John in Kansas said:-

As Microsoft finds OEM makers who are counterfeiting, they tend to disappear - often abruptly. This often leaves the holder of a counterfeit OEM version with no one to provide support, should it be needed.

Too bloody right!!. Thats just what happened to me. I had to pay £92 to Microsoft to get a legitimate validation key and XP Pro CD.

I'm now worried that the Office Proffesional progs that came as OEM too will also need validation. That side of things still gets the updates and seem to work properly. Does anyone know if the validation issues discussed here apply to Office as well as XP?

Dave Earl