Microsoft How To Tell Website - Genuine Or Counterfeit
- 5
- Add a Comment
- No Related Post
Microsoft has setup a website in which they have on display many of the counterfeit copies of their products for your review. Included in the counterfeits are copies of Vista [all flavors] along with Office 2007. Examples of recently seized counterfeit products are also on display for comparison purposes.
On their site Microsoft also has an explanation of COA - Certificate Of Authenticity that is described as:
Certificate of Authenticity (COA) is a label that helps you identify genuine Microsoft software. A COA is not a software license – it is a visual identifier that assists in determining whether or not the Microsoft software you are running is genuine. However, without it, you will not have a legal license to run Microsoft software. A COA should never be purchased by itself without the software it authenticates.
To help you verify the authenticity of the Microsoft software you acquired, be sure that your software came with one of the following COAs (or a previous version) and that the COA includes the advanced piracy prevention features described.
For Windows software that comes pre-installed by a large manufacturer (also known as an Original Equipment Manufacturer or OEM) on a computer, the COA should be affixed to the body of the computer. The COA includes the 25-character product key, which would be required if a reinstallation is needed. More information. View previous versions and compare now.
Though the web site is primarily for detection of counterfeit software products, it can also be used by those who are bying a used computer system. As described above, most OEM’s will have the COA affixed to the body of the computer. If you are looking at a used system, confirm that the COA is intact and that the Product Key is clearly visible and also intact. This may just help in preventing you from buying a system with a illegal copy of Windows installed.
Comments welcome.
Microsoft web site is here.
[tags]microsoft, counterfeit, website, genuine, [/tags]
5 Comments
Tien Khoa Nguyen
August 10th, 2008
at 9:23am
It appears that one of my purchased computer system came with a backup that has a different key than the COA. Typing in the product key from the label could not activate Windows, but installing the backup activates it with no problem! So, does this mean it is still legal?
Tien Khoa Nguyen
August 10th, 2008
at 9:56am
Plus I threw out the non-working COA. Is it still a valid system?
Ron Schenone
August 10th, 2008
at 11:41am
I’d contact Microsoft for an opinion.
Tien Khoa Nguyen
August 27th, 2008
at 6:10pm
Sometimes the method used in preparing the computer for assembly has two product keys. One is the installation of Windows operating system on the computer. The other is a dilfferent key for a backup disc. Seeing that it came with two keys directly from the retailer, it is legal.
Tien Khoa Nguyen
October 26th, 2009
at 10:09am
Sometimes, it can be hard to tell if it is legal. I know because I made a backup of my legal disc. Now, I only have the backup copies laying around. It is system specific, which means that it will only work on the machine that it was made for. I tried to use my backup copy on a different system and it does a test to verify that you do not install the programs on another system. In my case, a Fujitsu restore disc was used to try to restore a SONY model. Oh well, it didn’t work. Anyways, back to what I was saying. Since the restore disc is not in its original factory fancy label, it could be considered a counterfeit. However, it is a legal backup copy for my own personal use. Therefore, the disc labelling could be misleading! Thank God, Jesus Christ, that I am the original purchaser and only user of my backups. Since, I originally made the backup copies, I know that it is an authentic version and not a counterfeit.
I guess this is my anniversary post! It is a little over a year since my last post. Anyways, may God keep us all happy with legal, authentic, and everything good!!!