Mr Lee Posted January 2, 2009 Posted January 2, 2009 Windows black screen of death A friend of mine who uses his computer on dial up, asked me to look at his computer because IE kept coming up time and time again, and because of that he was no longer able to shut his computer off without pulling the plug. I am not computer genius, but as soon as I hooked the computer to my dsl, it started updating and updating and updating and then it cames up with the Windows dark screen of death telling me that "You may be a victim of software counterfeiting."Anyone know what will come next? Will Microsoft totally crash the computer? I called my friend and asked him if it was a boot leg software that he had in his computer, and he said he did not know but that he got the machine years ago pretty cheap from a guy he ran into. Duhhhhh, cheap often means illegal software, because windows XP alone cost $150 or more, so how could he have a new computer built years ago for around that cost and besides a few years ago computers cost more than they do now. Anyway, the weird thing is that Windows keeps updating the software and even sent service pack 3 a little while ago, and my guess is that they will eventually send a program to the computer to totally shut it down, but so far it works normal except for the black open screen with the icons. I told him to either pay the $150 to make it legal (Windows offers that on the screen) or to go buy a new computer, that they run on sale for $200 to $300 after the rebates, but I am wondering if anyone else has had this problem and will Microsoft eventually zap the computer? Anyone have any other suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retired Posted January 3, 2009 Posted January 3, 2009 Windows black screen of death A friend of mine who uses his computer on dial up, asked me to look at his computer because IE kept coming up time and time again, and because of that he was no longer able to shut his computer off without pulling the plug. I am not computer genius, but as soon as I hooked the computer to my dsl, it started updating and updating and updating and then it cames up with the Windows dark screen of death telling me that "You may be a victim of software counterfeiting."Anyone know what will come next? Will Microsoft totally crash the computer? I called my friend and asked him if it was a boot leg software that he had in his computer, and he said he did not know but that he got the machine years ago pretty cheap from a guy he ran into. Duhhhhh, cheap often means illegal software, because windows XP alone cost $150 or more, so how could he have a new computer built years ago for around that cost and besides a few years ago computers cost more than they do now. Anyway, the weird thing is that Windows keeps updating the software and even sent service pack 3 a little while ago, and my guess is that they will eventually send a program to the computer to totally shut it down, but so far it works normal except for the black open screen with the icons. I told him to either pay the $150 to make it legal (Windows offers that on the screen) or to go buy a new computer, that they run on sale for $200 to $300 after the rebates, but I am wondering if anyone else has had this problem and will Microsoft eventually zap the computer? Anyone have any other suggestions? Some of the other guys on the forum with more knowledge can answer this i am sure but the first pc i bought here used had a pirated copy of Windows . When it was sold to me i was told to NOT check the updates box for Windows . Sounds like that is what happened here . So , yeah he can either buy a licensed copy or run Linnux . :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jollygoodfellow Posted January 3, 2009 Posted January 3, 2009 Windows black screen of death A friend of mine who uses his computer on dial up, asked me to look at his computer because IE kept coming up time and time again, and because of that he was no longer able to shut his computer off without pulling the plug. I am not computer genius, but as soon as I hooked the computer to my dsl, it started updating and updating and updating and then it cames up with the Windows dark screen of death telling me that "You may be a victim of software counterfeiting."Anyone know what will come next? Will Microsoft totally crash the computer?I called my friend and asked him if it was a boot leg software that he had in his computer, and he said he did not know but that he got the machine years ago pretty cheap from a guy he ran into. Duhhhhh, cheap often means illegal software, because windows XP alone cost $150 or more, so how could he have a new computer built years ago for around that cost and besides a few years ago computers cost more than they do now. Anyway, the weird thing is that Windows keeps updating the software and even sent service pack 3 a little while ago, and my guess is that they will eventually send a program to the computer to totally shut it down, but so far it works normal except for the black open screen with the icons. I told him to either pay the $150 to make it legal (Windows offers that on the screen) or to go buy a new computer, that they run on sale for $200 to $300 after the rebates, but I am wondering if anyone else has had this problem and will Microsoft eventually zap the computer? Anyone have any other suggestions? Some of the other guys on the forum with more knowledge can answer this i am sure but the first pc i bought here used had a pirated copy of Windows . When it was sold to me i was told to NOT check the updates box for Windows . Sounds like that is what happened here . So , yeah he can either buy a licensed copy or run Linnux . :thumbsup: Might just have a virus :36_1_68[1]: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike S Posted January 3, 2009 Posted January 3, 2009 Hey Lee ... try this program ... it is free and gets rid of malware .... http://www.malwarebytes.org/ ....... be advised it is not a one click program and you need to read and understand what you are doing but as I use it anyone can ..... great program it got rid of the dreaded Windows Antivirus 2008 off my computer and that is a tough one to get ride of .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom_shor Posted January 3, 2009 Posted January 3, 2009 I was told by a friend who works on computers that if you have a pirited OS installation of the service packs will eventually lock up the computer and then it takes utility software and major tinkering to recisitate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Lee Posted January 3, 2009 Author Posted January 3, 2009 Thanks Mike, Tom and Tom, I am 99.9% sure it is not a virus and I am now just about positive that it is a boot leg copy. That computer was a put together by a home do it himself type of guy and my friend bought it for $200 about 3 years ago. There is no way that it could have legit software. I asked my friend if windows ever updated, and he said no that the guy turned the updates off and told him not to turn them on because they would only cause him problems. I then said, enough said for me. I will run that program anyway and see what happens. Thanks all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike S Posted January 3, 2009 Posted January 3, 2009 he said no that the guy turned the updates off and told him not to turn them on because they would only cause him problems. I then said, enough said for me.That pretty much cinches it .... hahahahahaha ..... he needs a job in politics ..... and I know someone looking for some help ..... in fact lots of help .... but I ain't gonna go into that ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobNChe Posted January 3, 2009 Posted January 3, 2009 Lee, it's not malware as you said!http://blogs.msdn.com/wga/archive/2008/08/...ofessional.aspxHis only option is to get a valid key and update the OS!http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qi...03023511AAM3gh9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Lee Posted January 3, 2009 Author Posted January 3, 2009 Lee, it's not malware as you said!http://blogs.msdn.com/wga/archive/2008/08/...ofessional.aspxHis only option is to get a valid key and update the OS!http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qi...03023511AAM3gh9 Thanks for the info Bob. I will tell him and I might try to make it work. :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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