Genmai Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 Hi all, I'm looking to buy a new pc for our office and I'm not tech savvy. Every computer store that I've been to in Thailand offers to install Windows (+ Adobe and whatever you want basically) when you're buying a new computer from them. How safe is this? People I've talked to here say this is the norm in Thailand and nobody ever thinks of actually buying Windows. Are there any security issues with going this route? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneMoreFarang Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 It depends... Lots of software can be hacked to work perfectly well without officially buying it. Windows (any version) and MS Office are examples of this. The problem with lots of shops is that they install a lot of software and sometimes they disable updates. And maybe (intentionally or unintentionally) they install malware (viruses, etc.) If you don't want to pay much money or can't afford to pay and if you have no sensitive data then likely any of those PCs will work in the way you want. If you worry about viruses, bad guys accessing your computer from outside, etc. then you should not trust those shops. It's not that all those technicians are bad guys. Often they just don't really know what they are doing. For them if a program starts then it "works" - but that is not all. In terms of possible cost: If someone would send the software police to you and if they would visit you and if they would find out you use illegal software then the deal seams to be the following: Pay "now" for all the software which is installed on your PC and that's it. Personally I think Windows and Office are not so expensive. Office can be paid monthly. And most people don't need much more that Windows and Office. If you want to make sure you have no hassle than pay for it. And don't let the shop technicians install it for you. Because you can be pretty sure they will use those license numbers not only for you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genmai Posted October 31, 2019 Author Share Posted October 31, 2019 Thank you for your input. Also- 4 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said: If someone would send the software police to you Is this an actual thing? Software police? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasThBKK Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 5 minutes ago, Genmai said: Thank you for your input. Also- Is this an actual thing? Software police? No, the only time that may happen is if you are using torrents to download pirate stuff or do otherwise stuff of interest to someone with money. Police doesnt give a rats ass about pirated windows nor does microsoft themselves. I would wipe the whole thing and just install WIndows 10, you dont need a key, you can run the unactivated version forever, it only has a small, midly annoying text to activate windows on the right side of the screen and thats pretty much the only restriction. If you ever have money to spare just get a windows key online or ask some univerisity student to give you his license... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poohy Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 A lot of Windows loaded are activated by KMSPICO i have had my laptop with such now for 4 years no problem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donnacha Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 There have always been security risks in using pirated software but the stakes are much higher these days. That is fine for a personal computer used for gaming or web browsing, but I would not risk it on a computer used for business emails, online banking, or cryptocurrency. Do not believe any shop that tells you their pirated software is "safe", that is far beyond their control. A Windows alternative worth considering, for the simplicity and automated maintenance, is the Chrome operating system by Google. If you match it up with G Suite for around $5 per month per employee, you will have all the regular business stuff such as shared word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, calendars etc. You really don't need to use installed applications anymore. You can buy Chromebooks (laptops) or "Chromeboxes" (tiny PCs) with ChromeOS already installed, they update themselves and you do not need to run anti-virus software or worry about backups. For an office, I would buy a relatively cheap Chromebox, a keyboard, a mouse, and as big a monitor as possible. Apple Macs are also relatively cheap in Thailand compared to most of the world apart from the US. Equivalent Windows PCs are still cheaper but the difference is not as great. In my experience, Apple hardware lasts longer, retains a much higher resale value, fewer things go wrong, and the better software design makes most people more productive. If it is just a regular office, however, I would go for Chromeboxes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johng Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 1 hour ago, Genmai said: Is this an actual thing? Software police? Yes there is...but they are more interested in commercial/businesses not so much home users. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genmai Posted October 31, 2019 Author Share Posted October 31, 2019 1 minute ago, johng said: Yes there is...but they are more interested in commercial/businesses not so much home users. The pc in question is for our (tiny) company office. Are there any reports of places actually ever being raided? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johng Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 5 minutes ago, Genmai said: Are there any reports of places actually ever being raided? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johng Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 You can use open office https://www.openoffice.org/download/ or libre office https://www.libreoffice.org/ GIMP instead of photoshop https://www.gimp.org/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donnacha Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 8 hours ago, Genmai said: Are there any reports of places actually ever being raided? Forget being raided, there is almost zero chance of that. The danger you should be thinking about is being hacked. Sit down and think this through properly. A lot depends on the type of business you run. If someone got access to your business email account, would that allow them to send new payment instructions to your customers? Have you ever used online banking? If someone got control of your social media accounts, would that allow them to send scam messages to your relatives and friends, pretending to be you? If someone got control of your website, would that allow them to place hidden links to other sites? Would your computer contain any data that could be held for ransom? "Ransomware" is a particularly nasty form of hack in which they delete all your data and you cannot get it back unless you pay them a few bitcoins. Now, if your business is just a bar or restaurant, and you are simply using the computer for printing letters and doing accounts, no problem. Just be aware that hacking is now a massive, highly competitive, multi-billion dollar industry. There is no such thing as being too small to attract the interest of hackers, they know every way to squeeze a dollar out of the situation. Every person in the chain supplying pirated software to you has a strong financial incentive to include backdoors. Most importantly, as I mentioned in my previous post, there is no real need for installed software these days. Unless you need to run a specific application that has no online equivalent, you do not need to run pirated software. Just to be clear, I am not taking a moral stance here, I have pirated plenty of stuff in my life, I am saying there is no longer any technical need for a business to run this risk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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