> Well... why do you believe you needed to reinstall something which was
> working?
When you agreed to the 'end user license agreement'. If you don't like it,
then don't run the software. It's perfectly simple.
--
Richard.
"And he never shows his feelings, But the fool on the hill."
Except for the small fact that, clearly, you do.
If you didn't need 'this crap', you wouldn't be running Windows XP.
Don't like WPA? Don't use Windows XP. Heck, just don't use Windows.
--
Richard.
"I am the eggman, they are the eggmen. I am the walrus, goo goo g'joob."
> > When did Microsoft become an authority in how many changes I can make on
> > MY system?? WTF is that lame crap!
> When you agreed to the 'end user license agreement'. If you don't like
it,
> then don't run the software. It's perfectly simple.
> --
> Richard.
> "And he never shows his feelings, But the fool on the hill."
--
Steve Levett
> > Chris,
> > There was no error on the card in the device manager. It was simply my
> > desire to 'freshen' the installation and the drivers for the Intel
> > In-Business 10/100 NIC Card, which did, in the end, fix my Network
> problems.
> > The only hardware changes that have been made to this computer are the
> > installation of a Maxtor ATA/133 Controller and 80GB Maxtor D740X hard
> > drive, and the replacement of an old Pioneer DVD-113 with a new Pioneer
> > DVD-116 DVD drive.
> > I assure you I was suprised as well :)
> > I don't know the exact time, but it was about 9pm this evening.
> > The guy on the phone was nice and all. No complaints there. However I
> > didn't get the impression that he understood what I was reporting, and
> that
> > I felt it was a bug in the Activation system.
> > It still all boils down to the fact that we don't need this nonsense.
> > Thanks for your input!
> > -Larry
> I read that if you save the wpa.dbl file you can always restore it by
going
> to minimal safe mode. Also, there are cracks for XP if you really want to
> avoid the assinine activation scheme that Microsoft has foisted upon it's
> customers and caused us all this grief while the pirates still continue to
> provide pirated copies of XP.
--
Steve Levett
> > We don't need this crap.
> Except for the small fact that, clearly, you do.
> If you didn't need 'this crap', you wouldn't be running Windows XP.
> Don't like WPA? Don't use Windows XP. Heck, just don't use Windows.
> --
> Richard.
> "I am the eggman, they are the eggmen. I am the walrus, goo goo g'joob."
Marc
> Additionally, this Microsoft Knowledge Base article should help if this
ever
> occurs in the future:
> http://www.racesimcentral.net/;EN-US;q305356
> I would suggest you make quick notes of precisely your system information,
> which version of Windows XP (Home or Pro), method of installation (clean
> install or upgrade), the original problem and steps you took to correct
it,
> which brand Ethernet card it was, what the error message in Device Manager
> was which prompted you to uninstall the card and reinstall it, and e-mail
> them to me so I can forward the information to the proper people for
further
> investigation. You might also note, if you know, the names of the persons
> who assisted in the activation center, the time and date of your call.
> --
> Chris H.
> Microsoft MVP - Windows XP
> Associate Expert
> Expert Zone - www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
> > Well, it was bound to happen. Windows XP's stupid product activation
was
> > _bound_ to***up eventually.
> > Well, it did.
> > This evening, I was troubleshooting network connectivity problems on my
XP
> > Client Machine. One of the steps I took was the time-honored tradition
of
> > removing the Ethernet Card entry in the Device Manager, and letting
> Windows
> > re-detect it and reinstall the drivers during restart.
> > Well, instead of Windows XP booting up and redetecting the NIC card and
> > reinstalling the drivers, I got the dreaded Windows XP Activation
notice!
> > It said something about not being able to validate my Hardware
> > Configuration, and asked me if I wanted to re-activate.
> > Sure, why not.
> > However, because this stupid Product Activation would not let the system
> > boot up into Windows, the damned NIC card drivers were not allowed to
> > reinstall and. This means, of course, that product activation could not
> do
> > it's thing over the Internet.
> > Ok, fine. I've got 10 minutes to waste (like I really had a choice).
> > I called the toll-free number.
> > Now, I went through the drawn-out automated re-activation process, where
> you
> > punch in this ridiculously long number, and wait for it to read back
your
> > activation key.
> > Except, it said it could not validate my hardware configuration.
> > Now, I had to get passed to a 'human' to get it done.
> > Ok, so now I get to plead my case for the continuing privilage of using
an
> > operating system that I paid good money for to someone on the telephone.
> I
> > didn't get the impression that this person really understood the
technical
> > issue behind this (which I consider a bug in activation), but I did get
> > re-activated.
> > Windows finally booted, installed my NIC card drivers, and I was back on
> the
> > Internet.
> > So, my solution fixed my Network problem, but it was like travelling
from
> > ***ia to Maryland, by way of San Diego.
> > Keep in mind that during this whole process MICROSOFT had all of my data
> > locked up and held hostage by this stupid activation system.
> > If it weren't for the fact that I'd have to go back to Dual-Boot 98/2K
(2K
> > won't run all of my software), I would throw this XP disk in the damned
> > trash can.
> > We don't need this crap.
> > Larry
Mmmnnn... not quite. There are 'legal' users, casual pirates, and 'expert'
pirates. It's the latter group who have got the 'non-WPA' versions of XP,
but WPA is probably stopping the casual pirates.
In any case, I can't think of anything that *requires* Windows XP to run. I
only use Windows (Me) for games. It runs Grand Prix 2/3, GPL, NASCAR 4,
Sports Car GT, TOCA 1/2, and a handful of demos, without any problems. I
certainly won't be upgrading (*unless* a stunning new game demands me to).
All my other computing activities are carried out on different platforms,
which free me from Microsoft! :-)
--
Richard.
"Free As A Bird. It's the next best thing to be, free as a bird."
BTW - Windows XP has a very excellent Help and Support. I believe it to be
the best advancement of any portion of the product, compared to what was
done in Win98SE, Millennium or Windows 2K. Go into H&S and put "List of
troubleshooters" in the Search section.
--
Chris H.
Microsoft MVP - Windows XP
Associate Expert
Expert Zone - www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
> > It is stuff like this which is keeping me from installing my USB MS
> > SideWinder FF wheel and hitting the GPL tracks.
> Why? A joystick/wheel doesn't count as a hardware change.
Yea, they really pissed off a lot of customers with this BS scheme. They
think they own us.
Which means we won't get new drivers for our expensive hardware either!
Already lots of hardware manufacturers have their noses up Microsfts ass and
are only writing new drivers for XP. We are being railroaded, pure and
simple. Sure I could stop buying updated OS's but then I would have to stop
buying updated hardware too. I'm sure MS and the hardware manufacturers
would be the whining ones instead of us if we all did that.
> > When did Microsoft become an authority in how many changes I can make on
> MY
> > system?? WTF is that lame crap!
> Yea, they really pissed off a lot of customers with this BS scheme. They
> think they own us.
You have to have remote desktop enabled to use that right? Which I've
already disabled, along with any auto-update stuff too. I don't need my hand
held thanks.
Apparetnly people were downloading the Pro version directly from a Microsoft
FTP server for four days before they figured out it was happening.
If you want decent drivers for a Santa Cruz soundcard you do. There will be
more to follow also as hardware manufacturers focus on XP drivers and slack
off on Win98 driver support. Stop being an apologist, people have a right to
complain.