Dear Microsoft, (Yes, another one, mild and misplaced)

Dear Microsoft,

Now I went through your crappy activation process when I first got my computer. I didn’t have an internet connection so I had the long process of listening to a droning pre-recorded voice mumbling out numbers and letters.

I understand why you do this. It’s a good way of stopping people ripping you off. But this I do not understand.

Today I used msconfig to put my computer into system diagnostic mode as I have recently been having problems with certain spyware that spyBot, cleantray and Norton AntiVirus could not stop. So I restart. As Windows is logging in, I get a message similar to this, “It appears you have recently undergone major hardware changes. You have 3 days to re-activate XP”

Now it may just be me… but your OS should be able to detect the difference between an actual change of hardware and a lack of enabled hardware that one of your utilities controlled.

I also find your 3 day deadline unacceptable. What about if I actually had’ve changed my hardware, found it was incompatible and a replacement could not be made in time? This is a possible situation. What exactly is it that some hacker can do in 4 days that they can’t do in 3?

Yes I re-activated your crappy XP which uses up too much memory for what it actually offers. No I did not register. You can pry my address from my cold dead hands.

Yours sincerely,
Fire Engine.