Joye has a good point. Ubunu is free, easy to install, very fast and capable of doing all the everyday chores most casual users need. It also has a huge repository of free software, some of which is very sophisticated. I have it installed on my Netbook and an old Win2k machine, and it's never failed me in any of the myriad ways windows can. On Sun, Apr 24, 2011 at 5:08 PM, Joyce A <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > The best solution may have been to install Ubuntu. A couple of years ago, I > bought a brand-new eMachines, running Windows Vista. I discovered it did > not have a dial-up modem, so it was useless to me since I'm still stuck with > dial-up service. When I decided to install a modem in it, and wanted to > install Windows XP instead of Vista, I ran into the same convoluted > licensing maze. > > So now the "new" computer has a modem and Ubuntu tweaked for dial-up, thanks > to my good friends at OpenOffice.org, and I'll be starting to use it this > coming Wednesday. > > Joyce in SE Ohio > > On 4/24/2011 2:02 AM, Bruce Lund wrote: >> >> Well, that's bull****! Not that you wrote it. But that those greedy folks >> at Microsoft make this so difficult (and expensive.) But there is some very >> good news which I share below and I actually have you to thank for it. >> >>>>> Microsoft licensing is very technical and has even changed throughout >>>>> the life of Windows XP. . . OEM software is tied to the original computer, >>>>> and specifically the motherboard. I'm guessing since you have an >>>>> eMachines,it came with that machine and is an OEM version. > > The NOSPIN Group has added a new feature on our website, > web based bulletinboard for questions and answers: > Visit our sister website at http://nospin.com > PCBUILD maintains hundreds of useful files for download visit our download web page at: http://freepctech.com/downloads.shtml