Hi Bob. When you say it comes up as "primary hard disk bad, replace" - what is saying this, a program in Ubuntu? Or is it a message when it first tries to boot?

First things first, if you have any data on the hard drive that cannot be replaced, back it up while you can still access it (assuming it's accessible).

Have you got another computer? If the drive is in a USB caddy you can connect it to that. You'll need to run chkdsk on the drive. Plug it in and when it's recognised open up a command prompt and type "chkdsk f: /R /X" without quotes (assuming f is the drive letter of the external drive). This scan takes a while. It might also be worthwhile trying the disk manufacturers diagnostic tool on it - either from the manufacturers website or here is a burnable CD containing lots of them and more besides - http://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd The manufacturers software should be able to tell whether there are any physical problems with the drive, as opposed to a file system issue which chkdsk deals with.

Windows XP won't boot from a USB drive without some modifications to the installation - Microsofts stance is that it does not work, but there's some instructions on how to install to a USB drive here. Ubuntu is not as fussy I think. As an aside 2.5" drives are not that expensive really - 160gb IDE drive for 36 here for example.

More on what a browser window from IE9 is going to look like HERE

Thanks jonuk76

I will try it on another PC later and will let u know how I get on

Hi jonuk76

I have done the chkdsk on a desk top as you suggested. In stage 4 of 5 it replaced bad clusters in some system files. However it went on to say the disk does not have enough space to replace bad clusters. Then said unspecified error occurred and reverted to command prompt.

I will delete lots of stuff and have another go later.

Tks very much for your advice

Bob

It is worth deleting some junk if the disk is nearly full, but I think these errors could be pointing at bigger problems with the drive. MS's site mentions the "unspecified error" in chkdsk as a known problem in old versions of Windows 2000 so if the PC you are running the scan on is using Win2000 that is possibly an issue, but otherwise I can't find anything that is much help in their support area.

If freeing up some space doesn't help, I do think running the manufacturers disk utility would be useful

Kayak

I have just had another friend with a computer sending out viagra spam. I got one of them this time.

Fortunately I remembered your previous advice and told her to change the password on her hotmail account. Presumably she will still have to run spybot or similar to get rid of trojan??

My Netcraft toolbar indicated very high risk rating and came out of China. The email purported to come from a Canadian health company.

Do I have to take any action on my PC.??

My wife got one as well but I deleted that before she could open it on her computer.

Guess who bought one of these on eBay recently for 69.99 plus 3 postage?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y55qQES64Ps

The seller has a substantial 100% Feedback rating and said he had purchased this previously and then bought a new PC with Windows 7 already loaded and so didn't need the copy he was selling on eBay.

This all sounded very credible and so, with the price being very reasonable, I went ahead with a 'BIN'. Another eBayer took it upon himself to alert me to the fact that it might well be counterfeit and this video above and what to look for.

The copy I have bought is indeed counterfeit and is still in its wrapper awaiting the sellers instructions and confirmation of my refund. Failing that, I will have to go back to PayPal for my refund from them.

Undoubtedly, from what I have read, eBay might well freeze my account.

Since the seller has re-listed, and with the same description, then he deserves to have his account frozen because his description is just a pack of lies.

There is also a 'morality' problem to address:

eBay/PayPal tell buyers to first take things up with the seller (ie. get a refund from the seller). However, since there is still a chance that the seller will do my refund, it is also a bit daft to do what I would like to do, and split on his dishonesty to PayPal and eBay. Perhaps I'll do the 'common sense thing' and tell them after he has made the refund? That is, providing he does it.

Hmm? But what if doing that gets my eBay account frozen?

Hmmm?

So, what would you do?

What I would do - sorry - is never buy second-hand software on eBay. By definition, it's a knock-off.

I don't see why eBay would freeze your account for reporting a problem with an item you've received.

Ebay claim that they are doing all they can to stop counterfeit goods being sold via them. I would have thought that they would have been interested to know about this seller.

Doc,

Maybe I'm a bit streetwise, but I've got to say it seems obvious to me from the word GO that this was always going to be a pirate copy. This is something that's rife on eBay, not just with software but with things like Tiffany jewellery as an example, and just about every other branded designer good.

I know two wrongs don't make a right, but I think that most buyers are well aware of it and simply accept it for what it is.

Try hunting for Ugg boots on ebay or anywhere else - loads of fake sites around, some of which look really genuine. Several friends buying these thinking they're genuine, and still happy when they know they're really fakes. Until they drop to bits that is!

The trouble is if you want a pirate copy you can just download one for free. 60 is not far off the retail price for some versions. Even if it activates now the product key will eventually get blocked and it will then only work on reduced functionality.

Thank you for your comments.

I'm fairly streetwise, too.

I was particularly looking for comments concerning:

Getting or not getting the police involved.
Telling eBay or PayPal immediately or not bothering to tell them at all. 'Are they really bothered? Probably not.' - sorta stuff.
'Just go for the refund and move on with the rest of your life' - sorta advice.

MM

With your American internet and technical interests, I'd have thought you might even have been a bit of a fan and even had eBay stock in your investment portfolio (it's actually put on 25% or so since July this year). Millions of people round the world are trying to use it to save on their purchases and make a bit of money selling their surplus goods.

Your 'one-liner comment' seems to decry me for being one of them. That right? I had you tagged for being able to contribute to this board to a better standard than that. I guess I might have made a mistake with that too. :-)

Doc,

Paste up a link to the item you bought and I'll tell you what I "really" think tomorrow.

Excel - fwiw the ebay and paypal disputes proceedures are both as useful as a chocolate teapot. Both, especially ebay make too much money from volume/repeat sellers to have any interest in helping little buyers - at least that's my experience from a couple of disputes I've had. Sad and very very annoying.

Whoa Doc! I'm a fan of eBay. It's just that the concept of 'second-owner' proprietary software does not compute.

In most cases *sweeping generalization alert* the software is licensed to the original purchaser and that license *is not transferable*.

The key lies in your use of the phrase " . . . and make a bit of money selling their surplus goods".

A software license isn't goods. It is a license to use intangible intellectual property, a license which - usually - is only granted to the original purchaser of that license. The license is, of course, a contract between a a licensor and a licensee.

It is a process I am familiar with, as frequently my own company's permission is asked for the transfer of our software licenses to a third party (often in the US, and often between a contractor and the ultimate user of a system).

To sum up, when you buy a piece of software - you don't buy it. You buy a license to use it, and that usually - or often - precludes resale or transfer without the licensor's permission.

I agree with Kernow - the chance of Ebay / PayPal taking any meaningful action over this is less than zero. When my wife's debit card was used for fraudulent purchases a couple of years ago, all the bank wanted to do was close the case once her money was refunded, they certainly didn't want to let on to the world outside that there was a fraud problem - and as for involving the police - no chance of them doing that!

So, I think, get your money back, and move on - it's possibly worth making a fuss and leaving a bit of negative feedback, but you might get flack back from the seller rubbishing you. I'm sure you can handle that.

MM
what happends when you buy a second hand PC with Windows already on it as I am sure you have at some stage? Do you feel it is necessary for you to reload a new copy of Windows onto the laptop/PC as the copy on it is not transferable to you?

Trust you to come up with the exception to the rule.

With Windows, the manufacturer normally has a license which *requires* him to put a copy of Windows on every machine he manufactures. In return, he gets a heavily discounted price per copy and Bill Gates gets to be the richest man on the planet. [FWIW, in common with most things Microsoft, they didn't invent that licensing model - it was Gary Kildall at Digital Research, Inc, for the CP/M operating system way back . . .]

So the license is glued to the machine, as it were.

My company does something broadly similar by employing a floating license system which is attached to the CPU ID of a server which then doles out the appropriate number of licenses to client users on a network. The 'root' license is granted to a machine within an organization.