[freerain66]

I bought an Acer Laptop from Tiger Direct and Microsoft is telling me that windows is not genuine. Windows Vista came pre-installed.
Whats up with that????
What should I do?

[mphenterprises]

Hi again FreeRain.


Okay, as mentioned previously, we need more information from you to help you out. I have some questions for you:

- How long ago did you buy this laptop?

- Was the laptop marked as new or refurbished?

- What was the exact message you received and what were you doing when the message came up?

- Have you contacted Tiger Direct customer service and if so, what did they say?

- Have you contacted the Better Business Bureau or a local agency designated to help individuals in your situation? (local news station, Attorney General, etc.)

- As Cosmo suggested in your previous posting, did you send an email to Amber Bouman at onyourside(at)pcworld(dot)com? If and when you do, please provide as much information as you can.




Tiger Direct is known to have very bad customer service and poor merchandise. This is the first time I have heard of a major online retailer sending a system with an invalid or not genuine Operating System. If you have contacted Tiger and they refuse to either give you your money back or give you a new computer with genuine Windows Vista, I would strongly advise contacting one of the agencies listed.

[rgreen4]

Freerain66 - This is an unusual situation, as each manufactured computer comes with an OEM sticker with the assigned COA. I have a few questions that may help solve the situation.

1. How long have you had the machine?

2. Have you had occasion to have major work done on the machine that could have possibly resulted in the replacement of either the CPU or motherboard?

3. When were you notified and how were you notified by Microsoft that your Vista installation is allegedly not genuine?

4. When you bought this from Tiger Direct, was the box still factory sealed?

5. Have you attempted to contact Acer technical support?

[SpiritWind]

:D Hi Free :





The simplest Solution is most likely contacting the Microsoft people who specialize in this "situation"


on THEIR Support Forum(s) at http://forums.micros...aspx?siteid=25] . To see


Microsoft's side of this, read the Info at


[Microsoft Genuine Failure Scenarios

[freerain66]

Yes, The laptop has a COA sticker.

The laptop was not refurbished. I bought this unit last February.

The issue came up when I was trying to download a template from Microsoft to use in office2000. Microsoft asked me Validate my version of Windows and it came back as it was not genuine.

I have emaild tigerdirect and acer and no response so far.

[mphenterprises]

Okay, well at this point, I guess you are playing the waiting game. Depending on how long ago you contacted Acer and Tiger, I would follow-up with both of them. More than likely, Acer will pass you off to Tiger since that is from where you purchased the computer. If Tiger does not resolve this issue to your satisfaction, follow any of the other suggestions that have been posed so far.

[rgreen4]

How long has it been since you e-mailed them?

Have you had any repairs done on the computer? (Question number 2 from my previous)

[freerain66]

Thanks for all your help.



I emailed Acer and Tiger Direct as soon as I noticed the issue which was 5 days ago.

I have had no repairs on the computer. It is the original harddrive and motherboard

[rgreen4]

I just went to the Acer site, the support by e-mail page and they have a notice that because of unusually heavy traffic, a response may be delayed for several business days. I assume that it was late last week when you notified them. Having recently been in your shoes on a somewhat similar situation with a software vendor, I can empathize.

After you posted your problems, did you receive a generic acknowledgement of your support question? Most vendors do that and my list a case number as well.

If you have not received responses acknowledging your support request from both Tigerdirect and Acer, I would enter the request a second time.

[freerain66]

I will ask again.

Thanks

[SpiritWind]

:D Hi :



I think there is a strong possibility that you are misinterpreting the "Message" you got from Microsoft

because "It" occurred after you tried to download a template for Office 2000 ; I think Microsoft was

checking your Office Product, not your Operating System because on the Microsoft Support Forum

link I stated earlier, there is a sub-forum titled "Office Genuine Advantage Validation Issues ( Office ) ".

If true, if would be wise to start at forums.microsoft.com/Genuine/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=2170295&SiteID=25 .

[mphenterprises]

Good point, Spirit. However, the only wrinkle in that is if Office was pre-installed when he or she bought the computer. If it was, then this is still an issue to take up with Tiger. If it was not, well.....I am sure we can all figure that one out.