Little heads-up about installing Windows 7

InorganicMatter

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It scans all your computer's hard disks for pirated copies of Vista, flags them as non-genuine, and de-activates so you can't boot into them.
 
And you've gleaned this info from... personal experience with the installation or... some website... or... ?
 
Honestly, I don't, and I've never seen even a single peep out there anywhere on the hundreds of forums I frequent that even suggests such a thing. But then again, I don't use "pirated" software sooo... weird.
 
Hmmm.... Not that we don't believe you but I thought that Microsoft had stopped doing the "kill switch" thing. As soon as ONE person with a legitimate copy Vista gets deactivated it will cause the IT to go ape. I just don't believe it.
 
Hmmm.... Not that we don't believe you but I thought that Microsoft had stopped doing the "kill switch" thing. As soon as ONE person with a legitimate copy Vista gets deactivated it will cause the IT to go ape. I just don't believe it.

I'm gonna document it, blog it, and Digg it some time today or tomorrow, so I'll try to give you better proof then.
 
I'm glad they are doing this. An OS is something that just shouldn't be pirated.....

I mean, come on. You spend thousands building a pc and then go out of your way not to spend $100 on an OS?

Pay up....
 
I'm glad they are doing this. An OS is something that just shouldn't be pirated.....

I mean, come on. You spend thousands building a pc and then go out of your way not to spend $100 on an OS?

Pay up....

I do not have a problem with this per se but this kind of thing ALWAYS comes back to be controversial for Microsoft and to be honest with Windows 7 who's really going to want to pirate Vista anyway? Windows 7 is the best deterant there is for Vista piracy.
 
I know several users personally that would prefer to pirate Vista than purchase 7. In fact, I know several people who would prefer to pirate anything over purchasing something else.

Personally, I agree with shawnoen and say cough up the $100 for an OS, or choose to go *nix instead.
 
I know several users personally that would prefer to pirate Vista than purchase 7. In fact, I know several people who would prefer to pirate anything over purchasing something else.

Personally, I agree with shawnoen and say cough up the $100 for an OS, or choose to go *nix instead.

I can agree with this logic but if you can pirate Windows 7 as well why would you? That's why I don't see why Mirosoft would care about Vista. I could see them doing this to XP before Vista.
 
I'm glad they are doing this. An OS is something that just shouldn't be pirated.....

I mean, come on. You spend thousands building a pc and then go out of your way not to spend $100 on an OS?

Pay up....

I am in this camp, it also reminds me of the claim, I am not sure by who, that the cost of high-end PC hardware in the enthusiast market is eating away at software sales via subsidizing a la P2P.

"$60 for a new game, or $60 towards a new upgrade and pirate the game?"

Sound logic, but the degree in which software sales are affected is in question, the enthusiast market is smallish compared to the mainstream (including consoles).

ps. Long time lurker, (over 4 years) first time poster.... be gentle.
 
Pretty sure pirated copies.

I read something a while back about something in Vista update that detects if the installed copy was legit - perhaps this is a followup to that?
 
If this turns out to have some truth to it, the only folks that might be complaining are those running said pirated copies so, it's a non-issue to me. Can't imagine why anyone other than people with pirated copies might even bother to speak up about it (unless they're making statements similar to the one I'm making right now...) :D
 
OP, are you talking about installed pirated copies, or disc images?

considering there's no way to know if an image is genuine or not before the key or activation hack is put in, I'd say copies installed with fake keys, cracks etc.

If this turns out to have some truth to it, the only folks that might be complaining are those running said pirated copies so, it's a non-issue to me. Can't imagine why anyone other than people with pirated copies might even bother to speak up about it (unless they're making statements similar to the one I'm making right now...) :D

well, for some reason, every now and again, WGA takes issue with a legitimate install I did on a friend's computer. I could imagine that a legitimate user may run afoul of Win7's check and be left with a system in an unusable state.
 
well, for some reason, every now and again, WGA takes issue with a legitimate install I did on a friend's computer. I could imagine that a legitimate user may run afoul of Win7's check and be left with a system in an unusable state.

But if they're dumping Vista and moving to Windows 7, why would it be an issue? :D (extreme sarcasm here, and a bit rhetorical as well...)

If they're using the upgrade version of Windows 7 that means they're not supposed to even use Vista anymore, yanno... or do people not realize that? That's the whole purpose of an upgrade: to replace the old, and the licensing agreement bears that out. Once you install the upgrade version, you're not legally entitled to continue using the product you "upgraded" - but I guess people don't abide by that agreement much, eh...
 
But if they're dumping Vista and moving to Windows 7, why would it be an issue? :D (extreme sarcasm here, and a bit rhetorical as well...)

I imagine it'd be an issue if you're trying to upgrade (or do a clean install over) Vista and Win7 refuses to install because it finds a non-legit copy, and disables Vista while it's at it.
 
Yah, I got that, hence the remark about the sarcasm. :p

But then again, there's that clean install option just waiting in the wings... delete the partition, boot off the DVD, there ya go...
 
Yah, I got that, hence the remark about the sarcasm. :p

But then again, there's that clean install option just waiting in the wings... delete the partition, boot off the DVD, there ya go...

right, we know that... but what about Joe Blow upgrading his Vistas?
 
Do you ever stop to wonder how many people think they're actually allowed to use the upgrade version(s) of Windows and they still keep using the old ones? Not realizing they're not really entitled to it? I see it constantly, myself...

If a legit owner of Vista using a legit upgrade of Windows 7 has issues, then they take it up with Microsoft, it's about that simple. If they're getting an upgrade version from an OEM like Dell or whatever because they just purchased a new machine this shouldn't be an issue but, because of what we're considering it could be, they take it up with the OEM directly.

Upgrades... ugh, it's just something I never do, nor do I recommend the process, for any reason, with any OS. I always have taken the path of least resistance, personally, and that means a clean install on a blank partition with nothing else on it. I've never appreciated the fact that Microsoft supposedly makes it so easy to do an upgrade installation because:

a) it rarely if ever works, especially if there's a large gap of time from the installation of the soon-to-be-upgraded OS, and...

b) it generates a ton of extra support calls for people like me (and probably a lot of you as well) and honestly, while I do enjoy helping people, I'm at a point in my life where it sure as hell ain't about the money (it never was for me, never will be). You can only beat a dead horse so much, then it's just boring. :D

But I do get the aspects of an upgrade, and whenever I encounter clients that will not let me do a clean installation of a new OS for them, even with an upgrade version of the newest OS, I pass 'em off on someone else. It's just not worth the time and frustration, at any price.
 
I'm glad they are doing this. An OS is something that just shouldn't be pirated.....

I mean, come on. You spend thousands building a pc and then go out of your way not to spend $100 on an OS?

Pay up....

I wish you could legitimately buy Windows without their lame online activation DRM. Even if it cost more, I would definitely buy myself a 2-copy "volume license". I like to upgrade my hardware, utilize virtual devices, and reinstall Windows whenever it gets wonky.
 
It scans all your computer's hard disks for pirated copies of Vista, flags them as non-genuine, and de-activates so you can't boot into them.

Did you test this with a genuine version of windows vista? see if its just a bug in the "upgrade" process activating its self and deactivate vista(as part of the upgrade process)?

If you need some legit Vista keys, I've got a few spares I'll willing to donate to you. I want to make sure your doing this properly, and that its not just a bug in the installation process.
 
I wish you could legitimately buy Windows without their lame online activation DRM. Even if it cost more, I would definitely buy myself a 2-copy "volume license". I like to upgrade my hardware, utilize virtual devices, and reinstall Windows whenever it gets wonky.

You can with a retail version. If it no longer activates just call the number displayed on the screen and explain what you did and they will let you reactivate.
 
My secondary box has a OEM copy I bought when building it. My main has a retail copy since I change hardware often.
 
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