Tag: activation key
October 25, 2009 by
Jason
When you run your thumb down the list of new features and improvements in Windows 7 (see the feature comparison chart at http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/compare), you’re bound to wonder how you’re going to get your arms around all that new technology so that you can deliver it to your users without too much disruption.
Following are 10 steps that can help you accomplish that goal.
1. Get to know Windows 7 on a first-name basis.
Obviously, the first step is to gain personal experience. And that means more than just puttering around in the lab. Install Windows 7 on every workstation in your organization and on the machine you use at home for remote-access trouble calls. Force yourself to find ways to make everything work.
Most tools for managing Windows servers from Windows 7 are included in the Windows 7 Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT), which must be downloaded separately. At this writing, the final RSAT package hasn’t been finalized. The release candidate is available at here. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | 1 Comment »
There’s an easy way to stretch Windows 7’s 30-day free-trial period to 120 days so you can determine whether Microsoft’s new operating system meets your needs.
Even better if you know the secret you can try out any version of Win7, from Ultimate to the lowly Basic, using a single install disc.
It’s fair to say that by now hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of copies of Windows 7 sit on DVDs and hard drives all over the world. You might have downloaded a copy of Win7 from the official sites: Microsoft Developer Network, TechNet, or Software Advantage. Perhaps you hooked up your machine to a torrent or a newsgroup site to download the new OS. Or maybe you snagged a copy from your tech-savvy sister-in-law.
Whichever channel you use, if you don’t already have a copy of Windows 7, you can easily put your paws on the installation bits and burn your own install DVD. Just be sure what you downloaded is the real, shipping version of Windows 7. One way to confirm this is to use a set of checksum verification instructions found on Pctipsbox. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | No Comments »
With the gold build of the latest iteration of the Windows client now live on MSDN and TechNet, Microsoft has also made available for download the final version of the Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK) for Windows 7 RTM. The bits went live the past week, just as the Redmond company started offering Windows 7 RTM Build 7600 to its developer and IT professional communities. With Windows AIK customers will be able to perform various tasks associated with the Windows 7 deployment process, including customizations and installations. The kit is available not just for Windows 7 client but also for Windows Server 2008 R2.
“The Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) is a set of tools and documentation that support the configuration and deployment of Windows operating systems. By using Windows AIK, you can automate Windows installations, capture Windows images with ImageX, configure and modify images using Deployment Imaging Servicing and Management (DISM), create Windows PE images, and migrate user profiles and data with the User State Migration Tool (USMT). Windows AIK also includes the Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT), which enables IT professionals to automate and centrally manage the volume activation process using a Multiple Activation Key (MAK),” Microsoft revealed. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | 2 Comments »
January 02, 2009 by
Jason I read something on Slashdot today that continues to perpetuate the myth that there if you’ve activated Windows more than twice using the same consumer product activation key, you’re hosed because Microsoft Licensing Services won’t provide another activation for you.
Folks – This is just plain wrong.
If you’re an individual user and you find that can’t activate your copy of Windows XP/Vista because you’ve used up your previous activations on your existing consumer product activation key and:
- You reformatted/reinstalled Windows on your PC
- You made a hardware change to your machine
- You upgraded to a new PC
…you can virtually always get another activation through Licensing Services in the US simply by calling the Microsoft Windows Vista Consumer Product Activation Phone Number at 1-866-740-1256. (Assuming of course that you aren’t abusing the privilege.) Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista, Windows XP | No Comments »
Like busses you wait ages for a Windows Service Pack, then two come along at once. Hard on the heels of Vista SP1, which mostly went without a hitch, we can now look forward to XP Service Pack 3, the last for the operating system, which is now heading towards retirement, probably next year.
If you were around when MS unleashed SP2 you are forgiven for a brief shudder of trepidation, but I think this one should go quite smoothly. Unlike XP SP2, which re-wrote a lot of the operating system’s code, this one focuses on rolling up all previous security updates since the release of SP2, and a reported 1074 fixes and upgrades. Most of them are anonymous behind the scenes things that you’ll be happier not knowing about (because they are mostly deathly dull…), but there are a few interesting bits and bobs. Read More»
Posted in Office, Windows XP | 2 Comments »
February 21, 2008 by
Jason My tips explained how to set up a Vista machine to dual-boot between that OS and Windows XP.
But booting to XP on a dual-boot system has the negative side-effect of deleting any Vista restore points, in addition to all but its latest backup file, and a Registry workaround is required to prevent this.
XP dual-boot is not system-restore friendly
Ian Brown was the first to describe an unfortunate fact of dual-booting XP and Vista: Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista, Windows XP | 1 Comment »
Unlike Windows XP, which was sent barefoot into the world, Windows Vista comes in the context of a mature anti-piracy infrastructure courtesy of the Windows Genuine Advantage mechanism, and with the Reduced Functionality Mode limitations. Reduced Functionality Mode in Vista is delivered in two distinct flavors: out-of-grace and non-genuine. The first is associated with operating systems that have not been activated in the initial 30 days grace period while the second is a result of the detection of a potentially pirated copy of the platform.
“Windows Vista may enter reduced functionality mode if one of the following conditions is true: you do not activate Windows Vista within the specified activation period; Read More»
Posted in Computer, Windows Vista | 1 Comment »
Some of the more recent Firefox customizations I’ve examined are ways to speed up the rendering of Web pages. The settings to do this are a little arcane and not terribly self-explanatory, but with a little tinkering, you can often get pages to pop up faster and waste less time redrawing themselves.
Start rendering pages faster
Creating an nglayout.initialpaint.delay integer preference lets you control how long Firefox waits before starting to render a page. If this value isn’t set, Firefox defaults to 250 milliseconds, or 0.25 of a second. Some people report that setting it to 0 i.e., forcing Firefox to begin rendering immediately causes almost all pages to show up faster. Values as high as 50 are also pretty snappy. Read More»
Posted in Firefox | 5 Comments »
If you have installed a Microsoft Windows operating system in the last few years, you are familiar with the concept of product activation. Product activation helps the vendor, in this case Microsoft, to ensure that the software being installed is a legally licensed copy. After installing the product, you will continue to receive messages and alerts reminding you that the clock is ticking to activate the product. If you do not activate the product in time, it will cease working until you do so. Some users find product activation to be a tremendous nuisance, Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista | 2 Comments »
To tell you the truth, I have never understood what the big deal is with product activation. The fact of the matter is that software piracy is fairly rampant and that Microsoft is the target for a large percentage of the piracy due to their dominance in the operating system and office productivity software markets. They have a right to try to stop or at least control that privacy and the product activation seems to be a fair way of ensuring that only legitimate software owners get to benefit from using it.
All that said, I know that there are many users who abhor the process. It may be because they have had problems activating and have had to call the toll-free number and wait to talk to a Microsoft support agent who then read them some 278-character long (okay- it’s a slight exaggeration) activation code. Read More»
Posted in Windows XP | 2 Comments »
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