Vista | Planet Lowyat

Microsoft provides free support for Vista SP1 installations

Written by Planet Lowyat on March 25, 2008 – 8:15 am -

Microsoft Corp. is offering free support to any Windows Vista user experiencing problems with installing Service Pack 1 (SP1), according to a company spokesman.

“[Anyone] needing technical support regarding your installation of Windows Vista SP1, please go to the following URL and choose the bottom option that says, ‘Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (All Languages),’” said Brandon LeBlanc, a Microsoft employee who posted several comments to the company’s Vista blog. The link LeBlanc pointed users to led to a Vista SP1-specific support site.

“You have a variety of options you can choose for support, all of which will not cost you any support fee,” said LeBlanc. “I repeat: Support for SP1 will not cost you anything.”

“That’s a good move on their part,” said Michael Cherry, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft.

The SP1 site offers support via e-mail, online chat and telephone, and it lists hours of operation for the last two options. Free phone support, for instance, is available from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Pacific time on weekdays and from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Pacific time on weekends. The free support will be available for one year, and it covers installation and compatibility issues.

Normally, Microsoft offers no-cost support only to users who bought Windows at retail. Users who obtained the operating system already installed on a PC are referred to the computer manufacturer or reseller; the company’s for-fee support runs $59 per request unless the user or business has a prepaid support plan with Microsoft.

Tags: Microsoft, SP1, Vista, Windows
Posted in Announcement, News, Software | 1 Comment »

Microsoft to crack down on Vista cracks

Written by Planet Lowyat on February 23, 2008 – 6:20 pm -

Microsoft will feed Windows Vista users an update in the next week to finger illegal copies installed with cracks that the company will bust when it rolls out Service Pack 1 (SP1) in mid-March.

The ‘update’ which will go out via Windows Update (WU) and install automatically on most Vista machines, will detect two cracks commonly used to activate pirated copies of the operating system. The cracks evade Vista’s built-in counterfeit-detection technology by sidestepping product activation and spoofing a legitimate installation.

One of the cracks, “Grace Timer,” extends Vista’s activation grace period, which is normally 30 days, until the year 2099. The other, called OEM BIOS, modifies system files and the PC’s BIOS to mimic the product activation done by computer-makers at the factory.

Both cracks will be blocked by Vista SP1, the major update that will hit WU as an optional download in mid-March and automatically download and install the next month.