I have a computer that came loaded with the Windows XP Home version. After a few years I replaced the hard drive. I decided to put Windows XP Pro on it so there would be none of the limitations that the Home version might have.
I shopped on the Internet via well-regarded shopping advice sites. One of the sites was selling the software as a download. It was flying the MICROSOFT CERTIFIED banner, as it still does today. I could have purchased the software for less through the mail, but I decided to try this newer distribution method, as it was clearly the distribution method of the future, and I would learn something new and get the software NOW. It was not as quick as planned, as they only worked Monday to Friday, 9 to 6, and they had to set up the software for download manually, so if you buy after hours or on the weekend it is not an instant download, but I did eventually receive the software.
It installed. This was in January, I think. On reloading all my other software, I had a problem with older Microsoft software that would not install or upgrade, or something; I cannot quite remember (a ripoff, though). I had to call Microsoft for help. They checked my Windows XP and continued to talk to me about the other software because they had found the Windows XP Pro to be genuine. Windows XP Pro ran for years. I accepted their updates. I accepted their Windows Genuine Advantage software update. It ran fine after that too.
Then one day, after around two years of use, I received a message on my screen indicating I may be running counterfeit software. It gave me the option to try to resolve it online, which I tried because my software was valid, but it failed. I was really worried. Something we were doing at the time was critical, and we could not afford to lose the system. It was still running, and I was too worried to switch the system off in case it would not restart.
I called Microsoft the next day. I do not have the date, but it must be around a year ago or less. I spoke to Sharika, Kim, Seigna of the Licensing Fulfillment Center, and then Dan. All indicated my Windows XP Pro was valid, but I was still getting horrible, embarrassing, and inconvenient "you may be running counterfeit software" messages. In addition to the inconvenience of the messages, Microsoft was wasting my time. They could not tell me why I was getting the counterfeit messages! They told me the messages DO NOT inconvenience the user at all, that I could continue to use the system as normal, that it would not stop working, and that I could power it off and on.
I spoke to Lydia at the Windows Genuine Advantage center. Finally I discovered that the problem had to do with the volume licensing key, but Microsoft could only work with me if I had the volume licensing key. This is the key my online software download site had, and I had no access to it. She said they are the people who support those licenses and the only ones who can help me. I had tried phoning the company but could not get through; they seemed to be avoiding callers, and I told her this. She said Microsoft could not help, and I would have to BUY another copy of Windows XP Pro, because mine is in effect counterfeit, although they would not be tracking me down if I kept using my counterfeit-labeled, mode-switching, crippled version.
I kept trying the download site's phone number. The site seemed to be corrupted on its forum, with nobody administrating it, but it kept running, proudly showing the MICROSOFT CERTIFIED banner. I know it had been hacked, as I began to receive rapid GOLD WATCHES emails from them. I was able to contact them via email, and they apologized, saying someone had stolen their key, and provided a solution to update it, indicating that if it did not work I should recontact them. I received the email address on an answering system from one phone call out of hundreds of calls that had nothing. This one call listed a Gmail address, not a company email address. I simply did not and do not have enough trust in this email address. Who knows, a hacker could have cracked their phone system PIN, and that is why there was one day of that message with a simple Gmail address. I held out for phone support. I kept trying, but no answer. I have emailed asking them to phone me. I have told them I am not going to try to fix this without reliable phone support. I have had no reply to the emails and voice messages. I do not trust the fix. There is no incentive for them to ensure my OS key change works, so I have been stuck with the problem.
I am now at a point where I want to buy other software and hardware. I have been putting it off, as upgrades may be needed, so I dare not buy new computing products because of the Microsoft problem not allowing upgrades that may be needed for the newer products.
So I get these messages (one has just kindly popped up for me to copy the text of, how nice):
"Windows Genuine Advantage. Your system may be at risk. This copy of Windows did not pass genuine Windows validation. Validation is required to receive many of the upgrades available from Microsoft. Click here to get help with this problem. Get Genuine Windows. More details."
This message pops up frequently during computer use. I also see a COUNTERFEIT message at power off: "Ask for genuine Microsoft software. You may be a victim of software counterfeiting. This copy of Windows did not pass genuine Windows validation." There is also one at power on, which inconveniences me with a countdown of seconds, then a decision and a button to press. It is a total inconvenience and a waste of our time.
Although Microsoft assured me the messages cause absolutely no user inconvenience, I have found they cause major inconvenience and loss. The message that pops up and pops back off, and frequently does while the computer is on, causes the mode to switch, which is a great inconvenience. You can be keying away, then the message pops up, the mode changes, and your typing is lost, and you have to get back to the mode and then to what you were doing, if you can. The power-up countdown message and buttons are simply an inconvenience. Then there is the loss of all the upgrades and downloads I have paid them to provide me, a big loss of value.
In addition, I did not upgrade my Windows XP Home but instead purchased the full version to avoid any problems with an unclean install and with Microsoft upgrades not being able to identify their own older software. I additionally feel ripped off that I have to go through this thought process and pay extra, all because of the Microsoft upgrade policy and system.
So here I am in the USA, paying for my Windows XP Home, then paying big bucks for a full (not upgrade) Windows XP Pro and running it Microsoft-verified for years. Then Microsoft pulls the plug and tells me I will have to buy a whole new copy of Windows XP Pro if I want it to run properly without inconvenience. All this while I read that Microsoft was bundling Windows XP and Office at $3 per copy to Russian schools and also making illegal copies legal for $14.
So why do I write a complaint against Microsoft, and why have I not produced one against the company I purchased the product from? This is how I view the problem. I purchased Genuine Microsoft Windows XP Pro. I may have purchased it from someone with a volume license, and I understand that they are there to provide support, but I still purchased Genuine Microsoft Windows XP Pro. I did not go out and purchase ACME Windows XP Pro. I do not mind if my volume license company went totally out of business, because I do not need their support. I have Genuine Microsoft Windows XP Pro. The only problem is that Microsoft said it was not Genuine Microsoft Windows XP Pro, which is untrue because it is, and it was Genuine Microsoft Windows XP Pro for several years. So someone started to illegally make copies from the volume license.
Microsoft knows my license was valid and is part of the volume license, and it probably knows there are many others with valid licenses from it. Microsoft will have records of us from when their servers verified our software. I have the same one license at the same location on the same computer that was verified the same way, daily, for several years. It is even the same installation. Why does Microsoft not just find the person who stole the copies?
What Microsoft has done instead is like a farmer at his chicken coop. He or she notices a fox in it. The farmer runs back to the house for a gun. The fox is long gone with a chicken. The farmer runs back to the coop with a shotgun and shoots into the chicken coop, injuring everything in there, but not the fox.
Basically, Microsoft is saying that I am responsible for the theft, that I am the counterfeiter, and that I have an illegal copy. They tell me this every time I turn the computer on, every time I turn it off, and frequently and very inconveniently during its use over the last year. How do you think I feel seeing my kids using the computer you have labeled as counterfeit? How do you think I feel when a guest is with me at my computer screen and the COUNTERFEIT message pops up? How do you think I feel when I take the computer in for repairs? Yes, you guessed it, and I have to do a lot of explaining, wasting more time and effort.
Microsoft, this is the USA. We go after the criminal. We do not lock up everyone in town. We do not punish people without a fair trial (or we are not supposed to). Actually, isn't it the police who are called to do this, not the company itself?
Why has Microsoft allowed this retail volume licensing distribution method, fully knowing the potential problems, while consumers do not know and assume they have genuine software? Microsoft has generated newer and better anti-piracy techniques over the last 15 years or more, so why does Microsoft open up a piracy hole and treat genuine Windows owners as software pirates?
Microsoft has said the counterfeit messages do not cause any inconvenience, and Microsoft is not taking any action against us. Why? I think this is because Microsoft knows we do not have counterfeit software. If Microsoft is not doing anything about it, why bother us with any of it? Why does Microsoft tarnish our computer by labeling us as counterfeiters?
In my opinion this is what Microsoft is really saying to us: "We know your software is valid, but we can make this into an opportunity to gouge you for some money, so that is the route we will take, and we will try hard to push you towards paying us."
I really do not have the time to produce this complaint, but I have spent the time because I feel it is necessary. I have also been reluctant to write this complaint because until now I have always received good service from Microsoft, but the phone call I made to Lydia at the Windows Genuine Advantage center was completely the opposite of the good service I had received before, so much so that I have to complain.
I would like Microsoft to safely switch my existing installation over to a valid Microsoft volume license key so I will never have these messages again. I want free Microsoft support for this license key problem if it is ever needed. I want it set up so the Microsoft key(s) will work if I ever reinstall the operating system from my current Windows XP Pro CD (or a new one that you may ship to me). In addition to this, I have had worry and hours wasted communicating with Microsoft about the issue. I have lost a year of time to the messages. I lose time to the countdown timer, a 10-second thought process or more every day (often much more when I power up, forget about the counterfeit countdown timer question, return to the computer assuming it is loaded and ready to use, and find it sitting at the counterfeit question waiting for an answer before loading the system), and sometimes more than once per day. I have lost solid weeks trying to communicate with the volume license company because Microsoft will not solve the problem. I have spent a few days creating this complaint (is it a waste, Ed? Time will tell), and I will hopefully lose time fixing the problem. Then there is the loss of a year's worth of upgrades and downloads I have paid Microsoft to provide me, and the time I have spent on projects, getting to the point where I find I need an upgrade I cannot have, which eliminates the new software or upgrade project. That is a big loss of value, and again of time. I just remembered the last one, and I am sure there are more losses I have forgotten about. It has been a big problem.
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