Posts filed under 'Computers'

Component or driver updates cause Microsoft Vista to deactivate

Well, it was inevitable. Microsoft’s Vista will deactivate if someone does something to their own computer the operating system doesn’t like, such as changing a video card or updating a device driver.


Earlier this year I wrote in a post entitled, “Ghastly la Vista, baby!” where I point out that “Once a weakness is found in a particular driver or device, that driver will have its signature revoked by Microsoft, which means that it will cease to function“.

Now it’s official. Vista user, James Bannan’s copy of the operating system announced he had three days to reactivate his system following a graphics card change or it would cease to function properly! Although he was finally able to reactivate the operating system he was unable to do so automatically over the Internet and instead had to telephone Microsoft to speak to a customer service representative.

Pathetic. Microsoft sells you an operating system for use on your computer with your hardware but deactivate the OS if you make some simple (and common) hardware changes.

Add comment October 24th, 2007

Microsoft wants to dig through your hard drive to sell you stuff

Microsoft has filed another patent, this one for an “advertising framework” that uses “context data” from your hard drive to show you advertisements and “apportion and credit advertising revenue” to ad suppliers in real time. Yes, Redmond wants to own the patent on the mother of all adware.

“The advertising framework may host several components for receiving and processing the context data, refining the data, requesting advertisements from an advertising supplier, for receiving and forwarding advertisements to a display client for presentation, and for providing data back to the advertising supplier.”

The adware framework would leave almost no data untouched in its quest to sell you stuff. It would inspect “user document files, user e-mail files, user music files, downloaded podcasts, computer settings, computer status messages (e.g., a low memory status or low printer ink),” and more.

Add comment July 17th, 2007

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