Here is my take on it.

When I first got into software, I tried some cracked software...it totally corrupted my computer and after the third of fourth time doing a fresh wipe and a new Windows install, I gave up on cracked software.

Why bother with it?

Also, in a sense, people who are gluttonous about their software pirating get nowhere with it. When you buy something, with hard earnings, you treat software, as if it were like a hardware unit. With hardware, you have made a substantial investment and committed yourself to learning it inside out. With software pirating, you exhaust the presets and go on to the next pirated instrument.

However, when you pay for something, you tend to respect it more, and you apply that level of commitment to it.

If people would just refuse to pirate software, and buy themselves the choice gear that they can afford, and stick with it, they will get much further than having 500 pirated vsts on their computer and not a clue what to do with them past preset previewing. Same with a host, etc.

I think the lack of commitment on the part of the person that pirates software, because they have made no investment in it, accounts for 90% of all the stupid questions on this site.

Just my $0.02

Stop pirating software, and earn your way.

If you want to be a software glutton, do what I did...

1. Make your music habit pay for itself.

2. Become a reviewer for a magazine and get companies to send you stuff for free.