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- Phocion55, on 10/12/2007, -9/+86"....SPP is an updated and more aggressive version of the Windows Genuine Advantage antipiracy tools."
"....or else it drops into what Microsoft calls a "reduced functionality" mode -- a crippled condition in which only the operating system's Web browser works, and then for only an hour at a time."
Why does Vista treat the user like they don't actually OWN the computer that they themselves have BOUGHT?
Microsoft sympathizer or not.....there is no way in hell ANYONE should be pleased with an OS locking you out of your own system.
What an awful "feature". - jer2eydevil88, on 10/12/2007, -14/+74Vista has some compelling features but Microsoft focused to much on anti-piracy and not enough on usability.
- MioTheGreat, on 10/12/2007, -5/+43"I tell them they have to run a Full Recovery or Destructive Restore to get back on and they are even more pissed. "
I pity the people who rely on you for computer help. - hexix, on 10/12/2007, -2/+40RonUSMC:
Isn't that why it's a big deal. Pirates will strip this crap right out or find ways to disable it. Paying customers are the only ones who are going to be pissed off by this. - icexe, on 10/12/2007, -9/+40i'm waiting for the day when MS releases a faulty patch that accidentally de-activates all legitimate copies of Windows.
- falstaff, on 10/12/2007, -6/+21Speaking as a Windows user, not another MS-hater, upgrading to the newest version of Windows before its first Service Pack is almost never a good idea.
- Phyltre, on 10/12/2007, -21/+34I installed Vista, decided to upgrade my PC, and replaced everything except the HDDs and video card. Vista told me to call. I called, and in FIVE minutes my Vista was reactivated. I'm not sure why "reactivation" is such a huge deal, because it was basically no-questions-asked, here's your new number, instantly. Now if THAT stops working, then let's have a riot!
Heaven forbid anyone would have to go through that! Or that Vista might have bugs a month into official release... - weizilla, on 10/12/2007, -8/+21@RonUSMC
it only takes 5 seconds to "activate" it even if you didn't buy it - totorototoro, on 10/12/2007, -5/+17Biggest ***** argument? "This only affects the pirates".
Here's a news flash. The "pirates" have already figured their way around WGA. This only really affects PAYING users, who shouldn't have to keep proving to Microsoft they own the software they bought. - Tito151, on 10/12/2007, -9/+19Yea, I work a HelpDesk and I've been getting these calls all day. People yelling at me about why they're Vista isn't letting them in. I tell them they have to run a Full Recovery or Destructive Restore to get back on and they are even more pissed. Then I give them MS activation hotline to blow more steam.
- wtf00, on 10/12/2007, -4/+13more evil.. if someone make virus to deactive those system
- austindkelly, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12@rmxz
What about the average user, i doubt they even know what dual boot it. Hell most people don't know the difference between Vista and XP, except one looks a little prettier.
How is your everyday user supposed to load an alt OS, all they know is what comes with the computer. And don't called them ignorant because they havent taken the time to educate themselves about nix. Most people don't give a ***** about nix, and have only ever work on windows.
If my moms computer locked her out and gave her some error like that, she would have no clue what was going on, and then she would ask my dad, and my dad would maybe call me and i would tell them to call microsoft, so as anyone can see, even when you do own a license of Vista, hooking up a new printer should not create such hastles. unfortunatly, we are so used to windows being unreliable and computers in general, that the average person just sees this as another step in the process of getting thier camera to print a picture.
I don't care what the EULA says, and i'm pretty sure that most people that buy a computer dont read the EULA before the purchase. Most people think computer == windows, and those people are going to be pretty ticked off when thier computer locks them out for what they can tell is no good reason. - schoate09, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12I'll reactivate before I take the hassle of switching to linux. Seriously, big deal, you may think Macs never have bugs. This place is overrun by such MS bashing fanboys it makes the place not even look credible. Everything is bash MS praise apple.
Apple has the advantage that when you change your mobo for one from newegg for an upgra...
Oh, right, you have to get mac specific parts.
No problems here on Vista. For all of you Mac users who posted here, I could care less about when you switched to Mac.
Nuff said - hobbers, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9You guys don't understand. MS knew from the start that the real pirates would blow through the activation crap in a matter of days or weeks. They always have, and they always will. Other people have tried the same activation deal - Adobe does it with Photoshop and others. The pirates never had a problem breaking through any of them.
The pirates aren't going to pay for Vista anyways. What MS is really targeting here are the family users. The households that have mom's computer, dad's computer, little jimmy's computer, and little sally's computer. Dad thinks he can go out, buy 1 copy of Vista, and put it on all 4 computers. After all, he owns that copy of Vista now, right? That's the way it used to be. Windows 95, Windows 98, everyone used to do that. But no, you can't. And when you call up MS to ask what the problem is, they're going to tell dad that he has to go out and buy 3 more copies of Vista. This probably wasn't a big deal with XP because the average family with 2 kids probably didn't have computers for everyone before XP. So when they first bought computers earlier this decade, they came with XP. So I would speculate that for many families, this will be the first time they encounter this activation scheme.
Let's say Dad gets ticked off, but he doesn't know what else to do. So he settles for 1 other copy of Vista for mom. Guess what? MS has just DOUBLED their sales from family households. Talk about a cash cow. - punx45, on 10/12/2007, -7/+15bug, or intended feature?
- brstilson, on 10/12/2007, -10/+18Vista was not designed with the customer in mind. It was designed for the mega-trade organizations like the MPAA and RIAA
- uownedge, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11Agreed, this is pretty lame. The only people that end up getting punished are those who actually paid for a license (since the pirates just crack/hack/remove this stuff anyway).
Over all, Vista just isn't that great. The only real reason to upgrade is for DirectX 10, which at this point, is pretty useless. In a year? Things might be different...we'll just have to wait and see. - archiesteel, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8"You're given a license (and a rather restrictive one compared to most other software) to use it under some conditions."
There's no indication that such a license agreement (the EULA) is even legal in the first place. When you buy a copy of a copyrighted work, you actually *own* that copy. What you don't own are the rights to make more copies *and* redistribute those. That's what a license is used for.
There are many areas of the world (the UK, most notably) where EULAs have basically no legal leg to stand one. Even in the US, only a handful of states recognize them as a valid legal contract. - diggsIt, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10The Wow starts now...
and every time your install something new! - leobaby, on 10/12/2007, -11/+17I get the feeling this is just the beginning of reactivation woes.
"I called, and in FIVE minutes my Vista was reactivated." Last time I had to call it took me over an hour. I eventually just asked for a new key. - Tito151, on 10/12/2007, -9/+14That's 22 days to get out while you still can!
- Barlo_Mung, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5That wouldn't be bad because it wouldn't get through QA. What would be bad is if they released a patch that deactivated 0.1% of the systems.
- leobaby, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8I'm not lying to you. I used my cellphone; I saw the time; My ear was smoking hot.
Maybe it was because of after hours. The automated thingy did not work; the people almost refused to activate it. I complained loudly about the delay; and to their credit they did give me a new key so that would never happen again.
And yes, similar to you I had a boxed retail upgrade xp professional, boxed retail full office developer edition.
Don't believe me whatever, ***** you very much. - djdole, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Hear hear!
(Still running XP though as I have no reason to upgrade....yet) - Tilneys, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4What a waste time and effort for everyone...I can't believe you goys take this ***** form MS.
Anyone would think that Vista was something really great and worth having, but all it is is a mess.
Switch to a Mac and remove the hubris of Microsoft from your lives. It's just too short not to. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4its not a bug, its a feature
- Aspenglade, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Actually, this is a major PITA.....I have been running Vista since Nov RTM due to my MSDN subscription and Vista was having troubles with my raid which caused it to detect it as a hardware change on every restart. I spent 2 months troubleshooting it myself and with Microsoft because I would have to reactivate every three days. Due to losing my activation after every restart, the online activation eventually refused me and I would have to call MS every three days to do this reactivation.....massive pain. Eventually they admitted they couldn't do anything to fix it and I ended up having to back up and rip out the raid and reinstall freshly.....sucked. No problems with it now but still.
- EXreaction, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Reduced functionality mode is a utter joke.
I had no problem getting into everything I always could when Vista put me in it(for some reason the activation service was disabled, so it was reporting it wasn't genuine, etc, but I fixed it easily after I found the problem).
I could still get to everything. You know how they say you can't access control panel? Well, just open My Computer and look in the left menu where control panel is. Click the button next to it to expand Control panel. And wala, you can now access everything in control panel(it just does not let you access control panel, but doesn't check for anything inside of it).
The thing I am pissed off the most about is Dell dragging it's ass sending out the upgrade kits for Vista. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Funny, I have a less than legal version of Vista and have no activation problems..
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+32 legit 2 quit
- Karyyk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3This isn't just Vista. I upgraded the memory in my XP desktop about a month ago from 1GB to 2GB, and when XP came up, it told me that the hardware had changed and that I needed to re-activate it. Fortunately it went though without a hitch in about 10 seconds, but when an OS starts hassling you with this over something as simple as a memory upgrade, I think you're overcompensating.
- thealliedhacker, on 10/12/2007, -14/+17This has already been patched, the article says so...
If you don't update, it's your fault. And it's not the end of the world anyways, just re-activate, jeez.
The anti-vista crowd is really scrapping the barrel now. - leobaby, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6"You've never called to activate a Windows product"
What the ***** do you know? Yes I called to activate my boxed retail copy of windows xp professional. They did in fact give me a new key which activates over the internet without having to call.
I had more problems with my copy of office. It was never installed on another computer, although this one was upgraded much. The box never left my shelf. They give me hell about activating it. I just downloaded a new copy from the net. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+35 minutes or not, this is unacceptable
- thecompkid, on 10/12/2007, -8/+11This pretty much means: "Bug in Vista causes deactivation. Innocent users need to click one button to fix"
Seriously, guys, I know Vista isn't all Microsoft promised all those years ago, but everyone is just digging for material now. I could honestly give a crap if I had to reactivate.
Now, the fact that activation even exists, that's something to bitch about. - MioTheGreat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"Seems that most of the security was focused on DRM"
Like one or two features, that no content even uses yet (And were required by the HD-specs)
In any case, there are a _lot_ of new security things. UAC, ASLR, Virtualization of elements of the filesystem/registry, and a bunch of driver stuff being moved to user-mode, to name a few. - deadbaby, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I've had this happen already on my Vista Home Premium install. When I went to re-activate it gave me an error that the activation application couldn't be started -- rebooted and it worked. I was able to re-activate but my concern is what if this happens again? How many times will they allow me to reactivate?
- BassProCM, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Vista isn't ready yet. User Access Control blindly requests that the user approve every action (ok, not every, but it's sitll a lot). So turn it off right? Goodbye Vista security. There's a huge list of other reasons why people should wait to upgrade their computers, and this article is a perfect example of one. I'm sorry, but I don't want an OS that will make me reactivate if, according to Microsoft, "you install a program, you run a new program, you remove a program." ...lol
Wait a few months and then see if Vista is ready. Until then stick with Windows XP or OS X. - SirBotchness, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7More misleading titles to provoke a flame war. When most of the dumbs don't even bother to read that this has been patched. Good job children, school has done you well.
"According to Microsoft, the fix for the bug has been labeled as a "recommended" update. A Microsoft spokeswoman confirmed that the patch was placed in the company's Windows Update pipeline at the end of January. "If customers didn't receive it via Windows Update, the update can be downloaded," she said."
Oh, and didn't vista come out at the end of January? So that means this issue was fixed before launch. Nice job posting month old crap. - heavensblade23, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3This takes more than one click to fix. I installed new motherboard drivers and had to activate with a phone representative which took almost a half hour because I kept getting disconnected every time I'd call.
- Aspenglade, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Unfortunately this is not exactly true. While the patch does fix it for some (possibly most) it does not fix it for everyone that was affected. In particular, it did not fix it for my raid issue that I posted further up.
- lowerlogic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You know, my Ubuntu computer hasn't had any activation problem ever :D
Linux++
Windows--
//runs and hides from all the windows fanboys - jaymartinez, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5ugh i just purchased a inspirion 1501 with vista pre-loaded. so much wrong with vista i am considering just going back to xp...
- PabloMac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I second that.
- FearlessFreep, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Including the ones being used by their tech support to help people correct the problem...
- johnhummel, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4A buddy of mine were talking in the office about the new Windows Security Features. Seems that most of the security was focused on DRM, protecting high resolution video unless you have "blessed" outputs like HDMI, and whether Windows is properly licensed.
Sure, the security in Vista is higher than any other Windows to date - well, for companies that sell you things, anyway. User security still seems dicey. - Anpheus, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5See, that's the problem. There's a blurry definition between what the OS allows you to do, after all, you PAID for Windows to make everything work, and after all, you're talking about the OS locking you out... FROM ITSELF.
There's nothing to keep you from booting a Linux LiveCD and running that. The system itself is fine. The OS is being locked. - machinist5613, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1typical microsoft issue... after 3 frustrating times you will have to call microsoft and speak to someone who can't speak english very well and go through putting in new numbers that won't do you any good if you should have to activate again due to hard drive failure....
- PleaseJustDie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I think its intended, your PC's signature is different when you change hardware, Microsoft wants to register that the change has occurred, if they see that the old signature still has that copy of vista running on it, they know that the OS has been pirated, however if they never see the old signature with your code again they know you are still only using one copy of it.
- goat2, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3getting dugg down for telling you people how to fix things. gj people.
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