Giveaway of the Day Forums » General discussion

1. Addugeek
   Member

   Many ppl have talked about future crashes and formatted systems and on.... And the possibble way is to get the key file, i was just wondering if it was kinda, legal to keep the key and the files so u can install later?(i was thinking the developers may get buzzed and not give anything)

   So since it is time limited, isn't it pirating? i don't know really, pls explain how it works cuz i think it should be illegal. (i have found ways to directly extract reg keys [M'nt telling ny1)) So clarification pls..

   Posted 8 months ago #

2. BuBBy
   Administrator

   (note: this response is not directed at any single person - but at the multiple times this question has been asked).

   Is it legal? Why don't you contact the developers and ask them. (Maybe the developers will just make their software freeware - and give up on the idea of trying to make a living from writing software).

   The developers agree to a "time limited" offer allowing an install of their program during a single 24 hour period - coming into these forums and asking "how do I get around this" isn't going to get the answer you'd like.

   I'm sure there are people trying to screw the deal over for anything they can get. As I've said before, if you start handing out $10 notes - there will always be people complaining they're not $20 notes - and they will work out a way to line up multiple times to make the deal sweeter for themselves.

   Rather than going to whatever lengths possible to avoid having to face the possibility of paying for software that you actually like and use - if it really hurts that much to put your hand in your pocket and pay a few dollars to support the people who wrote the software for you - then the solution is NOT to work out ways to bypass how GOTD works, allowing you to continually reinstall old versions of programs - but to look for alternative Freeware and Open Source software. We love Open Source and Freeware software in these forums!!

   And for the developers who might be considering putting their latest software creation, utility or blockbuster game on the site for everyone to try for free - might "scrap the idea" because of users who are only too happy to take a generous offer - turn it on its head and milk it for 200% of what it's worth - at the expense of the very people who make it possible in the first place.

   You get a great deal from GOTD - but some people are just "glass half full" types. The Giveaway deal is what it is. If you can't live with how it works, don't ruin it for everyone else.

   Posted 8 months ago # | Login to Send PM

3. Addugeek
   Member

   (Note: your/his/her post can never be directed at me, cuz i am the one tryn to put a stop at the nonesense of lifetime activation...)

   Hey BuBBy you misread me, i am telling that "if" i know a way to bypass it, is that considered illegal in your country? (we don have computr lws) I AM NOT ASKING A WAY TO BYPASS THIS FREAKIN LIMITATION!!!!I am asking that, since you let people discuss it so openly, is it GOOD, or OK????

   Even a serial is much more difficult to pass than this LIMITATION!!

   So sorry i got outta controll, "did you even READ my post?" i don't mean "look", i mean "READ" my post?

   So pls just tell me if it is LEGAL or ILLEGAL, hehe, and don get outta controll lke me..

   oh yeh and pls forgve me 4 ny mistakes i made...

   Posted 8 months ago #

4. BuBBy
   Administrator

   Firstly - I read your post. Please re-read the first sentence in my post in case you missed it. And a bit of respect please.

   No - we do not let people discuss it. We also do not permit the posting or sharing of serials unless we have legal permission from the copyright owners to do so.

   The giveaways this site offers is with the legal permission of software developers - and we do not have permission to publish either registration codes in these forums or to discuss bypassing the 24 hour giveaway period, or other conditions.

   Most people here realise it's better to appreciate what we have and play by the rules. It's very short-sighted to bite the hand that feeds you.

   Posted 8 months ago # | Login to Send PM

5. Addugeek
   Member

   Thanks,
   i know i also kinda got outta controll,
   sorry

   *ashamed* *sorry*

   Posted 8 months ago #

6. Addugeek
   Member

   i have one more question i wnna ask, pls dont get mad, (i prms i wont) i wan't to ask why than you (mods) allow the disscussion, and actually post links to answers..(srry, nothin personnel)..

   That is the reaSion i 1st asked the question...

   Posted 8 months ago #

7. Lee
   Moderator

   The best way to make sure you never have to format your hard drive in the future is to make sure you image it and save the image to a usb hard drive.

   When you have problems you then restore your system back to when it was working o.k.

   So before you install a GA, you create a backup then if you want to keep it you then increment it.

   Thats what I do, I currently have only 3 GAOTD's from the past year installed on my hard drive.

   You also must remember that some GAOTD's are repeated, Neo Downloader is a an example, one I missed out on when first released.

   Posted 8 months ago # | Login to Send PM

8. Nancy
   Member

   Lee what's this thing about imaging? you mean save everything including reg keys?

   also lee if you know a way to get around the activation and i am sure you do (cause any non-noob on the internet knows about it) and if you're imaging it, you're still getting the same result which is not buying the original software and using it everytime you format your computer. only it is much easier to get around the activation code.

   basically you're just bending the rules. making them work for your benefit. dont you agree.

   Posted 8 months ago #

9. Lee
   Moderator

   The rules of the ga are you must install & activate it within the 24 hour period.

   So thats the first answer to your statement.

   If I install an app today then make and image, then lets say 3 days later my system becomes poor I then install my system back to the moment after I created an image.

   I don't bend nor break rules.

   I don't ever format atall.

   Get yourself a norton ghost application, I use drive image which was aquired from powerquest by norton and changed to ghost.

   I believe that norton ghost latest version is 12.

   If you have a maxtor drive I do believe they offer acronis image o.e.m. for free if you would like to check the maxtor site.

   All I am doing is backing up my files then restoring them if a problem occurs.

   As for bypassing the activation, I have never cheated, so would not cheat a system.

   Posted 8 months ago # | Login to Send PM

10. Nancy
    Member

    ^ makes sense. the way you put it, i dont think you're bending the rules. you're right.

    i have a maxtor external hard drive 500 GB. i will visit their wbsite and see what they're offering.

    is imaging the same thing as restoring the system (the restore function on the computer)? because sometimes restoring the system to the date before it failed...etc doesnt work. i ve tried it before. my system was infected by a trojan, and i tried to restore it but the trojan was still there. i formatted my computer.

    so i believe that even when you make an image, if your computer is infected by a trojan, then you have to first get rid of the virus or trojan. restoring it back wont work.

    when i said do you lose space from the original space in my previous post, i meant that the over all capacity of your hard drive will decrease in time and when you partition some of the sectors will be lost.

    my hard drive stands now at 76 GB. what happened to the remaining 4 GB : |

    Posted 8 months ago #

11. BuBBy
    Administrator

    my hard drive stands now at 76 GB. what happened to the remaining 4 GB

    http://seagate.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/seagate.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=336

    Posted 8 months ago # | Login to Send PM

12. Nancy
    Member

    thx. bubby.
    you know you should make it so that a link pops out in a new window when one clicks on it.

    Posted 8 months ago #

13. maz
    Member

    Yep, because it's just sooo exhausting to hit that ol' back arrow. ;)

    Posted 8 months ago #

14. BuBBy
    Administrator

    If you want to open a link in a new window or tab - just setup your browser to do that.

    Try holding the SHIFT key while you click on the link, or click/press the mouse wheel (middle mouse) to open the link in a new tab.

    Check your browsers help to make your web browser work the way you want.
    It's not up to me to mandate how everyones web browser should behave.

    Posted 8 months ago # | Login to Send PM

15. Nancy
    Member

    bubby. my browser is ok. its only here on these forums. its not a big deal. just thought you might like to know that is all. i can hold my shift key while clicking on the link. but why all the redundant suspense!.

    Posted 8 months ago #

16. goodgotd
    Member

    hee. firefox just hit backspace, it's easier than using this 'ol laptop's touchpad using a 'small button' theme.

    And I'd think you gotta be nuts *not* to back up your system on a regular basis, giveaways or not- even on an 8 year old laptop whose primary purpose is to read ebooks- science fiction, even- and occasionaly browses the web as a distant second.

    (USB NICs and IDE/ATAPI adapters come in sooo handy- even at v1.1 speed)

    And, um, isn't that what the giveawayoftheday backup programs are meant for? backing up your system in case of failure?

    I haven't seen a 'GAOTD' exclusion filter on any of them yet.

    In fact, can anyone suggest how to make such a filter, considering the various activation/registration methods? No? Ah well, guess we're stuck backing 'em up. :-)

    So, logically....

    If that's a no-no, there have to be a *lot* of GAOTD users in trouble... As well as GameGAOTD users, too.

    Or did I miss something?

    Posted 8 months ago #

17. BuBBy
    Administrator

    To be honest - anyone who doesn't backup their system has only themselves to blame when (not if) they lose some or all of their data. If you choose to not backup because you think there is no need or that it is unimportant - I hope you have the phone number of someone with a time machine you can borrow, because you will wish you had one after disaster strikes.

    The recent giveaway backup programs are better than nothing... but not by much. You can achieve the same just with a copy of 7zip, winzip or winrar etc etc.

    The best solution I find that is really complete and simple to maintain - one or more external drives and a copy of Symantec Ghost, or Acronis True Image. There are cheaper (and less mature) products available but depending on what price you put on your files (and your time) - saving $10 or $20 seems to be a short-sighted gain.

    Finally consider this - if your hard drives "died" tonight - what sort of day would you have tomorrow - and this weekend, where would you begin "getting your emails, your contacts, and your programs back?"

    Posted 8 months ago # | Login to Send PM

18. Nancy
    Member

    guys by "backing up your system" you mean the OS? windows? does anyone have a good procedure / tutorial about backing up and imaging? when we're talking about backing up we mean the harddrive and OS or OS only?

    bubby, on my maxtor harddrive i have this backup restore schedule option. is it the one you're talking about.

    when i back up my system and if i have a system crash/ failure, i ll reach for my harddrive and restore my backed-up image right? when i restore my previous backed up setting, does it mean that i am overwriting the whole setting on my crashed computer? does the restoration invlove a kind of format?

    thanks.

    Posted 8 months ago #

19. BuBBy
    Administrator

    I image everything. Basically a 100% snapshot of my PC.

    Depending on my needs - if I need to restore I can then either replace everything (which is basically roll back the PC to when the backup was taken), or I will selectively restore the files that I need using the other tools that come with the image product. These permit me to extract one or more files from the image onto my PC.

    This way I have covered both the total restore - when I replace the OS and all files. I can also replace any files that might get accidentally deleted (for example) like a word document etc. This capability depends on frequent backups - so I normally run this each night, after I go to bed. (I keep several backup images - incase a problem occurs and I don't notice for 2 days - if I only kept last nights backup... Houston, we've got a problem!)

    Obviously this limits my exposure to the time since my last backup.

    Posted 8 months ago # | Login to Send PM

20. goodgotd
    Member

    I still think imaging should be reserved for major system change points, and an incremental file backup to update image restoration from should be sufficient for disaster backup on a regular basis. IMHO.

    Of course, I'm still win2k sp4. and fat32 aside from one ntfs partition for huge video captures, which are temp files- so for me 'image' means boot to pseudos and mirror everything.

    Perhaps 2003, XP and the crazy one do better. comments?

    Posted 8 months ago #

21. BuBBy
    Administrator

    You can image 100 times a day if that is what you wish.

    There is no system limitation on how often you can image your computer - provided you have somewhere to store the image files and you can keep track of them all - knock yourself out.

    There is no "incremental disk imaging" - it is all or nothing. However, you can selectively restore single files from an image file.

    Posted 8 months ago # | Login to Send PM

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