Best "Activation Backup and Restore" prog?

[KSoD]

Humor is appreciated, but when it is correct humor. If you would have said Steve, I would have given you the smiley. But knowing that Bill has nothing at all to do with Microsoft anymore just makes the joke incorrect at best.

The article is wrong. I know this without reading it simple because you purchase the serial. That is all you own when it comes to Windows. The OS itself and everything that emcompasses the OS is owned and copyrighted by Microsoft.

So no you dont own the activation. You own the Certificate of Authenticity. That is all you own. The rest you rent from Microsoft. It does not give you the right to bypass their activation servers to suit your needs. That is called piracy and that is most certainly illegal.

Microsoft doesnt go after every website that posts things that are illegal. While they maybe a multi billion dollar company, doing such would bankrupt them in a minute.

You are right, getting the Lenovo disks will contain their bloat. You cant get the OEM Install Media without bloat here. Yes it will cost you processing and shipping. But it will be what you want. A pure install of Windows without the bloat as it will come from Microsoft. Not from Lenovo that has the bloat.

I know your going to try to argue with me on this, but I have been a MVP for 5 years with Microsoft and have studied the EULA, TOS and such very extensively. I know for a fact that what you want to do is illegal and as such, it will not be allowed on this site. I can find you any article you want online about how downloading or doing something isnt illegal, that doesnt make it true. It is the internet after all. There is an argument for everything and against everything. I am going by the EULA of Windows and knowing that to properly activate you must use their services, either over the internet or by phone. Backing up the activation files is not what they want and the source for the program is not Microsoft. It is not something they want. I can tell you this with certainty.

Again as stated, you dont own Windows, you own the COA Sticker. That is it. That is the very first mistake that everyone makes when they purchase the software. They think that just cause they paid money for it that they own it. Wrong. You own nothing more than the 25 digit alpha numeric sequence that will activate the software. Nothing more, nothing less.

[Rockrz]

Originally Posted by KSoD

Humor is appreciated, but when it is correct humor. If you would have said Steve, I would have given you the smiley. But knowing that Bill has nothing at all to do with Microsoft anymore just makes the joke incorrect at best.

OK, won't bother with any further humor since it will be critiqued and everyone has a different sense of humor and that's not worth arguing over. Just so you'll know, Bill Gates remains at Microsoft as non-executive chairman, so he actually is still involved with the company. Look it up if you'd like.

At any rate, I have a way to download a clean copy of Windows (from Microsoft) and once installed I can simply call them and give them my keys and since the previous copy will be deactivated, I will be able to activate the clean install using the keys that came with the computer.

There are companies doing this on their new computers to get rid of bloatware and Microsoft has no issue with it since the OE copy is deactivated. If they did have a problem with it, then they are legally saying you have to accept manufacturer's crap that has been added to a Windows install that is not authorized by Microsoft or is part of the Windows OS... which opens up MS to litigation which they've had a nasty taste of already in numerous quarters.

At any rate, I have no moral issue since I'm not stealing anything from anyone... and since I own my hardware, I get to have control over the software that runs on my hardware which is why I decide what updates go on my hardware as these big companies are starting to think they own my hardware which is not how things work legally.

Just curious concerning the "legal" thing to do... suppose my hard drive crashed and there was no way to restore and I had no choice but to re-install windows fresh... I would be able to call MS and get it activated with the keys on the tag on my computer, right?

[KSoD]

Using a copy downloaded from Microsoft will not work. If you are using an OEM serial that came with a machine, it will not activate with that copy of Windows due to the fact those are considered retail versions of Windows. Yes it makes a difference. As stated, you will need an OEM copy not any other version of the OS. If you try to use an OEM serial with a Retail version, it will tell you the serial is invalid and not even a call will work. As you are using a different version of the software than the one the serial is good for. I have it all explained here:

Differences between OEM and Retail

Yes there are companies doing this, but they have original OEM software to install that they got from Microsoft in order to install Windows with the proper serials and not have the bloat. I know this cause I do it for a living myself. I have the OEM Software directly from Microsoft that allows me to reinstall without the bloat.

Yes you own the hardware, but again as previously stated, you dont own the software. So while you may think you can do whatever you want, that isnt so. Cause you dont have the right to do whatever you want with Windows. You agree to Microsoft's Terms of Use, that puts you in a binding contract with them that gives them the right to deactivate your software if they see fit cause you violated the terms. They could go further as well and sue, again if they see fit. The big companies have nothing to do with that, it has been part of Windows and OS X ever since the OS's were created. The only OS that you can do whatever you want to is Linux. Those are open source and made for this type of thing. So if you want real freedom, you will have to go to Linux. If you choose to stick to Windows, you have to abide by the End User License Agreement and the Terms of Use as you agree to follow them when you check the box and click okay to install the software. Like it or not, that is how it works and everyone is bound by it if they install the software. It is a legally binding contract.

If your hard drive crashed, yes you can call them and have them reactivate it. But again, you have to use the proper version of the software to match the license on your PC. So if you have Windows 7 Home Premium OEM, you must use Windows 7 Home Premium OEM Software to install. You cant just use Windows 7 Home Premium Retail with Windows 7 OEM Serial and get it to activate. It wont work as previously stated, it will say invalid.

You can try it if you want. I am simply stating the truth here. Sorry that it doesnt fit into what you think or want to hear, but it is the honest truth in the matter. The only thing we can suggest is to get the OEM Media and do a clean install. From there after you get it to activate, make an image using CloneZilla to save yourself time and frustration later one. With that I would suggest that you update Windows fully to the updates available as of the day you install saving yourself extra time once you put the image back on. This way you will only have a few updates that will have to be applied.

To go even further you can install some of your more commonly used programs and have them be imaged as well. This way you dont have to waste time installing those as well. Will just have to update the software once you put the image back on.

[Rockrz]

The only thing we can suggest is to get the OEM Media and do a clean install.

And, if the OEM media contains bloat... how is that not also illegal since they have added stuff to the Windows install that is not authorized by MS. I doubt MS would agree to that, but then again they might when making who knows how many millions of dollars.

It just doesn't seem right that MS would agree to allow a PC manufacturer to add crap to the MS install media where you have no choice but to accept the crap when installing Windows. Something is wrong with this picture.

I have the OE install disk from Lenovo. I called them and told them if they did not send this to me, what was I to do if there was a hard drive crash... and they sent me 4 install discs.

It may be possible to get a clean install using the Lenovo media as two of these DVDs say "Operating System Recovery Disc - Windows 7 Professional SP1" and are labeled disk 1 and Disk 2.

The other two disks say "Windows 7 Recovery Media for Windows 7 Products"... so there is a remote possibility that these two DVDs are the ones that install the Lenovo crap, and the first two, or possibly the first one only... may be just Windows only.

I won't know until I try, which I will when my new hard drive arrives. And, yes I already have a downloaded OE version of Win 7 Pro SP1 that I could use possibly if needed. Since the original install will no longer be in use, I see no reason why I cannot activate online or call Bill directly to activate, even though he remains at Microsoft as non-executive chairman

One way or another I'll figure out a way to get the Lenovo crap off this laptop!

[carnageX]

Originally Posted by Rockrz

And, if the OEM media contains bloat... how is that not also illegal since they have added stuff to the Windows install that is not authorized by MS. I doubt MS would agree to that, but then again they might when making who knows how many millions of dollars.

That's not an OEM disc; that's a restore disk from the PC manufacturer, not an OEM disc from Microsoft. WIndows comes in 2 versions (and shown in the link Mak posted): OEM and Retail. THey take 2 different kinds of keys. Both are just stock, straight-up Windows. But they take different kinds of serials. Either buy the OEM disc that Mak linked to, or find it by other means online (can't discuss this here as torrenting is against the rules).

It may be possible to get a clean install using the Lenovo media as two of these DVDs say "Operating System Recovery Disc - Windows 7 Professional SP1" and are labeled disk 1 and Disk 2.

The other two disks say "Windows 7 Recovery Media for Windows 7 Products"... so there is a remote possibility that these two DVDs are the ones that install the Lenovo crap, and the first two, or possibly the first one only... may be just Windows only.

I would say that may be possible, but the Disk 1 and Disk 2 may still have bloatware.

[Rockrz]

I still don't see why MS would allow anything on the install disk other than windows, regardless of if it's a manufacturer's restore disk or not.

I'll find out eventually...

[Rockrz]

I'll just use the OE disc from my new desktop computer that came from a company
that installs straight windows, no bloatware.

Then I'll use the OE key from my laptop to activate. Both computers have Win 7 pro.

Think this'll work, or will Bill's swat team come bustin me door down at 3am?

This should not be a problem since the original copy that was activated on my
laptop will be gone, so I'm not stealing anything or doing anything morally wrong.

All I'm doing is activating an OE version of windows with the OE key issued
to my laptop so I don't have bloatware... which MS should make manufacturers
provide the option for anyhow.... those bloat waremiesters

[carnageX]

Yes you should be fine.

If anything, you'll just have to call in and activate it (takes ~10 minutes) if online activation doesn't work. .

[Rockrz]

Any reason WHY it shouldn't activate online?

Normally when I get a new PC I make sure it's connected to
the net so it can activate when I'm answering those setup questions.

[carnageX]

If it's an OEM license, it gets activated once. If you ever reinstall it, without the original media (i.e. just using a normal OEM disc rather than manufacturer disc), it will require you to activate again; but since it's already been activated once, you have to call in to activate it as it will fail activation via online.

Honestly not a big deal.. I've done it hundreds of times for various systems I've worked on. It's all automated; I've only had to talk to a person 2 or 3 times, and even then they just ask if this is the only system it's being installed on.