One-man shop wont take my OS serial # over the phone, why?

[Josh Collins]

I bought a computer with no OS from a little small-town shop. I can't get
into BIOS now and the computer won't boot up when I put in the XP Home CD.
I am going to take it back and give the guy my XP package. Before I went and
picked up the computer, I had told the guy I had XP Home and I could give
him my serial number over the phone, but he said he couldn't do that. Why?

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

He probably didn't want to take the chance of writing it down
incorrectly and not having it work later, after it's too late to
recover it from the hard drive. Additionally, there are a lot of
unscrupulous people out there, and he may be trying to protect himself
and his business from potential lawsuits by insisting on seeing the
COA to verify the Product Key's legitimacy. You shouldn't take this
personally.

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
----
You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH


"Josh Collins" > wrote in message
...
> I bought a computer with no OS from a little small-town shop. I
can't get
> into BIOS now and the computer won't boot up when I put in the XP
Home CD.
> I am going to take it back and give the guy my XP package. Before I
went and
> picked up the computer, I had told the guy I had XP Home and I could
give
> him my serial number over the phone, but he said he couldn't do
that. Why?
>
>

[Josh Collins]

I figured it was the lawsuit potential.

"Bruce Chambers" > wrote in message
...
> Greetings --
>
> He probably didn't want to take the chance of writing it down
> incorrectly and not having it work later, after it's too late to
> recover it from the hard drive. Additionally, there are a lot of
> unscrupulous people out there, and he may be trying to protect himself
> and his business from potential lawsuits by insisting on seeing the
> COA to verify the Product Key's legitimacy. You shouldn't take this
> personally.
>
> Bruce Chambers
>
> Help us help you:
> http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
> http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
> ----
> You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
> having both at once. -- RAH
>
>
> "Josh Collins" > wrote in message
> ...
> > I bought a computer with no OS from a little small-town shop. I
> can't get
> > into BIOS now and the computer won't boot up when I put in the XP
> Home CD.
> > I am going to take it back and give the guy my XP package. Before I
> went and
> > picked up the computer, I had told the guy I had XP Home and I could
> give
> > him my serial number over the phone, but he said he couldn't do
> that. Why?
> >
> >
>
>

[Harry Ohrn]

If you can't get into the BIOS there is really no reason for him to have the
XP Product Key so the information would be of no use and essentially a waste
of time to write down.

--

Harry Ohrn - MS MVP (Windows Shell/User]
www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/
www.webtree.ca/newlife/


"Bruce Chambers" > wrote in message
...
> Greetings --
>
> He probably didn't want to take the chance of writing it down
> incorrectly and not having it work later, after it's too late to
> recover it from the hard drive. Additionally, there are a lot of
> unscrupulous people out there, and he may be trying to protect himself
> and his business from potential lawsuits by insisting on seeing the
> COA to verify the Product Key's legitimacy. You shouldn't take this
> personally.
>
> Bruce Chambers
>
> Help us help you:
> http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
> http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
> ----
> You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
> having both at once. -- RAH
>
>
> "Josh Collins" > wrote in message
> ...
> > I bought a computer with no OS from a little small-town shop. I
> can't get
> > into BIOS now and the computer won't boot up when I put in the XP
> Home CD.
> > I am going to take it back and give the guy my XP package. Before I
> went and
> > picked up the computer, I had told the guy I had XP Home and I could
> give
> > him my serial number over the phone, but he said he couldn't do
> that. Why?
> >
> >
>
>

[Josh Collins]

Sorry, I didn't make myself clear. This was before I picked the computer up.
Because there was no OS on the computer, I could not verify that everything
was working before I left the shop with the computer. I got home and nothing
would come up when I turned on the computer. But I have discovered that it
was a bad video card. The problem is solved.

"Harry Ohrn" > wrote in message
...
> If you can't get into the BIOS there is really no reason for him to have
the
> XP Product Key so the information would be of no use and essentially a
waste
> of time to write down.
>
> --
>
> Harry Ohrn - MS MVP (Windows Shell/User]
> www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/
> www.webtree.ca/newlife/
>
>
> "Bruce Chambers" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Greetings --
> >
> > He probably didn't want to take the chance of writing it down
> > incorrectly and not having it work later, after it's too late to
> > recover it from the hard drive. Additionally, there are a lot of
> > unscrupulous people out there, and he may be trying to protect himself
> > and his business from potential lawsuits by insisting on seeing the
> > COA to verify the Product Key's legitimacy. You shouldn't take this
> > personally.
> >
> > Bruce Chambers
> >
> > Help us help you:
> > http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
> > http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
> > ----
> > You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
> > having both at once. -- RAH
> >
> >
> > "Josh Collins" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > I bought a computer with no OS from a little small-town shop. I
> > can't get
> > > into BIOS now and the computer won't boot up when I put in the XP
> > Home CD.
> > > I am going to take it back and give the guy my XP package. Before I
> > went and
> > > picked up the computer, I had told the guy I had XP Home and I could
> > give
> > > him my serial number over the phone, but he said he couldn't do
> > that. Why?
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>