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First MAME cabinet--Questions
FractalWalk:
krick:
Thanks for the info. I'm fairly OS ignorant.
Most discussions I've read talk about how you can't do things that I would never do. I'm not a software developer, I don't network my machines and I don't use high-end graphics/imaging programs. But you've brought up some good points that could potentially affect me down the road.
Tiger-Heli:
--- Quote from: etumor on June 03, 2004, 12:18:06 pm ---The next day I acquired a pirated corporate version of WinXP that doesn't require activation. This isn't a hypothetical complaint, this is a practical matter. MS Activation (and unfortunately, Adobe is now doing it too) punishes legitimate customers by limiting what they are allowed to do with their own systems. It really burns me that I have paid for every version of Windows since 98, and I am still forced to go out and find pirated copies.
--- End quote ---
Some quick questions -
I have a laptop that came delivered with XP and I would like to upgrade some of my other computers to XP.
Is the pirated Corporate Version of XP, different from the retail version, or the OEM version, or do they just use different activation keys.
I had heard that I could legally buy a Certificate of Authenticity for about $50, with an activation key and use this with the OEM CD. But I would like to avoid the PC Hardware de-activation/re-activation problems.
Is there a legal way to buy the Corporate COA and use this with the OEM CD? Anyone know how much it costs?
etumor:
Don't really want to answer any questions about pirated copies of software, specifically. But I will tell you that generally speaking, there are versions of XP that don't run the activation, no matter what CD-Key you put in (you still have to have a valid key, however, and Microsoft re-checks this key when Service Packs are applied). Since I don't handle corporate licensing (and never have, that has always been the IT department's job), I can't tell you how Microsoft is packaging it these days, or what they call it. But it is the exact same software that you can buy in the store, it just doesn't run the activation check.
As far as obtaining keys independant of the media, I couldn't give you the complete answer. It is true that Microsoft will sell new licenses to corporate customers to use with existing media. How they handle this with individuals, I couldn't tell you (I doubt that they do, but you'd have to ask them).
And I understand that you aren't asking this, but let me re-iterate: I'm not encouraging piracy. I'm complaining about how anti-piracy measures can affect a legitimate customer.
-etumor
AlexSledge:
As far as corporate licensing goes, we get a web page with an "activation key" on it (same as a CD key). Then we buy (~$20) a Corporate Media Kit (whatever the official term may be) aka WinXP CD.
Using the corp. version of WinXP, and our key, we can install as many copies of XP as we want to. However, if we go over the number we have purchased and they catch us, hefty fines are in store.
I'd recommend linux also (even though I am even currently a Win SysAdmin), but I'm not aware of any possible issues surrounding the ArcadeVGA & linux support (it's an ATI card technically, so I'd imagine there's a solution - something I still need to research myself).
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