>These same people>probably would have objected to the ideas our nations founding>fathers had. I'm sure they would have told them to just shut>up and go along with the establishment--"Don't Make Waves.">>Don't be surprised if you don't get many responses to your>post. I've tried to share similar thoughts before and felt>that I might as well talk to my cat about these things.Yep....very sad, but true. For every one of us who "gets it", there are ten, probably twenty, who will write paragraphs defending and supporting the policy with an almost religious fervor and edge. And those same folks can

Hi, see where lots of people read your problem but still no solution, if nothing by next week I'm back to BEST BUY and let BILL GATES worry if it works or not I have spent the better part of three days trying to reinstall no luck ! ERROR 1722 ! TO YOU GATESTONY

I totally agree that the activation process only causes problems for us that own a legitimate copy of FSX.The ones that will hack FSX and use it are not those that would have the capacity to find a product like FSX exciting for the long term anyway as it really is only for aviation loving enthusiasts and therefore they would pass it by after an hour or two. These people would never have purchased a legitimate copy anyway so where is the loss?For

Interesting responses from everyone and maybe some response are simply to vent the frustration that we all share, but by no means were my intentions to bash Bill Gates, Microsoft or the FS Team.I still am happily playing FSX and love the general improvements of this new version. It was a simple reflection on how far we are depending on technology to solve everything!Piracy has been around since the dawn of man and will be for the foreseeable future, it is in our very nature to try and get things with the least exerted energy possible. It is that very nature which created technology to begin with!So my simple advice to Microsoft or any other technology group is that when you find you are exerting more energy in trying to avert or thwart that negative force then in producing a quality and effortless product for your consumer, you will eventually lose the battle.You can not change the nature of things. History teaches you that, when Rome exhausted her military resources in trying to protect every front, Apple computers in trying to maintain exclusivity; in a few words, you may eventually become that, that you concentrate so much in or put so much effort in avoiding.

>I also sent a prompt e-mail to my superiors saying. I>>have stuck it on my laptop defeating their brainy ideas.>Cause>>thats the only way I can keep my sanity. Never heard back>from>>them. :)>>>>>>Just musing.>>>>Manny>>>>They are probably still waiting to see if one of the technuts>can "crack" the encryption Algorithm>Or they have used your carefully protected password to login as you and send a facetious email to your boss, or child pornography to the local law enforcement office.

snek,send that to [email protected]. It is pretty well said and you have a very good point. I myself am DREADING the day I install Vista, and find out I can't run FSX anymore because of activation limit--and then I call, and Microsoft refuses to activate over the phone. Bad dream!!!RhettAMD 3700+ (@2.5 ghz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (94.47), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2 GB Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8, WD 250 gig 7200 rpm SATA2, CoolerMaster Praetorian

A nicely and polite question addressed to the MSFS team asking the question we would all appreciate an answer to and after 20 replies still no response from them?Say's it all, dosen't it. FSX is my last flightsim from Microsoft.

You are all beta testers who paid for the privilege :)

I overclock all the time, so if I experience any of the shenanigans that you have encountered with my legal copy of FSX (when I get it), I will look for another way to re-enable my software. I'd rather not do this, but I'd also much rather Microsoft didn't inflict such a misguided copy protection scheme on legitimate purchasers of the product in the first place.Gary

Hi All,An interesting post on the activation method chosen by MS to protect it's investment shows us all how far business paranoia has gone;surely someone smart can write a bit of code that forbids taking a copy or trying to extract or copy any information in the game folders and locating it anywhere else, then when you buy the discs they are yours and you can load and re-load until the cows come home (are they in FSX?) and this situation will go away.I was thinking of buying FSX but this issue of not actually owning it outright after you've bought it I find troubling and somewhat grotesque. To imagine you pay for something, but your hard drive can dictate whether you can use it or not is ludicrous!I mean, we're supposed to be the good guys buying the product and agreeing to everything paranoid in the EULA and yet you buy a new computer-2nd install and then Vista-3rd install aand Bingo! you're on the phone trying to explain your lifestyle purchases to some one who has it in their mind you're actually a thief trying to rip off the big blue. Puleeze, it's just a game. We spend

Vista as a business proposition is looking more and more like a lemon-basted turkey every day. The company I work for has looked long and hard at Vista - and barred all employees from even installing it to run ANY business-related software on their personal computers. And we already have a statement from Phil Taylor of MS that FSX performance will be LESS under Vista with DX9. That would be the most complex, most expensive OS MS have ever released, and we're supposed to buy it for LOWER performance? Just how stupid do they think we are? Get real, MS. The `new` gaming activation policy will kill FSX, but that's nothing compared to what the Vista licensing is going to do to Microsofts profits. DX10 is stone cold dead unless this gets resolved in the consumers favour.Allcott

>Vista as a business proposition is looking more and more like>a lemon-basted turkey every day. The company I work for has>looked long and hard at Vista - and barred all>employees from even installing it to run ANY business-related>software on their personal computers. And we already have a>statement from Phil Taylor of MS that FSX performance will be>LESS under Vista with DX9. >>That would be the most complex, most expensive OS MS have ever>released, and we're supposed to buy it for LOWER performance?>Just how stupid do they think we are? Get real, MS. The `new`>gaming activation policy will kill FSX, but that's nothing>compared to what the Vista licensing is going to do to>Microsofts profits. DX10 is stone cold dead unless this gets>resolved in the consumers favour.>>>Allcottand all the high volume games (money earners) will be optimized for dx9 anyway, i'm only getting vista if dx10 shows 100% cast iron mahoosive improvement over dx9 for fsx. Otherwise forget it. No point in chucking good money after bad.

>I was thinking of buying FSX but this issue of not actually>owning it outright after you've bought it I find troubling and>somewhat grotesque. To imagine you pay for something, but>your hard drive can dictate whether you can use it or not isSeems to me you do not purchase ownership of the software, but rather you perchase the right to use the software.>Puleeze, it's just a>game. Maybe to you, but to MS it is more than just a game. It is an asset used to generate profits. >We spend

Pretty much everything that has been said on this post I agree with, so I thought I would add a reply to it to indicate my support for this complaint.All this ridiculous password protection nonsense does nothing to prevent hackers from creating cracked versions, and I'd say that probably for most flight simmers, the base FS program is likely to be one of the least expensive items for anyone into the hobby, which is why most sim fans would not have a bent copy of FS, in the first place!The only people a bent copy of FS would really appeal to is the curious type who wants to give it a look, who would doubtless then delete it. In the long term however, if it causes issues for legitimate buyers of the software, they will resort to using such a hack, myself included, as why should we put up with using a legitimately purchased product being a pain in the ####?There are better-programmed and more complicated encryptions than this, on more expensive software than FS, that have been cracked.

Ok this is what you must do:1. Buy a new copy of FSX2. Buy a new PC3. Buy a new house3. Get another wife4. Move to another city5. Get a new job.6. Change your religionI am sure if you do all of the above FSX will run like a dream!!!Stelios