Yet another "activation" issue

[Guest]

I have a client that recently bought a Dell XPS tower with Windows Vista
Ultimate pre-installed by Dell. Vista was already activated and stayed that
way for about a week. Yesterday he noticed that he suddenly had "27 days
left to activate". He tried to activate over the Internet and it wouldn't
work. I tried to help him with the whole phone activation procedure and it
didn't work either.

Figuring it might be the deactivation issue when installing new disk
controller drivers that everyone is having, I reverted back to previous
drivers which also didn't work. He hasn't made any hardware or software
changes to the computer since he got it.

Then I noticed Windows Update was showing a patch that supposedly fixed an
issue where a pre-activated copy of Vista would deactivate. I installed the
patch, but it didn't work either.

I'm at my wits end with this and don't know what else to do, short of
reloading the OS. The client doesn't want to reload since he just spent a
week getting the computer set up the way he wanted. I'm going to try to call
Dell on Monday to see if they have any ideas why this happened.

If anyone has an idea on what to do, please let me know. Also, if you know
how to fix the deactivation issue when updating drivers, let me know too.
Seems like I'm getting more and more clients that are having this happen to
them.

 

[Richard Urban]

When you used the phone in method of activation, did you stay on the line
long enough to speak with a live person, how ever well you may be able to
actually communicate with the connected individual?

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

 

[Guest]

Yes, I forgot to mention that I did stay on the line and someone answered
pretty quickly. They recommended that I contact Dell and that's what I'm
going to do on Monday. Hopefully they'll be able to help.

 

[Guest]

I called Dell today and they couldn't figure it out.

They recommended I call Microsoft, which I already did. I'm getting the
whole "finger pointing" thing going on here.

Meanwhile I have 25 days left to activate.

If anyone has any ideas on what to do, please let me know. I'd hate for
this guys computer to suddenly deactivate itself. He's running Quickbooks
2007 on it which he uses to run his business.

 

[Guest]

I would call MS tech support. They typically want to charge for support calls
on OEM preinstalls, but will waive the charge if the situation warrants it.
Explain to them that the MS activation line was unable to help and Dell
referred you to MS support.

BTW, the phone activation center typically gives you a new product ID to
enter, at least with XP. Did they do this for Vista, and if so, are you
saying that it failed to activate with the new prod ID?

 

[Guest]

I read off the numbers to the automated phone-bot who said it couldn't verify
the numbers. Then I got forwarded to a live person who I could barely
understand since they spoke very broken English and heavy accent of some kind.

She asked me for the first few numbers of the code that was up on the screen
and asked me if I had an OEM copy that was pre-installed to which I replied
"yes, from Dell". She then said there was nothing she could do and I had to
contact Dell (who I already talked to and they referred me to MS).

As of now, my client's brand new $3000 Dell still has a deactivated copy of
Vista that refuses to activate. MS refuses to help and Dell won't do
anything.

At this point we've got 25 days left to activate before Microsoft
permanently deactivates the computer. I think my client wants to just return
the computer back to Dell so we're probably going to pursue that. The guy is
pretty pissed right now and is talking about replacing all his company's
Windows PC's with Mac's. However, that's not going to be an option for him
since he runs some business software that probably isn't available for the
Mac. I'll have to check.

It's painfully clear that this whole activation scheme Microsoft has come up
with doesn't work worth a damned. They obviously didn't think it through
very well and didn't test it in real world environments. Out of the eight
Vista machines that I've worked on, five of them had problems with
activation. Actually, just today I had to replace a failing HD in a Vista
32-bit computer. I was able to Ghost the image to a new drive, but of course
after Vista started up, it was deactivated. I had to go through the whole
phone activation thing and speak to a live person again since the automated
system didn't work.

These kinds of issues so early in Vista's life cycle don't bode well for MS.

 

[Richard Urban]

Contact Dell again and elevate your complaint. Dell *must* support Vista
when they supply it with their computers.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

 

[...winston]

Have you considered some discussion on the difference in volume licensing for in house Windows computers vs using an Oem preinstalled operating system.

Additionally at this stage of Vista's release, it's market penetration is not necessarily significant nor is software unique to only Vista thus the need to run business software on Vista that can't be run on XP or W2K, especially in profit oriented business environment, seems somewhat odd.

..winston


:I read off the numbers to the automated phone-bot who said it couldn't verify
: the numbers. Then I got forwarded to a live person who I could barely
: understand since they spoke very broken English and heavy accent of some kind.
:
: She asked me for the first few numbers of the code that was up on the screen
: and asked me if I had an OEM copy that was pre-installed to which I replied
: "yes, from Dell". She then said there was nothing she could do and I had to
: contact Dell (who I already talked to and they referred me to MS).
:
: As of now, my client's brand new $3000 Dell still has a deactivated copy of
: Vista that refuses to activate. MS refuses to help and Dell won't do
: anything.
:
: At this point we've got 25 days left to activate before Microsoft
: permanently deactivates the computer. I think my client wants to just return
: the computer back to Dell so we're probably going to pursue that. The guy is
: pretty pissed right now and is talking about replacing all his company's
: Windows PC's with Mac's. However, that's not going to be an option for him
: since he runs some business software that probably isn't available for the
: Mac. I'll have to check.
:
: It's painfully clear that this whole activation scheme Microsoft has come up
: with doesn't work worth a damned. They obviously didn't think it through
: very well and didn't test it in real world environments. Out of the eight
: Vista machines that I've worked on, five of them had problems with
: activation. Actually, just today I had to replace a failing HD in a Vista
: 32-bit computer. I was able to Ghost the image to a new drive, but of course
: after Vista started up, it was deactivated. I had to go through the whole
: phone activation thing and speak to a live person again since the automated
: system didn't work.
:
: These kinds of issues so early in Vista's life cycle don't bode well for MS.
:
: "wyocowboy" wrote:
:
: > I would call MS tech support. They typically want to charge for support calls
: > on OEM preinstalls, but will waive the charge if the situation warrants it.
: > Explain to them that the MS activation line was unable to help and Dell
: > referred you to MS support.
: >
: > BTW, the phone activation center typically gives you a new product ID to
: > enter, at least with XP. Did they do this for Vista, and if so, are you
: > saying that it failed to activate with the new prod ID?
:

 

[Guest]

Thanks for all your help and suggestions so far. Yes, a volume license would
be a better choice, but only for 5 or more licenses and this client only has
about 10 computers total. He wasn't ready to commit all of them to Vista
just yet and wanted to test it for a while first.

Unfortunately, he already boxed up the new Dell and will be sending it back
soon. He will most likely be ordering a Mac next week since apparently they
make Quickbooks for the Mac, which is his primary app. I'm actually
surprised that they make it for the Mac. I guess he's fallen for all the
hype and other misleading info that Apple is putting out there and these
activation problems with Vista were just enough to push him over to the other
side.

I personally can't stand Mac's and I'm bothered by the fact that we're
losing a PC user to Mac (which is inferior to Windows and always has been
IMO).

If you put the headache inducing activation woes aside, Vista is actually an
excellent improvement in the Windows platform. Let's hope Microsoft can come
up with a viable solution for the heavily flawed activation system in Vista
real soon.

 

[...winston]

I don't get involved in the Mac vs. Windows 'whos better etc'' having owned both companies since ipo and both machines exist in this house. Each have their pros and cons.

I don't see the activation issue in Vista as a stumbling block though continuous improvement should occur. Hardware and software need to evolve to accomodate its use though imo Vista's primary hurdle is perception due to the significant difference in security controls based on the long standing expectation that switching an o/s should be seemless and allow one to do everything without permission.

A business has to be comfortable with their choice of hardware and software and the support industry has to accommodate those needs....as far as I can see..Msft, Apple and Linux will be around for quite some time.

..winston


: Thanks for all your help and suggestions so far. Yes, a volume license would
: be a better choice, but only for 5 or more licenses and this client only has
: about 10 computers total. He wasn't ready to commit all of them to Vista
: just yet and wanted to test it for a while first.
:
: Unfortunately, he already boxed up the new Dell and will be sending it back
: soon. He will most likely be ordering a Mac next week since apparently they
: make Quickbooks for the Mac, which is his primary app. I'm actually
: surprised that they make it for the Mac. I guess he's fallen for all the
: hype and other misleading info that Apple is putting out there and these
: activation problems with Vista were just enough to push him over to the other
: side.
:
: I personally can't stand Mac's and I'm bothered by the fact that we're
: losing a PC user to Mac (which is inferior to Windows and always has been
: IMO).
:
: If you put the headache inducing activation woes aside, Vista is actually an
: excellent improvement in the Windows platform. Let's hope Microsoft can come
: up with a viable solution for the heavily flawed activation system in Vista
: real soon.
:
:
: "...winston" wrote:
:
: > Have you considered some discussion on the difference in volume licensing for in house Windows computers vs using an Oem preinstalled operating system.
: >
: > Additionally at this stage of Vista's release, it's market penetration is not necessarily significant nor is software unique to only Vista thus the need to run business software on Vista that can't be run on XP or W2K, especially in profit oriented business environment, seems somewhat odd.
: >
: > ..winston
: >
:

 

[Guest]

Who Supports windows Vista if it was an OEM and then you use the Anytime
Upgrade feature to get a larger edition?

I.E. OEM Home Premium -> Anytime Upgrade Ultimate

Thanks in advance!

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Microsoft supports the Anytime Upgrade versions.