Making the best of both worlds [pic]
![Making the best of both worlds [pic]](/api/ImgurImages?id=rQVrd.png)
Posted Jul 26, 2010, 1:17 AM UTC
812407
I had a similar situation, in which I was assigned a product key through my school, but misplaced the disc. I torrented the install files, and got caught by my schools piracy filter...long story short, I had to pay 20 bucks for them to turn my port back on, as well as write a paper about how piracy is evil. I wrote the paper, but it was more a rip on the school for being retarded.
Upon turning it in, I was refunded my 20 bucks, because they actually looked at what I downloaded, which was obviously something I legally owned. Fuck bureaucracy!
70
yeah, fuck them! trying to teach you a lesson, and then refunding your measly twenty bucks when they realized their mistake. assclowns.
102
Yes, but the amount of trouble they put me (and themselves) through was paramount to the amount of trouble it was worth. I did still have to write a paper though. I failed to mention that the process of this happening included but was not limited to:
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- Four days of shut off internet (OH NOES!!!)
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- Initial loss of $20 to an already dirt poor college student (internet port returned, fucking finally!!!)
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- Bullshit paper
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- ???
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- Wait for response from Judicial board (4 days)
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- Meet in front of Judicial Board (2 professors and 7 students)
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- Need continuation (Must confer with IT staff to decide legality)
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- Meet in front of Judicial Board again (2 days later)
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- Convince them that I was not in the wrong.
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- Profit!
34
Well that's more like a break even, you didn't exactly profit.
22
The win against the university counted for more than the money, personally.
19
Guilty until proven innocent - that's not right. You should now write a paper about this whole fiasco, print hundreds of copies and distribute them around the school so they learn the error of their ways.
12
(I'm in charge of the campus TV station)
2
Dude, get into a mixup with your state's DMV and then you can talk about bureaucratic hassle.
3
Yeah, I can imagine. Losing the internet (possibly wrongfully) is one thing. But possibly losing your "right" to drive wrongfully would be a complete world of pain. I feel for ya, man.
1
This is good, at least they're going through due process, and will inform them. This way they learn about new technologies and mediums, and will update their rules accordingly.
1
Exactly. I was an unprecedented case, so it became a drawn out process. I'm sure that if this has happened since, they can look to what happened to me for inspiration on streamlining the process, although I doubt they'll take my closing suggestion, "Stop watching us, and focus your attention to the cyber attacks that bring down your servers, and maybe we won't have an average of one class per week with a teacher unable to present upon his/her predetermined digital curriculum."
1
Yes, but the amount of trouble they put me (and themselves) through was paramount to the amount of trouble it was worth.
The judicial board and IT people get paid whether they do real work or not. Why should they care?
1
They spent probably twice what they would've ended up getting from you... then spent even more to give it right back. Win.
5
then spent even more to give it right back. Win.
No, they just gave his own 20$ back to him. The school should have to pay damages for falsely accusing someone without an investigation. The kid should sue the school, he would win.
3
Whoever made the software could sue.
While DL:ing program you own might be legal (which I doubt), I am sure that distributing that same program (which he most likely did since he used torrent) is illegal and could easily result lawsuit forcing you to pay hundreds of thousands as damages.
5
Processing, paperwork, manhours to do all that bureaucracy. That's to what I was referring. He didn't get a penny of it, but they spent it.
1
That sounds a bit iffy to me. I am not a lawyer, in fact, I don't even play one on TV; but I don't think the kid would have a case. I'm pretty sure that he was technically pirating even if he did own the software.
0
I had it on, but extremely low (about 5 KB/s). The IT staff decided that while I did upload, it was an unsubstantial enough amount that it didn't actually warrant a confrontation (a little late)
I don't know if bringing any extra (actual) legal attention to this would be a good idea.
0
yeah, fuck them! trying to teach you a lesson, and then refunding your measly twenty bucks when they realized their mistake. assclowns.
LOL! no youre right! The school did nothing wrong. Kids should get punished and when schools make mistakes, there is no disciplinary action taken against the school. Arent schools teaching great lessons now days? The lesson here is clearly: "If youre an institution or you work for the govt, you dont have to pay for your mistakes."
5
What do you mean "nowadays"? That's how it has always been.
2
Well no, back pre 1950s, public schools let you bring guns to school, so , No, youre wrong, it hasnt always been this way. Schools were held accountable and faculty and staff gave respect b/c the ranks were mostly filled with people who cared about educating children.
-5
Seriously, what kind of school does that? I keep reading about this on reddit, is it common in the US?
7
Yeah, the corporations responsible for creating media (all sorts, software, music, movies, etc...) have come together to bully schools into heavily monitoring what students do on their networks. It's quite surprising to see how dedicated they are to ruining fun around the country.
For example, there are actually posters around campus advertising iTunes as the better alternative to torrenting (claiming higher quality, faster speeds, not being prosecuted, etc...) The posters list the price of downloading a song from them versus when you get sued for downloading it. It's quite sad, really.
13
My university at least came up with a reasonably useful solution. They subscribed to some sort of a legit music download service on behalf of all the students. Thus we were asked to use that instead of downloading illegally. The selection wasn't fantastic, but it definitely was great for when you wanted to download one song from a mainstream pop album that you'd be too embarrassed to purchase. (See: "All the Single Ladies")
6
It's the thought that counts. Instead of simply punishing all students, they found a creative (albeit minimalistic) solution to the problem. They have alleviated large corporations breathing down their neck as well as some of the pressure from students to acquire music.
If only they had this for software and movies as well. I'd like to imagine that a school would be able to work out a deal with Netflix to have at least on demand movies available, and possibly even (gasp) Rhapsody for music. I'd be willing to pay for that out of my technology fee every semester, and much happiness would be shared by all.
2
Talking_Head-
"You're not a single lady."
Zoethor2-
:'(
1
For example, there are actually posters around campus advertising iTunes as the better alternative to torrenting
From the school's, copyright holder's, and Apple's stance, it is a better alternative. Just saying.
1
Well yeah, but (insert grumpy old man voice here) Back in my day, school was about the students.
2
Solution: come to Spain. Here I download/seed at 10 megaBYTES/second at my dorm room (it would be faster if we actually had Gigabit ports), and nobody cares :D
5
Other solution: Stay where you are at, and ask a IT student to show you how to download without getting caught.
VPN, TOR, I2P, Shell Accounts, Freenet 0.5, whatever... all cheaper than traveling to spain.
5
But you could get to Spain quicker than it would take to download an album using TOR.
6
The secret is to use TOR only for the tracking data.
1
Fuck me. I get giddy when my downloads at home are 1.5MBps. Really, downright giddy. :(
Goddamnit why won't my city put fiber in the ground!?
1
I get near 4MB/s on cable. Blame your ISP for not offering faster plans, not the lack of fiber (though fiber would be faster).
1
Why do we have to settle for slower upload than download? Because we're using cable installed decades ago and not for the purpose we're using it for now!
FUCK CABLE I WANT MY FIBERRRRRRRRR!
Also Comcast is the only provider in my area/county/region/state, so I'm pretty much fucked unless I choose DSL.
1
Hey everyone who bought something legitimately, it didn't work, you cracked it/downloaded it/whatever and it worked great... did you call the company and complain?
Cause unless you provide feedback:
- "Hey I bought this game and it won't install, it's complaining that I have IDA Pro installed." "What do you mean I have to uninstall my personal software for your game to run?! That's ridiculous! Absolutely not!" "Well you can count on me to return this and never buy something from you again."
- "Hi I bought your movie, and it won't play, it's all scrambled." "I don't understand why do I need to play it in Windows Movie Player, I'm on Linux." "Well I'd like a refund then." "Well you can count on me to return this and never buy something from you again."
- "Hi, I bought your game, and it won't play because I have a 'virtual cd-rom'" "What do you mean your game won't play if I have this running. I use it to run my mother's text to speech software - she's blind." "Well you can count on me to return this and never buy something from you again."
They're just gonna keep doing it! If they don't hear from their legit customers about how they're dicking them over, they'll assume they're all happy and those pirates are doing their pirating shenanigans, and they need to work harder at their crap.
Sometimes I'll jump through a rigamole to complain even when I don't want the product. e.g. I have a Nexus 1 on ATT with the (now-unavailable to anyone except those grandfathered) unlimited data plan. Good is a work VPN solution for Android ("Good" is the name of the company), but you need to pay for the "Enterprise Data Plan" with your carrier. Fuck that - data is data, my "work 1's and 0's" don't cost you more to carry than my "personal 0's and 1's".
So I signed up for good, tried to activate it, and they said I needed to change data plans. I explained I couldn't, that I already had unlimited, that my device was not through ATT I bought it personally and ATT doesn't control it, that everything was fine if they'd just flip the switch. But they refused because ATT won't confirm I'm on the 'Enterprise data plan'. I explained that I'm not going to make my employees change their personal data plan when there's nothing different going over the wire, and that I'd be happy to setup a linux server to provide access to our service and skip the Good crap and have a nice day you just lost several sales.
67
did you call the company and complain?
Yes. They did nothing. This is professional software and I had no alternative: I had to use it. Guess what I did.
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The time it takes you to call and complain , you could pirate and have it installed by then.
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You missed the point. By not complaining, the company in question is not getting feedback from paying customers and will continue its annoying practices, thinking everyone is fine with it.
9
Maybe they should put a button in the menu that says - "oh btw, your drm sucks and I can't play this so I'm going to go pirate it." Except no one will click it for fear of the legal retribution.
If they cared I wouldn't be put on hold for 30min to tell them that it doesn't work. Or an e-mail that never gets responded to.
1
Or they can just go ahead and ignore you since pretty much are going to buy it anyway since they have to.
1
"Well you can count on me to return this and never buy something from you again."
And at this point they know you're bullshitting. Good luck returning opened software, games, movies, or music.
3
I wasn't aware you knew everyone's return policy.
0
And there are cars that are also boats. Does that mean they are the rule rather than the exception? Not at all.
But by all means, you hold fast with your threat of returns. The CSR on the other end of the line will continue to hit mute and laugh at you.
2
I posted the complaint and my solution on their forum - the mods deleted my post for "supporting piracy" and banned me from the board. Yeah for customer support. I purchase many games - only drm that's been good to me was from Steam, but I hear that's not always the case.
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[deleted]
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You know what the DRM lawsuits from legit customers are? They're this advice done better. If I could do lawsuits against these companies - you bet I would! But I'm not a lawyer and I can't afford one to fight the good fight, so I do what I can.
Those people who are bringing suits have this exact attitude! It's everyone doing what they can to effect change.
1
I installed Battlefield 2 on my computer. Battlefield 2 wouldn't run because of various software, (debuggers, a virtual machine, and a virtual cd-rom) I had installed for work reasons. I ended up cracking Battlefield 2 just to make it run.
Needless to say I haven't purchased any other games in that series.
35
Really? I've always had stuff like daemon tools in the background, and BF2 never gave me trouble.
What really pissed me off was when a game had securom, which blacklisted process explorer for some unknown reason. I refuse to buy a game that uses securom.
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That is not entirely truthful. There is nothing wrong with Battlefield 2, regarding those programs. However, punkbuster will refuse to let you into secure servers with those running, because they can be used to make modifications to the game as it runs, giving you an unfair advantage.
Its the same deal for many games using punkbuster, and some games using other anti-cheat software.
6
Well fuck. That would explain my random disconnects. Goddamn it.
1
It definitely wasn't Punkbuster. I tried to run BF2, I got a weird error message. Rebooted, it worked fine. Did a little coding, got the weird error message. Checked online and found it was a result of the copy protection. Cracked game, ran in fine for a month or two.
I couldn't even run the game reliably without cracking it. Ironically, while I would have expected Punkbuster to notice "hey the game is cracked", I never ran into trouble with that at all.
-1
If you're willing to set aside your bitterness, Bad Company 2 is a hell of a good multiplayer game.
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It also came at a time when I was getting bored of multiplayer FPSes, they all kind of blurred together. Maybe in a year or two I'll go back to it. :)
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[deleted]
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You're right, better maps and fewer 12 year olds.
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Better gameplay as well.
And I don't mean single player :|
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Bugs with their games really piss me off, because DICE tends to just crank out an expansion pack instead of patching serious issues with their games.
And the menu UI sucks balls - always.
2
I wish MS sourced ISOs were readily available on torrents without having to worry about shit being slipstreamed in... ugh :/
Anyone know a public (ALA NOT A TECHNET SOURCE) place to get the ISO's of different Windows versions from Microsoft? This can make my job of actually setting up new systems way easier.
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Here you go:
Windows 7 Home Premium x86 (32bit) English German French Spanish
Windows 7 Home Premium x64 (64bit) English German French Spanish
Windows 7 Professional x86 (32-bit) English German French Spanish
Windows 7 Professional x64 (64bit) English German French Spanish
Note: When MS did the cheapo Win 7 licenses for college kids, it was through this company. After buying it, they gave out public links do download the disc images. They emailed the cd-keys and there was no login system, so I assume these images will be hosted for a long time thanks to this program. This is also why there are only links for Home Premium and Professional as those were the two versions offered in this program.
Hope this helps.
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I will also note, these are the retail version of the disks, same you would get if you went to best Buy, etc. to buy it.
These will work with an OEM key that is on the machine (assuming the same version) like from Dell, etc. The only difference is that you will have to call in to activate. You will get an automated question asking how many machines it is installed on. After answering one, it will allow you to activate. If you ever reinstall on the same machine, you will not have to call in as the key is bound to that machine in MS's system (because its oem).
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Is this the same disc you get through Academic Alliance?
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Technically these are the retail discs, but yes they are the ones they give for the academic alliance
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Most likely, I'd assume yes.
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I remember having installed it in VirtualBox and, very stupidly, registered it under there to try it out. When I decided to actually use it, they said my key was already in use (or something like that). Everyday, it would try to verify the key until one day it worked. This was not good for my "if you leave it alone it'll fix itself" mindset I have.
2
They're still doing the cheapo Win 7 licenses for college kids, actually. I bought Windows 7 Professional x64 for $30 this weekend. (You just need a .edu e-mail address - my alumni forwarding address worked for me.)
See http://www.microsoft.com/student/en/us/software/windows.aspx
10
Nice, had wondered why the student bookstore was charging $100 when I first heard about the $30 deal.
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one up: I got mine for $5, pretty insane. I am gonna try to score a few more copies this year..
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You will have trouble with that. Colleges keep a list of who has gotten a copy ($7 at UC for me.) They will go on machines over and over if you just say "one" when calling in.
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I got W7 through a friend of mine that's in college and has a Mac. She had no problem forwarding emails for me in exchange for packing her up a pack of cigarettes, lol.
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Did this way back when it started (back when they packed the install into an .exe), I think it was 12 bucks more or so for a physical disc.
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They charged you? Mine was completely free (iso)
1
Hmm... if I have a copy of Windows 7 Professional that I got through my college, but it won't do the upgrade thing from Vista that carries over all your files (I have Vista Home Premium, and you can only upgrade straight across), is it legal and/or ethical for me to download Windows 7 Home Premium? They're the same value, and I'll only be using one.
2
Are you sure it wont let you because your trying to go from x86(32bit) to x64? If not here is what you can do:
Download the above HP version. Do the inplace migration. Because you do not have a key for Win7 HP, you cant activate it, but dont worry. Since you are on Win7 HP, simply insert your win7 pro disc and let it upgrade from hp to pro. Now you can activate it with your key.
If you are going from x86(32bit) Vista to x64 Win7 it might not let you do the migration thing though, not completely sure.
3
Nope, quite sure. Both of my copies are x64, but Microsoft didn't program an inplace migration from Vista Home Premium to 7 Professional, or vice versa. Not sure why. Thanks for the suggestion, though.
2
Don't you mean x86 not x32?!
1
Even running through those steps proves how fucked up DRM is. OP has a real copy. He should never have to go through all of that. And don't even get me started on all those different versions.
1
It'll run better if you just do a clean install. At least, that's been my experience.
2
Thanks, this will help me in my plight. I seek a whole lot more though. If you could help, what I seek are the following permutations:
XP/Vista/W7, Home/Pro/Ultimate/ETC, 32/64.
I know, it's a lot, but I need them so I don't have to worry about key crap. I'm pretty sure Vista/W7 make it much easier to deal with such permutations, and I'll have to check it out, but I want to be sure.
2
You can use the ei.cfg removal tool from http://code.kliu.org/misc/win7utils/ to remove the single file that defines which edition is installed from the Windows 7 ISO before burning. The tool is open-source, so if you're paranoid, just compile it yourself before applying.
4
I do not know of any public sites for this. I personally have a Vista Business x86, XP Pro x86, XP Pro x64, XP MCE and Win7 Ult upg x86\x64 disc's but my upload connection is terrible and have no place to upload them to anyways.
I have the originals and all of the XP ones slipstreamed to sp3 (except MCE as you cant do sp3 slipstream on it).
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Replying to save.
mmm..a save comment feature would be useful here...
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Use permalink on the original comment. Copy the link in your address bar. The original comment and all subsequent comments will be saved in one link.
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While it does give me a link I can use, I then need to find a way to save that link. Emailing it to myself works*, but if I'm not logged in to that, then doing so ends up being far slower then simply replying. Anyway, it seems better to me to keep reddit in reddit.
*though once I start using Reddit on my mobile, that will not be possible.
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Upvote to save. Make it easier for others to find and you have it for later in "liked".
-2
As far as I know comments doesn't show up in "liked", only submissions.
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Save!
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Replying to save this. Thanks.
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You are a saint.
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Big thank you (saving).
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Well this just made my life easier.
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[deleted]
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I'm replying here so that I can find this later! Thanks, upvoted!
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Thank you!
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wow thanks
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Replying to save
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Save point :-)
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Just Bookmarking ...
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thx for the post
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Yes. My university has a Microsoft program for engineering students called the MSDN Academic Alliance Program. They have images you can download of xp, vista, 7, and server with an associated product key. It's pretty cool.
21
Those are retail versions though, not OEM. System builders usually want OEM discs.
There's a conversion tool buried on MS's site that you can run on a fresh install that will convert from one to the other though. That's for XP at least, I'm not sure about Vista or 7.
6
I'm trying to find Retail, OEM and VLK disks of all desktop versions XP/Vista/W7. This is necessary for me to properly support my clients.
Unfortunately my partner's MSDN license only gives me what appears to be some form of either an OEM disk image, or a limited VLK image (somehow).
It really would be nice if Microsoft simply made the images publically available. I'm sure they have their silly reasons why they don't.
3
These are retail ISO's, however I mentioned this above in a followup reply.
They will work with an OEM key, you wil have to call to activate though. It is fully automated, you just need to answer "one" to a computer voice asking how many machines it is installed on. That OEM key will now activate on that machine in the future without having to call.
1
MSDN can suck my dick. I've had so many problems with them. For some reason, they refuse to tell you the product key after the initial download of the software. Also, they only allow downloading of a specific piece of software twice.
I originally downloaded MS Visio on my old laptop running Vista using MSDN, then I installed Windows 7 which was my second download. That laptop's motherboard fried, so I purchased another computer. Even after explaining the situation to our MSDN rep, they wouldn't allow me to download the software a third time. Also, I lost my product key, which they also refused to tell me. I ended up pirating Visio.
2
How long ago were you using the site? I have downloaded the same software a lot more than two times, and the serial keys are always given on the page that asks you to download the installer.
4
I have gotten up to 10 keys for everything I have used. I exported them all to an XML file when just before I lost access. So far I have almost 300 keys that I have catalogued in an xls file for easy browsing.
3
I think that's where you proceed to seeking a refund? Not sure.
1
i second this. its an amazing idea, and they have a fully working system. (they do it through my school as well) but they just need to make it more wide spread.
1
Mine does too.
...but their e-mail system just crashed, and now I can't get the credentials. Uh.
1
As I mentioned I do not have an MSDN license. As I do not seek the actual licenses, I just need the disks, getting an MSDN is not the ideal solution for me.
Additionally I am trying to get my hands on all versions of XP/Vista/W7 disks. This includes Home/Pro/Ultimate/ETC, Retail/OEM/VLK, 32/64. I need the images so when a client comes to me and I need to re-install their OS I am ready.
1
Ditto on this. It's such a pain to find a clean version of any Microsoft OS online.
3
I suggest you look at the My Digital Life Forums, they have all the MSDN ISOs as well as loaders and RemoveWAT.
3
Thanks! I'll check it out.
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i search for oem images. the description usually says untouched/etc
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There really is no way of guaranteeing this on a public torrent I'm afraid. With the level of control streamlining has the only way you can be sure of this is if you hash an ISO from MS and compare that to a public torrent. Which would be silly as you already have that ISO in hand, lol.
I'm just not willing to setup my client's with publically sourced ISO's, unless they're from reputable sources. Example above, from a school.
The problem is that there are retail/OEM keys and I need to form a collection of them all so I can take a key a client gives me and set them up with that disk image no problem.
2
You can find the hashes for all their products on the MSDN downloads page. https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/downloads/default.aspx?pv=36%3a350
6
Scurry has the answer. Compare the hash the file has when you've downloaded it, with the one issued by Microsoft.
HashTab is a cool utility for this.
2
I do not have an MSDN subscription or have any interest in getting one. This unfortunately does not solve my problem, thanks anyways.
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i search for oem images. the description usually says untouched/etc
Please tell me you don't seriously trust a torrent description. If so, I have some internets to sell ya. Your PC is probably so botted up and backdoored, I bet half your bandwidth goes to the bots itself.
-1
I saw your request on Bacon Bits.
1
Seems like a logical thing to do for software distribution. Everyone's already using bittorrent -- just make torrents of your shit, and sell people keys to unlock it.
When 7 came out, I dl'd the retail version, and bought a key online from a reseller. Faster and cheaper than shrinkwrap from MS, too.
21
I got Sacred 2 this way.
I pirated the game, started it up and got a warning "This game is not legit, would you like to buy a CD key for it now?" So I did.
22
That's a really cool feature to build into your product. Make the barrier of entry very low, and more people will be inclined to purchase it. It is very, very cool that you were able to legitimise your pirated copy of that game. I am super-impressed.
11
As was I, the whole "We busted you, but its okay if you want to buy the game..." kinda won me over. I doubt I would have bought the game if not for the copy protection.
In fact, my friend tried to crack the game and it took him hours.
In my eyes this is definitly the way to go to beat piracy, using honey instead of vinegar and all that.
5
I was able to download an episode of peep show and put it on faster than my wife was able to open the dvd case (shrink wrapped with that anti theft stuff), put the dvd in, wait through the 4 Federal warnings, and select the episode.
I beat her by about 30 seconds.
10
Just download the 60 day Office trial and enter your product key.
8
Not really :-/
1
I did that for Office 2010 and it worked fine...
1
Around the time you wrote this, I was editing the linked post with a disclaimer to this effect :)
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[deleted]
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This is why you have to be careful, use a trusted source and read the comments on the torrent.
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[deleted]
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You should go with 0-day sites. I've never run into problems with malware using "official" scene releases.
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[deleted]
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Good point about bundled malware. I personally like to verify code signatures of executables using autoruns. The amount of unsigned code that I run is pretty low and I usually know exactly what it is.
Also, the hardest malware to remove I ever came across was a trojan that hooked into winlogon in a way that it would write itself back in the registry or disk whenever it was deleted. I ended up suspending winlogon, killing the registry keys, waiting for a few seconds for the write buffers to flush, and then I hit the reset button. Can't do a shutdown without winlogon. :)
2
There is warez without malware on Kazaa, eMule and eDonkey?
I was always of the impression that those three were cesspools of malware (and clueless users).
Torrents are of course different, just find reputable trackers.
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[deleted]
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Also scan everything when downloading, and before and after install.
1
Yeah, that's always a possibility.
But I remember reading that when the Win7 RTM ISO's were leaked, they had the same md5sums as the official Microsoft downloads that came a few days later.
3
it's just more of a matter of being safe.. don't use software that has fucked up reviews about it, and don't trust software from random sites that you have never heard of or don't have any trust for.
3
I've no idea why someone voted you down to -1. This is very much a valid concern.
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It's only a valid concern because his sources include "torrents, rapidshare, eDonkey, eMule, Kazaa". This leads me to believe he does not check to make sure what he is downloading is a legit scene release. I wouldn't touch P2P "releases" with a 10ft pole.
Protips:
If what you are downloading is not split into rar files, it is not a scene release. (exception: music)
If there is no nfo, it is not a scene release.
If there is no group name, it is not a scene release.
If the file sizes/number do not match the nfo, it is a tampered scene release.
If the files do not match the sfv, it is a tampered scene release.
If the nfo does not match the nfo posted on one of the many scene release sites (Ex: scenereleases.info), it is a tampered scene release.
When in doubt, check the sfv from multiple sources to make sure they match.
The further down the pyramid from the "scene" you go, the higher risk you have of getting something that's been tampered with (even if just to add an updated patch, more detailed install info, etc). Anything web based (rapidshare?) is very far down that pyramid. Kazaa, eMule, eDonkey? Far down the pyramid. Public torrents? Above the previous, but still pretty low.
Find a good private tracker (protip: demonoid is not private), find a good private ftp, get a usenet account, or if you have something to contribute, try to get access to scene dumps.
Scene releases do not contain spyware, malware, whatever. They wouldn't be scene releases if they did. The "scene" is highly intolerant of straying from the rules, and any group that did that would not last long.
1
You are downloading from bad sources
2
I did the same and I have no shame. I bought the software and thankyouverymuch, I won't carry dongles around. No more crashes and driver problems.
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The reason for this is that Microsoft Office isn't just Microsoft Office.
There's different install media depending on whether you bought a license
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As a Fully Packaged Product (FPP) which is a "normal" storebought full version in a box
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As an FPP upgrade (requires a previous license)
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Upgraded a preinstalled Office package (pseudo-OEM) on a new computer (don't do that, the license sucks and costs as much as a FPP - and you usually buy the license as a plastic card in a brick and mortar anyway)
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Through their online download store (managed by Digital River)
The keys don't work across the different media sources, only with the "right" source.
To compare, if you buy Apple's Office clone, there's
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FPP-equiv (does not require a key)
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Demo-unlock (requires a key)
EDIT
I forgot to add that unlike Windows 7, they also differentiate between the different packages. IOW, if you have a "Home and Student" FPP license, you can't install using an "Ultimate" disc that just does not install the components you don't have. Nor did I mention the Volume Licensing options (though usually, those are straightforward enough for the people using them).
Man, I'm glad I don't have to worry about MS-licensing any more.
EDIT2 Forgot to point out that the above is for Office 2K7. 2010 might be less fucked up.
5
apple has to keep it simple.. its users are retards.
3
Yeah, it's totally not Microsoft that are retards for having a system so complex and user-unfriendly that their own employees can't see through it.
2
It's always the ignorant twits that get upset when something is more complicated than letting your mom tie your shoes for you.
1
That statement does not make any sense in response to what I wrote.
What you're basically saying is it's okay if a product is so complexated that the company that provides the product does not know the inherent difference on so basic as to which CD will work with which key?
There is no customer benefit to that system. It came about because the releases were uncoordinated and not properly planned. MS learned from it and apparently fixed it in Office 2010.
0
Apple's Aperture can be purchased FPP from a store and requires a key.
edt: I'm a retard. Since when was Aperture an office clone?
2
Yeah, I think that Apple's Final Cut Pro (the big one) might require an encrypted USB dongle to start. Maybe. Don't know if I'm conflating it with another product, though.
2
Your Apple smug is showing at the end there. You may want to get that fixed as it cost you an upvote.
-1
Meh. I'll survive. Used to work for Microsoft, so put into that what you like. It was the only competing for-pay Office clone I could think of.
As a side note, MS may have fixed this in O2010.
1
I work with 3D graphics. A story that has been going around on in a studio that I worked was that the Technical Director talked to Autodesk (the maker of the software they use) about a problem they had with the licence server not working properly. After a few hours of unsuccessful troubleshooting the guy from Autodesk apparently said "Well you know how to crack the damn thing don't you? As long as you've paid for the licences I don't think anyone gives a shit if the software actually uses them."
And to be honest, Autodesk licenses are so retardedly simple to crack it almost has to be intentional. There are even rumors that servers owned by Autodesk have been seeding torrents for the latest versions of their software. It makes sense really, the easier it is for students and amateurs to get a hold of the software and play around with it the more the market will move towards it.
5
Not if it's proven that they're the ones doing some of the seeding or encouraging cracks. If they're not privately owned then they can be sued by their stockholders into oblivion.
3
I've had many pieces of software I legitimately owned, mostly games, that required a crack etc to run. Probably the biggest example was XP. I was doing hardware upgrades, and since it made me reactivate every time there was a hardware change, I had used up my reactivations and it made me call customer service.
I got a call centre in india who told me the servers were down and they couldn't help me. In the same time it took me to make the call I had downloaded an ISO of XP with updates and an activation patch. It worked flawlessly and I used a pirated copy of XP for at least 6 years before I bought windows 7 late last year (the student edition was $50, I thought why not?).
Actually, that's not completely correct, it's the upgrade version, not the full copy. Which you can install from scratch. :3
3
Do we approve of the other way as well, that is, using the free demo of Office that comes with Windows 7 and using a pirated key?
3
I like your thinking friend! Also your user name agrees with my tastes.
1
You thief! You're ruining the planet and the lives of all of its inhabitants with these torrents! I hope you're willing to pay your fair share of 27 trillion dollars in lost sales that YOU caused!
3
This happens to me all the time. I have legit product keys for Windows XP, Vista, as well as Office 2003 and 2007. However, NONE of these purchases came with physical installation media (because MS hates us and wants us to suffer, I can only imagine). Since MS doesn't offer product installation downloads anywhere on their website (extra wtf since they don't ship installation DVDs with their pre-installed OS anymore), I've had to just download the installation from a torrent.
Such stupidity.
3
There are DirectDownload from MS of their OS :) http://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/ctmof/making_the_best_of_both_worlds_pic/c0v6o01
1
... I swear I spent half an hour poring over the MS website looking for an install download just two weeks ago. Either I'm blind, or they have the link well hidden.
1
this is why I don't have a microsoft operating system anymore. I had my product key scribbled down somewhere, and of course after 8 years had lost it. Went to reinstall XP for the 500th time (my partner loves to click links that are obviously viruses, arghh) and couldn't reinstall. Turns out upgrading to sp3 had made the normal product key software I used to look it up from the system not work correctly, so after reinstalling from my original disk (this is an old system), I couldn't register the product. Had a hissy fit, and moved on.
Summary: couldn't reformat and install legal copy of XP because of missing product key, partner now enjoys ubuntu even better.
0
I have relatives that shouldn't be allowed on the Internet. If I can't force them to use Linux for their own protection, I force them to either get tech support from someone else or buy a Mac. No solution is perfect but it has helped tremendously.
1
Or you could not pay a fortune and download Open Office.
I had an older version of MSoffice than a co-worker and their excel sheet variables wouldnt work right. We tried every format, but in the end I just downloaded OpenOffice and it worked right away.
2
Since MS has the upgrade treadmill for their own users, Open Office would naturally have delays reading the latest formats.
1
That and the fact that Microsoft actively tries to make it as hard as possible to read their file format.
1
Why is this sad truth being downvoted? I have yet to meet a person who hasn't found OpenOffice.org as good or better than MS Office.
-3
Strange, I have yet to find a person who HAS found OpenOffice as good as MS Office. (well, other than you) It's either MS Office or Google Docs for me; Open Office is the worst piece of open source software I have ever used. You may just as well be using Notepad.
2
So, what do you and your affiliates find to be the issue with OOo?
0
Slow, horrible interface.
1
I like openoffice (can't run ms office on my linux box), but the formatting can sometimes be a nightmare when I'm trying to make my resume look just right. Not sure if it's any easier in word.
edit: not sure for the reason behind the downvotes either, I helped with 1 upvote :D
1
OpenOffce, then save as PDF. PDF will preserve the formatting, but you can't guarantee MS Office will if the document is opened in another version.
1
Product IDs are a nightmare!
2
I had an opposite experience. This was about 5 years ago, and I wanted some slightly older strategy game that my new housemate and I can play, and decided to start downloading it. First of all the torrent would take 4 hours to download on my ADSL line, and it was full of .rar files I would have to unpack and it also needed a few hoops to be jumped through to crack. Instead, I walked out of my flat to the games store 5 minutes walk away and bought it for £12 and it even contained a disk for the other player to use.
Much of the software I bought lately are of the download type, with online registration. I'm pretty satisfied and on top of it all I am happy with the quality of what I've picked. I've also never had the need to try something out with a pirated copy first. If a company can't offer you a decent demo version they don't deserve you even getting to know their product.
2
I was expecting shemales.
2
Randal: "Beautiful chicks with dicks that put mine to shame."
1
Good one!
1
I bought GTA IV for PC. DVD wouldn't read on my Blu-Ray drive. I downloaded a pirated copy and it works great. It's almost as if the pirates get better software and movies than those who obey the law...
http://i.imgur.com/GxzeV.jpg
Am I the only person that actually occasionally likes the menus on DVDs? Some of them are really pretty cool (in particular the ones on Criterion movies... I could watch Ralph Steadman do the title placard for Fear & Loathing for hours).
[deleted]
This is why I don't look at the screen and press play as quick as I possibly can. I try so hard not to even watch theatrical/commercial previews anymore for movies, because of the very fact it spoils them. Ridiculous!
Generally I hate DVD menus, but the DVD menu for Zoolander was fairly brilliant.
Memento has a cool one.
[deleted]
Fucking seriously man. It's absurd.
Apparently, you can press STOP STOP PLAY to skip all those.
[deleted]
That can't be real. 2 FBI screens? I've never seen that shit. Also, there are no more previews/commercials after you hit play from the menu.
Yes, I get annoyed by "real" DVDs sometimes, too... but this is obviously an over-exaggeration.
Actually all blurays have the FBI warning which is followed by the INTERPOL warning. Though I've never been not able to skip the preview (though you do have to to do them one by one).
No this is not an exaggeration. This is why I always rip my DVDs to my media center. That way I Don't have to deal with this shit and I can watch them on any of my media devices.
over-exaggeration?
[deleted]
Yeah, wondered about that too. Firefox said it was ok.
The "coming soon" screen is not unskippable in any DVDs I've played. Also, voting with your wallet doesn't mean pirate the shit you want for free. It means don't fucking use it.
nice try, mpaa
[deleted]
[deleted]
That was what they meant. Are you confused?
Just for you
To the people downvoting this comment, you are the problem. I don't pay for things that piss me off. You don't pay for it but you still want it for free. You completely fail to understand the point of a boycott. You expect everything handed to you in life. You're going to have a bad day whenever your parents finally die and you have to move out of their house.
Nice accusation, except for I actually downvoted you for the first part of your comment though. Tell me you can skip the previews in Book of Eli and I'll take it back.
This is the age of digital empowerment of the consumer. If your product sucks enough balls that it's easier for the user base to download a torrent, usenet, fileshare, than use your product then you will lose money. No joke I'd spend the money on a BD rom of inception but if I hear it has unskippable ads(which they all do don't they?) then I'd just as soon rip it or download the torrent. I'll get it faster (usually pre-release) and I'll get a quality product - unlike what the studio itself produces (even a cam can be better if it doesn't force crap on me).
PS: Avatar did not have these ads and I purchased that BD rom. Evidently Cameron is the only producer who figured it out.
yeah I think there's no almost about it
edit: I said "it" instead of I
I just about think there's possibly no almost also.
there is no almost. only turtles all the way down.
Has anyone really been far as decided to use even go want to do look more like?
Words?
No, no one event want go to do; really far as decided look more like !
No, no one has really even far to go want look more like that, but I know what you are saying. Why would even want go as far more like that?
wat
He meant:
Except that with pirated software and games you don't get easy no-headache access to patches, multi-player, etc.
Sometimes you do. Half the time the download comes with patches and cracks. And they will likely be available for download later. Multiplayer never really works except in a few cases. But that is only because games have adopted the annoying strategy of personalizing your CD key. Which, even for legit gamers, means they can never resell the game. Which is a big reason PC games aren't worth as much as console games.
Sure, you can always search for cracked patches and hope they are compatible with your release and nothing breaks when you apply them. But it's always a headache and a huge waste of time. Hard to argue that legal copies are superior in this regard.
Don't forget that you risk installing spyware too.
Yes, I wanted to add that, plus you take this risk on every update.
Download normal update -> Apply to patched game -> Get new patch from gamecopyworld.com -> Done
One extra step
Damn right. I rented a bluray, couldnt even watch the movie until 6:70 of unskipable commercials and ironically, federal warnings.
It's despicably they expect someone to pay for that.
When someone can download a movie and watch it instantly without warning and advertisements.
How come he gets to have 70 seconds in a minute and I only get 60?!
Inflation.
It was actually 6 hours and 70 minut--wait.
Wow, read the post. Saw the 6:70 quote, read post, saw quote, and still didn't get it till I read this.
It's a blu-ray feature!
Magnets.
He gets more than 70 seconds in a minute, or else it would have been 7:00 even. ;-)
Metric time?
I N C E P T I O N
Despicably 6:70. Fucking minutes, how do they work?
Same, except my story is I decided to rent from blockbuster one night instead of downloading the movie. About 3/4ths of the way in the disc starts skipping and fails to load the chapter. Long story short, i have to pirate the movie to finish it. The massive inconvenient wait in the middle sucked.
Must have been a good movie, what was it?
I know...on the rare occasion I actually rent/buy a dvd I get freaked out by all the shit before.
Almost as if?
Discounting the crappy resolution/audio cams, they get BETTER software and movies...
Pirates just about always (with the exception of cams and online games) get better releases. A release without copy-protection or DRM is always superior to one with it. A legit copy of a game can only be activated 5 times, a movie from netflix only watched on machines with their tool, a pirated game can be used on an infinite number of machines and a pirated movie, watched anywhere with a decent video player.
Last night I was going to buy the game Peggle for my girlfriend. One of those Popcap games. For some reason it wouldn't except my credit card number. After a few times re entering it it worked, then it wouldn't except my postal code. I got pissed and just pirated it. Saved my self $20 and headache.
Also I have an image mounting software on my computer. I have game images so I'm not constantly looking through my collection for a game and scratching up the disks. I've bought a few games legit that wouldn't run because they've detected an image mounting program.
*accept
Yes sir. I do know better than that. An embarrassing mistake.
Good to see, Puge_Henis.
That is the most idiotic form of DRM. I absolutely hate it. It makes no sense, because its not like pirates always use the image mounting programs.
There was one program that was used by an lancenter that closed down, but I can't remember the name of it now. It worked great if you bought it, but identified itself as daemon tools if you pirated it or chose not to buy it.
That worked wonders for them.
Its a pretty useless form of DRM and one of the first after CD keys. Everything has it now, but its pathetically easy to crack that bit. Most programs now have additional steps to detect a no cd crack, and those are also always cracked.
It sounds like it did except your credit card number. From working.
[deleted]
I bought GTA IV for 360. My 360 red-ringed so I downloaded it for my PC.
Turned out to be for the best anyhow as no one had any interest in MP GTA IV and the game was a lot more playable.
link to thread
Buy DVD, throw it into the garbage, download pirated version instead and that way you're legal/ethical about it... right?
Why throw it away? Just rip it to your PC with Handbrake and either burn or stream it. Far better than risking your ISP account downloading another copy.
How do you crack it then?
Game cracks are usually in the folder inside the virtual image.
gamecopyworld.com lets you just download the cracks for your legit dvd/cd
See: Alcohol 120%.
Keep the DVD, otherwise you might have a hard time proving that you're allowed to have a backup copy (and even then you might have trouble if the downloaded version is a slightly different cut or something).
It's not almost, they do.
Just kidding! GTA4 for PC runs like ass. Good game if you can manage to keep it not crashing.
I've never run an ass, but GTA4 is working fine for me. It's all about the updates.
It's all right. It's the occasional braying that turns some people off running asses. However, I've owned a PS2 and the DVD drive on that has left me inured to such noise.
Every time GTA4 is mentioned someone has to say this...its been updated to run more fficiently and I get a constant 50-70 FPS on my two-year old card.
And here I am with my 5870, and it can barely handle it. Although Crysis runs like a breeze.
Same here, but with a 5650
Sounds like you are lacking in the rest of your hardware then.
I can run it at max settings with my 5850 and I benchmark at 40 fps. It's not perfect but for max AA, AF, shadows, lighting, 1080p, draw distance etc and it runs at 40, that is definitely not terrible.