Activation SHOULD be simple to understand

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Guest

To me it's a no-brainer. Until MS offically releases FINAL activation
rules---I will stay with XP. I am a systems builder and constantly change
parts around, upgrade driver's and just generally experiment. With XP we had
30 days to activate and I would be done testing before that. Now, I
understand, it's only three days. The end user---the very people responsible
for MS's billions of dollars--are, once again, being penalized for the
actions of those who attempt to steal their software. As it is, I understand
that what Windows ME was to Windows 98 is the same as what Windows Vista is
to Windows XP---just a very, very service pack. Bells and whistles galore.
The ads tout Internet Explorer 7 and Windows Media Player 11-------I already
have them on XP. A new Interface----the Vista interface is downloadable as a
FREE program. Just do a Google search. So, I can have the COMPLETE look and
feel of Vista on my XP machine. I will wait for AT LEAST six months to one
year before thinking about Vista. Let others spend their money and try to
figure out the glitches. Let others get frustrated about the activation. Our
local CompUSA had a Grand Event. The store was open from Midnight to 2:00Am,
on the morning of Vista's official release. They were expecting massive
sales. Three people showed up and two actually purchased Vista. No thank
you-----Microsoft has enough of my money. I have paid over and over and over
again for operating systems. I'm not opening my wallet for "HYPE"---and
activation problems if I decide to upgrade a component and I will NOT call
India to get a new activation code. Things are way out of hand. Most of us
are honest, I know I am.
 
warpete said:
To me it's a no-brainer. Until MS offically releases FINAL activation
rules---I will stay with XP. I am a systems builder and constantly change
parts around, upgrade driver's and just generally experiment. With XP we
had
30 days to activate and I would be done testing before that. Now, I
understand, it's only three days.
Click to expand...

Lemme stop you there.

It's 30 days. You don't even have to put in the product key for 30 days,
and you can actually extend that to 120 days, with no key and no activation.

--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User.
http://www.windowsresource.net/

*Remove nospam. to reply by e-mail*
 
30 days to activate.

You can also rearm/reset the activation count down 3 times,
for a total of 120 days.

In an elevated (run as admin) command prompt (type CMD into Start Menu's search),
type, slmgr -rearm

Wait a few seconds. A window will popup telling you it was successful.

On your next reboot, you'll be back to 30 days.

You can only do this three times.


-Michael
 
You have 30 days in which to activate Vista after the initial install. You
will notice (see figure 7 from the 'install vista' link of my website
http://vistasupport.mvps.org/install_windows_vista.htm fro more details)
that when you install Vista there is an option to activate as soon as you
log on to the internet. If you disable this automatic activation, by
removing the check mark, then Windows will notify you, after a period of 3
days, that activation is required. It will then keep notifying you until you
either activate Vista or the 30 days expires.


--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
Windows Shell/User

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..
 
MICHAEL said:
30 days to activate.

You can also rearm/reset the activation count down 3 times,
for a total of 120 days.

In an elevated (run as admin) command prompt (type CMD into Start Menu's
search),
type, slmgr -rearm

Wait a few seconds. A window will popup telling you it was successful.

On your next reboot, you'll be back to 30 days.

You can only do this three times.
Click to expand...

Hmm... for anybody that does not mind regular formatting of their machine,
they could use a copy of Vista unlicensed for 120 days and reformat. They
could do this forever?
I think MS will patch this soon enough when they realise the amount of
people flouting the system.
 
Things are out of hand because people (like you) go flying off the handle
because they failed to research their issues or read out of date articles
and take them as gospel.

--
 
I'll grant you that reactivation is quite an inconvenience, BUT...
as long as a no-hassle 6 minute phone call to India after each de-activation
event allows the end-user to stay in the game, I'll accept Billy's terms.
I think the anti-piracy activation and WGA programs are helpful in stemming
the loss of revenue from software piracy, and it guarantees a larger minimum
number of VISTA/XP/2000 unit sales.
It's sort of like the gated community with an empty guard-house at the
entrance - It serves, to a large extent, as a psychological deterrent.
 
Beck said:
Hmm... for anybody that does not mind regular formatting of their machine, they could use a
copy of Vista unlicensed for 120 days and reformat. They could do this forever?
I think MS will patch this soon enough when they realise the amount of people flouting the
system.
Click to expand...

I disagree. This info comes directly from their site,
they're not hiding the information.

Most users will not go through the trouble of doing what
you suggest. There are legitimate reasons why Microsoft
allows this.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/plan/faq.mspx#EAAAE

What is Initial Grace?
Initial Grace (or OOB Grace) starts the first time you start your computer after you install
the operating system. It provides 30 days for the computer to be activated. The Initial Grace
period can only be restarted by running sysprep /generalize, or by using slmgr.vbs –rearm.
These processes reset the Initial Grace timer to 30 days. This will only work three times.
 
MICHAEL said:
I disagree. This info comes directly from their site,
they're not hiding the information.

Most users will not go through the trouble of doing what
you suggest. There are legitimate reasons why Microsoft
allows this.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/plan/faq.mspx#EAAAE

What is Initial Grace?
Initial Grace (or OOB Grace) starts the first time you start your computer
after you install the operating system. It provides 30 days for the
computer to be activated. The Initial Grace period can only be restarted
by running sysprep /generalize, or by using slmgr.vbs –rearm. These
processes reset the Initial Grace timer to 30 days. This will only work
three times.
Click to expand...

So what is to stop somebody buying a cheaper home version and not entering
product key and doing this scenario for 3 months. They can get Vista
Ultimate forever?
There will be users ready and willing to partake in regular formats. In
fact I do a 3 month format myself to keep things clean and tidy.
 
Beck said:
So what is to stop somebody buying a cheaper home version and not entering product key and
doing this scenario for 3 months. They can get Vista Ultimate forever?
There will be users ready and willing to partake in regular formats. In fact I do a 3 month
format myself to keep things clean and tidy.
Click to expand...

Well, Beck, if a user really wants to run an illegal copy of Windows-
believe me, there are easier ways than you suggest, and without
having to reformat.


-Michael
 
All told it would be 120 days between formats, 33% better than what you
already were willing to do. This really isn't that much different than using
a 180 day trial of Win2003 for a personal web server is it? Is this
addressed in the EULA anywhere?
 
I'll grant you that reactivation is quite an inconvenience, BUT... as long
as a no-hassle 6 minute phone call to India after each de-activation event
allows the end-user to stay in the game, I'll accept Billy's terms. I
think the anti-piracy activation and WGA programs are helpful in stemming
the loss of revenue from software piracy, and it guarantees a larger
minimum number of VISTA/XP/2000 unit sales.
Click to expand...

This helps Microsoft make even more money on top of an already obscene
profit margin, but in what way does it help the consumers who must endure
the inconveniences?
 
The final activation rules are you have 30 days to activate. This has not
changed at all since they were first made available.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
 
Christopher I recently did an Vista ultimate upgrade over a copy of Vista
Ultimate ( i was using this as a repair scenario to test the effect for an
article i am planning for my website). At the end of the upgrade (4 hours in
total) vista asked to be activated, i was hoping that the activation files
would not have been affected, but they were. There was no way i could get to
a desktop without activating, every option just brought me round full circle
back to the activation screen. So i clicked to create a new internet
connection, selected the one that originally existed prior to the upgrade,
logged onto the internet and hit the activation link option. To my amazement
activation went through without any problem. Activation was processed over
the web, i didn't have to call microsoft at all.


--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
Windows Shell/User

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..
 
There are not that many people who would make the effort to do this.



MICHAEL said:
30 days to activate.

You can also rearm/reset the activation count down 3 times,
for a total of 120 days.

In an elevated (run as admin) command prompt (type CMD into Start Menu's
search),
type, slmgr -rearm

Wait a few seconds. A window will popup telling you it was successful.

On your next reboot, you'll be back to 30 days.

You can only do this three times.
Click to expand...

Hmm... for anybody that does not mind regular formatting of their machine,
they could use a copy of Vista unlicensed for 120 days and reformat. They
could do this forever?
I think MS will patch this soon enough when they realise the amount of
people flouting the system.
 
If they want to do the work. Most people do not want to do that.


MICHAEL said:
I disagree. This info comes directly from their site,
they're not hiding the information.

Most users will not go through the trouble of doing what
you suggest. There are legitimate reasons why Microsoft
allows this.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/plan/faq.mspx#EAAAE

What is Initial Grace?
Initial Grace (or OOB Grace) starts the first time you start your computer
after you install the operating system. It provides 30 days for the
computer to be activated. The Initial Grace period can only be restarted
by running sysprep /generalize, or by using slmgr.vbs –rearm. These
processes reset the Initial Grace timer to 30 days. This will only work
three times.
Click to expand...

So what is to stop somebody buying a cheaper home version and not entering
product key and doing this scenario for 3 months. They can get Vista
Ultimate forever?
There will be users ready and willing to partake in regular formats. In
fact I do a 3 month format myself to keep things clean and tidy.
 
Christopher I recently did an Vista ultimate upgrade over a copy of Vista
Ultimate ( i was using this as a repair scenario to test the effect for an
article i am planning for my website). At the end of the upgrade (4 hours in
total) vista asked to be activated, i was hoping that the activation files
would not have been affected, but they were. There was no way i could get to
a desktop without activating, every option just brought me round full circle
back to the activation screen. So i clicked to create a new internet
connection, selected the one that originally existed prior to the upgrade,
logged onto the internet and hit the activation link option. To my amazement
activation went through without any problem. Activation was processed over
the web, i didn't have to call microsoft at all.

--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
Windows Shell/User

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..
 
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