1st was the original then there was I think a Nvidia upgrade which forced me to ring up. Then after a major calamity I reinstalled Vista and rang up and activated again. Now today for some reason I get I have 2 days ( not sure of the actual message but think that was it ) to activate Vista. Now this could be due to another Nvidia update the other day or removing my sli setup. And today it wasnt smooth with one lot of numbers missing but the 2nd time the numbers worked.........
Whatever it is a real pain in the butt and I am starting to go the dark side........the dark side of the force is very strong and hard to resist but I will keep Vista and fight for now but my willpower is fading.......fading ....... fading
Will_S

"will_s"

Doug

will_s wrote:

Once again we see activation inconveniencing paying customers and doing nothing to stop real piracy.
Alias

"The Old Bloke"

Still have problems with your TV Capture Card ?
I have similar problems with an USB DigiTV one. I am afraid that after 4 months the driver situation is not getting better.
Activation isn't a real problem but just an enormous pain in the butt

Is there a purpose to this post or do you just have an itch to be dramatic. If so, join a drama club.
Vista is what it is - until Microsoft says that it isn't.
You had a problem and solved it with a phone call. Others have WGA problems and must reinstall to again be legal.

Regards,
Richard Urban Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User (For email, remove the obvious from my address)
Quote from George Ankner: If you knew as much as you think you know, You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
"will_s"

"Richard Urban"

Is there a purpose to this reply or do you just have an itch to be a total dumbass? never mind, I already know the answer to that...

huh??? wtf does that mean?? are the batteries in your head running low? this needs to be sewn into the Microsoft flag that flies over the Redmond campus...

yea, 4 freaking times already, that averages out to once a month that a user can expect to be required to crawl to MS and present a case that they are NOT a software pirate. yea, that oughta win over the hearts and minds of paying customers alright. you've already made it clear in the past that this PA stupidity is acceptable to YOU, guess what Rich, it ISN'T acceptable to others. sure, "guilty until proven innocent" might be the new business model of the 21st century, but not everyone has swallowed the bait, as you clearly have.

exactly, the problem is actually much worse that the OP originally stated. At least you got that part right.
======================================= "What we've gone through in the last several years has caused some people to question 'Can we trust Microsoft?'" - Steve Ballmer =======================================

john wrote:

It's amazing that Wintards like Richard Urban think that the ineffective "anti piracy" programs are normal and are to be accepted without question. Would MS be requiring this crap if they weren't a de facto monopoly? I think not.
Alias

He's just a baby crying because he had to make a phone call. Reread his post. He sounds like he is about 12-13 years old and pleading with his mommy.
Mommy! Mommy! My will power is fading. I need another brownie - please!

Regards,
Richard Urban Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User (For email, remove the obvious from my address)
Quote from George Ankner: If you knew as much as you think you know, You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
"john"

Spoken like a true NixTurd (oops, NixTard).

Mugsy Nabru wrote:

Care to address what I posted or can you only resort to attacking the messenger?
Alias

Richard Urban wrote:

Fact is you accept the guilty until proven innocent activation/ genuine trip. The fact that paying customers are sick of it doesn't make them children. You accepting MS' crap makes you a sheep.
Alias

Hey NixTurd! I attacked you the same way you attacked the person you posted in response to.
Can't you take what you give. I guess that is how you become when you become a NixTurd.
You are no better that the MacTurds. But at least MacTurd sounds a bit musical. You NixTurd's even lose there.

I did NOT say he isn't having a problem - I nicked him for the totally immature way in which he presented his *RANT*.
Jeese Alias, What others say about you is so true. I have never stated such before but, your reading skills are certainly lacking - as you prove time, and yet time again.

Regards,
Richard Urban Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User (For email, remove the obvious from my address)
Quote from George Ankner: If you knew as much as you think you know, You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
"Alias"

"Richard Urban"

His mind is made up before he even opens a post and sees only what he wants to see even if it isn't there.
Alias is epitomically stuck.

Mugsy Nabru wrote:

Really? It's retarded to accept MS' WPA/WGA/WGA-N. It's intelligent to use Linux. IOW, your attack is unfounded and only based on your hate.
Now, care to address the points I made about MS' ineffective "anti piracy" programs or aren't you qualified?
Alias

Richard Urban wrote:

Well, I understand how he feels and empathize with him. You slam him.

What did I miss? This should be good.
Alias

Julian wrote:

False.

False.

False. You are just stuck.
Alias

"Alias"

If further proof of Alias being stuck were needed, which it isn't, he has provided it by pedantically inserting [sic] into the above comment. He has just proved how he can't deal with a fluid substance such as English.
The language has thrived through change, not necrophilic stuckism.

Come on guys, let's stop fighting. Yes, activation can be an inconvenience but is necessary in some ways to prevent piracy.
Personally, with all do respect, I disagree with Alias. Activation methods are not determined by Microsoft's Operating Systems popularity. If Microsoft had several large major competitors and was in a very competitive market, it would probably need more strict anti-piracy/activation methods to help protect the bottom line.
WBurchnall

The reason we are now in this age of Activation, DRM, CD keys and other announces falls right on the computer users. It does not matter how much old Bill has in the bank. We have all gotten software, music or movies for "free" from somewhere that we really should have paid for. The software companies are in business to make money and are simply trying to make us buy it just like any other product. But for some reason there is a "I paid for a computer so the software should be free attitude" out there.
Try filling up your car and just driving off without paying. "Gee I bought the car and now I have to pay for the gas to the oil giants that's not right. What can I do about this ? I know I will brew up a better fuel in my basement and I will give it away for free yes yes yes I will call it Linexanol".
If these anti-piracy measures work or not is not the point. We are now just reaping what we have sewn.
"Alias"

You missed the fact that I never stated that didn't have a problem. You injected the train of ***THOUGHT*** (used "very" loosely here) that activation itself is the problem. Activation, WGA, DRM is the *RESULT* of an existing problem that refuses to go away. Hence - these counter measures will also never go away.
The fact it I specifically stated that he had a problem and he solved it. I then went on to state that the people with WGA problems may not be so lucky.
As I said - your reading comprehension skills are sorely lacking.
Go back and read again and try to weasel out of this. You can't. You have to turn everything into an anti activation, WGA DRM crusade. You are just so damn blinded by your opposition to anything that is activation, WGA, DRM etc. that you can't see through the friggen smoke that curls around you head. You have to be able to see the screen before you can learn to read.

Regards,
Richard Urban Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User (For email, remove the obvious from my address)
Quote from George Ankner: If you knew as much as you think you know, You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
"Alias"

Em Sábado, 19 de Maio de 2007 10:06, will_s escreveu:
don't activate it... crack it!

"Richard Urban"

so.. if someone comes in singing the praises of MS & Vista, while waving their pom-poms and high-kicking in the All-Fanboy chorus line, they're "posting" whereas a complaint of ANY kind is considered a "rant"?
got it. thanks for clearing that up.
======================================= "I have 100 billion dollars... You realize I could spend 3 million dollars a day, every day, for the next 100 years? And that's if I don't make another dime. Tell you what-I'll buy your right arm for a million dollars. I give you a million bucks, and I get to sever your arm right here."- Bill Gates =======================================

You can down Vista all you want. In some cases I may even agree with you. But do it in a respectful and mature manner. Many people act like 7 year old brats. Hell, their parents made them that way.
And remember, these are help groups - not a chat forum!

Regards,
Richard Urban Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User (For email, remove the obvious from my address)
Quote from George Ankner: If you knew as much as you think you know, You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
"john"

Darkelldar wrote:

LOL! That IS the point!

EMI is offering DRM free MP3 downloads through both Amazon and iTunes. They've seen the writing on the wall, speaking of reaping what one sows. When will MS, Sony, Symantec, et al see it?
Alias

Darkelldar wrote:

Actually I am a software developer and I *disagree* with all the anti-piracy crap in any software, be that Windows or anything else. I can even give you some reasons why.
Personally, I don't give a rats hairy butt if anyone pirates my software. I just view it as free advertisement. Of course I like to see them pay for my software but if I would have to choose between someone using my software unpaid for or using a competitors sofware..I rather see them use mine. Could be that they simply can't afford it (not talking 19.95 software here) but if they are happy with it and like it they talk to others about it who might buy a license from me.
That doesn't of course always happen but it's how I look at it.
It would cost me far more money, time, effort and customer aggravation to attempt to stop piracy than I stand to gain from it quite honestly. I have yet to see even a single anti-piracy measure actually work. So someone who wants to pirate it can do so anyway.
I've dealt with software before that makes it so difficult to use it due to its anti piracy measures that it has made me swith to competitors that aren't as fussy about it and cause me less headaches. Hmm, Vista comes to mind.
There is a point in time where anti piracy measures simply stop being worth it when they negatively impact the paying customer. Vista is walking down that path big time.
And to go to your gas station analogy, that is not 100% correct. If you pump gas at the gas station, they loose money. You physically take a product that they purchase and sell back to you at a higher price and that they now need to sell several times the lost amount to make up for the loss.
If someone pirates my software however, then I don't even know about it. It also doesn't cause me a loss. It causes a "theoratical loss" if and only if they would have bought the software if they couldn't have pirated it. That is not a guarantee. It does not however cost me any money if they pirate it.
Just my view on the ridiculous anti piracy crap out there these days...
Stephan 2003 Yamaha R6
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I agree that the anti-piracy stuff only slows things down for a while, someone will crack it sooner or later. My point is that we now have to put up with it. For me as a gamer having to change out disks all the time is a pain.
"Stephan Rose"

Hey expat! Why do you want everything for free.

Regards,
Richard Urban Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User (For email, remove the obvious from my address)
Quote from George Ankner: If you knew as much as you think you know, You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
"Stephan Rose"

Hey expat! Why do you want everything for free.

Regards,
Richard Urban Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User (For email, remove the obvious from my address)
Quote from George Ankner: If you knew as much as you think you know, You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
"Alias"

Sorry. Meant for Alias.

Regards,
Richard Urban Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User (For email, remove the obvious from my address)
Quote from George Ankner: If you knew as much as you think you know, You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
"Richard Urban"

Activation, WGA, DRM is the *RESULT* of an existing problem that refuses to go away. Hence - these counter measures will also never go away.
Sure, some will try to eliminate them but the test will likely fail.

Regards,
Richard Urban Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User (For email, remove the obvious from my address)
Quote from George Ankner: If you knew as much as you think you know, You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
"Alias"

I switched my tax prep software for just that reason. From what I have seen, it looks like Intuit/TurboTax lost market share when they tried to emulate MS and lock their software to a certain machine. But I'm sure H&R Block/TaxCut didn't mind. MS obviously doesn't care how many customers it loses over the DRM & activation issues, but eventually it will bite them in the buns. GM is going to mainly Web Based applications, and they work fine on any internet capable OS. I have already migrated 20+ older machines at the dealership to Linux and will be looking at that as an option instead of Vista on new systems. Several employees have asked me to setup their home systems with Linux instead of buying new hardware & Vista. Small things like that add up over time. MS may not miss 1 customer here & there, but eventually the numbers will get large enough to get their attention; but by then it may be too late. If you like Vista & think it's just 'the cat's meow', great. But not everyone does....and remember that some people eat cats! A Professional Amateur...If anyone knew it all, none of would be here! CarGodZeroOne hotmail.com Change Alpha to Numeric to reply
"Stephan Rose"

Richard Urban wrote:

I am perfectly willing to pay for Windows like I have since Windows 95. I also bought 98, Me and 2000. I expect that most people would do the same. What I am not willing to do is have to prove I paid for something over and over again. Most people are not thieves and when someone like MS assumes *all* their customers are, it really doesn't reflect well on Microsoft or any other software company that does the same.
The music industry is finally realizing that DRM is not well received by the paying public and DRM free pay downloads are now the "new thing" so go figure.
Alias

Richard Urban wrote:

One can only hope that Microsoft's greed problem "does" go away and they don't activate th