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How to detect a counterfeit WinFax PRO 10 CD ROM September 14th, 2009
Don’t get duped into buying a counterfeit WinFax PRO 10 CD ROM. Here is how you can tell the difference from a “real” CD ROM and the obvious fakes. If you purchased your Symantec WinFax PRO with a box and manual, chances are it is the genuine item. If you purchased a “loose” CD ROM, usually referred as “OEM”, then you should check for the following:
- Symantec never included the actual revision of WinFax PRO 10 (10.01,10.02 or 10.03) on the CD ROM. So, if your WinFax PRO CD ROM says “WinFax PRO 10.03″ its a fake. All genuine WinFax PRO 10 cd’s contain the heading ”WinFax PRO 10.0″
- If you see text with “winFAX” or “Live Update” anywhere on the CD its a fake. The official Symantec trademarks are ”WinFax” and “LiveUpdate”, no other variations of this text should appear on the CD ROM.
- Failure to capitalize ”symantec” and “corporation”.
- An “All rights resverd” spelling error, or other spelling errors.
- Incorrect font used for WinFax PRO and Symantec logo. The current Symantec logo is consistant across all software they produce.
- Silver portion of CD is a (dull) matte finish, on the real CD it is relective (mirror surface).
- To determine if the CD is brand new and sealed – geniune WinFax PRO 10 CD’s come in a white envelope sleeve that are sealed with a sticker that may have one or more of the following: a bar code, a Symantec 5 or 6 digit product code, a brief license agreement.
- In most cases, manufacturer information is printed on the inner rim of the CD ROM of genuine CD’s. This is usually missing on a counterfeit.
- Update patch 10.04 is not included on genuine CD ROMs. Any CD that contains the patch update to 10.04 is a counterfeit.
Example of a counterfeit CD ROM (left) and genuine WinFax PRO 10 CD ROM (right). Notice the differences in the mirror surface, the Symantec logo, and different font types. The counterfeit contains ”10.03″ version, something that is not printed on the genuine CD. You’ll also probably see manufacturer information around the inner rim of the genuine CD ROM. This is likely to be missing on the counterfeit WinFax PRO CD.

Here is the original design of the CD ROM surface used for North American releases of WinFax PRO 10.0 and WinFax PRO 10.01. This has a different design with use of the older style Symantec logo. This image on the left is an example of a genuine WinFax PRO 10.0 or 10.01 CD ROM. Version 10.02 or 10.03 use the updated design & Symantec logo. It’s not known if any counterfeits exist, but a version 10.02 or 10.03/10.04 distributed with this design could indicate a counterfeit version. This design also uses a reflective mirror finish on portions of the CD ROM. Lack of reflective mirror finish would indicate a counterfeit CD.
This entry was posted on Monday, September 14th, 2009 at 2:12 pm and is filed under Guides, Support. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.Both comments and pings are currently closed.