Replacing Vista with XP-Pro

> Ok. I repent, with sackcloth and ashes.
> However, my frustration as a consumer remains.

The Vista license also says that you can't have
another person using your PC at the same time you
use it. [section 2b] (I hope you don't have kids.)
And it says, "You may not work around any technical
limitations in the software." [section 8] That could be
construed to include trying to get Vista working via
tweaking.
You may as well just turn yourself in to the authorities
now.

The .Net license forbids publishing benchmarks. (That
is, it forbids telling others exactly how slow .Net is.)
EULA's in general are a running joke and most of them
are probably, themselves, illegal in that they restrict
beyond the rights of the copyright holders.

According to First Sale Doctrine
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_sale_doctrine) Microsoft
has no right to limit reselling or giving away a copy of
Windows. But even with the full version they claim a
right to limit the resale to only 1 time.

Recently a Sony spokesman claimed that people who
make a copy of their own CD, for their own purposes,
are stealing and should have to pay for that copy:

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post...anti-piracy-la
wyer-copying-music-you-own-is-stealing.html

So on one side there are companies like Sony and
Microsoft that are trying to grab all they can. On the
other side are people downloading copyrighted
material illegally. They're both trying to exploit an
ambiguity created by the new digital medium. Eventually
it should all get sorted out. In the meantime, Product
Activation is protecting Microsoft's *claims*, not their
rights. I'm often surprised by how many people
vehemently defend anything that MS - or any other
company - puts into their EULA as being "legal".

The memory diagnostic tool runs upon a reboot - just like a boot time defrag
does. The results are presented the next time you boot into Vista.

--

Regards,

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



"Bruce Chambers" <3t> wrote in message
news:e%...
> Richard Urban wrote:
>> Why not recommend the Memory Diagnostics built into Vista? It is in
>> Administration Tools.
>>
>
>
> Ther obvious answer would be that if the OS installation is suspect, none
> of its built-in utilities are to be fully trusted. I'd certainly always
> use diagnostic utilities that run outside the ailing OS, just as a normal
> precaution against skewed results.
>
>
> --
>
> Bruce Chambers
>
> Help us help you:
> http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
> http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
>
> They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
> safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin
>
> Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand
> Russell
>
> The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
> killed a great many philosophers.
> ~ Denis Diderot

Richard Urban wrote:
> The memory diagnostic tool runs upon a reboot - just like a boot time
> defrag does. The results are presented the next time you boot into Vista.
>


So there's an additional OS installed, besides Vista? I'll have to
take a look at that.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

i don't know if it matters anymore, but this is what Toshiba has to say...

If you have purchased a Toshiba computer with Windows Vista Business or
Windows Vista Ultimate pre-installed, Windows Vista downgrade rights permit
you to 'downgrade' to any version of Windows XP Professional (including
Tablet PC Edition & x64 Edition). In this context, downgrade means to install
and use Windows XP Professional in place of Windows Vista. You may downgrade
to either a new copy of Windows XP, or to a copy that has already been
installed (and activated) on another computer.

These downgrade rights are granted by Microsoft Corporation. For further
information on this topic, contact Microsoft, or visit microsoft.com.

You can downgrade to Windows XP on a Toshiba computer by using your existing
Windows XP Toshiba recovery media from another unit that you own of the same
model (that has Windows XP pre-installed).

When you downgrade to a previously activated copy of Windows XP that is not
from Toshiba recovery media, the online activation procedure may fail, and
you may be prompted to call the Microsoft Activation Support Line
(866-740-1256). The Support Line staff will verify that you have a valid
Windows Vista Business or Windows Vista Ultimate license and will assist you
with the activation of your copy of Windows XP.

Windows Vista downgrade rights permit you to use either Windows XP or
Windows Vista on your computer, but not both. The most straightforward way to
downgrade from Windows Vista to Windows XP is to back up all of your data
files and documents, format the hard disk drive, and then install Windows XP.
Before you downgrade to Windows XP, you may wish to use the software
(included with some Toshiba computers) that allows you to create recovery
media, from which you could re-install Windows Vista in the future.

Only Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Ultimate may be downgraded.
Windows Vista Home Basic and Windows Vista Home Premium may not be downgraded.

Windows Vista downgrade rights support downgrading to Windows XP
Professional only, and not to Windows XP Home, and not to Windows 2000 or
other earlier versions of the Windows operating system.

Windows Vista downgrade rights also permit you to later re-install your copy
of Windows Vista -- once you have removed your copy of Windows XP from the
computer.