Is it possible to wipe out XP remotely???

[guitarman]

A chap I know had a "dodgy" copy of XP on his PC. Last week he got a message from his Norton software (I think) recommending he download some latest patch from Microsoft. He duly went to the Microsoft site and when he attempted to download the patch he got a screen back saying he was running an illegal copy of XP, warned him of dire consequences and, in his words, "wiped out XP". He was unable to start the PC and was somewhat f'cked as he didn't have a CD he could boot from. A new version of XP is fairly expensive I believe......

Anybody heard of this happening before?

Cheers

Dick

 

[cookie]

i'm sure it's possible, but i've never heard of it being done.

25% of PCs in this country would be wiped out

 

[unshift]

i have heard things like this before but it is just a follow on from microsoft doing a software validation check to download certain updates -

in a nutshell - microsoft would not "wipe" a computer ... even if they could do it remotely , at most if the validation failed - he would get a prompt saying that the validation was unable to confirm a valid copy of xp (or similar)

A chap I know had a "dodgy" copy of XP on his PC. Last week he got a message from his Norton software (I think) recommending he download some latest patch from Microsoft. He duly went to the Microsoft site and when he attempted to download the patch he got a screen back saying he was running an illegal copy of XP, warned him of dire consequences and, in his words, "wiped out XP". He was unable to start the PC and was somewhat f'cked as he didn't have a CD he could boot from. A new version of XP is fairly expensive I believe......

Anybody heard of this happening before?

Cheers

Dick

 

[guitarman]

Er.. perhaps I didn't make it clear. His PC wasn't wiped he just lost XP. XP simply stopped functioning.

Cheers

Dick

 

[unshift]

Er.. perhaps I didn't make it clear. His PC wasn't wiped he just lost XP. XP simply stopped functioning.

Cheers

Dick

none of the official microsoft patches will intentionally stop xp from working, at worst if his copy could not be validated he would not be able to download what he wanted to


what happens when he tries to boot up ?

 

[MikeP]

A new version of XP is fairly expensive I believe......

Nothing like it used to be and if you are careful you can get genuine XP Home from suppliers on e-bay for about £60/70 (it's sold with hardware to comply with MS requirements, my 'hardware' was a bit of wire!)

 

[GSmonkey]

You could buy something like this. In my experience they are detected as 'genuine'.

 

[centaur]

I would assume that it's permissible for Windoze to include file/s in their update downloads to defeat illegal or pirated versions of their OS. If this has happened to someone who doesn't have a 'legit' copy of XP, I say it serves them right. As has been mentioned, you can get proper versions for @ £60. Much as I deplore the stranglehold of Windows software, they are still entitled to copyright protection until various laws determine otherwise.
So far as the last post is concerned, I wouldn't touch the Ebay ad with a bargepole....it looks like a 'hacked' backup copy and the real giveaway is that they 'won't post it anywhere outside the UK' ...I wonder why ?

 

[(RIP) Kaister]

I'm sure i had my dodgy copy of XP cause problems on my laptop - after it had auto d/l a windoze update.

If anyone wants to try Linux - download a free Mepis iso.

you can run straight off the cd drive - surf the net as well - its very good.

 

[guitarman]

none of the official microsoft patches will intentionally stop xp from working, at worst if his copy could not be validated he would not be able to download what he wanted to


what happens when he tries to boot up ?

From what he told me the system went through the normal procedure but didn't start Windows and just hung in that state.

The ebay ad seems a very dodgy as well and I'm nor sure I'd have anything to do with it.

I'll pass on the advice about other ebay offers though.

I'm not sure he's quite ready for Linux

Cheers

Dick