the same chip set, and even then it's not a clean install cuz the other system may have different peripherals.
My laptop has the so called Recovery CD, I used it once, then removed all the EXTRA junk, loaded my goodies, hooked it to my desktop system and made my own unlocked recovery CD. 5 Minutes and I'm back up and running, no matter how much I messed up my laptop to troubleshoot a customers network, when I get home it's back to normal in no time at all.
As for the liscensing issue, if you ever read the agrement you can only load the O/S on that system intended for and when you sell, trade or give it away the book, CD and liscence is to stay with THAT computer.
When you finaly crack your wallet open enough to by a new system it's probably time to get the latest O/S anyway, so don't be so cheap.
I could go on forever but this should be enough to get the tightwads going for starters.

Quote:

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Originally posted by gotbyk:
What happens when you get another PC... or upgrade such that the BIOS locked version won't work. You have to buy another copy of Windows and ship yours with the old stuff!!! You shouldn't have to buy another copy of windows just because you change to a newer PC.

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I'd reply you get what you pay for. Buyer be ware, if the computer is cheap, so is the software package. These protected versions of products are specifically designed to fit cheapo computers such as Acer, IBM, Compaq, etc. I've made my living by repairing such units and building the owners better machines. I wish I could count the Gateway, Compaq, IBM, machines with my Logo on their cases. It's simple, you don't like it, buy something else, another fool will buy this one.

Ya know, I posted earlier that I dislike and disagree with the recovery cd bullcrap, but the truth of the matter is...People dumb enough to spend their hard-earned money on one of those proprietary, non-upgradeable, piece-of-crap systems get what they deserve. I get so tired of explaining to people the differences between building their own machine - where everything is upgradeable and quality - and buying an OEM machine - from HP, Compaq, Sony, etc.. - where even the case can't be reused, and watching them march down and get the junker anyway because it's 100-200 dollars cheaper or because it's full of software that nobody winds up using or liking anyway!!
I guess eventually everyone will have purchased enough junkers to realize that they need to make more educated decisions or find trustworthy people to make those decisions for them!!!

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Why won't this protection guy leave me alone? And who made him a General anyway?!?