Is my Mac OS X Tiger pirated?

cryptmastercryptmaster
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
Hi all!



How do i check if my copy of the Mac OS X Tiger is pirated? I bought this second-hand Mac G3 which comes pre-installed with the OS. The previous owner claims that he bought the original from a Mac dealer and installed it so that he could sell the Mac.



Thanks in advance!

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 4
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Do you have the installer DVD? If so, it's legit.



    If not, no, there's no way to tell just from the installation on disk, but it's a decent clue that it wasn't a fully purchased copy. Call the guy up and request the DVD and any manuals, box, etc, that he has. See what he says.
  • Reply 2 of 4
    cryptmastercryptmaster Posts: 3member
    Hey Kickaha!



    Thanks for answering my query



    I don't have the DVD; I have asked him for it, but he said that he needs to use the DVD. According to him, the DVD can be used on many individual (privately owned) Macs, as long as it is not in a business environment. I've been duped, haven't I?



    Is there a way I can authenticate my copy? I urgently need to update my OS



    Please reply when able



    thanks!



    Quote:

    Originally posted by Kickaha

    Do you have the installer DVD? If so, it's legit.



    If not, no, there's no way to tell just from the installation on disk, but it's a decent clue that it wasn't a fully purchased copy. Call the guy up and request the DVD and any manuals, box, etc, that he has. See what he says.



  • Reply 3 of 4
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Well, you're only hosed if you need to re-install. Ask him for a copy of the DVD, since he was selling it with the computer. If he balks, tell him to read the license agreement - it is *not* okay to install it on more than one personal computer.



    OTOH, Apple in no way shape or form checks your install to see if it's valid before letting you download the free updates, like MS does. There is no Activation, nada. So unless you need to re-install from scratch, you're good. Keep a regular backup, and you can always recover from that, in theory.
  • Reply 4 of 4
    cryptmastercryptmaster Posts: 3member
    zhey Kickaha!



    thanks i will def confront the guy on this...



    really appreciate your help



    thanks again!



    Quote:

    Originally posted by Kickaha

    Well, you're only hosed if you need to re-install. Ask him for a copy of the DVD, since he was selling it with the computer. If he balks, tell him to read the license agreement - it is *not* okay to install it on more than one personal computer.



    OTOH, Apple in no way shape or form checks your install to see if it's valid before letting you download the free updates, like MS does. There is no Activation, nada. So unless you need to re-install from scratch, you're good. Keep a regular backup, and you can always recover from that, in theory.



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