vista activation issue

[richwenzel]

I have an authentic copy of vista retail.

It is only on this one pc.

It was put on a brand new build. After initial install and testing, I activated windows.

Once, when I after i installed a new sound card, it made me reactivate windows.

When I installed the service pack, it told me i had an illegitimate windows copy. Then it told me to activate windows. I did that, for the 3rd time (including initial installation), and it went away.

Recently, I took all the hardware out of one case and moved it to another. It has the same exact cpu, motherboard, graphics card, psu, sound card, hard drive, etc. The ones it has always been using. I changed the case and changed the ram. Vista has been telling me to activate windows. I have refused and now not only is it working differently, but it is definitely slower.

Now I know I could simply just activate it again. But I am sick of that. I don't feel like activating windows every time I change my pc. I also feel that it is insulting. Finally, what if I didn't have internet for awhile and had this problem, I would have to deal with a slower pc because of some bs activation problem?

Anyone have any suggestions. Is this worthy of a BBB complaint? I mean this is a retail copy, I can change pc's 100 times and they can't stop me, as long as no other pc is using it. And since its on the same hd, cpu, mb, etc. it is obvious I am not running 2 copies (my other pc is ubuntu).

Rich

 

[bsobel]

Not activating doesnt slow your system, so it sounds like your refusing to press a button which will activate you (unless your at the point where you need to call in, and if you want to refuse to do that, so be it, but you agreed to it when you bought the OS). In short, if you dont like it, run Ubuntu on both boxes the BBB isnt going to help you.

 

[richwenzel]

i have owned pc's since 1983....this is the first time putting a sound card in or putting new memory in required activation. 4 times in 7 months is ridiculous. i had xp on 2 systems for over 4 years and hadn't had to do it once, one had multiple upgrades....

on one alone 2 graphics card, one nic, 2 separate ram updates, no problems.

 

[Billb2]

When you install a Microsoft Os (XP and beyond, I assume) it establishes a "score" based on the components detected (motherboard, CPU, Sound card, RAM, etc.). It saves this "score" somewhere (?).

If you add/change components, and the "score" changes significantly(?), reactivation is required.

It's a PITA, but that's the way Bill wants to do it.

The option is that MS keeps the OS on their servers and charges a monthly fee (like cable TV) to access it. That's where we're going.

 

[bruceb]

Maybe you are going there. I will keep my OS and my files on my own computer where I have full control over everything.
I for one, do not see a need or benefit to "cloud computing" except for possibly use thru a cell phone / pda type unit.
We all pay enough in fees to all sorts of service already.

 

[RebateMonger]

Microsoft also has a forum dedicated to Vista Validation issues:

Microsoft Windows Vista Validation Issues Forum

They have tools and experts there to help you.

 

[Doomer]

The sheeple who bow down to MS are the ones who ultimately are responsible for the BS we all have to endure. As it is now, when you buy Windows, you have bought nothing.

 

[Replay]

Those that buy an MS OS in a retail box will, sooner or later, be treated as if they are criminals, by the lousy MS activation scheme. Nothing quite like being told you have an illegal copy of Windows, when you paid good money for it.

I see nothing morally objectionable about choosing to operate your pc as if it were an oem machine, and avoiding activation hassles, when you own a legit retail copy.

If you study the subject, you may stumble upon a workaround (this is not the place to talk about such things). Folks that buy a preloaded name-brand computer do not have to go through frequent re-activation. Dell, HP, and the rest would not put up with the service nightmares.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: Replay
Those that buy an MS OS in a retail box will, sooner or later, be treated as if they are criminals, by the lousy MS activation scheme. Nothing quite like being told you have an illegal copy of Windows, when you paid good money for it.

Has that happened to you a lot? I've managed hundreds of XP PCs in dozens of offices and have yet to see an Activation problem with a non-pirated copy of XP.

I don't like paying for things any more than you do. And nobody likes copy protection. But MS' Activation scheme has been surprisingly trouble-free.

 

[bruceb]

Don't you mean Trouble Some ? .. The very fact that MS need a special forum for Vista (and there other porgrams like Office & XP) that uses Activation proves to me that these are not isolated cases by people that own Legitimate Bought copies of the programs in question.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

Originally posted by: bruceb
Don't you mean Trouble Some ? .. The very fact that MS need a special forum for Vista (and there other porgrams like Office & XP) that uses Activation proves to me that these are not isolated cases by people that own Legitimate Bought copies of the programs in question.

What do you mean? The fact that Microsoft has support forums for this automatically makes it troublesome? I have had to reinstall my OEM copy a couple times (not related to hardware) and Microsoft hasn't given me any trouble yet.

 

[nerp]

Ununtu has help forums?

Must be broken all over the place.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: bruceb
The very fact that MS need a special forum for Vista (and there other porgrams like Office & XP) that uses Activation proves to me that these are not isolated cases by people that own Legitimate Bought copies of the programs in question.

A quick read of the Vista Activation Forum shows that many problems are related to folks who have somehow acquired Volume Licensed versions of Vista when they shouldn't be using those versions.

Like I said, I don't "like" Activation. But the fact is that, without Activation, most folks likely wouldn't have paid for XP or Vista. How many people paid for Windows 98? Something like one-in-five.

"Trouble-some" was Intuit's Turbo-Tax Activation. It generated so many problems that Intuit sent an apology letter to everybody who complained and dropped Activation completely.

Considering the wide range of hardware that Vista must support and keep functionin and the hundreds of millions of copies distributed, it seems that Microsoft's Activation works pretty well. That the OP is refusing to "push the Activation button" is his/her choice, but hardly proof of a major problem.

 

[bruceb]

I do not mind activation per se, if it done properly and doesn't pester the user when a minor change occurs.
It needs to work seamlessly and in my view MS activation and some other companies, just do not make
the job easy for the software user.