autocad 2002 version

I am a first time user of autocad since teh latest version costs are a bit high , I would like to purchase the autocad 2002 version which is for sale on ebay.uk . Please advise if this software is legitamate to purchase and use.

I would not purchase the software if I were you. It could be a pirated version.

Yes, I know the cost of AutoCAD is very steep but you could always switch to one of the AutoCAD clones and do so for a substantially lower price. The features are near identical and each reads and writes to the DWG file format.

Examples of clones are: IntelliCAD, Bricscad, DoubleCAD XT Pro, ProgeCAD and DraftSight just to name a few.

thank you for your suggestion. But the seller on the ebay site has assured that it he had used it on his desktop and has uninstalled it and the cd comes with an activation key.

Yes, he has. Why wouldn't he say that? After all, he's trying to get you to part with your money. That's how the scam works. I know. I fell for the same scam involving a different program. It backfired on me and not only did I lose the money I spent initially but then I had to turn around and buy the software a second time.

Where is the seller located? Where are you located?

Technically it is a violation of AutoDesk's EULA to resell their software. You do know that don't you?

I will 2nd ReMark's advice. Do not buy AutoCAD from ebay. Honestly that old a version will be worse than to buy a new Acad clone (the list Remark mentioned).

There is much debate on the legality of buying used software. I'm no lawyer so I won't comment on that. People on both sides of the argument can supposedly produce court findings to support their positions. Whether it is legal or not, you run the risk of buying pirated software, just as Remark mentioned. Just because the guy sells you a copy this week, doesn't mean he won't burn another identical copy and sell it to someone else next week. He may be telling the truth about it being "uninstalled" too. He may have financed his upgrade by selling multiple copies of his old stuff. Ebay tries to keep illegal activity off the site, but with millions of users per day it's an impossible task. I actually had them pull an ad I placed once for a piece of Motorola radio equipment that wasn't approved for use in the US. They sent me an explanation of why they pulled the ad and curiously, even though I was working for a Motorola dealer at the time, even they didn't know they weren't supposed to sell that radio. Nobody even remembered where it came from. I was just selling off a bunch of junk I found in an upstairs closet for the shop. The owner of the shop said it was probably placed in an sample case by mistake, as it did get sold overseas, just not here. It had gone out of production some years before.

Remark's list is a good place to start and those programs will give you more functionality than any of those older versions of Autocad. If you only do 2d stuff, Draftsight is free and is a very good system. There is also a free version of DoublecadXT, but I like Draftsight better. Try them both. I use and recommend Bricscad. Great product, relatively inexpensive compared even to AutoCAD LT. Those sales on ebay should fall under the old rule that "if it looks too good to be true, it probably is". If you are going to buy software, buy some you don't have to worry about.

You pays your money; you takes your chances.

I asked where both the seller and the buyer were located in anticipation of suggesting the two meet face-to-face so the buyer could see what he was purchasing beforehand and confirm it was a legal copy of AutoCAD putting aside, for the moment, the legality of such a sale. Thus my opening sentence.

AutoCAD 2002 is old enough that the only two pieces of information one needs to install it are the serial number XXX-XXXXXXXX and the authorization code XXXXXXXX that accompanies each CD. 2002 pre-dates the start of online verification/authorization that AutoDesk subsequently instituted to cut down on piracy. But that only gave way to keygen and warez sites so one wonders how much good it really did. Given enough time, effort, and the willingness to use pirated software I suspect it was only a momentary glitch. Just my personal opinion. Feel free to ignore it.

You pays your money; you takes your chances.

 

I asked where both the seller and the buyer were located in anticipation of suggesting the two meet face-to-face so the buyer could see what he was purchasing beforehand and confirm it was a legal copy of AutoCAD putting aside, for the moment, the legality of such a sale. Thus my opening sentence.

 

AutoCAD 2002 is old enough that the only two pieces of information one needs to install it are the serial number XXX-XXXXXXXX and the authorization code XXXXXXXX that accompanies each CD. 2002 pre-dates the start of online verification/authorization that AutoDesk subsequently instituted to cut down on piracy. But that only gave way to keygen and warez sites so one wonders how much good it really did. Given enough time, effort, and the willingness to use pirated software I suspect it was only a momentary glitch. Just my personal opinion. Feel free to ignore it.

It's just like locks on doors. Most criminals can open a locked car or house faster with their tools than the owner can with a key.

I just did a search on ebay, and just under the software category there are 170 listings for "autocad". Not all of them are for program software, some are cd's /downloads of blocks and house plans and that sort of stuff but many are for the actual software. There are gobs of listings for student software and versions as old as 97 (oldest one I saw, didn't look through all of them). Seems to me that Autodesk should be able either through professional courtesy or litigaton to prevent ebay from allowing these listings if it is indeed illegal. Or at the very least, there are a hundred or so potential lawsuits against the sellers. ASCAP will sue people for playing christmas music on a boom box during a parade and for having a tv or radio on in a place of business if you don't buy their licenses, so why not go after ebay? There's a gas station near my home that the owner opened his tv and disconnected the speaker because of a letter from ASCAP's lawyer. He listens through wireless earphones but the customers can't hear the sound. There was potential for commercial use of unlicensed music in the broadcasts, or some such nonsense. I'm sure the house lawyers need something to keep them busy.

AutoDesk, just like Microsoft, will ask that eBay take down certain ads. I don't know what criteria they apply to determine which ones to go after. Maybe they only pursue the ones in the U.S.? I'm not sure.

If you like to gamble then go right ahead and buy 2002 off of eBay. Let us know how it all works out for you. Good luck....you're gonna need it.

AutoDesk, just like Microsoft, will ask that eBay take down certain ads. I don't know what criteria they apply to determine which ones to go after. Maybe they only pursue the ones in the U.S.? I'm not sure.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not encouraging anybody to do this, just wondering why it's allowed to continue. Many of the ads I saw today have physical addresses listed here in the States. They may be vacant lots for all I know but they have addresses. Some of these guys have Ebay stores and have very high feedback and seller ratings and sell this stuff on a daily basis. The shadiness of it all is reason enough to steer clear, and with the ambiguity of the courts these days, just because it's legal today, it may not be legal tomorrow and vice versa. This is why i sprang for (and spent a big chunk of my 401k to do it ) real software when I started trying to get out on my own. If you've read my posts in the past, you know that's why I bought a separate license for my laptop. Three computers, three licenses, no problems.

That last line of mine Jack was directed at the OP.

I think you could have legally gotten away with buying one, or at the most, two licenses but what's done is done.

This is why i sprang for (and spent a big chunk of my 401k to do it )

Out of interest, what is a 401k? I've heard it mentioned on US TV programmes but never thought to ask?

Out of interest, what is a 401k? I've heard it mentioned on US TV programmes but never thought to ask?

its a type of retirement plan that usually offers additional employer contributions based on your contributions, fancy shmancy mutual funds .......

A 401k is a self-financed retirement account managed by one's employer. They took the place of the old retirement plans companies here used to offer. Some employers match contributions up to a certain amount. Some don't contribute at all. Our company normally does not contribute however they made a one-time exception several years back when we had a real winner of a year for sales.

Thanks guys, learn something new everyday!

Same here and not all of it is AutoCAD related!

That last line of mine Jack was directed at the OP.

 

I think you could have legally gotten away with buying one, or at the most, two licenses but what's done is done.

I have ADT2007 on one machine, that I bought just before 2008 came out. I have 2010 vanilla on another machine. I could have used it on my laptop when i got it as I understand it, but that's when I bought Bricscad. Like you said, it's already done. Besides, my daughter helps me occasionally if I get behind, and that way there are no worries. I don't mind her coming here to work, but sometimes she wants to do it late at night or on weekends and when that happens I hand her the laptop and off she goes.

Out of interest, what is a 401k? I've heard it mentioned on US TV programmes but never thought to ask?

The way mine worked was that I could contribute up to 6% of my gross earnings, and the company would throw in an additional 3%. This is taken out before taxes and you don't have to pay the income tax on it until you withdraw the money. Supposed to be a self funded retirement program. Back in the old days when there was such a thing as job security, it was a great idea. These days, not so much. It's usually invested in stocks and what have you...our plan allowed for a mixed portfolio. You could put money in company stock, but there were other choices too, as well as a money market option. If you tended towards safer investments there were some guaranteed investments that carried a fairly low return. My strategy involved playing with a certain amount of money in the riskier but higher return options, then when my "seed" money as I called it doubled in value, I'd pull 25% of that out and put it in the guaranteed side. Worked great till the big crash in 08. Watched the entire portfolio lose half its value in 2 days. Unlike dealing with an actual stockbroker, it took 3 - 5 days to transfer monies from one fund to another. It still has not recovered. Between that and using some of it to buy software (Autocad--good choice. Revit, not so much) I took a pretty good hit. At least there was no debt involved in the software purchase. Credit card bill on that much would have been truly frightening.

I think many of us took such a financial hit that we'd have to live another entire life-time just to have enough to retire on. Funny, most of the banks seem to be doing just fine. I think Bill Gates is down to his last 15 billion or so. Poor Bill.

I think many of us took such a financial hit that we'd have to live another entire life-time just to have enough to retire on. Funny, most of the banks seem to be doing just fine. I think Bill Gates is down to his last 15 billion or so. Poor Bill.

yeah, poor guy. Him and the Walton family...I hear they've taken it on the chin too. I just can't work up a lot of sympathy for someone who can lose 90% of what they have and still be a Billionaire.

edit--there is some good news on the financial front. I just found out that Yarnell's Ice Cream will be making a return! The company, based in Searcy, AR, shut down last summer after giving their employee's 30 minutes notice. The property and equipment went on the auction block this week, and it's new owner says that it intends to restore the company to production once again. YAY! and and even bigger sigh of relief for the people that used to work there.