Activation Problem

[Guest]

I have a problem.... i cant activate my vista ultimate again(OEM edition). My
harddrive crached in the weekend and now i cant activate my vista again. it
just says that my licens key already is used.... i beleve that it is because
i changed my harddrive. What can i do about that? I dont feel like going out
and by another licens since i already did that.

Please Help me.

 

[Conor]

I have a problem.... i cant activate my vista ultimate again(OEM edition). My
harddrive crached in the weekend and now i cant activate my vista again. it
just says that my licens key already is used.... i beleve that it is because
i changed my harddrive. What can i do about that? I dont feel like going out
and by another licens since i already did that.

Please Help me.

Phone Microsoft.

 

[Rock]

I have a problem.... i cant activate my vista ultimate again(OEM edition).
My
harddrive crached in the weekend and now i cant activate my vista again.
it
just says that my licens key already is used.... i beleve that it is
because
i changed my harddrive. What can i do about that? I dont feel like going
out
and by another licens since i already did that.

Do the phone activation. It's a toll free call. I did it recently with
Vista. Took 13 minutes start to finish.

 

[Microsoft MVP]

OEM versions have a limited number of installs before you can no longer
activate using the internet. Since you will no longer be able to activate
over the internet, you must now phone in any future activations. You will
likely be calling India for this.

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Wherever the Call goes, India, USA etc is irrelevant.
Typically my calls are about 5 minutes, always less than 10.
While there is sometimes a foreign accent, I do not assume a
geographic location.

To do otherwise gets very close to bigotry and is totally irrelevant.
Your regular need to bring up India suggests you may have problems in
this area.

 

[Microsoft MVP]

Almost EVERYONE (excluding you apparently) has a problem with that. It is
wrecking the whole computer industry and sales and profits are falling due
in LARGE part to that very fact. I CONSTANTLY hear people who are fed up
with talking to people who can barely speak English and can barely
comprehend what Americans are saying over the phone. It would take a book
to explain how many bad experiences I (and others) have had with trying to
talk to a foreginer about technical issues (hmmm, any authors out there?)
It isn't that I have anything against India or Indians IN GENERAL, it is
simply that it has to be one of the dumbest ideas in the world to have a
language barrier when dealing with highly technical issues.
It is hard enough for the average person to talk and understand technical
terms and explain a technical problem over the phone. Then to have to talk
to someone who can barely understand anything, I can't even put into words
how ridiculous that is. On top of which the techs are simply reading from a
script usually and have no real technical expertese. If they misunderstang
your question, which they almost always do, it is nearly impossible to
correct them or get them on the right track without calling them back and
talking to someone else. I have nothing against Indians, but to hire them
for computer technical support is mind boggling to me. Dell computers is
going down the drain due to this. They were one of the premier companies,
then they outsourced everything to India and now they are suffering dearly
(proves it isn't just me). The last time I had to call to activate windows
the guy took 10 minuts trying to give me the activation numbers because he
kept getting "distracted" and kept giving me the same numbers over and over.
When I tried to clarify what he was saying, he kept telling me to hold and
then he would come back and give me the same string of numbers again.
Eventually, he literally just hung up on me because he couldn't concentrate
on what he was doing (and no, I wasn't mean to him in any way).
You tell me how that isn't a problem with the system? It isn't MY choice to
talk to people like that. If I had an option, I wouldn't. You can't even
ask for a supervisor, they just hang up on you. What other company could
operate that way and get away with it?

 

[Conor]

Almost EVERYONE (excluding you apparently) has a problem with that. It is
wrecking the whole computer industry and sales and profits are falling due
in LARGE part to that very fact. I CONSTANTLY hear people who are fed up
with talking to people who can barely speak English and can barely
comprehend what Americans are saying over the phone.

Yet strangely they have no problem understanding my broad Yorkshire
accent which is far harder on the ear than an American accent.

I think the problem the people you speak to are having is that they can
barely speak English themselves.

 

[mikeyhsd]

they have usually learned the queens english.



(e-mail address removed)

Almost EVERYONE (excluding you apparently) has a problem with that. It is
wrecking the whole computer industry and sales and profits are falling due
in LARGE part to that very fact. I CONSTANTLY hear people who are fed up
with talking to people who can barely speak English and can barely
comprehend what Americans are saying over the phone.

Yet strangely they have no problem understanding my broad Yorkshire
accent which is far harder on the ear than an American accent.

I think the problem the people you speak to are having is that they can
barely speak English themselves.

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

"trying to talk to a foreigner"
This tells a lot about you.
In the global economy, just what is a "foreigner"

"they misunderstang your question, which they almost always do"
Really?
Please give a source for this statement.
I understand them most of the time.
I have had problems understanding local and other people at times, but
I usually understand both.
Sometimes the communication problems have more to do with attitudes
rather than accents.
People had this same problem to some degree before support moved.
As for "simply reading from a script", that happens wherever support
is and your need to include it suggests your problem is with the
nationality and less with the quality.
If you blame Dells problems on this you are missing a lot.
Dells complaints began before support moved so there is obviously more
that you suggest.

"kept getting "distracted"
Can and does happen nearly everywhere.
This has absolutely nothing to do with the geographic region of
support so is irrelevant.

"It isn't MY choice"
Apparently you ignore you choices, the same choices people used before
support moved.
Politely hang up if you can not understand the tech or there are other
problems and call again.
This choice has been exercised by many for years before support moved
and is still an option.
Little has changed.

"What other company"
In case you forgot, you mentioned Dell in your own post.

 

[Guest]

why do you even have to get an activation? Why is Microsoft doing this to
vista? yeah, I am a little out of the loop. I bought a mac not too long ago
and just recently bought my daughter a HP.

 

[Rock]

why do you even have to get an activation? Why is Microsoft doing this to
vista? yeah, I am a little out of the loop. I bought a mac not too long
ago
and just recently bought my daughter a HP.

Why? Because that's the MS process to combat piracy - because there are
people who have no honesty and integrity, who pirate the software or install
it on multiple computers in violation of the license agreement. We have to
pay for their dishonesty. It started with XP.

If you want more info do some reading from a Google search there's plenty of
it on activation.

 

[Microsoft MVP]

"trying to talk to a foreigner"
This tells a lot about you.
In the global economy, just what is a "foreigner"

Uh, you don't know what foreign means? I hope you are joking. If you
weren't here is a definition from Merriam- Webster:
For-eign: situated outside a place or country; especially : situated
outside one's own country

If you are already British, then the Indian accent probably wouldn't be so
bothersome since they mostly got the accent from your home country. From an
American perpective (which I was referring to anyway) it is difficult. I
wasn't referring to British people calling. As you mentioned even you can't
understand every accent. British people occassionally cannot understand
Americans either, so you know I have a valid point.

"they misunderstang your question, which they almost always do"
Really?
Please give a source for this statement.
I understand them most of the time.
I have had problems understanding local and other people at times, but
I usually understand both.
Sometimes the communication problems have more to do with attitudes
rather than accents.

A source for the misunderstanding statement? Again with the "sources". My
source is EXPERIENCE. Tons of experience. If you understand them then good
for you. Again, I wasn't referring to someone who already has a British
accent.

As for "simply reading from a script", that happens wherever support
is and your need to include it suggests your problem is with the
nationality and less with the quality.
If you blame Dells problems on this you are missing a lot.
Dells complaints began before support moved so there is obviously more
that you suggest.

As per the script issue, no the problem IS with quality. Since they are
reading from a script, they have no real ability to improvise, which is
essential in support situations. In my experience, scripts very rarely fix
what is ultimately wrong. If someone can ONLY read from a script, then they
cannot think freely.
Sure Dell had problems before, but since outsourcing, the problems have
increased noticably. I've been using Dell for many years.

"kept getting "distracted"
Can and does happen nearly everywhere.
This has absolutely nothing to do with the geographic region of
support so is irrelevant.

By distracted, I meant in the middle of giving a 5 digit number, and yes
that IS relevant. If someone can't focus long enough to give a 5 digit
number (one that MUST be correct) then that IS a problem. As I'm sure you
know, that key they give you MUST be correct. If they can't give it
correctly, that is a problem.

"It isn't MY choice"
Apparently you ignore you choices, the same choices people used before
support moved.
Politely hang up if you can not understand the tech or there are other
problems and call again.
This choice has been exercised by many for years before support moved
and is still an option.
Little has changed.

One didn't have to deal with this activation nonsense previously. I've been
in this industry for over 12 years and it wasn't like this before. I don't
remember it ever being this bad. Almost every time I call support now I
have to call back repeatedly. I also encounter others who have the same
issue. I'm simply pointing out to Microsoft (and others) that there are
problems with this current system.
I would have to believe MS reads these posts so they ought to see some
people that tell the other side. Also, this helps others who are having
these same problems (and there are many) to understand that they aren't
alone.

"What other company"
In case you forgot, you mentioned Dell in your own post.

Hmm, you got me there.

 

[Microsoft MVP]

Do you even know how many grammar and spelling mistakes you made in your
post? THAT is what is embarrassing. You didn't even spell embarrassing
correctly! You have just proven my point, thank you.
You all think you are so smart but you can't even spell or use words
properly? That is funny. You ought to be ashamed, not arrogant You can't
even use a spell check on the computer? How can you be competent and not
know to use a spelling checker?

 

[Microsoft MVP]

Trying to prove a point? Let's see... How many errors are here...

Im am INDIAN would like to give a reply to the POST, Source: "Microsoft

5 errors the first line...
Didn't capitalize his own name...should be two points, but still only one
point off for that, so 6 now.

I think your ethinc cleansng activity against an foreigner must be
checked.

spelled cleansing wrong - 7
misused "ethnic cleansing" - 8
activity is redundant - 9

well! have you ever been to abroad anytime, if so with that language

Didn't capitalize "Well" and then just added an exclamation mark, which
isn't generally correct, but could be used. I will deduct only 1 point - 10
Didn't capitalize "Have" - 11
been to abroad anytime? you mean "been abroad"? - 12
with THAT language? What language? Misused syntax - 13

you will communicate (British/American slang) here we respect everyone.

no punctuation before "here" -14
unclear usage. Do you mean here in India? - 15

but we can communicate in any forms of english. when you go to some

in any forms of English? Poor usage - 16
Didn't capitalize English - 17
Didn't capitalize When - 18

place you expect everyone to act according to you but we can adapt

I don't expect everyone to act according to "me". False reasoning - 19
Didn't use "according to you" properly, According to my what? - 20
No punctuation after "you" - 21

ourself to others that's why we are surviving and that's adaptability.

Punctuation after "others" - 22
adapt to "others" what? - 23
General misuse after "surviving" - 24

I think you have to change your attitude in this (I'm sorry if im
wrong)

No need to capitalize I'm - 25
Didn't put apostrophe in i'm - 26 almost got it though
No period after "wrong)" - 27

I worked with Dell and compaq HP and my technical ability is well

Didn't capitalize Compaq - 28
Not sure about separation between Compaq and HP - 29

recognised by HP i have certification s from HP. I can communicate well

Didn't spell recognized correctly - 30
Needs punct. after HP - 31
Didn't capitalize "i" - 32
Space in between n and s but no points off, could be typing error.

with any english speaking chap. well! can you afford to talk to a

Didn't capitalize English - 33
used "chap" but I won't take off points.
That "Well" again... - 34
Didn't capitalize Can after exclamation mark - 35

british speaker? i have seen north american's trouble in communicating

Can I AFFORD to talk to a British speaker? Not sure what that means. - 36
Didn't capitalize British - 37
Didn't capitalize "i" - 38
Didn't capitalize North - 39
Didn't capitalize American's - 40
Didn't use North American properly - 41 ( might be debateable) A North
American's trouble?

with a south american, again same with a mexican. here in HP india

Didn't capitalize South - 42
Didn't capitalize American - 43
Disrespecting both North and South Americans by not capitalizing names... Oh
man, I wanna take off at least one...
misuse of ", again" - 44
Didn't capitalize Mexican - 45
Didn't capitalize Here - 46
Didn't capitalize his own country. Truly sad, but still only one - 47

center we have lot of american's working with us. check with Microsoft

HP India center? What's that mean? - 48
Didn't capitalize Americans. Insulting to Americans. - 49
Misuse of apostrophe - 50
"lot of" - 51
Didn't capitalize Check - 52

about what is the percentage of INDIANs working there same with NASA

What IS the percentage? - 53
No need to capitalize, but won't take points off
No punct after "there" - 54
no caps for Same - 55

and Interpol. your experience with a dell guy is a exception that im

Didn't capitalize Your - 56
Didn't capitalize Dell - 57
No apostrophe in i'm - 58
misused "that" - 59

sorry for that. but with that you can't judge a whole country. your

Didn't capitalize "but" - 60
"but with that"? but with that experience? - 61
Didn't capitalize Your - 62

calls with a tech is all recorded and not in INDIA some where outside

ARE, not IS - 63
no punctuation after India - 64
India in caps again, but no points off
"some where" could be typing error, no points off

and no one can tap it. Finally a playback is made to screen them. So

no one can tap it? tap what? Not understandable - 65
made to screen them? Again, huh? -66

that guy who hangup will definitely have a bang. If you didn't get what

hangup - 67 and 68 for misspelling hung and no space used in hung up
definitely have a bang? No idea at all. - 69

you want, explain to the chap that you can't understand him (not

WOW! POSSIBLY THE FIRST LINE WITHOUT ERROR... but used chap again.

vociferously, bcos he is an human being) and ask him to repeat again

vociferously? wow
According to a Googled definition:
Vociferously: These adjectives mean conspicuously and usually offensively
loud.
Not sure that is correct usage, but could be argued, so no points off.
bcos - not real word or proper usage - 70
repeat (what he is saying?) - 71

slowly, he will repeat it several times till you understand. Its not

"till" - 72
the fact that he won't ACTUALLY repeat until I understand - 73
No apostrophe - 74

his problem. he is by basic trained with british english which to us is

NOT HIS PROBLEM??? - 75
Didn't capitalize He - 76
"He is by basic trained"? - 77
No caps for British or English - 78
British English is questionable usage, but I'll let it slide.
No punctuation after English - 79

correct form of communicating and american form is informal to us. if

"which to us is correct form"? - 80
American - 81
the American form? 82
Didn't capitalize If - 83

you find some trouble then blame your congress for approving the bill

Blame my Congress? You are treading on thin ice there pal.
Congress hasn't outsourced to India... - 84
No caps for Congress, insulting the USA - 85

to outsource not us.

no punctuation after outsource - 86

we are technically equally competant and sometimes even better, we

No caps for "we"
Hmmm, you invented what again? The computer? No. The components? No. CPU?
No.
equally competent? Spelled competent wrong, that's too funny for points.

already there in all layers. Huh? Makes no sense - 87

so better stop your ethnic criticism at this point. No caps for so - 88

Im sorry if my comments harm you but its my opinion.

No apostrophe - 89
comments don't harm people - 90
no punctuation after you - 91
no apostrophe in "its" - 92

our technical expertise for beyond to compare.. In microsoft and Intel,

No caps for Our - 93
is far beyond? - 94
to compare? - 95
Two periods - 96
No caps for Microsoft

the percentile of technical expertise is INDIAN's then come the germans

misuse of percentile - 97
Indians first? - 98
Germans - 99

and chinese.

No caps for Chinese - 100!!!!!!!
OVER 100 ERRORS!!!
AND I'm being NICE!
Are you kidding me???
TALK ABOUT PROVING A POINT! THANK YOU!

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

"If you are already British"
Where did this assumption come from?
Assumptions often lead to false conclusions.

"Uh, you don't know what foreign means?"
I never said any such thing.
I am unsure what you consider a foreigner.
You seem unwilling to talk to foreigners on the phone.
And you subtly but significantly changed the word, convenient for
you.
Foreign is also relative.
In this global world, what is foreign to one is local to another,
For some reason you assume certain nationalities are foreign even
though these newsgroups are worldwide.

"and yes that IS relevant."
No it is not relevant, because that can happen anywhere and is not
necessarily related to the outsourced tech support regardless the
source.
More likely caused by inexperience which happens everywhere.

"the problem IS with quality."
Now it is quality.
The scripts were there before and they will be there in the future
regardless where support lies.
This is irrelevant since scripts will be used where ever support
happens to be.
Good and bad quality also happen regardless the source and is not
related to the Indian support.

Your problem is YOU have a problem with understanding others so you
blame it on Indians in this case.
It can't be anything with you since you are an "American", for you the
problem must be exclusively someone else's fault.
The world is global, we must adapt or get left behind, your choice.


"I would have to believe MS reads these posts"
Since these are peer to peer support newsgroups, there is no
requirement or expectation that Microsoft sees anything posted here.
If you want to ensure Microsoft gets your message, you are in the
wrong place.
Occasionally Microsoft employees post here, but then they do do on
there own time.
And certainly there is no assurance that a message will get to the
correct people to take action.

--
Jupiter Jones [MVP]
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar
http://www.dts-l.org

 

[Microsoft MVP]

"If you are already British"
Where did this assumption come from?
Assumptions often lead to false conclusions.

Yeah, got you confused with the previous guy.

"Uh, you don't know what foreign means?"
I never said any such thing.
I am unsure what you consider a foreigner.
You seem unwilling to talk to foreigners on the phone.
And you subtly but significantly changed the word, convenient for
you.
Foreign is also relative.
In this global world, what is foreign to one is local to another,
For some reason you assume certain nationalities are foreign even
though these newsgroups are worldwide.

Uh, yes you did ask. You apparently still don't know what a foreigner is.
I already provided the definition, and that says it best. You are on your
own with that one. Regardless of any "global economy" the meaning of the
word foreign hasn't changed.
I am absolutely not opposed to talking to foreign people on the phone. I
talk to them here all the time. But the difference is they are
UNDERSTANDABLE here. Accent is irrelevant if the people are intelligent and
know that accents are an issue. You CANNOT seriously pretend to have no
idea what I am talking about.
The issue isn't talking with foreign people. The issue is that when dealing
with technical issues, both parties MUST be able to understand each other.
Over the phone a dialog must develop and if people can't communicate, they
can't solve problems. You must get much better people than I do because the
ones I talk to have no idea what they are doing, regardless of accent. I
ain't talkin about going on vacation (deliberate slang used there, fyi), I'm
talking about trying to solve technical issues over the phone where they
would be hard in ANY language.

"and yes that IS relevant."
No it is not relevant, because that can happen anywhere and is not
necessarily related to the outsourced tech support regardless the
source.
More likely caused by inexperience which happens everywhere.

You lost me on that one.

"the problem IS with quality."
Now it is quality.
The scripts were there before and they will be there in the future
regardless where support lies.
This is irrelevant since scripts will be used where ever support
happens to be.
Good and bad quality also happen regardless the source and is not
related to the Indian support.

You easily lose sight of the forrest for the trees and completely turn my
words around.

Your problem is YOU have a problem with understanding others so you
blame it on Indians in this case.
It can't be anything with you since you are an "American", for you the
problem must be exclusively someone else's fault.
The world is global, we must adapt or get left behind, your choice.

Someone has a problem understadning others? Are you kidding me? Do you
know how many times I've heard OTHER people complain about this? You think
it is isolated? Wow, you are out of touch.
If you adopt that attitude, you WILL be left behind. It isn't up to us to
outsource all of our jobs.

"I would have to believe MS reads these posts"
Since these are peer to peer support newsgroups, there is no
requirement or expectation that Microsoft sees anything posted here.
If you want to ensure Microsoft gets your message, you are in the
wrong place.
Occasionally Microsoft employees post here, but then they do do on
there own time.
And certainly there is no assurance that a message will get to the
correct people to take action.

I never said there WAS a requirement or expectation. Why do you put words
into people's mouths? Your logic is VERY hard to follow. You completely
changed the meaning of everything I said to suit your own purposes.

 

[Ed]

A source for the misunderstanding statement? Again with the
"sources". My source is EXPERIENCE. Tons of experience.
If you understand them then good for you. Again, I wasn't
referring to someone who already has a British accent.

If you are having a verbal communications problem go to the
online chat. That removes all accents. I've it with good
results.I don't know the nationality of the person on the other
keyboard and id didn't matter.

Ed

 

[MVP]

Which online chats are you referring to? Can one activate Windows using
online chat?