Windows Genuine Advantage, system currently in place in Windows Vista. There are actually two different scenarios in place, the first is called Reduced Functionality Mode which Vista will start in if the user does not activate the product in time. The second is if a WGA check fails which will make Vista run in Non-Genuine Mode. Both modes impose certain penalties upon the user like logging him off after an hour or disabling features like Aero or Readyboost.
The good news is that both modes described above are gone. Users will not be logged off automatically anymore which is great. Microsoft however decided to change tactics and nag the user to death - eh registration / activation - instead. Users will experience the following if their Vista installation fails the WGA check or if they fail to activate Vista in time.
"A nag screen to activate at logon that cannot be dismissed for 15 seconds.
Every hour the desktop background is switched to black (it can be changed back, but after an hour it’s set to black again).
Activation dialogs and balloon dialogs appear regularly.
Optional Windows Updates aren’t delivered."
You can also get a list of changes
here
Written by ShaDow on February 10th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Vista News and vista sp1.
Have you ever had problem to run the default defragment tools from MS Windows for few hours but still haven’t completed? Then the Auslogics Disk Defrag would probably the solution that you’re looking for.
I used to run Windows defragment for 2-3 hours. During the defragmentation, I can’t use my laptop or PC at all so it ends up I wasted my time doing nothing for few hours. So usually what I did is to run the defragmentation before I go to sleep.
Now with the Auslogics Disk Defrag I no longer need to do defragment before I go to sleep because it reduce the 2-3 hours defragmentation to less than 20 minutes. I usually just run the defragmentation before I take my shower. After my shower, everything is done then. :) It saves my time a lot.
To try out the tool,
download Auslogics Disk Defrag here.
When the defragmentation is finished, you may see this warning “WARNING: Your PC is not optimized” and asking you to “Download Auslogics BoostSpeed” to improve the performance of your PC.
However I would NOT recommend Auslogic BoostSpeed for the following reasons:
- It is not FREE. After the expiration date, you need to pay for it to get the full features.
- It doesn’t improve my laptop’s performance. At least I can’t feel it.
Enjoy the fastest defragment tool from Auslogics! You will be surprised how fast this tool can go and save your precious time!
Written by ChampDog on February 10th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Free Software and System Tools.
On January 24 MVP:Security Jesper Johansson posted a very good blog entry, "Do Vista Users Need Fewer Security Patches Than XP Users?", about Windows XP vs. Windows Vista security. This was in reply to the "One Year Vulnerability Report" by Jeff Jones (who is the Director of Security at Microsoft).
It's VERY interesting reading showing how strong Vista is - oh, and Jesper takes that even further comparing IE7 and Firefox patching. Cool stuff.
Enjoy!
.
Written by Jakob H. Heidelberg on February 10th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on MVP and Patching and Security and Windows Vista and Windows XP and microsoft.
Our friends on the eHome Team (the folks responsible for Windows Media Center and other cool things) passed along that the Super Bowl ads are available in Windows Media Center through the
Internet TV Beta - currently available to U.S. Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Vista Ultimate users.
The Super Bowl ads are listed under Top Picks in Internet TV.
Click here for bigger versions of the screenshots.
I suggest checking out the Iron Man movie commercial ;-)
The above screenshots were uploaded to Windows Live Spaces using Windows Live Photo Gallery. I've set up a Windows Live Space for the Windows Experience Blog - check it out.
Written by Brandon LeBlanc on February 10th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Featured News and Internet TV and Super Bowl and Windows Media Center and Windows Vista.
Our friends on the eHome Team (the folks responsible for Windows Media Center and other cool things) passed along that the Super Bowl ads are available in Windows Media Center through the Internet TV Beta - currently available to U.S. Windows Vista Home Read More......(
read more)
Written by Windows Vista Team Blog on February 10th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Featured News and Internet TV and Super Bowl and Windows Media Center and Windows Vista.
