Accused of pirating on eBay

Tech_Junkie said:

Strange....I bought a XP Home retail box. Shortly after my PC died and I tried to re-install it on my lap top. When I tried to re-activate the OS it Microsoft denied it.

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Yeah, that's pretty typical... You may need to call MS and tell them you've transferred the license to a new computer (if they even ask)... For the most part, if you're ever faced with an activation window that won't verify, just call the 800 number and they'll activate it for you, usually with no questions asked. The number for canada is 1-888-571-2048 (which shows how often I call them)
It's pretty easy to activate any copy of XP, even if it's pirated, just tell them you needed to reinstall because your harddrive died, or tell them you own a copy of vista business and are downgrading to XP, or just make up some random excuse and they'll activate it for you. I've absolutely never had a problem activating anything that fails genuine advantage. The guys in India are pretty nice, I think they've been instructed not to ask questions, because this affects legitimate customers a lot more than it does people who pirate. Pirated windows copies are usually corporate volume license keys, so they never deal with any activation crap, it's only legitimate customers that are inconvenienced by this.

sportcoupe said:

I have not paid for an operating system in more then 10 years.

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You use linux then I take it?
Just kidding, me either.. Well, actually, I paid for OSX Leopard, even though I don't own a mac, I was just feeling guilty for pirating. I have a couple of MSDN and TechNet subscriptions, so I get a couple dozen valid licenses for any MS software that's released, long before it's released.

Funny thing was when I opened the sealed box, someone at the factory blackened out one digit. A-Holes LOL.

Do you know the US 800 number? I still have the OS.

Tech_Junkie said:

Funny thing was when I opened the sealed box, someone at the factory blackened out one digit. A-Holes LOL.

Do you know the US 800 number? I still have the OS.

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No, I don't know the US number, and unfortunately if you can't read the key, you'll never be able to install, and never get to the activation window where you can call them... You can either try to brute-force it (for a single character there's less than 36 possibilities, it has to be a letter or a number, it can't be O or I), or you can plug your harddrive into a computer and run Magic Jellybeans Keyfinder to load the registry off the hard drive of the dead computer and view the windows product key. Once you've installed with a product key windows finds valid, then when it asks to activate, if it won't work online, click the "telephone" button and it'll tell you the appropriate number for the US. In under six minutes they'll give you an activation number to punch in and poof, your system passes microsoft genuine advantage.

I did it the hard way one digit at a time LOL. Cool..when it comes time to reformat I'll give it a try. Tanx

Tech_Junkie said:

Funny thing was when I opened the sealed box, someone at the factory blackened out one digit. A-Holes LOL.

Do you know the US 800 number? I still have the OS.

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If it's Vista...install Windows with out typing in the CD key. Once installed call this number.
1-888-571-2048

pseudolobster said:

No, I don't know the US number, and unfortunately if you can't read the key, you'll never be able to install, and never get to the activation window where you can call them... You can either try to brute-force it (for a single character there's less than 36 possibilities, it has to be a letter or a number, it can't be O or I), or you can plug your harddrive into a computer and run Magic Jellybeans Keyfinder to load the registry off the hard drive of the dead computer and view the windows product key. Once you've installed with a product key windows finds valid, then when it asks to activate, if it won't work online, click the "telephone" button and it'll tell you the appropriate number for the US. In under six minutes they'll give you an activation number to punch in and poof, your system passes microsoft genuine advantage.

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Hmm...This will likely work as well

Well here's a picture of the packaging.

Yep, that'd be why, it's an oem copy. Can't sell those.

Doofus said:

Yep, that'd be why, it's an oem copy. Can't sell those.

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Bummer...

That depends on the country. In Germany there was a court case a couple of years ago about selling "unbundled" versions of OEM SW (from a reseller dealer who got PCs with XP on them, but wanted to sell them with Linux installed). Microsoft fought hard against this, but they lost... so here it IS legal to sell an OEM version (only the first dealer had to honor the contract with MS which said "don't sell separately" IIRC, but that's not binding to any subsequent owner). You have to supply to stuff that makes up the original version, that is, not just the SW but (for MS OSs) the key, the COA (certificate of authenticity, the hologram sticker) and the manual - though I guess the last one is no longer required, as manuals are distributed more and more as PDFs anyway. Try listing it on the german ebay.

Well either way I am stuck with it... Not sure if I want to bin it or not. During the short time it was online there was 9 people watching the listing and one contacted me asking about it so I know there is an interest and its worth something.

^ It was a good thread to post though. It clears up issues that many others were unaware of. You helped out alot of other OS users.

lamborgini8 said:

Well either way I am stuck with it... Not sure if I want to bin it or not. During the short time it was online there was 9 people watching the listing and one contacted me asking about it so I know there is an interest and its worth something.

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When you say "bin it", do you mean throw it away? I loved win2k back when I used it. It took me a long time to go to XP. Now, I am a hardcore windows 7 fan. If you are going to throw it away, don't I might take it off your hands as long as the price is decent.

Virtually every USED computer ever sold on ebay violates this "rule"

Many folks just load the OS, then activate it before selling the PC.

If you get a DELL version CD, (easy to get/find) all you need is either a DELL motherboard/PC or the valid number from the side of any DELL computer running the same OS.

Same thing works with Gateway versions.....

HP / Compaq & Emachines use "ghost" to restore, so you NEVER get a windows CD, yet you PAY for the license just the same as anyone else.

If you have to call, the BEST excuse I use is "I just replaced my hard drive"