Driver updates causing Vista to Deactivate

[kurgan2001]

From OSnews.com

"After weeks of gruelling troubleshooting, I've finally had it confirmed by Microsoft Australia and USA - something as small as swapping the video card or updating a device driver can trigger a total Vista deactivation. Put simply, your copy of Windows will stop working with very little notice (three days) and your PC will go into 'reduced functionality' mode, where you can't do anything but use the web browser for half an hour. You'll then need to reapply to Microsoft to get a new activation code. How can this crazy situation occur?

full article .. http://apcmag.com/vista_activation

[AYHJA]

Damn, that's a pretty serious error...

And one that I'll probably not experience, tee hee...People keep finding things to knock Vista about, but I am nothing short of impressed w/it...But, this isn't really a knock, just a bad security flaw...

You can start knocking them if they don't come up w/a way to fix it...

[kurgan2001]

I'm not knocking vista .. per se .. but this is something that should absolutely NEVER happen. If a person legally buys the software or a computer with it preinstalled, then said person should be able to upgrade just about everything on said machine, any number of times, except the motherboard and cpu without this kind of crap happening. It's absolutely ridiculous and one of the reasons I'm still not switching.

[zaphodz]

Must say that although I have legal versions of XP and Vista, I use them with the OEM BIOS hack (Vista) and Genuine Advantage hack (XP).

I want to be able to use MY computer. Change things at will - reinstall at will. Not going to have my time wasted on activation issues. M$ can PAY me if they want me to jump through their activation hoops when using cracks makes everything so functional and easy.

[AYHJA]

Oh K2001, I wasn't saying that you were knocking them by any means...Its just that in press, I think I've heard 80% negative about Vista...When they fuck up big or small, it just blown out of proportion...

However, you can't say these types of things are w/o merit...Piracy is a huge thing these days...But when things like this have gone wrong in the past, I think they've done a great job fixing them...I don't expect this to be any different really...

But as a Windows user since forever, Vista is just the best thing ever...It's the OS I've been waiting for since 2000 Professional gave me my first hardon...

[Sir Jig-A-Lot]

2000 Pro wuz da bomb. i only quit using it late last year.

[kurgan2001]

Oh K2001, I wasn't saying that you were knocking them by any means...Its just that in press, I think I've heard 80% negative about Vista...When they fuck up big or small, it just blown out of proportion...

However, you can't say these types of things are w/o merit...Piracy is a huge thing these days...But when things like this have gone wrong in the past, I think they've done a great job fixing them...I don't expect this to be any different really...

But as a Windows user since forever, Vista is just the best thing ever...It's the OS I've been waiting for since 2000 Professional gave me my first hardon...

Yeah I know .. :)

And piracy is definately a big thing .. I should know .. ;) , but M$ really screwed up with they way decided to handle things. Here's how I would've handled it, and I think I mention this in another post, but I forgot where.

1.) They should've made a free version of the OS ... stripped down to bare basics so anyone could download it and use it .. that takes care of the casual pirates right there .. and if they want to use a better version they can unlock it for a small fee .. SMALL fee .. lol .. like $100 or so .. not this $400 bullshit.

2.) Do not use WGA at ALL for the free version .. why would you need to? But with the paid version use it only for activation and tie it to the processor and mobo so if they swap that out then they need to call to reactivate. None of this if you change 2 things it's disabled crap.

3.) There should not have been 5 different versions. That's just retarded. 2 or 3 at the very most. the free one, a home version, and a business version .. that's all .. case closed .. end of story.

4.) There will ALWAYS be hardcore pirates no matter what they do. But it can be lessened and that's the big key there.

Best to reduce if it can't be removed.

[AYHJA]

OK, I found out some more information on this story...Turns out that Vista misreported a disk controller upgrade as a major hardware change, and when coupled with the video card change, Vista started heading back to RFM mode...It was more or less a combination of things, and not just one thing (although this doesn't make it any better, lol) that caused the issue...

M$ reports changes to the system are underway...

[kurgan2001]

Yeah .. I read that too. Still, that's just stupid how they set this up. Tie it to the mobo and/or processor and don't worry about all the other crap.

[Sir Jig-A-Lot]

OK, I found out some more information on this story...Turns out that Vista misreported a disk controller upgrade as a major hardware change, and when coupled with the video card change, Vista started heading back to RFM mode...It was more or less a combination of things, and not just one thing (although this doesn't make it any better, lol) that caused the issue...

M$ reports changes to the system are underway...

thank fuck. wifey been buggin' about it since i told her.