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Windows 7 piracy out of control

Answered Windows 7 piracy out of control

  • Saturday, December 29, 2012 9:56 PM
     
     
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    It's not really a Tech question.. but maybe you can point me in the right direction.  Last week I panicked seeing that it is now impossible to buy windows 7 ultimate from Microsoft. I logged in, went to the store, clicked everywhere, and even the buy now button (with a price!!!) predictably took me to the wonderful Win 8 page.  I am sure that I will be running a few copies of Win 8 before I die but...
    I need, long term, to keep XP running and so had decided to buy 2 licences... but no!
    So I went looking and found some reasonable offers on Ebay.. and bought 2 of them.  They both turned up today, and one of them contained instructions for avoiding validation.  So I looked around the web.... and they are everywhere! .... and it is YOUR fault.. I don't mean you personally of course.. calm.. some of us need Win 7 no matter how good win 8 might be.
    So I have 2 illegal copies, as far as I can tell, and I have spent all my money unless those that rip you (and us) off are kind enough to refund me.
    My question is.. why are you giving them this wonderful business opportunity?
    David Kent.
     

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  • Sunday, December 30, 2012 2:13 AM
     
     
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    There is  never any excuse for pirating.  Just because Microsoft isn't selling it doesn't mean other legit retailers are not.  Microsoft is pushing there new product just like Apple would and removes all remnants of the older products when a new one appears.  Other retailers still sell the older products due to inventory backlog.  

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006816%20600021070&IsNodeId=1&name=Ultimate

    http://www.walmart.com/ip/11331573?adid=22222222227000085501&wmlspartner=wlpa&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=&wl3=21486607510&wl4=&wl5=pla&veh=sem

    http://www.mwave.com/mwave/SKUSearch.asp?px=FO&scriteria=6004820#.UN-jU28absE

    Be kind and Mark as Answer if I helped.

     
  • Sunday, December 30, 2012 8:44 AM
     
     
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    Thank you Chris,

    I don't think that I have endorsed any piracy, nor that I am likely to seeing as I have just walked the plank.

    Your answer is sort of useful as I now know for sure that Microsoft will no longer sell me this product.... but will sell it to a "legit" retailer who (1) might prove not to be so legit but I will not find out until too late (2) will offer me a copy that I cannot legally use in Europe (3) will put an extra $100 markup (4) will sell me an OEM that is no use to me long term...........

    I would have thought that the price differential would be enough to persuade the apple loving public to buy win 8 and not win 7 ultimate.  The win 7 ultimate buy button on microsoft store is not easily found.  Why is it there still if its link has been broken? Just to upset the customer?

    I know that the world has moved on and the customer is now never right.  I have always quite liked Microsoft as a company, although having worked for them on occasions I know them to be innefficient and sometimes incompetent as an organisation.  Their ethic has until now been sound.

    I would like to suggest that if Microsoft wish to become "Apple 2" they are just joining another "race to the bottom".

    David Kent.

     
  • Sunday, December 30, 2012 5:56 PM
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    Windows 7 Ultimate is still available from the Microsoft Store (Hint: type Windows 7 Ultimate in the Search box).  Please see: Windows 7 Ultimate

    Note:  Unfortunately, most of the Microsoft software offered by individual eBay sellers is non-genuine, counterfeit and/or pirated.  Avoid auction websites when purchasing Microsoft software!

    Carey Frisch


    • Edited by Carey FrischMVP, Moderator Sunday, December 30, 2012 6:01 PM
    • Marked As Answer by mine-pro Sunday, December 30, 2012 10:43 PM
    • Unmarked As Answer by mine-pro Sunday, December 30, 2012 10:44 PM
    • Marked As Answer by mine-pro Sunday, December 30, 2012 10:45 PM
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  • Sunday, December 30, 2012 11:10 PM
     
     
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    Thank you for your help Carey. 

    I have bought a (hopefully) genuine copy from Amazon (EU) sarl and look forward to some serious nail biting in 3 months time.

    I think that I must have caught Digital River in the middle of a refit of the UK site as many of the links that were pushed to the home page... buy win8 now... are now behaving as expected.  However (and maybe they will fix it soon) a search for "windows 7 ulimate" goes back to win 8, or on page 2 an x-box controller, which might of course be what I was actually looking for... {http://www.microsoftstore.com/store?SiteID=msuk&Locale=en_GB&Action=DisplayProductSearchResultsPage&result=&keywords=windows+7+ultimate}

    I did get to your page via "Win 7 Tips and Tricks" which pushed me through to the US site.

    David Kent.

     
  • Monday, December 31, 2012 6:25 AM
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    Hi David,


    Regarding the genuine Windows software, I would like to share the following articles:


    How to know you're buying genuine Windows - Microsoft Windows

    Genuine Windows: frequently asked questions - Microsoft Windows


    Regards,

    Vincent Wang
    TechNet Community Support

     
  • Monday, December 31, 2012 9:53 AM
     
     
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    Hello Vincent,

    Thank you for the links.  The page that could be really useful is this one {http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/howtotell/Software.aspx#Packaging}

    I had already looked at it.  I say "could be useful", because the image that we really need to look at.. the second one.. is a low resolution picture and continuously rolls through to other images.  This is probably to stop any pirates "screen shooting" and copying, but I think they probably have the budget to buy a genuine copy. 

    We don't get to see the key or the discs until we have paid, so the label is our only witness.  A very good picture, that we could study, would be useful.  The rest of the information is just blah-blah.  The only way that we know we have a genuine copy of the exact version that we are looking for is if we can download the os from microsoft and pay microsoft directly for the key.. That way we, the customers, know exactly who and with what we are dealing.

    At the moment I am wondering why the pirates make imperfect copies.  They are so nearly perfect, with "errors" that could only be made on purpose (expressly)... mixed product codes etc..  This suggests to me that they are in some way protected from prosecution by selling something that is not a "copy".  In any case their copies do not damage Microsoft, only Microsoft customers, because they are no more useful than any pirate copy found on the web. They are only purchased because they appear to be genuine.  Microsoft seem to believe that we buy them knowing them to be fake.  If we wanted a fake we can find plenty of those for free!

    David Kent.