first, thanks for reading and (hopefuly) answering my question(s). After searching, trying, experiencing and evaluating some OSs -regardless they are original or pirated- out there, I think, ok, this looks and feels cool, so there, I buy and use a legitimate, retail copy of Windows 7 Ultimate. Installed the 32bit version, activated it properly, but got crashed several time especially whenever one or more automatic update is installed and need to be restarted. Well, ok, maybe it is my hardware too old or something, but I was in hurry then. Thanks God I use a 64 bit hardware, and since I had a nice experience using XP 64 bit, I remove all and start over again with fresh install of 64 bit. Ok, it seem stable now for 6 months under a medium load of office works (opening more than 3 worksheet with more than 10 sheets each, while running, designing and executing some code on local web server). But now I begin to question: So what? That's it? All I got is only a Windows with no "annoying text telling me using pirated copy of Windows" and that's all about it? No extra something that worth the price? And keeping my hard drive occupied all the time by increasing installation size from some "critical, important, optional updates" which always demanded me to restart the machine, while I'm trying to save all my works? Get some update which on my opinion, doesn't even applied to my system (eg. fixing Daylight Saving Time, while my country doesn't use it at all)? And high memory use whenever updates installed, occupied almost all 8GB of RAM? helloooo....?? I lost now... a little deja vu... I understand, Windows is the result of people hard work behind it. But until today, I don't feels like having any benefits at all. So why the price "that" high? Am I being cheated? Sorry if my question sounds silly, bored you, or even offended you, because I tried to maximized every cent of money I have paid to buy Windows. It just didn't make sense to me. Other OSs have a great bunch of free, even open source applications/programs to download, install, use, and tweak acording to my use. And their updates run so smooth, almost no user-intervention, and need no restart at all... with the fun of command line and beautiful GUI too. Voila! All I got is when I turn on the the machine (not restart), I got my kernel updated, my problem fixed, and installation files only grew few MBs. So please, give me some reasons and a treat maybe, so I believe that the money I spent is very worthwhile. Any nonsense excuse, I'm ready and willing to destroy all, then completely turn to the other solution. I'm tired already. Again, please forgive me if this offended you, I'm only human after all, and thank you for kind attentions.

moved to IT Pro? why?? I didn't want to discuss something like cmd line etc, just simple question of "what could I have from using legit Win 7 Ult Retail, beside "big" update, clean-from-malware-system, and so on... ;( very interesting though. cheers, and good night (at my local time, GMT+07.00).

About genuine Windows Genuine Windows is published by Microsoft, properly licensed, and supported by Microsoft or a trusted partner. Only genuine Windows customers have access to all optional updates and downloads available from Microsoft, which are designed to help you get the most from your PC. Genuine value: protection, reliability, and performance 1. Protection. When you buy genuine Windows 7, you can download and install Microsoft Security Essentials, the high-quality, award-winning antivirus solution from Microsoft which helps to safeguard your PC and your privacy. Microsoft Security Essentials is available at no cost to genuine Windows customers, including small businesses with up to 10 PCs. 2. Reliability. Genuine Windows 7 makes the things you do every day faster and easier, with fewer clicks, faster searching, easier browsing, and simpler ways to connect. 3. Performance. Genuine Windows 7 is designed to improve the performance of your PC, so it’s faster, more secure, and more reliable. Windows - Is It Genuine http://www.microsoft.com/genuine Microsoft - Piracy http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/default.aspx

"net2surfin" wrote in message news:8c529078-5d8f-4d17-956a-7f8d68dfe35d... first, thanks for reading and (hopefuly) answering my question(s). After searching, trying, experiencing and evaluating some OSs -regardless they are original or pirated- out there, I think, ok, this looks and feels cool, so there, I buy and use a legitimate, retail copy of Windows 7 Ultimate. Installed the 32bit version, activated it properly, but got crashed several time especially whenever one or more automatic update is installed and need to be restarted. Well, ok, maybe it is my hardware too old or something, but I was in hurry then. Thanks God I use a 64 bit hardware, and since I had a nice experience using XP 64 bit, I remove all and start over again with fresh install of 64 bit. Ok, it seem stable now for 6 months under a medium load of office works (opening more than 3 worksheet with more than 10 sheets each, while running, designing and executing some code on local web server). <snippage> If youre still showing problems with Activation/validation..... To properly analyse and solve problems with Activation and Validation, we need to see a full copy of the report produced by the MGADiag tool (download and save to desktop - http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=52012 ) Once saved, run the tool. Click on the Continue button, which will produce the report. To copy the report to your response, click on the Copy button in the tool (ignore any error messages at this point), and then paste (using either r-click/Paste, or Ctrl+V ) into your response. - **in your own thread**, please Please also state the Version and Edition of Windows quoted on your COA sticker (if you have one) on the case of your machine, but do NOT quote the Key on the sticker! http://www.microsoft.com/howtotell/content.aspx?pg=coa Noel Paton | Nil Carborundum Illegitemi | CrashFixPC | The Three-toed Sloth

@Noel: Forgive me if I confuse you, but clearly you misunderstand my question. There's no problem at all with Windows Activation/Validation, but what do I get after I use genuine and legitimate OS? Could I get extra package or something that worth the price I paid? @TrekDozer: "...you can download and install Microsoft Security Essentials, the high-quality, award-winning antivirus solution from Microsoft which helps to safeguard your PC and your privacy..." --> Guess what, it failed when detecting local worm/virus, and also memory eater! other solution is better and have small memory footprint (under 10MB) when doing some quick scanning. "...makes the things you do every day faster and easier, with fewer clicks, faster searching, easier browsing, and simpler ways to connect..." -->indeed, that's why I'm skipping Vista and jump on 7 instead. But becareful now. Fewer clicks? maybe yes. Faster searching? absolutely no. I run some test to find some files from shell (explorer) quick search. It really amazed me that it cannot found anything, even though I put it on root directory and included in index options. XP find files feature still have better algorithm when finding files. "...so it’s faster, more secure, and more reliable." more secure? well, it is secured so well, I cannot just plug and connect my modem in tethering mode. faster? depend on the system. on my system, it took about 20GB for full installation, which is slightly under 6GB when compared to XP. definitely not pass my requirement for a "fast, reliable and responsive" machine. sorry... anyway thanks for the reply, I appreciated it so much. cheers ^_^

"net2surfin" wrote in message news:69adfe1f-e494-4482-9839-f693f4d3440c... @Noel: Forgive me if I confuse you, but clearly you misunderstand my question. There's no problem at all with Windows Activation/Validation, but what do I get after I use genuine and legitimate OS? Could I get extra package or something that worth the price I paid? From your initial post.... But now I begin to question: So what? That's it? All I got is only a Windows with no "annoying text telling me using pirated copy of Windows" and that's all about it? If youre getting that which you implied you were then you have either an Activation or a Validation problem. While the restrictions imposed by failing the genuine test are minor compared to those imposed on earlier generations of Windows, they are still significant and sufficient to deter many people. For some reason, most people like to have a pretty picture behind what theyre working on (Im one of them when theres any screen real-estate visible, anyhow!) Most people also dont like the nag screen that comes up every time you boot, and the warning on the bottom of the screen. Once you are genuine, you get access to MSE, and IE9 as well as some other stuff that MS only allows to be used on valid systems. (note that by definition, a system in the Grace Period just after install is considered valid). Ive not looked to see what happens if you have IE9 installed, and the system becomes invalid for any reason that might be an interesting experiment! but certainly if MSE is installed while the system is valid, then it will start screaming at you if the system becomes invalid, and will switch itself off (with dire warnings) after 30 days. Noel Paton | Nil Carborundum Illegitemi | CrashFixPC | The Three-toed Sloth

@Noel: I wrote that because when I'm using Ubuntu, immediately I got a lot of useful application worth of 9 DVDs through Package Management, which I could pick and install anytime I want. About 2 weeks later, there's a little notification that said some updates has been installed successfully, without any user intervention at all. Even system is upgraded as well. In Windows 7, after successful activation progress, all I got is an offer to upgrade my browser to IE9, and a notification on Action Centre that Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is available for download. FYI, I download and updated successfully, but still I use Chrome or Opera as my primary browser. And yes, my Windows is properly licensed and activated, so after 6 month now, I'm not entering grey period or anything like that. in other words... is there any extra package, gift, game, software or something like that as a treat because I have buy and use genuine software? (sigh) it's hard to express your feeling when you not using the correct language. sorry if this confuse you, I'm not a native english user. but I think i will look for Linux solution for now. the money I paid for buying genuine Windows 7, well... consider it as a charity for this forum. feel free to delete this thread if you guys think it is not appropriate. Thanks, cheers.