I would NEVER use a copy I downloaded with Piratebay, with Emule or bought in Pantip. This simply is not fair and it is a very severe criminal act not supported by the US government!!! What bad people must this be doing such bad things. Never trust them. NEVER!!! Please format their HDs if you find them!

and if you have like me 4 PCs and a laptop on a private network pay Bill Gates five times 7,000 Baht

I agree with Naam.

At my main homebase Thailand i have 3 computers, One my mainframe pc which has windows vista. (gen) one laptop my wife's again gen vista (it was bought in the uk complete with vista disc) one my laptop which has windows vista which circumvents windows validation.

Why should i pay microsoft more than once for the same household? Admittedly i'm paying twice at the moment. Their response to this is, If it was allowed to use windows software on multiple computers then it would only need to sell one gen windows for the whole world.

Do you believe that? I am sure i do not.

I only can second Thanh-BKK's post above!

Stay away from brand names!

Place an order with your trusted computer shop and have them assemble it. You save a lot of money and headache!

And get a much longer warranty on individual parts!

opalhort

Ditto .. especially if the "brand name" PC has any proprietary components.

It's common practice in Pantip to apply generic ghost images to new or serviced PCs instead of a fresh installation.

In the commercial environment this is very common practice.

The "installation disk" supplied with PC's, even you even get one these days,

is usually a Ghost Image, not a real installation disk.

If you use it later, it will install the Image, setting back your computer to day 1,

and loosing any other data you had.

The proper installation files should be a folder and you need to burn your own Installation disk(s).

Some manufacturers give you instructions on how to do so, others do not.

Reading this article, http://apcmag.com/build_your_own_vista_install_dvd.htm it seems that MS has made the Image

standard practice for Vista systems.

Here is some info for those, like me, still in XP http://www.howtohaven.com/system/slipstrea...ce-pack-3.shtml

It's common practice in Pantip to apply generic ghost images to new or serviced PCs instead of a fresh installation.

In the commercial environment this is very common practice.

The "installation disk" supplied with PC's, even you even get one these days,

is usually a Ghost Image, not a real installation disk.

If you use it later, it will install the Image, setting back your computer to day 1,

and loosing any other data you had.

I understand that.

What I was referring to is the careless use of ghost images on new or serviced PCs without taking into account the hardware configuration of a PC to which the ghost image is applied to. For example, installing a ghost image of an Intel-based PC on to an AMD machine. << This is just wrong and is asking for trouble since Intel uses a different HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) than AMD. I work with ghost images all the time, but the image I apply to PCs varies depending upon the architecture of a given PC.

I agree with Naam.

At my main homebase Thailand i have 3 computers, One my mainframe pc which has windows vista. (gen) one laptop my wife's again gen vista (it was bought in the uk complete with vista disc) one my laptop which has windows vista which circumvents windows validation.

Why should i pay microsoft more than once for the same household? Admittedly i'm paying twice at the moment. Their response to this is, If it was allowed to use windows software on multiple computers then it would only need to sell one gen windows for the whole world.

Do you believe that? I am sure i do not.

With Windows 7 (for retail sales october 22nd) there is a family pack to accomodate the above scenario.

It will be interesting to see how Windows7 and going forward W7 SP1 handles WGA, activation and criticial/optional updates for pirated versions. I run Windows7 but as legitmate (technet subscriber) so I cant offer any credible insight but I imagine it might not be quite as easy as XP days.

Edited September 20, 200916 yr by mattcodes

I agree with Naam.

At my main homebase Thailand i have 3 computers, One my mainframe pc which has windows vista. (gen) one laptop my wife's again gen vista (it was bought in the uk complete with vista disc) one my laptop which has windows vista which circumvents windows validation.

Why should i pay microsoft more than once for the same household? Admittedly i'm paying twice at the moment. Their response to this is, If it was allowed to use windows software on multiple computers then it would only need to sell one gen windows for the whole world.

Do you believe that? I am sure i do not.

With Windows 7 (for retail sales october 22nd) there is a family pack to accomodate the above scenario.

It will be interesting to see how Windows7 and going forward W7 SP1 handles WGA, activation and criticial/optional updates for pirated versions. I run Windows7 but as legitmate (technet subscriber) so I cant offer any credible insight but I imagine it might not be quite as easy as XP days.

Now that is good news maybe microsoft are finally getting their act together.

On the otherhand how much? is it going to be maybe 3/4 times the price of a single windows 7?

A colleague of mine bought a brand new H.Packard PC in the biggest store in Pantip Plaza last year.

When all set up and online, and he tried to update the windows, the message appeared he had a copy.

I asked him how this was possible.

He told me when he had decided to buy that particular pc, they took the machine to the back room to install the OS (Windows XP).

I just said, are you stupid???

He didnt answer as we both knew.

PS. He is actually not stupid, but he was that day.

Okay, so around October 1 I am buying exactly that -- a desktop HP PC...one rather upscale. What should I do regarding just that...getting real Windows software installed on it.

Thanks.

Check on HP's web pages to see who are the registered dealers they have here, then go there.

or,

Build your own PC from scratch.

If you know somebody that can do this for you, good.

I got mine buildt that way.

Motherboard, various cards, hard drives, CD rom/RW, etc, etc.

All different components, which makes it so easy for me when I want to upgrade my PC.

Ohh, of course, I also bought an original Windows XP as well.

You can keep your computer up to date without Windows Update.

http://windowssecrets.com/2009/05/28/01-Sh...te-alternatives

I have bought 4 computers in Germany with Windows pre-installed.

German versions.

Am I going to buy 4 English versions of the OS?

Hmmm.

I would NEVER use a copy I downloaded with Piratebay, with Emule or bought in Pantip. This simply is not fair and it is a very severe criminal act not supported by the US government!!! What bad people must this be doing such bad things. Never trust them. NEVER!!! Please format their HDs if you find them!

Outrageous comment....

I have a legal version of Vista Home Premium in my drawer, but I'm running a pirated version of Vista Business on my notebook. It was only after I bought Home Premium and installed it that I realised it could not join a domain and was therefore useless to me. I didn't feel like going out and buying another version, so I just downloaded it from a torrent site. It updates without problems and has been running great for nearly a year now.

I had some repairs done to my PC and I am not to sure if the put back my geniune XP can I still update if it is a pirate one? Or will I get all sorts of messages and reminders to install a genuine one?

I would NEVER use a copy I downloaded with Piratebay, with Emule or bought in Pantip. This simply is not fair and it is a very severe criminal act not supported by the US government!!! What bad people must this be doing such bad things. Never trust them. NEVER!!! Please format their HDs if you find them!

Outrageous comment....

It's also actually a far more serious offence in most countries to delete data without permission than it is to run pirate software.

i.e. Running copy software is a civil offence in most countries, whereas deleting someone's data is a criminal offence.

Personally, it's a lot easier to get legit windows in Thailand now than it was a few years ago. (I remember the first time I went to Pantip, that I couldn't actually find a legit version anywhere except those pre-installed on PCs/laptops from major vendors).

I would NEVER use a copy I downloaded with Piratebay, with Emule or bought in Pantip. This simply is not fair and it is a very severe criminal act not supported by the US government!!! What bad people must this be doing such bad things. Never trust them. NEVER!!! Please format their HDs if you find them!

Outrageous comment....

It's also actually a far more serious offence in most countries to delete data without permission than it is to run pirate software.

i.e. Running copy software is a civil offence in most countries, whereas deleting someone's data is a criminal offence.

Personally, it's a lot easier to get legit windows in Thailand now than it was a few years ago. (I remember the first time I went to Pantip, that I couldn't actually find a legit version anywhere except those pre-installed on PCs/laptops from major vendors).

May I ask where you go to buy the real Win please ? Need a license for a small office with only 10 computers plus the Server