Giveaway of the Day Forums

1. 

   mikiem2
   Moderator

   Amazon had sold me a business version, which I've discovered cannot be reactivated on a home computer if it's reinstalled to a new hard drive. When I tried to reactivate it said the product code had been blocked.

   AFAIK the only biz licenses for Microsoft products are kind of like the large packs of 10 or so keyboards -- people buy those & sell them off individually. **IF** that's what you got maybe this will help? http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/what-microsoft-wont-tell-you-about-windows-7-licensing/1514?pg=4 . If I read that article correctly, &/or from my own experience with OEM Windows licenses, repairing/upgrading a system is OK -- moving your license to a new system is not. OEM licenses are sold without support & intended for system builders, but selling them to consumers is so wide spread that everything I've read says that reactivating over the phone is a piece of cake, & often you don't have to -- I know it's been that way in my experience with XP & Vista at least.

   ... was told to contact amazon for a refund... Though it was last July (2010) that I purchased it so I doubt they will be amenable.

   If what you got was an OEM license, then Amazon will *probably* not help out IMHO because selling OEM licenses is REALLY widespread. But in that case the MS rep you talked to was, again IMHO, wrong. If you got a Volume license that had been sold off one license at a time, maybe Amazon will help -- I've never heard of nor seen that kind of a sale from a major company, & certainly not with Windows... if that was the case Microsoft may even have something to say about the matter?

   Posted 12 years ago #
2. 

   mikiem2
   Moderator

   ... had to buy a new refrigerator. Well it was too tall for the existing kitchen cabinet over it, so they had to remove that... Now I do have a white wall space over the refrig. until we repaint again!

   For the wall space, perhaps contact paper would work? Had a similar situation, stuck a nice grade of contact paper over it, then caulked the edges -- it's held up well for a few years now, is very washable, easier to clean the dust off, & looks more like a design accent that a band-aid IMHO. [The wall was/is messed up & for such an out of the way spot I couldn't see the immediate need for a full repair.]

   As for the short but wide cabinet... Daughter had great suggestion, install it over the washer or dryer for reachable storage for laundry products! Waste not, want not!

   Please do be careful -- pipes often run through the walls behind the washer [besides hot & cold water there's often a stand-pipe to prevent overflow from the drain], plus the hidden side of the wall might be a bit deteriorated from the moisture, so maybe screw into studs rather than use anchors.

   As for surge/lightening protectors, even with an expensive one, I did have one fried motherboard, as mentioned above. It did have a lifetime warranty on it (through Quill Corp.), and when I contacted them, they did pay to replace that motherboard as well as sending me a new surge protector with a high 'clip rate'!

   Good for you on the warranty replacement! I've been lucky [knock wood] & never had cause to test any surge protector.

   Posted 12 years ago #
3. 

   Whiterabbit-uk
   Games Guru

   Thanks Mikiem I'll try that. I was told by the person I spoke to at Microsoft that the licence was a multiple use licence, and was then told I shouldn't have been sold it. She refused to re-activate it and told me to contact Amazon for a refund, despite me pleading with her and telling her I’d paid a premium price for the software; (the 64bit Ultimate version {which also included the 32 bit for some reason} cost me around £160/$240 last year). When I look at how much you can save now it makes me a little sick, lol.

   I'll read that article in the morning; it’s getting very late here. :)

   Posted 12 years ago #
4. 

   copmom
   Member

   Mikiem, thanks for calling it to my attention that the wall over/behind the washer might have pipes.. makes sense, I hadn't even thought of that. Since that might be the case, will have it installed over the dryer instead. They're on 2 different walls (of all things) which I hate, in the kitchen, but the dryer is on an outside wall for venting purposes. And yes, will have it attached to the studs.
   Rabbit, good luck with Amazon for a refund, especially since it shouldn't have been sold!

   Posted 12 years ago #
5. 

   Whiterabbit-uk
   Games Guru

   Thanks copmom; I've got my fingers crossed. If they do give me a new licence it'll mean I’ll have an extra product code so will be able to install the OS to a new build I’ve been working on for some time. I was really surprised to be able to purchase a product code without the software for less than £25/$37, considering how much I paid for Win 7 last year (($240). They said for an additional £10/$15 I could download a copy of the software as well; but as I already have a hard copy I didn't need that. So for a total of £35/$52 I could have got the same operating system; (though I wouldn't have had the official 32bit and 64bit discs with the hologram printing, and weird shaped windows packaging lol). That’s about a 500% saving on what I paid last year.

   Posted 12 years ago #
6. 

   copmom
   Member

   Didn't realize it was so expensive! Guess that's another reason for me to stick with XP!

   Posted 12 years ago #
7. 

   mikiem2
   Moderator

   Didn't realize it was so expensive! Guess that's another reason for me to stick with XP

   At least in the US [not sure elsewhere] Microsoft had win7 HP family packs, with 3 licenses & both 32 & 64 bit discs. MSRP was $150, which wasn't bad, but most places dropped that price to ~$100. If anyone's interested you should get looking now, as finding someone selling the packs at that price is becoming more difficult daily.

   Posted 12 years ago #
8. 

   jimvandamme
   Member

   Folks, you can upgrade to an up to date operating system that comes with most of the drivers you need for those old gadgets. One where you don't have to worry about viruses, and don't have to defrag or fool with a registry.

   You need one that boots & shuts down twice as fast; updates whenever YOU feel like it, and tells you exactly what gets changed; has different desktop versions that work on 128MB memory, and some that provide all the eye candy on a couple gigs of memory (and runs like Apple, but on cheap hardware); updates all your software for free with a couple clicks from tested, malware free sources. And comes with most of the software you need, with more available for free.

   You have nothing to lose but your chains.

   Posted 12 years ago #

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