A warning about Micro$oft.

[Guest martinmax69]

Im in Australia if that helps. Well....where do I start.About 7 weeks ago my new HDD crashed after only being installed for a few weeks.End result...Ive lost 7 years work.I know about backing up but the place I bought the HDD from actually did the back-up to the HDD etc and THEY now cannot find the disks..Blah,blah,blah.End result was they supplied a new HDD and appologised for their stuff-up and the loss of 7 years work.Then my 'Floppy-disk' thing stopped working...Im not computer literate so excuse me for that.No big deal as I don't really use that.Then my dial-up modem went to God.No internet for 10 days as I had to figure-out how to get a new one as Im on a pension and am really struggling to make ends meet.So...after all the above and not being able to fly AND the loss of all those addons....ugh.....I went to install Fs9 and start from scratch.To my absolute horror, the game threw up an error message on disk 4 at 92%. Ive tried hitting the 'Try Again' button countless times......6 hours in total.I then contacted Micro$oft and this is where the story has come to an end....."Im sorry Sir about your problem...Yes...we can send you a re-placement Disk 4 for Fs9...It will cost you $61 dollars for this Micro$oft After Sales Service Care!"WHAT????....are you kidding me....thats almost the cost of a brand new game. Micro$oft said that this was their policy. After 90 days of purchase your basically on your own if the disk becomes damaged.So essentially what their saying is they have NO FAITH in their product beyond that....that the disk should not be damaged by the computer...blah,blah,blah.... HELLO ...of course its going to get damaged if it HAS to be in the disk-drive in order to play the game. Mine ALLWAYS sits in there as I didn't want to take the risk of it getting damaged by putting it in and taking it out when I wanted to play. I thought that would be the safest place for it as I fly EVERYDAY being a Disability Pensioner and 'housebound' due to a medical condition....I even sent them my CentreLink Customer Refernce # so they could see Im not lying about it.......why I did this I still don't know.'Sorry Sir...Its just our Policy to get even more money out of people who can least afford it like yourself...its one way we have helped Mr Gates become the Multi-Billionair he is'! Now I told the person that the game was purchased 14 months ago, which it was, but thats when I found out that its up to 90 days after purchase that they will ONLY supply a free disk.Funny how I didn't see that bit of information on the box when I purchased it.Funny that I only found this out after I had a problem..."Sorry Sir but that information is included on the disks".Yeah....which you only find out about AFTER buying the game and installing it.Im glad I found all of this out now as I was going to buy FsX(probably in the year2020!) but now there is ABSOLUTLY no way I am ever going to purchase ANYTHING to do with Micro$oft again due to their inability to be flexible in individual cases.So....Im sorry...I didn't mean to rant but Im just so upset about everything that has happened over the last 2 months and NOW by Micr$ofts attitude and their so called "After Sales Service" which is really just another 'money producing venture" by Micro$oft.I suppose what Im saying is....If you have that disk 4 in your computer...try and get that "no-cd" patch thing and don't use disk 4 AT ALL.If your getting FsX....wait till someone comes up with a 'NO-CD" patch or like me....you will discover Micro$ofts After Service Care....or lack of it....afterall....Im just 1 person out of the billions of people who just are not important.Be careful...be VERY, VERY careful!

[Arklight1 140]

Sorry for your troubles, but you expected them to offer FREE software replacement for life? :-lol

[Guest flynman3]

Ahhhh.....Quit yer complaining......7 YEARS....You still are ultimatly responsible for backing up your own stuff.....next time read the MSFS User Ageement...if you have had MSFS9 for 3 years then you should pay for support after all MS is probably in the process of retraining their staff for the new product....

[Guest martinmax69]

obviously you didn't read the email.....IF you had the game for 3 months and 1 day....YOU are on your own.....re-read before you start to laugh...I wonder how funny you think it would be if YOU were in my shoes.Then I could send a reply 'laughing' at your situation.I hope you are NEVER in my situation...I don't like to be mocked so consider that BEFORE you do it to others.....and btw...Ive had the game for 14 months..not 3 years..good god...attack a person for posting...Thanks

[KERNEL32 500]

You know, Tom or maybe an administrator/moderator could add the Microsoft word with the dollar sign as the "s" could BLOCK that word? I have read it on your very own forums that the ACES staff see that word (with the dollar sign) as a slap in the face, in other words. All it does is start trouble around here.Please replace that word with a ******* Thank You.

[jfri 42]

Another example. I was told by MS that if you have to replace the motherboard in your computer you must get a new copy of Win XP if it's a OEM version.

[JSkorna 137]

Maybe it's not the disk, but the drive? Wouldn't that be something after this whole thing.Hope this helps,Jimhttp://www.hifisim.com/Active Sky V6 Development Team Active Sky V6 Proud SupporterHiFi Beta TeamRadar Contact Supporter: http://www.jdtllc.com/AirSource Member: http://www.air-source.us/FSEconomy Member:http://www.fseconomy.com/

[Guest Jimbofly]

Your disk shouldn't get damaged if you look after it, simple.If you're smart you just make a back up disk. Microsoft allows you to make a single back-up of it's software as long as you only use it for yourself (if I remember correctly).Like another person said, the EULA covers it and you probably should have read it before blasting Microsoft.James

[Guest Elvi5]

I'm on my 3rd copy of fs2004 after wearing out TWO CD4s.Download the no cd crack & you can leave the forth cd saftly in the case.

[Guest cloudrider]

Sorry for your problems and for the responses your getting from some fellow simmers. I took your post as a means of you venting your frustration and as a fellow simmer I feel for you. Lots of us "vent" our frustrations on this forum and we all have been there. So we need to remember that sometimes we should just allow one to unload on us. No harm is done and it makes the person feel a bit better. We share a fellowship in this flight sim community. So I wish you the best and hope you get back in the air soon.:-)

[tf51d 284]

While in general I don't expect a company to provide replacement disks for life, in this case it is needed for MS's Copy protection. That's something they forced on us so I think in this case they should honor replacements (Plus shipping) atleast until the next release of software (Which is close now with FSX). My company once bought expensive Business software + a Mac. The software used a hardware dongle which was nothing more than an RS-232 connector with a security chip on it, for it's copy protection. One day a couple of years later the dongle failed making the software useless. For budget reasons My company chose not to subscribe to the maintenance contract that year. When we called for a replacement, they wanted to charge us $5000.00 (The full cost of the software alone!) to replace the dongle. Both my boss and me went balistic. We could accept it if there was a hardware problem with the machine itself, but we weren't going to pay for their own copy protection scheme. We contacted or legal department and they threatened to sue them on the grounds that by putting that kind of copy protection in place, and it was not part of the functional hardware, or software that we purchased, they assumed the risk if it failed. They backed down and we got it for cost + shipping, which was $20.00! After that though, we went ahead and signed the maintenance agreement in case something else went wrong!

[Guest iholrf]

>Sorry for your problems and for the responses your getting>from some fellow simmers. I took your post as a means of you>venting your frustration and as a fellow simmer I feel for>you. Lots of us "vent" our frustrations on this forum and we>all have been there. So we need to remember that sometimes we>should just allow one to unload on us. No harm is done and it>makes the person feel a bit better. We share a fellowship in>this flight sim community. So I wish you the best and hope you>get back in the air soon.>>:-) I second the sentimate, and would like to add that the cold, heartless arses who blasted you at the beginning must of course be perfect in everyway themselves. I am sure they have never, ever, made a mistake in their perfect little lives. They were born with all the knowledge in the world. They are so smart to have never made a mistake, we should worship them as gods!NOT!You people are positively offensive sometimes. Disgusting behavior.To the original poster. I feel for you pain and wish there was a way I could help you out. If there were fewer MS fan boys who don't know their arse form a hole in the ground constantly spewing venom and FUD, we the consumer might be able to actually demand value from MS.The only mistake you made was assuming people here might have enough tact to at least accept, even if they do not understand, your frustration."Slap in ACES face" ... as they say in the west... what a load bull pucky. Its time for accountability and responsibility.ShadPS Check local and state statutes. There are many states (usa, aus and can) which have consumer laws that will force MS to provide a replacment for only the cost of shipping and the media.

[Guest Ridge_Runner_5]

Microsoft has been good about shafting people...A while back my FS2002 CD 3 cracked, Microsoft charged me $65 to ship the whole boxed package. After a month and all that money, 3 CDs in paper cases show up....I was pretty irked...nothing I could do, though!

[Guest OneTinSoldier]

>While in general I don't expect a company to provide>replacement disks for life, in this case it is needed for MS's>Copy protection. That's something they forced on us so I think>in this case they should honor replacements (Plus shipping)>atleast until the next release of software (Which is close now>with FSX). My company once bought expensive Business software>+ a Mac. The software used a hardware dongle which was>nothing more than an RS-232 connector with a security chip on>it, for it's copy protection. One day a couple of years later>the dongle failed making the software useless. For budget>reasons My company chose not to subscribe to the maintenance>contract that year. When we called for a replacement, they>wanted to charge us $5000.00 (The full cost of the software>alone!) to replace the dongle. Both my boss and me went>balistic. We could accept it if there was a hardware problem>with the machine itself, but we weren't going to pay for their>own copy protection scheme. We contacted or legal department>and they threatened to sue them on the grounds that by putting>that kind of copy protection in place, and it was not part of>the functional hardware, or software that we purchased, they>assumed the risk if it failed. They backed down and we got it>for cost + shipping, which was $20.00! After that though, we>went ahead and signed the maintenance agreement in case>something else went wrong! Hi,I agree with you in most respects. I should be able to make a backup copy. I guess I'm allowed to? But how? I certainly don't think I can do it with WinXP's built-in burning software, nor with the copy of Nero 6.0 that I purchased a couple of years back. However, if MS were to be held responsible for providing replacements disks, it could possibly get a little complicated. For instance, people might be expecting them to place a disk that isn't broken, but was not cared for and has all kinds of scratches, mars(not the planet), and gouges. Some sort of complex legal document would have to be written and adhered to for you to be able to get a replacement I'm sure. But, I think it's probably a moot point becuase I don't think we're going to see the current policy change.Yes, I should be able to make a backup, but their CD Protection prevents me from doing something that I am supposed to be able to do! x( And I should not need to purchase yet another CD Burning app. Either it, or at the very least, the built-in WinXP burning software, should be able to be used to make a 'allowed' legal backup of an MS product.Of course, if we complained loudly enough about not being able to make the backup that we are supposed to be allowed to make, I'm sure the clause that says we are allowed to make a backup would be removed. All I can say is that I have fond memories of the days when I was able to make backups of my game CD's with Easy CD Creator(or Nero) with no issues. And that's all they are, memories.Regards

[spokes2112 179]

Betcha it's the RAM !!! I'll put a full load of fuel on it,Regards,Roman