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View Full Version : Shops that refuse to service PC without MS-Windows COA?



blastus
November 22nd, 2006, 05:20 AM
I was wondering if anyone has come across a shop that refuses to service a PC that does not have a Microsoft Windows COA sticker on it? I've read about this online but have never personally come across one.

What's so special about Microsoft Windows as opposed to Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop, etc... that one would require proof of purchase of one but not the others? :rolleyes:

I don't know where mine is but I imagine it's in the city sewers somewhere :)

meng
November 22nd, 2006, 05:23 AM
Sounds like an urban myth to me.

viper
November 22nd, 2006, 08:01 AM
Not our buisness, we fix anything sticker or not. I don`t know about O S but in Australia i have not heard of anything like this around the traps..

atihimself
November 22nd, 2006, 08:40 AM
I had a incident where i had to replace my ac plug on motherboard and technician called me one day that there is something else wrong with my laptop 'cause ******* doesn't start
(login on terminal screen ...lol)so it was kinda fun, but it's offtopic i guess

steven8
November 22nd, 2006, 08:43 AM
I did some searching and couldn't find any articles about this. I seem to recall having heard something along these lines at some point though. . .don't remember where. . .

Peepsalot
November 22nd, 2006, 08:47 AM
I haven't heard of this issue either but if it's true, it doesn't bother me much because:
1) I fix my computers myself
2) They probably wouldn't know what to do with Linux anyways.
3) I don't know what COA stands for :p

steven8
November 22nd, 2006, 08:49 AM
COA = Certificate Of Authenticity

kencoe
November 23rd, 2006, 06:18 AM
In short, It is not a myth, or a rumor. I will not install pirated software on anyone's PC. I will, however, recommend a free (or less expensive) alternative, to any OS/APPS if they don't want to spend the money.

I have never, in my career, worked at a company that will install pirated software, and I would not work at one now. I will work on any PC, but will not do a windows (or Office, Wordperfect, Photoshop...) install without a COA or comparable license.

MS actively pursues Service centers which willingly violate the licensing requirements. It is also, in my opinion, an ethical violation with reference to the fact that I should not assist someone in the act of stealing. They do not need to use the software if they don't like the price. There are alternatives...

deanlinkous
November 23rd, 2006, 06:31 AM
uh I must of missed the part where people mentioned shops installing pirated software

cantormath
November 23rd, 2006, 06:45 AM
COMPUSA
BESTBUY
CIRCUIT CITY
OFFICE MAX
Just about every store that sell computers in the united states.

basketcase
November 23rd, 2006, 06:51 AM
In short, It is not a myth, or a rumor. I will not install pirated software on anyone's PC. I will, however, recommend a free (or less expensive) alternative, to any OS/APPS if they don't want to spend the money.

I have never, in my career, worked at a company that will install pirated software, and I would not work at one now. I will work on any PC, but will not do a windows (or Office, Wordperfect, Photoshop...) install without a COA or comparable license.

MS actively pursues Service centers which willingly violate the licensing requirements. It is also, in my opinion, an ethical violation with reference to the fact that I should not assist someone in the act of stealing. They do not need to use the software if they don't like the price. There are alternatives...
I'm with this guy, I'll work on any computer, but if/when I have to reinstall software, I require that they provide their original media and/or COA.

I won't install pirated software. Maybe I'm weird like that.

adam.tropics
November 23rd, 2006, 09:02 AM
The Toshiba centre where I live refused to touch my Laptop as Windows was no longer installed. Did have a sticker though! I needed a bios update. The bios updater posted on their site at the time had a bug where it could shut the power off mid stream, and so it was recommended that a service centre handle it. Anyway, I temporarily reinstalled XP, sort of, and went back. They said 2 days, so I rang back, the bios updater had borked, and now I needed a new motherboard! All good in the end though.

Brynster
November 23rd, 2006, 10:13 AM
The company i work for has a workshop. We will work on PC's that have a pirated copy of windows installed but we reset the activation key so they have to reactive the product. We do advise theuser that we do this when a ilicit copy is detected. Doesn't stop them moaning though.

steven8
November 23rd, 2006, 11:30 AM
uh I must of missed the part where people mentioned shops installing pirated software

Dean is right. The thread was not about installing a pirated OS, it's about whether or not they will work on the computer at all.

kencoe
November 23rd, 2006, 03:54 PM
uh I must of missed the part where people mentioned shops installing pirated software

Deanlinkous,

The repair shops I know, including the one I work at, see VERY few Systems that don't have windows (or OSX) on them. The COA issue is all about pirated software. That is what the COA is about.

I was clarifying the fact that many shops will do some, but not all, things without a COA.

If you work in a computer repair shop you would quickly ask, "how many things can you do to repair a windows machine that don't require at least a partial re-install or windows repair". The answer is, not much. In my experience, the vast majority of machines that come into a repair shop need at least some degreee of windows repair, which would require a COA.

Most people interpret that fact to mean that they will not work on a system at all.

theturtlemoves
November 23rd, 2006, 04:04 PM
I work in a university help center, and very often we are unable to do anything with a computer because we cannot reinstall/repair Windows. So while we don't refuse to work on a machine without a COA, if we encounter a problem that neeeds this sort of resolution, we generally point out to the user that if they don't have a valid licence for Windows, we're helpless.

The sight of a college student who knows she has a legal copy but has the sticker partly torn off reduced to tears is one of the reasons I dislike Windows so much.

insane_alien
November 23rd, 2006, 04:06 PM
my local(-ish) PC world. me and a friend took a computer in to get fixed there and they said they wouldn't fix it since it didn't have a windows sticker on it. (besides the point since it ran debian.) funny. later on we discovered that it was the ram that had become ever so slightly unseated. enough not to work but too little to seem odd. probably saved us a few quid though so its good.

DoctorMO
November 23rd, 2006, 04:50 PM
It's about being biased. if you have a hardware fault that should have no baring on the software install and asking for windows to be installed on all computers is an insult to what we are trying to prevent. which is a market that is not only unwilling to free it's self but an industry that can't.

kencoe
November 23rd, 2006, 05:53 PM
It's about being biased. if you have a hardware fault that should have no baring on the software install and asking for windows to be installed on all computers is an insult to what we are trying to prevent. which is a market that is not only unwilling to free it's self but an industry that can't.

This comment is exactly the reason I made my original reply to the post, even if unintentionally so. I have heard this argument made about me in the past, and it is unequivicably false. This is not even close to the truth.

Could you please reference these hardware faults which do not affect the software installed? The list is surprisingly short. A computer wouldn't be at a repair shop if it didn't have noticable problems. A CDROM doesn't announce that is mis-writing files. A Hard Drive does not print to the screen, "I am about to start losing sectors." The symptom of the problem IS the software corruption. You replace the failing hardware, and then undo the damage it has caused. This requires the COA, or the license. This is the way computer repair works.

There is no bias. This is not some mass coalition of computer shops trying to keep Microsoft afloat. It is the customer wanting something they didn't pay for. They should have purchased the license before they installed it the first time. There is no reason I should feel bad that they can't have it for free if it wasn't offered that way to begin with. I offer the free alternatives, as do ALMOST ALL shops in my area. The consumer wants Microsoft's solution. That requires them to purchase a license.

Besides, in my personal opinion, Microsoft's exhorbitant pricing policies does not hurt Linux. It helps to make its case. Why should I break the law to help them continue to use stolen software if they don't want to pay? They could be legal for free just by switching to Ubuntu!
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Of course, I would recommend to insane_alien to tell all of his friends just how "good" that shop he went to is. They won't be in business for long.

StarsAndBars14
November 23rd, 2006, 08:55 PM
I've never encountered anyone who refuses to do such a thing.

Even at those major chains that an earlier poster brought up.

Pure BS, IMHO.

smoker
November 23rd, 2006, 11:05 PM
personally, i have never heard of this, and if it does exist then it wouldn't be the kind of place i would take my computer for an upgrade/fix.

if i was to turn away every customer that came in for a memory upgrade and sent them away cause they had no coa on their computer then i would soon be out of business and the guy with the competing shop up the road would be laughing all the way to the bank.

it is not up to me to question the integrity of the customer, or the morals of the customer, or to decide that they should have, and have a legal copy, of windows, and proof, before i open their computer.

fair enough, i won't install a pirate copy of an operating system, but if a customer has a pirate copy installed, then that is their business, why should i care.

anyway, all my customers with a pirate copy blame ms and their dodgy wga system making errors! do i have to get them to swear on a bible or something?

jonesyp
November 23rd, 2006, 11:18 PM
Re windows machines, we will fix anything, but will not install any software unless we have the original CDs or license keys!

kencoe
November 24th, 2006, 12:03 AM
In that case, Smoker, I agree with you. If it's something that I don't need to do work requiring me dealing with the Software already installed, then I am not legally culpable. I don't authenticate their installs. Of course, I am sure that MS is trying to find a way to force me to do that, too.