# Genuine Windows bullshit does what now? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 19, 2009, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genuine-windows-bullshit-does-what-now/490003 "2009-03-19T07:49:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genuine-windows-bullshit-does-what-now/490003/21 "2009-03-20T23:06:35Z")
> [@chicken\_wire](#): > > Found out what happened, in part at least. Dad rang MS today, and ended up coughing for a new licence. Seems the old licence was legit, but it was some kind of commercial licence that expired recently. Cost him $200+ AUD (didn’t know he had it in him). Probably would have been cheaper to just buy another used laptop, if it’s that old. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genuine-windows-bullshit-does-what-now/490003/22 "2009-03-20T23:26:34Z")
> [@Cerowyn](#): > > I’m interested if you have a cite for this; it bears on a discussion I was having recently with someone. Here’s a couple. Microsoft admits to a 1-2% error rate, that is millions of false accusations, apparently that’s acceptable to Microsoft. Other exports report that 20-25% of the WGA warnings are false. [http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2007/01/8690.ars](http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2007/01/8690.ars) [http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/Facts.aspx?displaylang=en](http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/Facts.aspx?displaylang=en) ---
**Author:** ![DarrenS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2009, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genuine-windows-bullshit-does-what-now/490003/23 "2009-03-21T05:03:46Z")
Of course, WGA is not immune to [false positives](http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/06/18/0037223) (or negatives, depending how you look at it.) ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2009, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genuine-windows-bullshit-does-what-now/490003/24 "2009-03-21T05:34:26Z")
> [@DarrenS](#): > > Of course, WGA is not immune to [false positives](http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/06/18/0037223) (or negatives, depending how you look at it.) I have about zero trust in online bitching about these types of things. In 3 years of running my own computer shop I have run across exactly one OEM key, on the case, that they refused to activate and when I told the customer it wasn’t going to happen he told me his brother had been loading multiple machines from his key and paid for a new one. Bulletproof it ain’t but the 1-2% is closer to .2% at least in my experience. Will not activate automatically online, probably 10%, but a 5 min phone call fixes that pretty much every time. I have had to deal with the actual activation tech support maybe 5 times in same 3 years. I on the other hand sell about 3-4 licences a month to people with hosed corp/VLK installs. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2009, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genuine-windows-bullshit-does-what-now/490003/25 "2009-03-21T05:37:11Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Here’s a couple. Microsoft admits to a 1-2% error rate, that is millions of false accusations, apparently that’s acceptable to Microsoft. Other exports report that 20-25% of the WGA warnings are false. > > [http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2007/01/8690.ars](http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2007/01/8690.ars) > [http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/Facts.aspx?displaylang=en](http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/Facts.aspx?displaylang=en) From your own link: _While a false positive is possible, it is extremely rare. Across over 200 million WGA validations, we have identified only a handful of false positives. Almost all of these were due to data entry errors that were quickly corrected and only occurred for a short period of time._ ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2009, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genuine-windows-bullshit-does-what-now/490003/26 "2009-03-21T12:17:17Z")
> [@scout1222](#): > > Like a few others, I’m running Windows XP, using everything that came pre-installed on the laptop I bought brand new. Several months ago I started getting this warning that my version may not be genuine. I just click “resolve later” and go about my business. If you ring Microsoft’s activation line, they’ll sort you out. ---
**Author:** ![DarrenS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2009, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genuine-windows-bullshit-does-what-now/490003/27 "2009-03-21T14:35:52Z")
> [@drachillix](#): > > I have about zero trust in online bitching about these types of things. In 3 years of running my own computer shop I have run across exactly one OEM key, on the case, that they refused to activate and when I told the customer it wasn’t going to happen he told me his brother had been loading multiple machines from his key and paid for a new one. I’ve never had a problem with WGA either – it’s just an annoyance, especially if you happen to be following best security practices, such as running as an LUA and using Firefox. Then you suddenly have to run a separate exe and copy-paste the magic code before it’ll let you install patches, Platform SDK etc. The funny part in the article was that someone got _Ubuntu_ to validate as “genuine Windows”. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2009, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genuine-windows-bullshit-does-what-now/490003/28 "2009-03-21T18:30:52Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > Don’t be a sap. t-bonham has it nailed. > I coughed up 150 for the student version, from Target a few years back. $150 for a student version of what… $150 is retail for Windows XP Pro, the only “student version” would would find on target shelves would be Microsoft Office. ---
**Author:** ![chicken\_wire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@chicken\_wire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chicken_wire)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2009, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genuine-windows-bullshit-does-what-now/490003/29 "2009-03-21T23:38:16Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Probably would have been cheaper to just buy another used laptop, if it’s that old. Yeah, but, see, at this end of the market, I get the impression that the laptops are mostly ex-business jobbies. They’ve been rebuilt by the backyard dude, the original disks are probably long gone. It’s like an I.T. chop shop or something. There may well be a smarter, cheaper way of getting a computer with a proper licence, but it probably requires more effort and smarts than dad is willing to expend. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2009, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genuine-windows-bullshit-does-what-now/490003/30 "2009-03-22T00:19:12Z")
> [@chicken\_wire](#): > > Found out what happened, in part at least. Dad rang MS today, and ended up coughing for a new licence. Seems the old licence was legit, but it was some kind of commercial licence that expired recently. Cost him $200+ AUD (didn’t know he had it in him). > > They should really make a stripped down, idiot proof Operating System for Luddite technophobes like my dad. There’s no way in hell he should be allowed to have charge of anything running Windows. Sure, he shouldn’t be denied access to the interwebs and shit, but he shouldn’t be able to install dreck like Incredimail or operate without any anti-virus software. He’ll ruin us all, mark my words… > > 😃 I hear you man. I know a couple of people that fit that bill. Can we commit them together? ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genuine-windows-bullshit-does-what-now/490003/31 "2009-03-26T19:36:23Z")
> [@chicken\_wire](#): > > Yeah, but, see, at this end of the market, I get the impression that the laptops are mostly ex-business jobbies. They’ve been rebuilt by the backyard dude, the original disks are probably long gone. It’s like an I.T. chop shop or something. There may well be a smarter, cheaper way of getting a computer with a proper licence, but it probably requires more effort and smarts than dad is willing to expend. Amazing as it might sound, the disks don’t matter. Exept for a handful of machines, an OS installed by the manufacturer can be loaded from just about any OEM copy of the XP/vista discs using the code on the case. We do this dozens of times a month. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genuine-windows-bullshit-does-what-now/490003.md?page=1)