Comments for Lisaspatch

Comment on OldieButNewbie - First Blush by greywizard

greywizard — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 12:27:07 +0000

It sounds like you are doing a great job and are having fun at the same time. It is nice to see a couple taking so much time to help others enter the world of computing. Did you install anything like vnc or FreeNX? Things are running good now but sooner or later something will break and it will be nice to be able to log into the machine to make corrections. Just a thought. Good luck and keep up the good work. :-)

Comment on OldieButNewbie - Like a Virgin by Todd W. Bucy

Todd W. Bucy — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 18:03:35 +0000

you might want to try the following site. They have both a free and pay schemes that offer live support. You might want to have a look. They can be quite helpful in a pinch.

http://qunu.com/

Todd

Comment on Do Not Adjust Your Dial… by Miiikeee

Miiikeee — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 15:03:11 +0000

And to think we pay for cable TV to watch all the Ad’s and propaganda. Bizarre as it may seem, I have a TV going with the volume turned down while sitting here working online. What a waste.

Comment on The Best Emo of All by Lynn Barry

Lynn Barry — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 19:14:23 +0000

Lisa,
My oldest granddaughter appears to be emo-like lately. She had her lip pierced and you seldom see one of her eyes due to the swath of hair across her forehead.
Nice connecting with ya…thanks.
Lynn Barry

Comment on Big Brother? Is That You? by Tim

Tim — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 03:48:33 +0000

I’m quoting from sipurl: “Full - also called Retail Full version - most expensive, can be transferred to another machine, so long as it is uninstalled from the old machine. If you lie and do not uninstall it - then the old machine will run, but will act as any other machine running a pirated version (i.e. it will not validate with WGA and will only be allowed to receive critical updates). CAN MOVE FROM MACHINE TO MACHINE (just make sure you uninstall then reinstall, and re-activate. You may need to call Microsoft for re-activation)!!”

So if my computer crashes, and I cannot uninstall Windows before the old computer dies completely, I can still install and activate my full retail copy on a new machine. If I have any other copy (OEM, for instance), I am out of luck.

Comment on Big Brother? Is That You? by dirtgoddess

dirtgoddess — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 01:24:54 +0000

Here is M$’s extensive Q&A page, which does not address this question at all;

http://snipurl.com/grij

and this page will tell you exactly which versions are transferable from one machine to another.

http://snipurl.com/1hr66

Hope this helps. Here’s the down-and-dirty if they decide you are not running a legit copy of XP and cannot prove to their satisfaction where you got it. You may buy it again. Really. This is copy-pasted from their Q&A page.

” * Complimentary offer: Microsoft will make a complimentary copy of Windows XP available to customers who have been sold counterfeit Windows. Customers will be required to submit a proof of purchase, the counterfeit CD, and a counterfeit report with details of their purchase. Only high-quality counterfeit Windows will qualify for the complimentary offer.
* Electronic License Key Offer: Microsoft will offer an alternative for customers who find out via the WGA validation process that they are not running genuine Windows, but do not qualify for, or choose not to take advantage of, the complimentary offer. These customers will be able to license a Windows Genuine Advantage Kit for Windows XP online for a price of $99 for Windows XP Home edition or $149 for Windows XP Professional. The Windows Genuine Advantage Kit for Windows XP will include a new 25-character Product Key and a Windows Product Key Update tool that will allow customers to convert their counterfeit copy to genuine Windows XP electronically.”

Apparently there is a way to remove WGA from your computer, I googled “WGA validation+remove” (without the quotes) and found lots of hits but I’m not computer-savvy enough to use the methods described.

If I’ve helped only one other person in the world to be thoroughly paranoid about M$, my job here is done.

Comment on Big Brother? Is That You? by Tim

Tim — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 17:03:25 +0000

Okay. So I have validated my software using WGA. Now my computer breaks down, so I get a new computer. Then I take the XP software that I purchased for the old computer and use it to install XP on the new computer. Will the new computer fail validation?

Comment on Big Brother? Is That You? by marc klink

marc klink — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 01:55:41 +0000

WGA can be removed. The only benefit is that if you want to download some newer stuff like IE7 or WMP 11 you can…or a card game or two. Other than that it is all about MS being able to keep track of your system, your serial number, etc.

I see it as spyware, just like most, if not all, their software. Why should a mouse driver need to access the internet? Only MS knows, because their Intellipoint software does just that.

Comment on Big Brother? Is That You? by Tim Hodkinson

Tim Hodkinson — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 13:34:06 +0000

What I find particularly disturbing is the deceptive words they use to hide what is essentially spyware. There are no “benefits” to users of WGA. And it offers no “protection” from anything, as you’ve said. Can WGA be removed?

I’ve never been a Linux fanatic, but the Orwellian, Big Brother role of MS makes the “freedom” that Linux fans talk so much about seems a whole lot more important than it was before WGA came out.

What else is MS doing inside our computers?

Comment on Filling In The Blanks by marc klink

marc klink — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 19:54:23 +0000

I have been interested in this type of research my entire life. It is a shame that we no longer lead in this type of research here in the US. I think the loss of the Super Collider program was the last gasp of things new and important from this country. It is too bad that the government doesn’t ‘waste’ more money educating the public on the benefits of these types of research, instead of the many other things it spends on which are of no consequence.

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