Best way to upgrade to Vista

[MERRYKISSMASS2U]

http://www.uploadcrap.com/?subaction=showcomments&id=1172962283&archive=&start_from=&ucat=&

BIOS Emulation Toolkit For Windows Vista x86


Download link:
http://rapidshare.com/files/19283398/ParadoxVista.zip


What's the purpose of this release?


Bypassing the product activation requirement of Microsoft Windows Vista x86.


How does it work?


Microsoft allows large hardware manufacturers (e.g. ASUS, HP, Dell) to ship their products
containing a Windows Vista installation that does NOT require any kind of product activation as
this might be considered an unnecessary inconvenience for the end-user.
Instead these so-called 'Royalty OEMs' are granted the right to embed certain license information
into their hardware products, which can be validated by Windows Vista to make obtaining further
activation information (online or by phone) obsolete.
This mechanism is commonly referred to as 'SLP 2.0' ('system-locked pre-installation 2.0') and
consists of the following three key elements:

1. The OEM's hardware-embedded BIOS ACPI_SLIC information signed by Microsoft.

2. A certificate issued by Microsoft that corresponds to the specific ACPI_SLIC information.

The certificate is an XML file found on the OEM's installation/recovery media,
ususally called something like 'oemname.xrm-ms'.

3. A special type of product key that corresponds to the installed edition of Windows Vista.

This key can usually be obtained from some installation script found on the OEM's
installation/recovery media or directly from a pre-installed OEM system.

If all three elements match Windows Vista's licensing mechansim considers the given
installation a valid system-locked pre-activated copy (that does not require any
additional product activation procedures).

So the basic concept of the tool at hand is to present any given BIOS ACPI_SLIC information to Windows
Vista's licensing mechanism by means of a device driver.
In combination with a matching product key and OEM certificate this allows for rendering any system
practically indistinguishable from a legit pre-activated system shipped by the respective OEM.


How do I use it?


Preliminary hint:
Most operations described below require elevated privileges, so disabling UAC (Run->MSCONFIG.EXE->
Tools->Disable UAC) for the time being is recommended, Of course, it can be safely re-enabled after
all steps have been performed. Otherwise OEMTOOL.EXE and some SLMGR.VBS operations must be explicitly
run with adminstrative privileges.

1. Install the Windows Vista x86 edition of your choice without entering any product key during setup.
Basically any Windows Vista x86 installation media will do, regardless if it's MSDN/Retail/OEM/ETC

2. Install the emulation driver.
INSERT THIS FILE INTO THE C: SO THE FILE IS IN C:.XRM-MS E.G. C:ASUS.XRM-MS" if you chose to install the default driver
Run OEMTOOL.EXE, select the OEM BIOS information to emulate (ASUS might be a good choice given the
fact that it's the only OEM for which a complete set of product keys is provided ) and hit the
'' button.

If prompted about whether to install an unsigned driver, allow it.
(For some odd reason Microsoft didn't wanna sign this one...)

3. Reboot your machine.

4. Install the OEM certificate matching your OEM selection during driver installation by running

SLMGR.VBS -ilc .XRM-MS

(e.g. "SLMGR.VBS -ilc C:ASUS.XRM-MS" if you chose to install the default driver and extracted
the certificate file to C:)

Note that this operation might take quite a while depending on your system, so be patient.

5. Install an OEM product key matching the installed edition of Windows Vista x86 by running

SLMGR.VBS -ipk

(e.g. "SLMGR.VBS -ipk 6F2D7-2PCG6-YQQTB-FWK9V-932CC" if you're running Windows Vista Ultimate using
the default emulation driver)

Note that this operation might take quite a while depending on your system, so be patient.

See PKEYS.TXT for a list of OEM product keys published by different OEMs.

Download link:
http://rapidshare.com/files/19283398/ParadoxVista.zip



via:http://digg.com/microsoft/Vista_cracked_totally_by_Paradox_Microsoft_s_in_tr ouble_now

[Ozzy Fudd]

Or just use a Hammer....

[MERRYKISSMASS2U]

Or, get a Mac or stick with XP

[Warham]

Stick with XP a few more years.

[Hardrock69]

The best way to upgrade to Vista is "NOT AT ALL!"


Microsoft Hit By U.S. DOT Ban On Windows Vista, Explorer 7, and Office 2007


Tens of thousands of federal workers are prohibited from upgrading to the latest versions, according to memos seen by InformationWeek.


By Paul McDougall
InformationWeek

March 2, 2007 12:00 PM

Citing concerns over cost and compatibility, the top technology official at the federal Department of Transportation has placed a moratorium on all in-house computer upgrades to Microsoft's new Windows Vista operating system, as well as Internet Explorer 7 and Office 2007, according to a memo obtained Friday by InformationWeek.

In a memo to his staff, the DOT's CIO Daniel Mintz says he has placed "an indefinite moratorium" on the upgrades as "there appears to be no compelling technical or business case for upgrading to these new Microsoft software products. Furthermore, there appears to be specific reasons not to upgrade."

Among the concerns cited by Mintz are compatibility with software applications currently in use at the department, the cost of an upgrade, and DOT's move to a new headquarters in Washington later this year. "Microsoft Vista, Office 2007, and Internet Explorer [7] may be acquired for testing purposes only, though only on approval by the DOT chief information officer," Mintz writes.

The memo is dated Jan. 19. In an interview Friday, DOT chief technology officer Tim Schmidt confirmed that the ban is still in effect. "We're analyzing different client software options and also integration issues," says Schmidt. Among the options the Transportation Department is weighing as a possible alternative or complement to Windows Vista are Novell's Suse Linux and, for a limited group of users, Apple's Macintosh hardware and software, he says.

Schmidt says the Transportation Department hasn't ruled out upgrading its computers to Windows Vista if all of its concerns about the new operating system -- the business version of which was launched late last year -- can be resolved. "We have more confidence in Microsoft than we would have 10 years ago," says Schmidt. "But it always makes sense to look at the security implications, the value back to the customer, and those kind of issues."

The DOT's ban on Vista, Internet Explorer 7, and Office 2007 applies to 15,000 computer users at DOT proper who are currently running the Windows XP Professional operating system. The memo indicates that a similar ban is in effect at the Federal Aviation Administration, which has 45,000 desktop users.

Compatibility with existing applications appears to be the Transportation Department's major concern. According to a separate memo, a number of key software applications and utilities in use in various branches of the department aren't Vista compatible. Among them are Aspen 2.8.1, ISS 2.11, ProVu 3.1.1, and Capri 6.5, according to a memo issued by staffers at the DOT's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Any prolonged ban on new Microsoft technologies by the federal government could have a significant impact on the software maker's bottom line, as Microsoft sells millions of dollars in software to the feds annually.

http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=197700789



Vista causes an array of problems
Could Microsoft be the next IBM?

Back in November, I wrote about how disappointed I was with both Internet Explorer 7 and Office 2007. I wondered if Microsoft was coming to the end of its reign as the 800-pound gorilla of the computing world.

Since then, I've had a chance to put Windows Vista through its paces. If anything would help the kids in Redmond stay on top, it was this.

And I can say confidently that it's not yet ready for primetime.

Yes, it's pretty, and yes it has some nice new features, but they're nothing gotta-have spectacular. Further, Windows XP works very well, but we live in a society that thinks we need to constantly upgrade our stuff.

With Vista, I think the pressure to upgrade overwhelmed the testing process. Too many things are going wrong.

I tend to push an operating system, mostly because I like to customize things and I'm willing to dive into the innards to do that. And sometimes that causes problems if I tweak the wrong thing.

But Vista's problems started almost immediately after I upgraded, before I did any tinkering. What's more, I saw that others were having all the same troubles.

Bumps in the road ahead

First came the little things.

I had been warned ahead of time that some of my software would suddenly report that it needed to be activated, which turned out to be the case. That wasn't too bad; I just dug up my various serial numbers.

And although I have nothing to sync, Vista's Sync Center insists on putting an icon on my Start bar's notification area. Worse, I couldn't even start it; clicking "Open Sync Center" did nothing. The icon just sat there, taking up space.

Then the real problems started. When I opened a folder that contained both pictures and video files, Windows Explorer crashed. I had to wait several seconds for it to reload, at which point all my desktop icons were rearranged. Turns out it's a problem with how Vista tries to create thumbnail of videos.

Then I discovered that Vista would not allow Firefox to be my default browser no matter how hard I insisted. I even turned off Internet Explorer through the Default Programs control. Still, any link I clicked in an e-mail message would open in IE, while Firefox confidently told me it was set as my default browser.

I finally fixed this by not only disabling IE through Default Programs, but by delving into Vista's Registry and manually changing some keys, replacing IE with Firefox. (If you don't know about editing the Registry, don't worry — it's not something for the casual user.)

It worked, but there is no way I should have to resort to editing the Registry to use Firefox the way I wanted to.

But that was nothing compared to what happened next.

Loop-d-loops

I was trying to set up a daily backup, simply copying all my stuff from one hard drive to a second one, without any kind of compression.

Vista stores all my documents and settings in a single folder called /users/AK. So all I had to do was back up that entire folder.

I tried Microsoft's own (and excellent) RoboCopy tool. It gave me an error. I tried 2BrightSparks's (also excellent) SyncBack. Another error. I tried a neat one I found called Karen's Replicator. Ditto.

All three had the same problem: A path was too long. I apparently had too many nested folders.

I looked more closely and found the problem. They were all trying to back up C:\users\AK\Application Data \Application Data \Application Data \Application Data … and so on, ad infinitum.

Huh?

I Googled and found the answer. Vista stores its application data in a folder called AppData. Previous version of Windows used \Local Settings\Application Data.

To make sure old programs can find the new folder, Microsoft added hidden files called "junctions." If a program tries to access "Application Data" path, the junction sends it to "AppData."

I had run into an infinite loop. The Application Data folder redirected the software to the AppData folder, where somehow there was some reference back to Application Data. It looped forever.

The only way to fix a screwy junction was by using one of a handful of obscure programs some obscure programmers have created, all of which warn you, essentially, not to use them. Ironic, but true. Still, I messed and removed the troublesome hidden file and my backup software started working.

Other problems ranged from the mildly annoying (there's no simple way to remove items from the "New" context menu) to the absolutely frustrating.

In that latter category is the latest bugaboo: Photoshop suddenly decided to stop working. It told me "an error has been detected with a required application library" and refused to run. No amount of coaxing would change things, and neither running the program as Administrator nor reinstalling helped.

Finally, after much searching, I found the only solution that worked: I got Vista to reveal its hidden Administrator account, which I logged into. Now Photoshop works. So I moved all my stuff and now I log in as Administrator. I'm not supposed to – it's a security risk – but it's that or do without Photoshop.

Even as Administrator, minor problems persist. Shortcuts to search folders cause Windows Explorer to crash. Photo Gallery doesn't rotate images properly. In short, unlike with XP, when I sit down I'm never 100% sure things are going to work properly.

If someone out there feels like spotting me the cash for a 20-inch, 2.33-GHz iMac and Photoshop, I'd be grateful.

Andrew Kantor is a technology writer, pundit, and know-it-all who covers technology for the Roanoke Times. He's also a former editor for PC Magazine and Internet World. Read more of his work at kantor.com. His column appears Fridays on USATODAY.com.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/andrewkantor/2007-03-02-vista-problems_N.htm



For further info like the above, go to:

http://badvista.fsf.org/

[flappo]

even dell are going linux

http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN0644160820070307

mainly as steve jobs told mike dell to go fuck himself when he begged to let him use os-x on his shitty fucking pc crap

[MERRYKISSMASS2U]

http://filenetworks.blogspot.com/2007/03/vista-32-bit-one-click-activator-bios.html