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Driver Update Can Cause Vista Deactivation
KrispySausage writes "After weeks of grueling 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."
Fool me once...shame on you......fool me twice.....shame on me. If you use vista and it bites you in the ass....well.... you deserve it.
"Your mouse moved, click here to re-register Windows Zenith. Make sure you have your birth certificate and blood sample ready. Or click cancel to go into RTFM"
This wouldn't happen on a Mac. 'Cos in most of them you can't even get in there to change the graphics card.
-1 not first post
your copy of Windows will stop working with very little notice (three days)
I don't know about anyone else, but if my OS stopped working after three days I'd definitely notice.
Developers: We can use your help.
...this minor inconvenience is clearly offset by the massive benefits inherent in a new GUI skin.
If your theory is different from practice, then your theory is wrong.
"reduced functionality" mode, where you can't do anything but use the web browser for half an hour."
For a percentage of the users being able to use the web browser for half an hour is all they want and need. Not being able to run spyware/malware for that half hour might make this "Desired functionality" mode.
"What other industry is there that abuses their customers like this?"
Been on a commercial airliner lately? How about 8 hours on the tarmac without airconditioning strapped into a seat that's 2" too narrow with 300-lb companions on either side of you and crying toddlers behind and in front of you. Vista won't seem so bad after you get off that plane.
How about Tobacco? They don't abuse their customers, they just cripple and then kill them.
Meat packing? Widespread E-coli outbreaks. At least Vista doesn't give you gut-wrenching bloody diarrhea (although I hear MS Reasarch is working toward this goal).
Money for nothing, pix for free
What other industry is there that abuses their customers like this? I feel like I'm being accused of criminal activity from the first second I install a MS product now.
This is slashdot. I'll give you two guesses, and they both end in 'AA'.
Wasn't this an advertised feature of the OS back before its release? Either that, or it was an EFF warning.
Sure I've heard it somewhere, though.
ilovegeorgebush
Put simply, your copy of Windows will stop working with very little notice (three days) and your PC will go into "reduced functionality" mode...
Would this be a bad time to mention that Leopard has 300 new features?
Or that you don't even have a serial number to enter, much less activation concerns?
Windows guys, if you are tired of Mac "fanbois" kicking you in the rear stop issuing us steel-toed boots and bending over with a big target taped to your posterior!
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Oh really? Never say never. ;)
My WinXP became "deactivated" after I de-installed the video card driver. This "feature" is hardly limited to Vista, I'm afraid.
Well... look on the bright side, if you have to run Vista, you can always install cygwin and run Wine to support more of the programs that Vista just does not want to continue to support.... or turn Vista as large thin client and run those must have software on another Windows box or virtual server instance. May not be a pretty solution, but at aleast people have options.
What other industry is there that abuses their customers like this?
Prostitutes specialising in S&M?
I had Vista running in vmware. Changing the virtual machine's allocated memory from 512 to 768 also forces reactivation... what a pain in the ass.
The advantage of doing this in a virtual environment is that "pkill -9 vmware" in a blind rage is a lot cheaper than throwing your computer out the window.
("Windows, meet window!")
Is there a decent pirated version of Vista yet?
Nope. Pirated or not, Vista is still indecent.
--
"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
Oh god yes, treat me like Vista does! What? Yes, allow whipping. Oh yes. What? Yes, continue dammit!