[OT] Another good windows glitch - like we needed another one.
I'm trying to laugh about this because the alternative will be to kick my computer off the roof. I need to run XP occasionally so I have a dual-boot config. This morning I tried to boot Win XP and was told 'windows needs to be activated' - and it wouldn't log me in. I did that last year and I haven't changed anything, but what the hell - I have a legal copy, so I clicked yes. Then it said 'this copy of windows is already activated' and logged me off... rebooted - and the same thing. It won't let me log in and it won't activate. I have to reinstall from scratch AGAIN! What a design. <sigh> Mike- -- If you're not confused, you're not trying hard enough. -- Please note - Due to the intense volume of spam, we have installed site-wide spam filters at catherders.com. If email from you bounces, try non-HTML, non-encoded, non-attachments,
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 The Wednesday 2006-04-05 at 07:35 -0400, Michael W Cocke wrote:
won't let me log in and it won't activate. I have to reinstall from scratch AGAIN! What a design. <sigh>
This time, burn an image, so that you can restore a working and fully configured image instead of reinstalling. Much faster, less hassle. - -- Cheers, Carlos Robinson -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.0 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Made with pgp4pine 1.76 iD8DBQFEM9IstTMYHG2NR9URAko2AJ4stw30oDp+a+RCpQB7wqF23vZP1QCffT3s Ty72D5BFXFLyHOk0hfYYM1g= =ObW4 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
On Wednesday 05 April 2006 04:35 am, Michael W Cocke wrote:
I'm trying to laugh about this because the alternative will be to kick my computer off the roof.
I need to run XP occasionally so I have a dual-boot config. This morning I tried to boot Win XP and was told 'windows needs to be activated' - and it wouldn't log me in. I did that last year and I haven't changed anything, but what the hell - I have a legal copy, so I clicked yes. Then it said 'this copy of windows is already activated' and logged me off... rebooted - and the same thing. It won't let me log in and it won't activate. I have to reinstall from scratch AGAIN! What a design. <sigh>
Well, hopefully you haven't reinstalled. The activation key is related to hardware settings, which may have changed. Stupid, yes, but not insurmountable. You have two alternatives. First you should be able to call your friendly neighborhood Microsoft support center and explain the situation. They should get you a new activation code. Second, there are plenty of cracks out in the wild, which will perform the activation for you. LimeWire works perfectly on Linux and should get you what you need. Um, at least I've heard from reliable sources that it does and those same sources suggest that these cracks might be easy to locate... -- kai - www.perfectreign.com www.livebeans.com - the new NetBeans community 43...for those who require slightly more than the answer to life, the universe and everything.
On Wed, 5 Apr 2006 13:29:58 -0700, you wrote:
On Wednesday 05 April 2006 04:35 am, Michael W Cocke wrote:
I'm trying to laugh about this because the alternative will be to kick my computer off the roof.
I need to run XP occasionally so I have a dual-boot config. This morning I tried to boot Win XP and was told 'windows needs to be activated' - and it wouldn't log me in. I did that last year and I haven't changed anything, but what the hell - I have a legal copy, so I clicked yes. Then it said 'this copy of windows is already activated' and logged me off... rebooted - and the same thing. It won't let me log in and it won't activate. I have to reinstall from scratch AGAIN! What a design. <sigh>
Well, hopefully you haven't reinstalled.
The activation key is related to hardware settings, which may have changed. Stupid, yes, but not insurmountable.
You have two alternatives. First you should be able to call your friendly neighborhood Microsoft support center and explain the situation. They should get you a new activation code.
Second, there are plenty of cracks out in the wild, which will perform the activation for you. LimeWire works perfectly on Linux and should get you what you need.
Um, at least I've heard from reliable sources that it does and those same sources suggest that these cracks might be easy to locate... -- kai - www.perfectreign.com www.livebeans.com - the new NetBeans community
43...for those who require slightly more than the answer to life, the universe and everything.
I thought of both of those options - but I couldn't get the idiot windows to let me enter a code or do anything. If I could have gotten it to do anything I would have, but as it is - reinstalled already And someone suggested I burn an image (I forget who) - I do backup (Acronis Image) the problem is,I have no bleeping idea when whatever the problem is snuck in - I might wind up restoring the problem.... Mike- -- If you're not confused, you're not trying hard enough. -- Please note - Due to the intense volume of spam, we have installed site-wide spam filters at catherders.com. If email from you bounces, try non-HTML, non-encoded, non-attachments,
Michael W Cocke wrote:
And someone suggested I burn an image (I forget who) - I do backup (Acronis Image) the problem is,I have no bleeping idea when whatever the problem is snuck in - I might wind up restoring the problem....
It "snuck" in, when Windows was installed. ;-)
On Thursday 06 April 2006 04:11 pm, James Knott wrote:
Michael W Cocke wrote:
And someone suggested I burn an image (I forget who) - I do backup (Acronis Image) the problem is,I have no bleeping idea when whatever the problem is snuck in - I might wind up restoring the problem....
It "snuck" in, when Windows was installed. ;-)
Now, be fair. Windows is NOT a virus. Viruses are small and efficient. -- kai - www.perfectreign.com www.filesite.org - The Community FileNet Site 43...for those who require slightly more than the answer to life, the universe and everything.
into electronic streams flowing thru the cosmos On Thursday 06 April 2006 11:47 pm, kai wrote:
On Thursday 06 April 2006 04:11 pm, James Knott wrote:
Michael W Cocke wrote:
And someone suggested I burn an image (I forget who) - I do backup (Acronis Image) the problem is,I have no bleeping idea when whatever the problem is snuck in - I might wind up restoring the problem....
It "snuck" in, when Windows was installed. ;-)
Now, be fair.
Windows is NOT a virus.
Viruses are small and efficient. And as we used to add back in OS/2 times, Viruses actually *do* something. ;-) -- j "When You Earnestly Believe You Can Compensate For A Lack Of Skill By Doubling Your Efforts, There's No End To What You Can't Do."
kai wrote:
Windows is NOT a virus.
Viruses are small and efficient.
I came across this link, the other day. <http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1945808,00.asp> These days, I'm supporting Windows users, for a large company and there are many times I wish I could say "Your problem is caused by running Windows". It's heartbreaking to hear the problems they experience, even with a new computer and a fresh install of the XP image. It's beyond belief that businesses try to run on Windows, with all the problems it brings. They just don't know what good computing is. I have worked with OS/2 for many years, as well as Linux, VAX/VMS, Prime & Data General mini computers etc, for many years. It never ceases to amaze me, the garbage that exists in Windows and nowhere else.
Is it impossible to write Spyware, Viruses, Malicious Software for Linux? Or is just that Microsoft is the favorite target? I keep my Windows firewall and anit-virus, anti-spyware programs up to date (all free ware) and I haven't had any problems. At 06:24 07/04/2006, James Knott wrote:
kai wrote:
Windows is NOT a virus.
Viruses are small and efficient.
I came across this link, the other day.
<http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1945808,00.asp>
These days, I'm supporting Windows users, for a large company and there are many times I wish I could say "Your problem is caused by running Windows". It's heartbreaking to hear the problems they experience, even with a new computer and a fresh install of the XP image. It's beyond belief that businesses try to run on Windows, with all the problems it brings. They just don't know what good computing is. I have worked with OS/2 for many years, as well as Linux, VAX/VMS, Prime & Data General mini computers etc, for many years. It never ceases to amaze me, the garbage that exists in Windows and nowhere else.
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On Friday 07 April 2006 06:23 am, Chris Jones wrote:
Is it impossible to write Spyware, Viruses, Malicious Software for Linux? Or is just that Microsoft is the favorite target?
I keep my Windows firewall and anit-virus, anti-spyware programs up to date (all free ware) and I haven't had any problems.
Impossible...no. Linux is no less suseptible to buffer overflow exploits or other code-related exploits than any other operating system. However, the difference is this. Linux was designed from the ground up to be a secure OS with multiple users sharing the same space and having to "play nice" with each other. Windows NT was (and still is under the guise of 2K/XP/Vista) a single-user OS with some multi user features hacked in. In order to do pretty much anything of value on a Windows system, you have to run as the administrator equivalent. This is partially a result of the design of windows and a result of programmers insisting on using HKey Local Machine to write settings. To be fair to Windows, if you have everything locked down tight, run proper firewalls, anti-virus, and don't let anyone run as local admin - you should be more or less safe. However, most people just run as admin, since that's the default. This allows virus writers more access to your system and lets them create havoc to the unsuspecting public. Since most linux distros (with the exception of Lindows/Linspire) highly discourage running as root, this sort of thing doesn't happen. Even if a virus were to get on your machine, the worst it could do was to infect your files and not root's. Also it would be very difficult to spread, since your privileges aren't supposed to be sufficient to accomplish such things. This is an article I wrote on the subject last January. I probably should revisit it. http://www.perfectreign.com/modules/articles/article.php?id=2 Also here's a blurb on Windows vs. Linux security. http://www.perfectreign.com/modules/articles/article.php?id=15
Chris Jones wrote:
Is it impossible to write Spyware, Viruses, Malicious Software for Linux? Or is just that Microsoft is the favorite target?
I keep my Windows firewall and anit-virus, anti-spyware programs up to date (all free ware) and I haven't had any problems.
Due to fundemental design and also usage habits, Windows is far more vulnerable. While it's not impossible to write a virus etc., for Linux, it's difficult for it to propogate. As for but one example of many as to why Windows is more vulnerable, you should look at the MS response to Netscape and the anti trust trial. Initially, IE was a separate app, that could be installed on Windows. Then to discourage people from installing Netscape, they started bundling it with every copy of Windows. At the trial, they claimed it couldn't be removed easily, because it was part of the OS and they then made sure it was. They then started including IE function in OS code files, so that removing IE would break the OS. This also had the side effect of giving malware free reign over the system. There is no technical justification for what MS had done and it's in fact the opposite of what good software engineering dictates. Also Windows was originally a non networked, single user system, without much security, as it wasn't needed. When security was needed for the internet etc., it was added on. On the otherhand, Linux was built from the ground up, with networking and multiuser use in mind and included the necessary protection. Also, look at how many Windows users run as administrator. This also means that a virus has full run of the system. There are many more reasons.
On Fri, 2006-04-07 at 09:23 -0400, Chris Jones wrote:
Is it impossible to write Spyware, Viruses, Malicious Software for Linux? Or is just that Microsoft is the favorite target?
It's not impossible to write them, it is difficult to propagate them. That has to do with Linux permissions et. al. On Windows folks seem to be less security conscious, so that and MS' desire (actually how they execute it,) to make computing easy for the masses, creates a big target.
I keep my Windows firewall and anit-virus, anti-spyware programs up to date (all free ware) and I haven't had any problems.
I do too, but then I don't use my windows for much but Taxes any more.
Michael W Cocke wrote:
I'm trying to laugh about this because the alternative will be to kick my computer off the roof.
I need to run XP occasionally so I have a dual-boot config. This morning I tried to boot Win XP and was told 'windows needs to be activated' - and it wouldn't log me in. I did that last year and I haven't changed anything, but what the hell - I have a legal copy, so I clicked yes. Then it said 'this copy of windows is already activated' and logged me off... rebooted - and the same thing. It won't let me log in and it won't activate. I have to reinstall from scratch AGAIN! What a design. <sigh>
Perhaps Sir Billy is running short of pocket change and wants you to buy another copy. ;-)
On Wed, 2006-04-05 at 07:35 -0400, Michael W Cocke wrote:
I'm trying to laugh about this because the alternative will be to kick my computer off the roof.
I need to run XP occasionally so I have a dual-boot config. This morning I tried to boot Win XP and was told 'windows needs to be activated' - and it wouldn't log me in. I did that last year and I haven't changed anything, but what the hell - I have a legal copy, so I clicked yes. Then it said 'this copy of windows is already activated' and logged me off... rebooted - and the same thing. It won't let me log in and it won't activate. I have to reinstall from scratch AGAIN! What a design. <sigh>
Mike- -- If you're not confused, you're not trying hard enough. -- Please note - Due to the intense volume of spam, we have installed site-wide spam filters at catherders.com. If email from you bounces, try non-HTML, non-encoded, non-attachments,
If you are connected to the internet, it might be there is another machine that is using the same serial that you are. For example, if you install XP on one machine, then using the same disk and install on another machine, the first machine that is logged on to the internet will get the registration, any other machine where XP was installed with the same disk would refuse to operate. They don't even have to be on the internet, if they are on the same network it can happen. We had this problem at a former company I was at. Isn't that nice of Microsoft? Art
participants (8)
-
Art Fore -
Carlos E. R. -
Chris Jones -
James Knott -
jfweber＠gilweber.com -
kai -
Michael W Cocke -
Mike McMullin