Re: registration procedure sucks

"Bruce McGee" wrote:
I.P. Nichols wrote:

Talk about blowing things all out of proportion, if one has a retail
version of Windows, Microsoft will allow you to reactivate it even if
you are replacing the entire system, motherboard and all, if you
phone which is available world wide on a 24hr/day everyday basis
including holidays. This does not extend to OEM versions. Large
volume Vista licenses are activated using a local server at the
owners site.

How many times? I understand it's only once, but would be happy to be
wrong. I also understand that the rules are even more strict under
Vista. Again, happy to be proven wrong.

A 24 hour support line doesn't do me any good if the answer is "there's
nothing we can do for you".

It's more than once but why don't you contact Microsoft directly and ask how many times?


Do you have any reliable references where Microsoft decided someone
violated their EULA and disabled every copy of Vista running at that
site?

Do you see any reliable guarantee they they won't? Especially now that
activation is mandatory and Windows phones home, even more so with
Vista?

There is no difference between Vista and Win-XP WRT activation and checking for updates. Again, if you are all that concerned why not contact Microsoft and get their assurance?

So they *can* disable my copy of Windows, but you're saying that it's
unlikely that they ever will.

As you well know, any time you connect to the internet there are several ways applications that check for updates or even download help documentation can disable things on your computer. Not to mention the harm that can result from worms and viruses.

Microsoft only has itself to blame if some people don;t entirely trust
them. And never mind intentionally disabling copies of Windows, what
happens if someone makes a mistake or Microsoft's servers get hit by
another worm?

I don't like that they CAN

You believe that Microsoft is the "Great Satan of Software" not to be trusted and it seems hopeless to try to convince you otherwise. However for myself, I find it hard to explain their growth and profitability if they are such poor stewards of trust and are likely to disable their customer's legally licensed operating system at any moment. To me that sounds like it would be a really fatal business policy but you obliviously believe otherwise. :>)


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