Copy Protection Fist of Death

[Ken Spiker]

I have a HP LaserJet 1200 printer and WordX (updated). Word
would not print envelopes to that printer. This is a known
bug and acknoledged as a Word X bug by HP Support. The only
way to solve this problem is to reinstall Word X without
the updates; which I did. In fact, right after the
reinstallation WordX did successfully print envelopes to
the LaserJet printer. But just once.

Now Word is telling me that I have too many installations
and kills the application on startup. This is absurd. I
merely reinstalled Word on a computer which it was already
on. I have Word X installed on a computer at home, a
computer at the office, and a laptop. That's all, those
three. It was working fine on those three computers for a
year or so. I am not sure exactly what the copy protection
limits us to, but I don't think it should disallow a
reinstallation made necesssary because of a bug that is
Microsoft's responsibility.


Of course Microsoft should have fixed the bug, but I
suppose they're continuing to plot how to design software
that is as unintuitive as possible and didn't have time. I
am not inclied to buy another copy of Word X to get a copy
for a computer that already had it. Is there a workaround
for this? If not I will have to discard WordX and its
cumbersome and arcane interface and get Apple Works.

Thanx for any suggestions,

Ken

 

[J.E. McGimpsey]

I have a HP LaserJet 1200 printer and WordX (updated). Word
would not print envelopes to that printer. This is a known
bug and acknoledged as a Word X bug by HP Support. The only
way to solve this problem is to reinstall Word X without
the updates; which I did. In fact, right after the
reinstallation WordX did successfully print envelopes to
the LaserJet printer. But just once.

Now Word is telling me that I have too many installations
and kills the application on startup. This is absurd. I
merely reinstalled Word on a computer which it was already
on. I have Word X installed on a computer at home, a
computer at the office, and a laptop. That's all, those
three. It was working fine on those three computers for a
year or so. I am not sure exactly what the copy protection
limits us to, but I don't think it should disallow a
reinstallation made necesssary because of a bug that is
Microsoft's responsibility.

The "too many installations" error means that Office detected two
machines running with the same Office license on the local network,
not that you've installed it too many times.

I assume you have two licenses (each license that you purchase
allows you to install Office on one desktop and one laptop). If so,
you should be able to run Office on both a desktop and a laptop on
the network at the same time (in one location).

 

[Ken Spiker]

Thanx for the reply. Since the laptop and the desktop were
networked at the office that must be the problem. However
Word didn't notice that problem before. I installed a copy
of Word on 2 desktops (plus the laptop) a year ago and Word
didn't notice anything wrong then, why is it so suddenly
going moralistic on me? Why didn't Word notice I was
(innocently) installing it on a second desktop back then?
And why does either version of the 2 at the office think
that the other is an extra-legal version? Why couldn't it
be the version at home, which it problably is? You say it
detected two version with the same license on the network,
but aren't I allowed to have a desktop and a laptop on the
same license?

As I understand it the problem can be worked around at the
office by not having both copies of Word running at the
same time. Not totally satisfactory, but workable.

Thanx,

Ken

 

[J.E. McGimpsey]

And why does either version of the 2 at the office think
that the other is an extra-legal version?

The way it works is that on startup, the Office app broadcasts a
message with the Product ID on the local network. It will then
listen for other broadcasts. If it hears one with the same PID, it
sends a message back, which tells the second copy to shut down. So
both installations are legal, but the first one to start up will
prevent the other from starting up.

Why couldn't it be the version at home, which it problably is?
You say it detected two version with the same license on the
network, but aren't I allowed to have a desktop and a laptop on
the same license?

Yep, just not running Office at the same time. The laptop's PID is
the same as the one at the office. If you want to change it, look
through the archives (search on "Product ID", without quotes):

http://google.com/advanced_group_search?q=group:*mac.office*

As I understand it the problem can be worked around at the
office by not having both copies of Word running at the
same time. Not totally satisfactory, but workable.

Unless you need 2 CPUs running, my preferred way to work is to plug
the PB into the desktop as a firewire HD - that way, files can stay
on the PB, or transfers can occur between them easily without
relying on the network.

 

[Ken Spiker]

I searched for references to product ID but didn't find any
which suggested a way to defeat the 2-Word-installations-on
a-network feature. Actually this feature doesn't make any
sense because if the 2 installations of Word X are legal
and proper then there should be no reason to disallow them
to be loaded at the same time. If the same license is
permitted for a laptop and a desktop it would only be
logical that the two might at some time like to be
networked...(duh!). Obviously the only goal could be to
annoy users to buy exta copies of Office.

The whole problem started when I had to go back to Word X
10.0.0 to get envelopes on my printer to work. This may not
be a problem more most printers, but was a problem for my
LaserJet 1200. If any of the more recent updates was
supposed to fix this bug I don't know; I can't find
anywhere on the Microsoft web pages where it describes what
bugs the Word X updaters are supposed to fix. That kind of
knowledge, which is usually published with updates to other
companys' software, doesn't seem to be a concern of
Microsoft. HP support told me that Microsoft was aware of
that bug.

No doubt a bug which only effects a certain line of
printers isn't really important enough for consideration.
That the bug is Microsoft's responsibility is obvious from
the fact that when I went back to the original CD
installation of WordX the printer worked perfectly. That
Microsoft builds a feature which prevents more than one
copy of Office X from appearing on a network is just
another example of unethical business practices.

 

[J.E. McGimpsey]

I searched for references to product ID but didn't find any
which suggested a way to defeat the 2-Word-installations-on
a-network feature.

I'm not sure why you'd be searching to violate the license you
purchased. Nor why you'd be announcing it in public on a service
hosted by the manufacturer.

Actually this feature doesn't make any sense because if the 2
installations of Word X are legal and proper then there should be
no reason to disallow them to be loaded at the same time.

They're not disallowed, as long as one is a desktop and one is a
laptop.

If the same license is permitted for a laptop and a desktop it
would only be logical that the two might at some time like to be
networked...(duh!).

You obviously *can* have both a desktop and laptop networked with
the same copy of Office. You just can't be running Office on both of
the machines at the same time. Running Office on both machines at
the same time isn't "networking Office" - it takes separate CPUs
running one copy each, and they have no interactivity.

An analogy, though imperfect, is that of purchasing a book. Your
purchase allows you to read the book both in your home and at your
office, but not at the same time. It allows you to read it at home
and someone else to read it either at home or at the office, but not
at the same time. And you can only have one copy of the book without
paying for a second one, even if you just want to lay them side by
side so that you can read a different section of each copy at once.

The ability to install Office on two machines is a reflection of the
way many people work - on desktop during the day, taking work home
or on the road on the laptop. It wasn't necessary for MS to allow
dual installation - many licenses don't. OTOH, it would be difficult
to enforce and very bad PR.

Obviously the only goal could be to annoy users to buy exta
copies of Office.

Or, just possibly, to enforce their license and prevent two or more
people working from the same license at the same time on the same
network, thus depriving them of compensation to which they're
entitled.

 

[Ken Spiker]

Obviously Microsoft can set any policy it wants. If it
wants to have a feature which prevents the user from (say)
using the software on Sundays it can, and then accuse you
of piracy if you try to defeat it. Truth is whatever the
Ministry of Truth says it is. And oh yes, they'll sell you
an update which will allow you to work on Sunday for a mere
$250.

I'm commenting on this forum because Microsoft's business
practices are a matter of public debate.

We have a small office, one operator, self employed with a
laptop (to take home) and a desktop. This means the single
operator has to run from one computer to the other to quit
Word on one so Word on the other will work. We feel we're
being badgered into buying another license. I'm sure that
Microsoft would be on the verge of collapse if 2
applications (both perfectly legal) were permitted to be
open at the same time on a network. Poor Microsoft. They
can apply for corporate welfare, but please, don't go
moralistic on me J.E.

Instead of designing features to frustrate small operators
why don't they fix the bug in Word X (updated) that won't
allow it to print envelopes to LaserJet printers? And of
couse, I do thank you for the help,

Ken

 

[J.E. McGimpsey]

Obviously Microsoft can set any policy it wants. If it
wants to have a feature which prevents the user from (say)
using the software on Sundays it can, and then accuse you
of piracy if you try to defeat it. Truth is whatever the
Ministry of Truth says it is. And oh yes, they'll sell you
an update which will allow you to work on Sunday for a mere
$250.

No, it can only set license terms that people will purchase. It's
your choice to use Office - there are alternatives out there. I've
started playing with Open Office and Gnumeric, but neither provide
the functions/programmability that I need for my business.

We have a small office, one operator, self employed with a
laptop (to take home) and a desktop. This means the single
operator has to run from one computer to the other to quit
Word on one so Word on the other will work. We feel we're
being badgered into buying another license. I'm sure that
Microsoft would be on the verge of collapse if 2
applications (both perfectly legal) were permitted to be
open at the same time on a network. Poor Microsoft. They
can apply for corporate welfare, but please, don't go
moralistic on me J.E.

I'm not "going moralistic". I run a business, and I appreciate how
tough it is to make a living. OTOH, I also know many of the people
at MacBU, and, as much as you'd like to characterize MS as a
monolith that can afford to give Mac users a break, the fact is that
*they* have to justify their existence within MS, which means that
they need to make a profit. You can argue about their marketing
strategy (I personally think a two-license package for a substantial
discount would increase both revenue and profit), but they have set
the terms of the license, I bought, and my trying to get around
those terms in my mind is putting real people out of work. Not Bill
G., but people who have car payments, a mortgage and perhaps a
couple of kids to support (though most of the MacBuers seem awfully
young!). Do I think that the licensing strategy is a mistake? Yes.
Did I buy two licenses so that my family and I could use Word at the
same time? Yes, reluctantly. If enough people do that, it will
justify the marketing plan. If not, perhaps they'll change it.

I used to work in the same environment you describe. My solution was
to boot the Powerbook as a firewire drive most of the time. I also
occasionally put it on the local network. It didn't seem egregious
to not have Word running on the Powerbook when I booted, and I could
access any file on the Powerbook from the desktop. But that was me.
Send your comments to MS via feedback. Be sure to tell them how much
you'd pay for the ability to run Word on both machines (even if it's
not any extra).