Pirating FTL?

[Solaris17]

I really hate pirates. I really hate people that pirate windows more. So Last night i was reading a pdf I had to work the next morning so i called it quiets and went to bed. I use my laptop everyday as my desktop is down. it came with win 7 HP and i reformat it once in awhile. its been about 6 months though since i even touched it. today i get out of work and open it up (i never shut it off) hoping to get back to some reading. i was instead greeted by an activation screen telling me my version of windows was not genuine and I would need to buy a new key. I of course suddenly got pissed. The phone activation went smooth the automated system verified and read me back a new installation Id and it activated. It didnt defer me to a person. I guess in the end it all worked out pretty well for now anyway. But I didnt do any updates i didnt modify anything and i honestly just use it to browse etc. my latop isnt as strong as my desktop so I dont install alot of programs or games or diag soft etc their really isnt any point. The only thing I can honestly think of is that someone someware managed to gen my key or something and install it. I suppose I could be wrong but their really isnt any way I did anything software wise or someone came by and wrote it down off the bottom of my PC. Has this ever happened to anyone else.

[Chevalr1c]

Never happened to me, no. I don't know what you with the laptop application-wise, but if it keeps on happening I suggest considering Linux if the way you use the machine allows it.

[Solaris17]

Originally Posted by Chevalr1c

Never happened to me, no. I don't know what you with the laptop application-wise, but if it keeps on happening I suggest considering Linux if the way you use the machine allows it.

thats what i thought. i did an AV scan and nothing came up (im wicked into security) i could use linux but id rather not. its my machine and my key. i use VS2010 anyway so id rather not make the switch on my laptop.

[dark2099]

I'd call MS back and ask them if they know why this might have happened. Could just be some odd occurrence from it sitting for so long with out being shut down, or as you may believe someone hijacked your key. If it is the second option, I'd ask what can be done to prevent this from happening again, and see if they will provide you with a new key that can be kept somewhere safe so that if you do have to re-activate, you can do it with a key you know can't be hijacked/stolen.

[theonedub]

Wasn't there a patch or something before that caused this to happen to a ton of people- all in error? I remember a thread where people who legitimately purchased Windows were greeted by the same message. Given that its been 6 months since you used it, this could very well be related.

[Solaris17]

Originally Posted by theonedub

Wasn't there a patch or something before that caused this to happen to a ton of people- all in error? I remember a thread where people who legitimately purchased Windows were greeted by the same message. Given that its been 6 months since you used it, this could very well be related.

no this was on my laptop its been fully updated i updated it not to long ago. my desktop is still dead.

[Kreij]

I doubt it had anything to do with someone pirating your key.
As you stated, you corrected it without problem through MS, so all is well.
Why it happened is difficult to determine. Do a BIOS update on the laptop lately?

[D007]

Sucks but it happens all the time really. The service pretty much exists because of it.

[Solaris17]

Originally Posted by Kreij

I doubt it had anything to do with someone pirating your key.
As you stated, you corrected it without problem through MS, so all is well.
Why it happened is difficult to determine. Do a BIOS update on the laptop lately?

ya 3 months ago i did one the only real thing it added was support for SSDs

[newtekie1]

Originally Posted by Solaris17

The only thing I can honestly think of is that someone someware managed to gen my key or something and install it. I suppose I could be wrong but their really isnt any way I did anything software wise or someone came by and wrote it down off the bottom of my PC. Has this ever happened to anyone else.

While it is possible that someone else used your key, that wouldn't cause the behavior you saw. Microsoft just can't send a signal out to your laptop and de-activate it, that isn't how the system works. Something on your laptop had to trigger the OS to do an activation check and require a re-activation.

It could be a lot of things that cause this, usually after so many hardware changes Windows will require a re-activation, however I've also seen it happen after updating drivers for numerous pieces of hardware(even though automatic Windows update), and I've even seen installing Windows update trigger it.

Since it activated without a problem via the phone system it isn't likely that someone else is using your key, since Microsoft would have flagged it and not let you use the key to activate.

[Solaris17]

looks like outlook isnt happy either. this one hilights hardware changes. but everything in device manager is the same?




this activation failed though. and now outlook doesnt work

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by Solaris17

I really hate pirates. I really hate people that pirate windows more. So Last night i was reading a pdf I had to work the next morning so i called it quiets and went to bed. I use my laptop everyday as my desktop is down. it came with win 7 HP and i reformat it once in awhile. its been about 6 months though since i even touched it. today i get out of work and open it up (i never shut it off) hoping to get back to some reading. i was instead greeted by an activation screen telling me my version of windows was not genuine and I would need to buy a new key. I of course suddenly got pissed. The phone activation went smooth the automated system verified and read me back a new installation Id and it activated. It didnt defer me to a person. I guess in the end it all worked out pretty well for now anyway. But I didnt do any updates i didnt modify anything and i honestly just use it to browse etc. my latop isnt as strong as my desktop so I dont install alot of programs or games or diag soft etc their really isnt any point. The only thing I can honestly think of is that someone someware managed to gen my key or something and install it. I suppose I could be wrong but their really isnt any way I did anything software wise or someone came by and wrote it down off the bottom of my PC. Has this ever happened to anyone else.

i have to reactivate my laptop every month with this BS.

pirated copies never have to reactivate (and get working win updates). legit users get shafted again.

[Solaris17]

and before some smart ass says something about utorrent

[cadaveca]

Yes, had the same thing happen, on a laptop too, but a Dell. It happened when the warranty ran out.


Re-activated fine, had issues with Office as well, but a phonecall fixed it all.

[1freedude]

This happened to me this week. On my desktop. The one time I left it running, it self updated. I just bumped the mouse, not realizing it was in standby....it restarted its self. After desktop came up, said...you have been a victim of counterfeit software....so I looked at the updates, but didn't see anything out of place. Wasn't worried about it. After a forced shutdown (read: power switch), I put in safe mode. Everything was peachy. After regular reboot, activation notice went away.

[Solaris17]

Originally Posted by cadaveca

Yes, had the same thing happen, on a laptop too, but a Dell. It happened when the warranty ran out.


Re-activated fine, had issues with Office as well, but a phonecall fixed it all.

Originally Posted by 1freedude

This happened to me this week. On my desktop. The one time I left it running, it self updated. I just bumped the mouse, not realizing it was in standby....it restarted its self. After desktop came up, said...you have been a victim of counterfeit software....so I looked at the updates, but didn't see anything out of place. Wasn't worried about it. After a forced shutdown (read: power switch), I put in safe mode. Everything was peachy. After regular reboot, activation notice went away.

the thing that gets me is that if something happened to force a call home from windows and office why didnt VS do it?

[1freedude]

Vs = visual studio?

[Solaris17]

Originally Posted by 1freedude

Vs = visual studio?

ya i have VS 2010 ultimate (got it via school for cheap) so its not express edition it needs to be activated and bought like everything else. i booted it up after i got pissed at outlook and its fine.

[Batou1986]

I still haven't had to use my legit key that i got from college or any key for my system because there anti piracy methods only screw ppl that actually use legitimate activation and like to upgrade there hardware.

The same OEM bios activation loophole that's been around since Vista beta still hasn't been fixed hence the reason oem machines have problems.

[Solaris17]

well i just got off the phone with some Scandinavian or something. she made me go get my outlook disk and read her the numbers and shit around the hole. im kinda irritated but she then read me a number cluster that worked and it activated. i asked her how this could happen and she said she didnt know. i tried to explain to her what happened and she just kept interrupting and asking if the activation worked i said it did and tried explaining the situation again she cut me off and wished me a good day and hung up.

EDIT:: I suppose with both outlook and windows freaking out it does seem more like a glitch then a pirating incident. but they should really fix it considering the amount of activations is probably going to now require me to call them every 4 months. when i format. which is what it did on my desktop but I could understand that i formatted when ever i changed hardware which was frequently.

[Frick]

Originally Posted by Mussels

i have to reactivate my laptop every month with this BS.

pirated copies never have to reactivate (and get working win updates). legit users get shafted again.

Not really as I've never had this problem on any of my computers.

If you want them to look into it they have to make a case of it, and depending on where you live they might charge you for it. But activation stuff usually is free. But then this stuff usually is kinda hard to pinpoint.

[Batou1986]

Here's an article with more info on the issue with MS and there OEM partners.
http://blog.hishamrana.com/2009/07/3...oem-master-key
Not a link to any warez bs site its a legit report on the issue which imo explains why windows freaks out sometimes an and swears it pirated.

[Solaris17]

Originally Posted by Batou1986

Here's an article with more info on the issue with MS and there OEM partners.
http://blog.hishamrana.com/2009/07/3...oem-master-key
Not a link to any warez bs site its a legit report on the issue.

the thing is that my laptop is a toshiba and my key is not the toshiba master key. i dont restore from an image or anything. i actually use a windows 7 AIO image. that way i can format my laptop my desktop (pro) and other peoples PCs. and i use the key on the laptop when prompted. iv never had the problem before.

[Radical_Edward]

Don't blame pirates. It's MS fault. I've had to fix this once or twice on every machine I own. I know MS rolled out an update recently that checks your CD key again. (They did this a year ago as well.) Don't remember which one thou.

[Frick]

Originally Posted by Radical_Edward

Don't blame pirates. It's MS fault. I've had to fix this once or twice on every machine I own. I know MS rolled out an update recently that checks your CD key again. (They did this a year ago as well.) Don't remember which one thou.

How come I don't have these problems despite constant hardware changes? And a lot A LOT of other people don't have these issues.