WARNING! Device Driver Updates Causing Vista to Deactivate

[cheapherk]

Well the title says it all. This has happened to me twice in the past two days. Last night for example, I updated my Creative X-Fi drivers. This morning when I booted my computer, I was taken directly to a link to activate Windows and when I attempted to do so, I was not able to.

I ended up having to boot into safe-mode then do a system restore.

All from updating my drivers- Read about it here.

 

[MrChad]

Originally posted by: cheapherk
I ended up having to boot into safe-mode then do a system restore.

A simple call to Microsoft's activation line would probably have taken less time.

 

[balane]

Well, that's two of you it happened to.

 

[cheapherk]

Originally posted by: MrChad

Originally posted by: cheapherk
I ended up having to boot into safe-mode then do a system restore.

A simple call to Microsoft's activation line would probably have taken less time.

I'm not so sure about that... anyway, this shouldn't be happening. I always update my drivers when new ones are released. Now I can't.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Great, just great. Yet another reason why legitimate users suffer, while users of illicit versions of software have nothing to worry about. Remind me why we're supposed to pay for software again? To get a lesser-performing version of the same thing, that costs more? Economic theory would tend to suggest not making that choice again.

 

[PepperBreath]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
Great, just great. Yet another reason why legitimate users suffer, while users of illicit versions of software have nothing to worry about. Remind me why we're supposed to pay for software again? To get a lesser-performing version of the same thing, that costs more? Economic theory would tend to suggest not making that choice again.

Has this happened to you too or are we getting into a Chicken Little mentality already?

Edit:

Ah...nevermind. Post history makes the agenda much more clear.

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...id=34&threadid=2115679

 

[mechBgon]

Cumulative changes in hardware can trigger reactivation, and that's not a new Vista feature; WinXP also has that behavior. Changes in drivers can make the same hardware seem different to Windows, contributing towards the reactivation trigger. This is one reason I suggest people delay activating Windows until they've gotten all their drivers installed, and probably the reason that Vista won't auto-activate until three days have elapsed if it's left to its own devices (haha 😀).

Solution: call the toll-free number and get it reactivated. Yeah, it's a nuisance, but what's the realistic alternative? They can't just leave Windows wide-open for people to pirate it.

 

[nerp]

This happened to me when I installed chipset drivers this Februrary when Vista just came out. Took about five minutes of my life to get it reactivated since I own a legal copy. I'd say that took about 3 minutes longer than it takes to ramble and complain on the internet on a message board. 🙂

 

[wetcat007]

I like how people who pay for windows have to suffer this while those downloading windows from a torrent site don't have to worry about activation.

 

[Sunner]

Originally posted by: PepperBreath

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
Great, just great. Yet another reason why legitimate users suffer, while users of illicit versions of software have nothing to worry about. Remind me why we're supposed to pay for software again? To get a lesser-performing version of the same thing, that costs more? Economic theory would tend to suggest not making that choice again.

Has this happened to you too or are we getting into a Chicken Little mentality already?

Edit:

Ah...nevermind. Post history makes the agenda much more clear.

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...id=34&threadid=2115679

Well, he has a point.
Various kinds of copy protection have never stopped pirates, but they do tend to make things more annoying for legitimate users.
Of all the games I own, I'm using cracks and such for most, simply because using the unmodified versions just means more annoyances for me(having to have the discs in the drive, need to be connected for whatever reason, etc).
I'd say the fact that I buy a piece of software, then take the time to download cracks for it just to make it work smoother, says something about who's affected the most by this.

If I had just downloaded it to begin with, I'd essentially just have saved a lot of time.
I do like those shiny boxes however, I keep them in a bookshelf next to my computer, that way I can feel nostalgic about them later on 🙂

 

[Nothinman]

Changes in drivers can make the same hardware seem different to Windows, contributing towards the reactivation trigger.

Which is retarded and just says that MS is doing their hardware checks at the wrong level. If I run 'lspci' on a Linux box I will get the exact same output every single time until I make a hardware change (that includes disabling/enabling devices in the BIOS) no matter what the drivers do on the software level.

 

[cheapherk]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Cumulative changes in hardware can trigger reactivation, and that's not a new Vista feature; WinXP also has that behavior. Changes in drivers can make the same hardware seem different to Windows, contributing towards the reactivation trigger. This is one reason I suggest people delay activating Windows until they've gotten all their drivers installed, and probably the reason that Vista won't auto-activate until three days have elapsed if it's left to its own devices (haha 😀).

Solution: call the toll-free number and get it reactivated. Yeah, it's a nuisance, but what's the realistic alternative? They can't just leave Windows wide-open for people to pirate it.

It freakin' happened again. All I can get is a web browser. It tells me I have to validate Windows. I attempt to do so, but it fails. This is all I get. This is unlike when I activated the first time. It fails- that's it. No other options are given. I don't get the screen with the number which I have to call into Microsoft. This just plain sucks!

UPDATE: I again did a System Restore. After booting up, I went to the Windows Validation site on my own. When I did this myself, Windows Validated fine. WTH!!!

 

[nerp]

Originally posted by: wetcat007
I like how people who pay for windows have to suffer this while those downloading windows from a torrent site don't have to worry about activation.

If that's the case, why does some tard join #windows every day and ask about validation cracks and/or other workarounds? I can't count the number of times I've seen someone say "anyone got a WGA crack?" or "can anyone send me [ms hotfix/patch]"

Those people far outnumber the legit people with activation problems, from my experience.

 

[ShawnD1]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
Great, just great. Yet another reason why legitimate users suffer, while users of illicit versions of software have nothing to worry about. Remind me why we're supposed to pay for software again? To get a lesser-performing version of the same thing, that costs more? Economic theory would tend to suggest not making that choice again.

This is becoming more true for a lot of things. Bioshock's warez version was much easier to install than the real thing. P2P music is easier to use than iTunes music. Warez Windows is easier to use than legit Windows.

My copy of Vista Business killed itself when I installed new sound drivers, and it gave me 3 days to call MS.
One of my XP computers deactivated itself when I added a PCI Wireless N network card.

Luckily MS' phone number is saved on my phone, and I get free calls after 9pm. I've had to call them 3 times this month.


edit: I wish Nothinman worked for microsoft.

Originally posted by: Nothinman

Changes in drivers can make the same hardware seem different to Windows, contributing towards the reactivation trigger.

Which is retarded and just says that MS is doing their hardware checks at the wrong level. If I run 'lspci' on a Linux box I will get the exact same output every single time until I make a hardware change (that includes disabling/enabling devices in the BIOS) no matter what the drivers do on the software level.

 

[Sunner]

Originally posted by: nerp

Originally posted by: wetcat007
I like how people who pay for windows have to suffer this while those downloading windows from a torrent site don't have to worry about activation.

If that's the case, why does some tard join #windows every day and ask about validation cracks and/or other workarounds? I can't count the number of times I've seen someone say "anyone got a WGA crack?" or "can anyone send me [ms hotfix/patch]"

Those people far outnumber the legit people with activation problems, from my experience.

Didn't DailyTech run a story a while back about some pre-activated OEM version of Vista Ultimate?
As far as I remember, you just had to install it and you were done, updates working fine, etc.
Sounds convenient 🙂