Statica plz read

[DHB]

hi, i just wanted to say with regards to the thread of mine which you closed, i thought it was a bit harsh as no one said it was an illegal copy? i OWN a copy of xp pro, and my brother owns a copy of xp home, and the way i understand copyright law, i always thought it was perfectly lawful to make BACKUP copy's of any disc or tape to which u have already purchased?? My query was only that i wanted to know how to tell the difference between the discs. I will get round it by simply installing it, just wanted to make a point, thanks

[bailey]

dhb:

yes you can go ahead and install it , but you will not be able to activate it and microsoft will send you a letter letting you know that you are useing a illigal copy. as you are not allowed to install a licenesed copy to a second computer.

[DHB]

bailey, u don't understand, i will try to be clear
I already own xp pro. It is installed and activated on my machine. i am not looking to install anything on my machine. the issue is that i once copied the xp pro cd that i own (i did'ent think this was illegal if it is for backup purposes, did'ent the european court rule on this?).I back most of my stuff up and only use the backup's because i once completly ruined a win95 cd and i don't want it to happen again. I have a cd in my collection which is obviously a copy of xp (home or pro i don't know) because it is unlabelled i don't know what 1 it is, so there are 2 possibilitys, 1, it is a copy of xp pro cd which i think it is, 2 it is actually xp home and therefore probably a copy my brother made of his cd which he own's and therefore the cd has just got mixed up. When i look at the CD and compare it to my bro's home cd it looks the same and so it made me start wondering if it was pro or not. this is important as i really want to make sure i have a copy of my cd just in case. if it is xp home then i will just copy my pro CD again and make sure i label it this time. i am not looking to install any cd i only want to establish what version of xp is on the cd as it is'ent labelled, thats all!!!! but because of all this fuss now i will just destroy the cd and make a fresh copy of MY xp pro. I'm just tight and did'ent want to waste the CD if i did'ent have to

and the point i was trying to make is that u and statica had no basis (imo) to assume it was illegal, u simply assumed it was, and i think that was wrong. i made my point now i'll go make a backup copy of my cd

thanks

[TwoRails]

DHB, speaking generically, you simply compare the complete directory structures of two CDs (or hard drives, or floppies, etc.) to see if they are identical or not. You compare file names, sizes, dates, etc...

As far as the second part of your post: your other thread was Not clear as to what the copy was, and since it was not clear and the Forum has very strict rules about what can / can not be discussed here, the thread was closed.

TwoRails

[HAL9000]

I took a look at your thread and NOWHERE did you state that it was a backup copy, nor that you had an original, only that you had this unlabled CD, how else would you read it?

[Mac Medic]

Either way, the XP EULA forbids backup copies.

[glc]

I'd like to ask the members this:

If one of us closes your thread and you disagree with the reasoning or want clarification, read the forum FAQ first - and if you still have an issue, please contact the moderator that closed it in a private message.

[DHB]

thnx tworails, thats the simple sort of answer i was after, i had looked briefly at them, but thought some1 on here would have the knowledge to say "if the file or folder x is there then it's pro"

hal9000 - u r correct i did not say it was a backup, to be perfectly honest i had no idea i would have to. I honestly did'ent think the thread would even enter into the topic of piracy, i thought it was a simple question which would get a simple answer. Without trying to be funny i would of read it as i wrote it, that it was an unlabelled cd, thats all! IMO that does'ent automatically make it a pirate copy, u obviously feel different

oem_guy, thnx i did'ent realise this was the case i will look into it

glc - comment noted

and for any1 who cares, the cd in question is now sitting in the bin, under some mexican chicken i think

[HAL9000]

Originally posted by DHB hal9000 - u r correct i did not say it was a backup, to be perfectly honest i had no idea i would have to. I honestly did'ent think the thread would even enter into the topic of piracy, i thought it was a simple question which would get a simple answer. Without trying to be funny i would of read it as i wrote it, that it was an unlabelled cd, thats all! IMO that does'ent automatically make it a pirate copy, u obviously feel different

A lot of that has to do with the fact that we run a very tight ship around here and that as soon as the suspicion is brought up, we nip in the bud before it goes any further.

[Confused]

Originally posted by oem_guy_2002 Either way, the XP EULA forbids backup copies.

To those in the business and in the know. Is this correct? I cannot legally make a backup copy of my XP CD to keep in a safe place such as the safe I have here at home.
Chas

[Statica]

DHB:

I will sum up the reasons for closing it to you. If you wish any more discussion, I would encourage you to PM or email me.

Firstly, your entire question was ambiguous:
lets see .. person A has XP Home, person A has an unmarked CD and doesnt know what exactly it is a back up of? For it to be a backup, you should know what it is a backup of.

Secondly, as was stated above, this place is one that tries its best to be legal. We are also not perfect, and we also make mistakes sometimes, it is not a violation of your rights to have a thread closed on you, and it isnt something that you should feel strongly about. If all you wanted was an explanation on why you felt the thread was legit a mail to me or any one of the mods wouldve been just fine. However, after seeing this thread, I would like to tell you that I am still not inclined to open it up. Why am I not inclined to open it up: lets see now, you call up Microsoft or any legitimate support forum (if its dell or toshiba or wherever) and you said the same things that you told me, I assure you that they will still tell you that they are sorry but they cannot deal with software that has questionable licenses. And we are doing the same thing. However, as with everything else, running by concensus here .. this is just my opinion, the rest of the moderators will give me their input; if your thread hasnt been openned, then we may assume that the majority of the moderators share this opinion.

Thirdly, I do not know if the XP EULA prevents you from making a backup copy. I do not see it in the EULA; which means that it is allowed, because if you werent allowed to make a backup you wouldve been told so in the EULA (type start > run > eula.txt); well that is my understanding (mostly cos I hate the EULA and the prices just as much as most of you do .. but I will abide by what they say on that txt document .. everything else is fair game :))

Cheers
Statica


Addendum: If you go back to the thread .. it wasnt just me who felt the questions about the legalities of that CD of yours - http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.p...threadid=59860
Another member (Bailey) obviously also felt the same thing. (along with the members that emailed me by way of notification of your thread). This is by no means an explanation to show that I was right etc etc .. just wanted to tell you that we are trying to keep this forum clean, but by all means if you feel that what was done to a thread to you was wrong, then contact us.

[avx]

Hehe, this kind of reminds me of when I first came across this site, and I was cross posting a question that I cant even remember, all I know is glc closed it and said something to the tune of "you got it posted over there, this is closed" and I got pissed, and got(to say the least)a little *snappy* with him...LoL - I look back on it, and man, if I was glc I would have banned my butt in a second, you got to appreciate the cool headed mods here

Like statica said, they run a tight ship, but they are fair, and you shouldnt take it so seriously

By the way, you probably dont remember it glc, but I would like to take the oppertunity to apologize for talking trash to you that day, and thanks for not banning me

[M. A. Dockter]

Originally posted by avx487 By the way, you probably dont remember it glc, but I would like to take the oppertunity to apologize for talking trash to you that day, and thanks for not banning me

Actually, we all remember it quite well. You are still under Observence Level Delta. Please keep yourself inline.

[glc]

ROFL!

[avx]

o great...now Im gonna be all paranoid...

[HAL9000]

Originally posted by M. A. Dockter Actually, we all remember it quite well. You are still under Observence Level Delta. Please keep yourself inline.

I got an official warning from you when I started here Dok.... what level am I at now

[M. A. Dockter]

Operational Level Hoser

[glc]

eh?

[HAL9000]

Take off eh!

[DHB]

ok thnx guys, looking at it from a mod's point of view, yeah the thread was a little bit short on detail and ambiguous. i guess writting a Q from my point of view and reading it as a moderator, is quite different.

so what ur saying hal9000 and avx487 is that this is sort of like a right of passage? interesting!! so what happens now? i spawn from this acorn and grow into a big old tree?

And just to top it all off, i even answered my own Q last night! I put the new backup in to check it was working and what do you think the setup programme has at the top of the screen?? only MS windows xp professional setup!!!!! Doh!

[HAL9000]

Originally posted by DHB so what ur saying hal9000 and avx487 is that this is sort of like a right of passage? interesting!! so what happens now? i spawn from this acorn and grow into a big old tree?

Yes, you come here to learn. If you make a mistake, learn from that too, if you make a mistake that's a major no no on the board here, never forget it cuz we all know what happens to those people. Unfortunately, some people can't see a good thing when it's smacking them in the face and push the issue until they get banned by majority vote, others learn and become productive or get answers when in times of need. You seem to know a good thing when it's presented to you.