>>>>>I submitted a support request for Office2000 through the MS site and I HAD TO get a Passport ID to do so.
>>>>
>>>>I stand corrected, then. Would it have been possible to do so without submitting personal info, though? I've got a Passport, and Microsoft doesn't know jack about me via my login ID. Granted, I got my Passport early on, and the required information may have changed since then.
>>>
>>>
>>>Whats to stop someone from giving bogus information?
>>
>>The GUID, which is generated when WinXX is installed by the consumer or the PC vendor, and is contained in almost, if not every, document that leaves your machine. That is how they caught the Mellisa Love virus coder! While he hadn't registered his copy of WinXX, he had signed onto various internet sites using identifying information. That info was sent back to MS as part of their data collection program and MS was able to make a link. Didn't take them long, either, they have more than three years of data.
>>

>>Folks who give bogus info at registration or activation will be linked anyway by using the GUID when they sign onto any service using Passport, or they begin using the Hailstorm web browser. So far, eBay and American Express are two corps that have signed on to using Passport for distributing their internet services. Do you think you can use American Express by giving bogus ID information? :)
>>JLK
>
>I don't use AmEx anyway and don't shop on eBay. I'm not sure I agree with you on this. To get a guid, the web app would need access to the system, which is a no-no. Access to the system is supposed to be blocked.

I should have included a couple of URL, some even MS friendly...
http://www.smartcomputing.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles%2Farchive%2Fg0804%2F43g04%2F43g04%2Easp
Do programmers write software "inadvertantly?"
http://www.survey.net/columns/cs

Pascal is my favorite languge. Here is a URL explaining how to code using the GUID:
http://www.blong.com/Conferences/IConUK2000/DelphiMoreAutomation/More Automation In Delphi.htm
Such code examples can easily be used in other languages.
JLK