Oh god Microsoft, what have you done?

[Kaze06]

I've been reading over numerous complaints of the "hardware change/lockout" issue with Vista, and just read some of these...

I activated the product upon installation, and it worked fine for a few weeks. Then I opened the case to reduce the fan speed on the case, and the stupid OS told me I had to reactivate the product with a new product key because of "a hardware change." Give me a break, Microsoft.

I had the unfortunate encounter of using Vista on my laptop. The flight I was on offered a wireless internet service in-flight, so I figured I'd catch up on some things while I was en-route. Little did I know, upon changing to the plane's wireless source, I was locked out from Vista due to a hardware change. I spent the rest of my trip without the ability to use my laptop.

Alright, so my new set of memory got here Tuesday, as I wanted to upgrade from 1GB because it's god-awfully slow in Vista. I shut down normally, open it up, install the memory and run the PC. I am told Vista has been deactivated due to a hardware change.

Wait, what?

I've been locked out from Vista because I was trying to make it run better? Oh God, the irony, Microsoft.

Dunno about you, but if my car told me it wasn't going to start because I upgraded the stereo, I would run towards the nearest living thing and kill it.

[Speederlander]

Interestingly, seems the majority sentiment here (at XS) is that it is good.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=144558

[Noob-ftw]

I'm glad I still use XP. :)

[NickS]

During my one install of vista I've..

Gone from an E6300 -> Pentium 4 631 -> QX6700 -> E6300
and for video cards
X1900GT -> 8800GTX -> X1900GT

And numerous sets of ram. I've never had an issue.

[cadaveca]

ME either. just never changed hardrives(have changed DVDRW) and mobo, changed soundcards, vidcards, cpu's, mems...

[[XC]Atomicpineapple]

Well I just cloned my failing RAID array onto a single drive, Vista deactivated itself and refuses to re-activate (either over the web or their automated phone system) so now I've gotta call them and explain to someone what Ive done. I'm calling BS on their whole setup now, I paid a shedload for Vista Ultimate Retail and they still jerk me around, screw that, next time maybe I should just pirate it and avoid all this junk.

[lawrywild]

Never had a problem, change ram, upgraded to more ram, changed gfx, reinstalled CPU about 5 times (mobo detects it as a new cpu each time)

PS: I hope these people with problems know that you should activate windows only after you've installed ALL drivers for the hardware, otherwise each new driver you install is another hardware change, same as XP.

[experttech2007]

...each new driver you install is another hardware change, same as XP.

Well, I always update drivers fro XP and never had to reactivate it more than once.

I have not tried Vista yet so cant say.

As for the first post, I doubt whether you can access internet while on the plane ;) Well maybe...I dont know

[SaFrOuT]

maybe cause u r guys using Retail versions while the people facing problems in the first post was using the oem version

[experttech2007]

I have the OEM version

[SparkyJJO]

I smell :bs: on some of those. like this:
I activated the product upon installation, and it worked fine for a few weeks. Then I opened the case to reduce the fan speed on the case, and the stupid OS told me I had to reactivate the product with a new product key because of "a hardware change." Give me a break, Microsoft.
Like windows can tell that you changed a fan... riiiiight.....

Anyway I'm still using XP pro, plan to until I can get vista from school for $20 like I did XP :D By then some bugs should be worked out.

[SaFrOuT]

it can't tell that u changed a fan my friend, it can tell if the case was openned or not from the bios of the mobo

[XSAlliN]

During my one install of vista I've..

Gone from an E6300 -> Pentium 4 631 -> QX6700 -> E6300
and for video cards
X1900GT -> 8800GTX -> X1900GT

And numerous sets of ram. I've never had an issue.

Pirated version doesn't count! :D

[Vapor]

I did a motherboard swap on an OEM version (well, MSDN) and it didn't kick back an error. I had this problem once on XP....forget what I changed, board and RAM at the same time maybe? I think it was board, RAM, and which SATA controller I decided to use....so three things, two of which were major and the RAM quantity changed.

I think lawrywild is right with this one....don't activate until all the drivers are installed so that Vista properly knows what hardware you have as a baseline. Also, when you make hardware changes, reboot between each one (actually, I think this may not help....I know it did with XP though).

Also, the open-case lockout is something the OEM has to specify, so tough-noogies there, buy a different brand.

[TouGe]

I'm going to have to call bull:banana::banana::banana::banana: on these complaints:

I had the unfortunate encounter of using Vista on my laptop. The flight I was on offered a wireless internet service in-flight, so I figured I'd catch up on some things while I was en-route. Little did I know, upon changing to the plane's wireless source, I was locked out from Vista due to a hardware change. I spent the rest of my trip without the ability to use my laptop.

My wife uses a couple of different Wi-Fi spots on her laptop between home, work, school, and here favorite coffee shop and she has never had this problem. Her copy of Vista is an OEM copy.

Alright, so my new set of memory got here Tuesday, as I wanted to upgrade from 1GB because it's god-awfully slow in Vista. I shut down normally, open it up, install the memory and run the PC. I am told Vista has been deactivated due to a hardware change.

Wait, what?

I've been locked out from Vista because I was trying to make it run better? Oh God, the irony, Microsoft.

When I was having problems with my set of Patriot RAM I was bouncing back and forth between a 2GB kit of Corsair and Mushkin w/o any issues. When I received my Patriot RAM back from RMA I installed them, again, w/o any problems.

I activated the product upon installation, and it worked fine for a few weeks. Then I opened the case to reduce the fan speed on the case, and the stupid OS told me I had to reactivate the product with a new product key because of "a hardware change." Give me a break, Microsoft.

This one is just plain stupid and not worth commenting on!

I have also added new harddrives without any problems, switched out CPU coolers, and pulled out my soundcard to try on-board audio (which meant I had to untinstall/install drivers) and then went back to my soundcard after I found out how bad on-board sucked (again, uninstall/install drivers). To do all of this I first had to OPEN THE CASE DOOR!

I'm sure there are things that can cause reactivation just as there are with Xp such as switching out CPU's and MoBo's--both of these caused me to reactivate under Xp--but those listed by the initial poster are either fake or were made up by people who just can't get over themselves.

[Anemone]

Nothing so fancy for me. I've added the sound card after the initial install (well moved it from the old machine) and it went fine.

Went to a 8800 from a 7900 and aside from new driver install, all went fine. Then went back again to the 7900 and again, all is fine.

I've changed cpu speeds several times, as well as mobo bios upgrades and resets, and mem speed changes as well (not a shock around here) and nothing was detected as being out of spec.

Vista 64 ultimate retail version

ymmv, but this machine has been very well behaved.

[experttech2007]

it can't tell that u changed a fan my friend, it can tell if the case was openned or not from the bios of the mobo

Good point. I saw the instrusion detection jumper when setting up my new mobo but didnt use it.

Although this is a great option in corporate environments to detect intrusions.


Oh yeah BTW the 2 Gigs OCZ Platinum R2 RAM is for $80 AR @ newegg and so I ordered it. Now I will have 4 GB soon and then the move to Vista 64 bit will be inevitable...oh well..we'll see!!

[Nistomax]

Similar happened to me on the OEM version of windows. I swapped HDD with someone's pc because my graphics card was on the fritz, luckily i only got locked out of one pc and then explained the problem and got it fixed. As the security increases, the convenience decreases.
I have upgraded video cards etc with no problems, i think a huge hardware change will make xp/vista want to re-register though (maybe new cpu, mobo, ram) or something like that but a couple sticks of ram or a wireless network is absurd!:shocked:

[Bootup05]

Same here, Upgraded from a 7900GTO to 6200LE and didn't have a problem :)

Suppose its a downgrade.. lol

[Nephilim]

XP isn't that much better and has given me grief itself. I was diagnosing a hardware interrupt CPU utilisation problem (turned out to be HDD cable) so I unplugged my optical drive.

XP told me since the hardware had drastically changed re-activation was necessary. Retarded. I was at a LAN at the time *sigh*.

[lawrywild]

it can't tell that u changed a fan my friend, it can tell if the case was openned or not from the bios of the mobo

Erm what? Maybe if it's a DELL yeh but there's no way my computer knows when I open the side panel... :rolleyes:

PS: Seriously, people who dislike Vista need to stop making it public, no one really gives a crap whether you like it or not, just don't use it if you don't.

[[XC] itznfb]

i've gone from a DS3 mobo, to an ASUS 650i, to a Commando with many different sets of RAM, and 3 different CPUs all on the same Vista install. never gave me an issue.

[Jimmer411]

swapped HDD a few times on my laptop, as well as went from 512, to 1gb then to 2gb of ram all on vista ultimate oem. Sounds like a bunch of people that havent ever used vista making things up to me.