Computer help please.

[AndrewT]

Never install updates if you have hooky software, you're hooky software will cease to work!

You are quickly going to be in a world of hurt if you pass on the updates, most of them are bug fixes and security patches.
I'll echo Bongo and say

"Dear god! Always install updates, always, always, always!"

The only one you need avoid is the "windows verification tool" which checks the authenticity of the OS, though i'm fairly certain that any microsoft software upgrade (media player, movie maker etc.) needs verification first.
So you'll be stuck with older versions.
Oh and you'll have that bloody yellow shield in the sys tray forever!!

hmmm, twice I've been quoted and it's as if both times what I posted wasn't read properly.

Oh well.

I read it properly!

Even if you have hooky software you should always update it!

Not always. I once had hooky CD writing software - downloaded an update which, as one of its bug fixes, looked to see if the installed software was hooky, if it was it corrupted Windows and stopped the machine from booting.

[fearisthekey]

Never install updates if you have hooky software, you're hooky software will cease to work!

You are quickly going to be in a world of hurt if you pass on the updates, most of them are bug fixes and security patches.
I'll echo Bongo and say

"Dear god! Always install updates, always, always, always!"

The only one you need avoid is the "windows verification tool" which checks the authenticity of the OS, though i'm fairly certain that any microsoft software upgrade (media player, movie maker etc.) needs verification first.
So you'll be stuck with older versions.
Oh and you'll have that bloody yellow shield in the sys tray forever!!

hmmm, twice I've been quoted and it's as if both times what I posted wasn't read properly.

Oh well.

I read it properly!

Even if you have hooky software you should always update it!

Not always. I once had hooky CD writing software - downloaded an update which, as one of its bug fixes, looked to see if the installed software was hooky, if it was it corrupted Windows and stopped the machine from booting.

I believe that was the original purpose of virii.
I would never update hooky software. If I had any.
The only one that lets you get away with it is Microsoft, for certain critical Windows updates.

[Graham C]

lol delayed reaction  

I'd never update any hooky software purely because it's going to stop working if you do.  Better to get a newer version of the hookyness and install it again than update it.

All in my humble opinion of course  

[fearisthekey]

I think it's genuine.  Sounds like your ex mate put a hooky copy of Windows on and you've downloaded an update.  Golden rule of hooky software is never download updates.

Dear god! Always install updates, always, always, always!

You could always install Linux.............

Ubuntu (http://www.ubuntu.com/) is great, nice and easy to use too.

Is there any software that would run on Linux/Ubuntu though? Like poker site software.........?

[Graham C]

Never had the balls to get rid of Windows and install Linux.  I'd love to do it, but I'm not brave enough

[Bongo]

Not always. I once had hooky CD writing software - downloaded an update which, as one of its bug fixes, looked to see if the installed software was hooky, if it was it corrupted Windows and stopped the machine from booting.

I really don't think any company would be stupid enough to do that...

Even if they could get away with it legally if the software wasn't legit (which I doubt), the fallout from trashing the computer of someone with a license would be huge.

I remember reading about some corporations being affected when MS banned the most widely used key to pirate winXP - they were all licensed properly but on some machines the IT people had used the pirate key - they had googled for one when they didn't have the relevant one handy.

[Bongo]

Never had the balls to get rid of Windows and install Linux.  I'd love to do it, but I'm not brave enough

You can run it without installing it - just boot from the CD and have a play.

[Bongo]

I think it's genuine.  Sounds like your ex mate put a hooky copy of Windows on and you've downloaded an update.  Golden rule of hooky software is never download updates.

Dear god! Always install updates, always, always, always!

You could always install Linux.............

Ubuntu (http://www.ubuntu.com/) is great, nice and easy to use too.

Is there any software that would run on Linux/Ubuntu though? Like poker site software.........?

There's WINE which provides a compatibility layer allowing you to run windows programs under Linux, it's not perfect though.

I haven't really tried it out - I ran ubuntu on my laptop, but I sold that to upgrade it before experimenting with poker and haven't got myself a new one yet!

[Bongo]

And as if my magic MS go on to prove that their system can result in false positives even with the right key etc:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/27/wga_server_outage_aug_2007/

[RichEO]

Genuine windows XP with licence key and COA, going for about £40-£50 on ebay.

[Bongo]

About the same price as from the shops then?

[RichEO]

I meant XP pro on ebay for £40-£50, but yes, XP home can be had for £58 from ebuyer (not a shop though ). Hardly worth the hassle of cracking windows these days.

PC world price for XP pro.... £199.99 !

[Bongo]

Hardly the equivalent - the XP pro I saw on ebay (just had a quick look) weren't full retail (well not for £50), and many had some pitfalls in the details, that weren't made very clear - e.g. educational licenses, upgrades etc.