I have cleaned my room now. Can I go play?
May 19th, 2007 by Peter
NERD ALERT! Turn back now if you want to keep sane.
Sometimes I make a few hardware tests for a Counter-Strike community called SLAP Ligaen. Mostly it is related gaming gear like mouse pads, mice and headsets, but the other day a box of different goodies dropped in.
As always it’s exciting to test the thingies, but also a hard job to actually write the review. This time it is even harder. One of the things I had to review this time is a raid controller. This vouch for heavy fiddling with my computer case and setting up in the bios, drivers and so on. Also I have to install Windows XP and all my software from scratch.
Recently I upgraded my mainboard and my CPU, which of course forced me to unlock/register my original copy of Windows XP yet another time. The registering part is pretty easy. You just plug in the net cable and click a few buttons inside Windows, and voila, done. The hard part is unlocking Windows when Microsoft decides that “you have made significant changes to your hardware”. This part pisses me of.
Ok, Microsoft has a huge problem with piracy – and yes – they need some kind of protection to keep it at a low, but the procedure still bugs me. Recently there was a heavy debate about whether the licence followed the computer, or the person who bought it. After a lot of online criticism from the users/nerds MS eventually made a press statement saying that the Windows licence would follow the person (i.e. on one PC only). This is only fair in my opinion and a good save by MS.
So, back to Windows XP and the current unlocking system. If you haven’t tried it, here’s a brief rundown:
If your copy of XP fails to register due to too many hardware changes, you are forced to call a phone number to unlock it. The procedure is sluggish and annoying as hell. You end up with an “unlock” robot who guide you through the procedure. First you have to push a key consisting of a shitload of numbers/letters and after doing this you have to answer some yes/no questions pushing 1 or 2. The questions are no doubt made to catch people who do not know the license agreement for example those who try to install XP on more than one PC or pirates who try to register an illegal copy. Well, ok. MS have to do something, right?
Oh, then the “robot” will read some numbers for you, that you then have to write into the unlocking system on XP, and at last you get a big “thank you for registering” your windows. No no no: thank you for wasting my time…
My beef with Microsoft is that every time I have to do this (and believe me, I’ve done this more than 5-6 times because I’m the kinda dude who change hardware parts and reinstall XP frequently) I get annoyed like hell. Not only am I at the point where I can look forward to one long day/evening of reinstalling all the needed software and XP updates and servicepacks, but I also have to ask MS permission to use my own personal copy of Windows XP?! What’s up with that philosophy?
I’m caught in between understanding MS’s piracy problems, and feeling heavily offended that MS can dictate if I can use my own software. As you may have read “between the lines”, I tend to lean towards being extremely offended. There is really something fundamentally wrong when someone far away can control something inside your home, which you’ve already paid for and registered, right?
To put it into perspective what if this applied for your car? Try getting up in the morning only to find out you had to call General Motors and ask permission within 30 days to keep the car driving? “Significant changes to your vehicle have been observed! Please call the following number within the next 30 days to keep driving”. Maybe then you wouldn’t bother putting in a new radiator or change the tires.
What about if this applied for your TV, your stereo, your clothes, your bus card, your microwave or your bed?
Ok, ok, it’s a bit on the edge, but somehow I can’t help but feeling a bit raped by MS every time I have to call daddy and ask permission to play.
What do you think? (I won’t wote myself, if you wonder. My opinion should be pretty clear after this rant). :-)
[poll=6]
Feel free to write your opinion in the comments if none of the Poll’s answers doesn’t fit your view.
Update: For the record I just unlocked Windows XP yet another time. I think this was the 3rd in 1½ week. This time MS weren’t happy with my key punching and I had to talk to a real person to get permission to use my computer. Nice bloke I talked to, but shitty system nevertheless.
it’s really annoying to do the register,for me,I don’t often change my hardware,so it’s not always buging me.
and I actually make a ghost image,when the system falls apart,I usually get the fresh operating system with general software,it usually takes less then 5 mins.