I have a Windows XP Professional SP2 Licensed last 2005. I have been using it for several years now and I have not encountered any problems on the two computers where I loaded it since the user license said that I could use it in two PCs - one was a laptop and the other one was a desktop PC. Constant updates were all successful and Windows or Microsoft provided superb services when it comes to that.
However, I think I am always a victim of this "Two Year Service Period" term. Just recently, I had problems with Windows that was installed on my desktop. It was still loading the updates as usual but I started to encounter errors like a certain file is missing. My antivirus is also licensed and on constant updates and I checked and rechecked my PC's system and it is still okay. However, when I checked Windows it missed a certain .dll file or something like that. I tried loading my Licensed CD hoping that the error would be corrected.
But suddenly, when I went online after the re-installation with that same desktop PC, Windows' already went very slow in responding. I tried to get a remote support but I was not successful. Then, all of a sudden when I was validating my copy of Windows, it said that my copy has to be "licensed" and to contact the nearest Windows distributor in my area.
Whew! I really lost my temper that time and luckily I could not lash out on anyone. I contemplated if I have to buy another Windows or just email them and ask them why my Licensed copy which I had paid a lot for when I bought it suddenly becomes of "questionable nature."
As regards the one installed on my laptop which I already gave my sister, it is still okay. I just considered that since when I bought it at 2005 it allowed me to use it in 1-2 PCs then probably that is just supposed to be it, the service after two years collapses leaving a single PC whose status I could not check until the time that I hear a problem from my sister. A problem I am hoping would not happen.
I don't know but it is better for me to look at it that way than to gripe and complain. What I did to my desktop PC was to transfer all my files and did a fresh clean Linux Ubuntu Feisty 7.04 installation. Which I gladly value knowing that there won't be problems like what I encountered with Windows. If I encountered one, a fresh clean installation is extremely possible without any qualms and definitely without crying over something that I paid a lot for. So, it's a goodbye to my Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2. No thanks for the headache.
