I have a Dell PC with W2k.
The validation simply do not work.
I had tech support send me emails after snail to help me get the automatic update kind of working. But when I try to download anything on the site it tells me it can not validate. I told me support person but she did not know how to fix it.
If microsoft want to know if my window is a legal copy then come take a look or set up shops where we can take it in for validation as last resort.
I consider myself as an expert user. If it frustrating to me could you imaging how frustrating will be to regular user.