Hard disk loading

[polonus]

Hi malware fighters,

There are a lot of computers found out now after visited by the MS Validation round that have illegal Windows XP Pro versions, that came pre-loaded through "hard disk loading" practices.
When using a program to look into the pre-installed licence key the last 8 key positions all have ? , good for quite some installations. A lot of people are "unaware"victims of these practices (I think in the Netherlands 27% of all the pre-installed Win XP Pro software). Now these people have to pay up a good $ 150,00 to Microsoft to turn this  their software into legal versions by obtaining a new activation codes.
Why were they allowed to play "in good faith" with pirated software since 2003, that they thought was legally installed, and now MS comes along to cash in on them, and the pirates are gone without leaving a trace?

polonus

[DavidR]

I thought that if they reported who they bought the OS from then MS went after them and you got your activation code free. I'm sure this used to be the case as MS were more concerned in going after the real pirates.

[..::ReVaN::..]

Yes i believe David is right. You give them the person that installed the pirate version(which is probably some guy at your local store) and they give you a legitimate key. Both sides win except for the dealer

[bob3160]

Yes i believe David is right. You give them the person that installed the pirate version(which is probably some guy at your local store) and they give you a legitimate key. Both sides win except for the dealer

That's a fact. I know a shop that was shut down for exactly such an infraction.