qubit
Overclocked quantum bit
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2007
- Messages
- 17,865 (2.98/day)
- Location
- Quantum Well UK
System Name | Quantumville™ |
---|---|
Processor | Intel Core i7-2700K @ 4GHz |
Motherboard | Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 |
Cooling | Noctua NH-D14 |
Memory | 16GB (2 x 8GB Corsair Vengeance Black DDR3 PC3-12800 C9 1600MHz) |
Video Card(s) | MSI RTX 2080 SUPER Gaming X Trio |
Storage | Samsung 850 Pro 256GB | WD Black 4TB | WD Blue 6TB |
Display(s) | ASUS ROG Strix XG27UQR (4K, 144Hz, G-SYNC compatible) | Asus MG28UQ (4K, 60Hz, FreeSync compatible) |
Case | Cooler Master HAF 922 |
Audio Device(s) | Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty PCIe |
Power Supply | Corsair AX1600i |
Mouse | Microsoft Intellimouse Pro - Black Shadow |
Keyboard | Yes |
Software | Windows 10 Pro 64-bit |
I recently did a PC repair job for a client which required upgrading from Vista with a legit copy of Windows 7 Pro 64-bit as part of the fix.
I gave him the product link on Amazon and told him to buy it direct from them, not the marketplace, but of course he didn't listen to me.
He came over with it and I checked it out. Lots of spelling mistakes all over the place, odd looking packaging, poor quality printing and the DVD had a fake-looking hologram stuck in the centre.
Check out the photo below, taken from Amazon UK's website; the disc looked exactly like this one. I pointed out that it was pirate and likely harboured malware, but he was impatient and stupid, so said to install it anyway. Whatever, it was his money and his security.
I installed the OS and it went on fine, but then surprise surprise refused to activate, giving the blocked key message below.
I then got him to complain to Amazon, not the seller, about the counterfeit, fraudulent software where they promptly refunded him and emailed him a strongly apologetic template message about not tolerating this on their website.
Not trusting him not to fuck it up again, this time I gave him a link to get it from Scan. This time, the packaging and disc looked legit, so it installed and activated just fine. Yes, I formatted the hard disc first.
What gets me, is how brazenly these marketplace sellers are flogging their pirate crapware and Amazon just looks the other way until someone complains. It's obviously because they get a big fat cut of the sales, making them equally complicit in the crime.
I'm also very surprised that Microsoft doesn't come down hard on Amazon - one of the biggest online retailers - for this, since the evidence of rampant piracy is abundant on their website. Are they not interested in stopping it? Anyone have any ideas?
Finally, I've never liked the product activation DRM, but this is one time that I'm glad it was there, since it prevented a dodgy and likely infected copy of Windows from being used.
I gave him the product link on Amazon and told him to buy it direct from them, not the marketplace, but of course he didn't listen to me.
He came over with it and I checked it out. Lots of spelling mistakes all over the place, odd looking packaging, poor quality printing and the DVD had a fake-looking hologram stuck in the centre.
Check out the photo below, taken from Amazon UK's website; the disc looked exactly like this one. I pointed out that it was pirate and likely harboured malware, but he was impatient and stupid, so said to install it anyway. Whatever, it was his money and his security.
I installed the OS and it went on fine, but then surprise surprise refused to activate, giving the blocked key message below.
I then got him to complain to Amazon, not the seller, about the counterfeit, fraudulent software where they promptly refunded him and emailed him a strongly apologetic template message about not tolerating this on their website.
Not trusting him not to fuck it up again, this time I gave him a link to get it from Scan. This time, the packaging and disc looked legit, so it installed and activated just fine. Yes, I formatted the hard disc first.
What gets me, is how brazenly these marketplace sellers are flogging their pirate crapware and Amazon just looks the other way until someone complains. It's obviously because they get a big fat cut of the sales, making them equally complicit in the crime.
I'm also very surprised that Microsoft doesn't come down hard on Amazon - one of the biggest online retailers - for this, since the evidence of rampant piracy is abundant on their website. Are they not interested in stopping it? Anyone have any ideas?
Finally, I've never liked the product activation DRM, but this is one time that I'm glad it was there, since it prevented a dodgy and likely infected copy of Windows from being used.