Windows Vista Activation Problems
section: windows, for your questions: KezNews forum, 23.11.2007
Windows Vista has had everything but an easy ride since it hit the shelves in January 2007. The operating system was plagued by a luxuriant variety of problems from hardware and software incompatibilities to lack of support and poor performance and reliability.
And in this context, Vista has also taken the users out for a ride, making every speed bump count, as Microsoft was applauding the evolved user experience delivered by its latest Windows client. Well, one of the most overlooked aspects among the vast volume of problems associated with Vista are the issues faced by end users when attempting to activate the operating system.
"Activation, also known as Microsoft Product Activation or Windows Product Activation, is an anti-piracy technology designed to verify that Microsoft software products are legitimately licensed. Activation works by verifying that the product key—the 25-character code located on your Certificate of Authenticity (usually affixed to your computer) or proof of license label (usually affixed to the installation disc case)—is authentic and is not in use on more personal computers than are permitted by the software license", reads a fragment of the Windows Vista Activation FAQ.
Activation is by no means a silver bullet solution designed to solve the piracy phenomenon, and as a matter of fact, it has been bypassed on both Windows XP and Windows Vista. But Microsoft continues to put end users through the pains of the activation process. And when you will see the extensive list of Windows Vista activation errors supplied by the Redmond company you will understand the use of the term "pain".
As the vast majority of users acquire Vista preloaded on an original equipment manufacturer machine, in November, Microsoft published a
Knowledge Base Article 942962 referring to error messages that come as a consequence of attempting to activate Vista on an OEM computer. There are a total of three errors presented to the user:
"Error Code: Invalid Volume License Key - In order to activate, you need to change your product key to a valid Multiple Activation Key (MAK) or Retail key. You must have a qualifying operating system license AND a Volume license Windows Vista upgrade license, or a full license for Windows Vista through an OEM or from a retail source . ANY OTHER INSTALLATION OF THIS SOFTWARE IS IN VIOLATION OF YOUR AGREEMENT AND APPLICABLE COPYRIGHT LAW," as well as "Error Code: 0xC004F059 - Description: The Software Licensing Service reported that a license in the computer BIOS is invalid", and "Error Code: 0xc004f035 - The Software Licensing Service reported that the computer could not be activated with a Volume license product key. Volume licensed systems require upgrading from a qualified operating system. Please contact your system administrator or use a different type of key."
KB 942962 can be found via this
link. But as far as end users as concerned, Microsoft gives a more complete view over the activation errors presented by its latest operating system in
KB 931276. And corporate users are not spared. Volume Activation error codes on Windows Vista-based computers delivered through
KB 938450 is nothing short of an encyclopedia of messages.
source:
news.softpedia.com
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Comments(11)
i've been reactivating windows vista ultimate every 2 days. if i leave my pc on for a
couple of days it will ask me to activate vista after the next reboot over again. i'm
wondering if i could sue microsoft for making me having so much trouble using a paid
product that doesn't explain anywhere that you will have to validate every 2 days. i
guess sp1 installation is what's causing this mess... do not attempt to install sp1 guys.
it will not make your vista any faster but a lot more restrictive!
illness....
i'm sure you can sue but till somone sues microsoft this will just keep going on.
the way i see it is if i have to take my time in calling microsoft i should be able
to charge them a fee lets say 50.00 each call due to them wasteing my time because they
think that my copy is of the os is pirated each and everytime that i would have to verify
my copy of the os.
after 90 days of free phone support they charge a fee. so
what stops the end user of chargeing a fee to microsoft for the unnecessary wpa/wga
yoni wants to sue ms because a beta of sp1 is causing him to have to re-activate windows
every 2 days..
how about you get over it and stop being a little whiny
bitch.... bitch..
yes, phiber0pt, you are an idiot.
i'm one of the many, many, many people who
were foolish enought to actually buy a copy of vista and it has deactivated itself after i
had updated my video drivers. wpa is a complete failure.
what rock is yoni living under? sp1 beta has proven itself time and time again to be
faster in file transfers, booting, and overall surfing that the rtm version.
and what
the heck are you going to sue microsoft over? you just admitted that your problems might
be caused by sp1, so i'm willing to bet that you stole that beta from a torrent site or
some pirated download in the first place, so quit your bitching and be happy that you can
even activate your pirated version of windows in the first place!
i have never
had to reactivate vista yet, even after installing sp1. (but then again, i am running a
legit version also, so that may make a difference.)
the candyasses that wrote
that piece about sp1 being a dud, need to run benchmarks on the things that we do everyday
with vista!
the more complicated a system is, the more there is to go wrong. duh!
ya
thimk maybe less bells and whistles and more solidification of core function and
capability might help?
if you read your eula, they can have you active every day. you agreed to this when you
installed it. if you dont like it remove it!
linux is the way to go. piss on micros*ck
why do you idiots have to always throw linux into the picture. linux is a dog and always
will be. no one wants it. i dont see linux being mass installed into hp computers after
how many years? keep your linux bs to yourself. if we wanted linux we wouldnt be here
would we. go hang out on some linux site where you belong............
totally agree with blizz26!! tried linux and spent days just getting video drivers
working correctly, not to mention all my other gear. linux is a not user friendly.
vista is sack bullshitt
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This is nuts!
By Yoni on 24.11.2007 - 03:11