There’s no way to know if a client downloaded the OS or installed it from the disc. Even if they downloaded it they still would have had to burn it to a disc somehow to install it. If you’ve ever actually worked as a tech then you probably know that the vast majority of individual users DON’T have/can’t find the discs that shipped with their machine anymore and when they bring it into your shop don’t expect them to have it.

That’s why you keep OEM discs laying around so when you see the Vista Home sticker, you grab your Vista Home disc and do the install. You can install Vista from any media, it doesn’t matter. Just the other day I had to download an image of XP Media Center addition because I couldn’t find my OEM disc for it and that’s what the customer’s license(sticker) was for. You pay for the license to use it, not the media it’s copied on, that’s why you have to enter the product key and go through the activation process.

If it is a pirated OS but let’s say the memory is bad, then it’s a hardware issue and not the OS. I will likely have no idea the OS is even pirated. I don’t check licenses on individual machines for the same reason I don’t check license plates when I’m driving home from work; because I’m not the police and I’m not Microsoft.

Say for example I need to format and reinstall the OS. Now the issue is directly related to the OS, and I require a legit product key in order for the newly installed OS to function. I automatically install whatever the sticker is on the machine, if it’s XP Home that’s what they get, no questions asked. I’ve never had a client come back to me and have any issues with this, ever.

If there’s no sticker then I call the client and ask them to locate the material that came with the computer. If they cannot then I will help them contact the manufacturer with the serial number to see if the manufacturer can provide it. This is all actually a lot less work than it sounds. It takes two seconds to realize there’s no sticker and literally a minute or two to contact the customer and tell them what I require. I have a list of 800 numbers for all of the major computer manufactures that take me directly to human beings.

If none of the above works then I will inform them that they can purchase an OEM license from us, or I can install trial software and they can deal with it on their own. I have literally NEVER had any problems following these steps. And as I said, if their problem is not OS related then there’s no reason why you should be snooping around in their sh!t in the first place.

In regards to applications the same rule basically applies. If someone hires me to do virus removal then that’s exactly what I do except that I will attempt to hunt down the source of the badware. If it turns out to be a file-sharing program I inform the customer that I offer a 30-day guarantee on my work, the only stipulations being that they must have a functioning anti-virus and uninstall the file-sharing software for the duration of the guarantee; and that’s ONLY because file sharing programs are known to be cesspools of malware, NOT because I make baseless assumptions that everyone with uTorrent is a thief. 90% of the time people who get badware from p2P don’t have a clue what they’re doing and they’ll gladly uninstall it once they realize it’s the thing that’s been screwing up their machine. If they want to leave it on there machine then I tell them what to be wary of, that I cannot guarantee system stability, and if the problem returns they will be charged full price for repairs.

HOWEVER; I will NEVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES inspect the applications on a users machine to attempt to determine if they all have legitimate licenses because I DO NOT ASSUME MY CLIENTS ARE CRIMINALS. There is simply no reason to ever do so, even if a pirated application is causing crashes I probably won’t ever have any idea that it’s pirated because checking the license status on a buggy program has nothing to do with my job. I simply uninstall the app and inform them they need to reinstall it from the disc.

With all that being said, I understand there is always the random/weird situation that pops up that you’ve never thought of, and if that ever happens I will do whatever is within my boundaries to do in order to rectify the situation WITHOUT violating anyone elses privacy or breaking their trust. It’s important to note that I have NEVER had any problems like that. Someone earlier actually said ‘most’ users have pirated software and I seriously doubt that person has ever actually worked as a tech because that simply isn’t the case.

On a side note, the only people who have ever asked me personally to help install pirated software are personal friends who just want to screw around with Photoshop for a few hours but aren’t graphic designers and don’t want to blow hundreds of dollars on it. In that case I tell them no, I can’t do that because it could jeopardize my job as a tech and they usually understand.

Of course it would be morally correct to report someone for possessing child pornography but it begs the question; what were you doing sifting through peoples photos when you were supposed to be fixing their computer in the first place?

The only time I EVER need to go near a clients personal data or photos is when I’m doing a backup on a failed/corrupt drive, and even then I don’t have to examine any individual files because it’s as simple as checking the box next to the folders to copy. Any client could hypothetically have videos of himself snorting cocaine off of nude 12 year olds in the back of a stolen pickup truck shooting heroine while smuggling illegal immigrants across the border and I would have no idea because EVERYONE who brings a machine into my shop has a right to privacy.

It is not your job to be sifting through a clients personal data and photos when performing a repair any more than it is a mechanics job to sift through the personal belongings in your vehicle when performing an oil change. Violating a users right to privacy is absolutely NOT ethical or acceptable under any circumstances, for ANY reason. There is hardly any situation conceivable that would necessitate you, me, or any tech to actually be closely examining the personal data on someones machine.

So while you may have caught a pedophile bringing his computer in for a tune-up; you’re violating users’ right to privacy on a regular basis, and that is absolutely not acceptable.

If they have been sold pirated software usualy through a cheap base unit with a dodgy copy of Windows pro then I will then.

There is alot of PCs which my clients had to scrap because the windows was ilegal, I have refused to do work on it and it was not viable paying a fortune for a COA on top of labour.

Either way MS will do things to people distributing pirated software, because that is very illegal. Making discs to sell and uploading torrents are both blatant copyright infringement. The whole License thing that Teknyka brought up, yes according to the EULA the license follows the motherboard, but as long as you use the customer’s disc(legit or not) and a real sticker there is nothing technically illegal about this. Morality is another issue I will leave to each one’s self.

In regards to “Finding child porn however is quite a different matter, one is a crime against humanity, how can you even compare pirate software against that.”

From Post #40:

“Yes, obviously child porn is more serious than pirated software, but that’s not the point. We aren’t talking about personal morals and ethics here, we’re talking about the law, strictly from the legal aspect of it.”