Well, Vista apparently phones home for more than one thing!
 
After you install your legal copy of Vista and activate it... apparently Vista starts doing some digging into your personal computer!
 
Well, I had a lot of mp3s that I downloaded when Napster was around.  I would also like to note that I have downloaded a few games that I decided to purchase, however, I downloaded them first to test and make sure they run on my computer before buying.  As well, I have a legal copy and key for Office 2003 Professional.  However, Office 2003 Professional is already installed on my main computer that is running Vista and is activated. Therefore, so not to mess up the activation and everything, I decided to use a "crack" for Office 2003 Professional.  YAY!  It worked!
 
It starts...
After a few hours/updates/reboots... something starts to happen.  My network connection says something about unknown server... I can no lonnger play any mp3s... Vista no longer displays my computer score...
 
Yup!  Vista didn't like that I had mp3s that I didn't purchase, nor did it not like the fact that Office 2003 was "cracked activated".  Also, it did not like the fact that I had installed the games that I downloaded.  How would it know?  Because Microsoft went through my whole computer!!!
 
Well, there you have it.  I honestly think this is the first step for me to look into a Linux computer!
 
Vista has officially started the anti-pirate war!!!  As well the crackdown on users who did not legally purchased their downloaded music, regardless that it was back when Napster was around!!!
 
So, if you have illegal software installed or mp3s that you didn't legally purchased, VISTA IS NOT FOR YOU!

I decided to use a "crack" for Office 2003 Professional. YAY! It worked!
 
Stopped reading about there.
 
Your problem isn't with Vista.
 
Good luck.

I only did that so that I wouldn't have to worry about having two activations.  I'm not completely ready to go to Vista!  I just want to make sure that everything works and is compatable.  If you would have read the rest of the statement, you'd understand that.  I'll activate Office 2003 when I'm completely ready.
 
Till then, I'll just use openoffice.org!
 
And the purpose of this thread is to enlighten people who complain that Vista doesn't work properly!  And this is why!  If you have pirated software, Vista will downgrade itself automatically and make it harder for you to use your computer until you decide to officially purchase a legal copy of all your software!

And the purpose of this thread is to enlighten people who complain that Vista doesn't work properly! And this is why! If you have pirated software, Vista will downgrade itself automatically and make it harder for you to use your computer until you decide to officially purchase a legal copy of all your software!
 
No.  Not being psychic, I can't tell exactly what you did that broke your install, but I'd lay heavy odds it had to do with the crack program/keygen you used.
 
Not because Vista cares if you have only pirated software on your computer, but because it's written to exploit your computer.

 
Don't use pirated software.  It's that simple.  I know people are used to getting the latest games / software that they don't want to purchase from various bittorrent sites out there... but now that's no longer an option.
 
Boo hoo.
 

 
Seems to be two conflicting statements.  You're not completely ready to go with Vista, yet your main computer is running Vista?  And on that main computer Office 2003 functions a-ok?  I really don't follow you...

And I'll restate myself, this is to warn people that think they can use Vista and pirated software...
 
And I agree, I believe if Vista detects a keygen or activation crack, it will mess up Vista.
 
Otherwise, I have no issue with Vista.
 
Question though.  I have a lot of CDs.  If I rip them onto my computer so that I can transfer them to my mp3 player.  How does Vista handle that?  I used another program to rip the music from my CDs.

I know people are used to getting the latest games / software that they don't want to purchase from various bittorrent sites out there... but now that's no longer an option.
 
Of course it is.  The operating system can't differentiate between valid and pirated software, stop being silly.

It's a dual boot system.  I was afraid that if I reactivate Office 2003 in Vista, then my copy in XP would no longer qualify for updates.
 
To be clear on the dual boot.  I unplugged all the hard drives except for 1 and installed Vista.  That way, I don't have to worry about messing up the boot.ini or master boot sectors.

 
And I agree, I believe if Vista detects a keygen or activation crack, it will mess up Vista.
 
No.  It really doesn't.  If you have a heart attack on a day it was raining, it doesn't mean rain causes heart attacks.

 
Like I said.  If Vista detects a keygen or something similar, it automatically labels it as pirated.  Or perhaps if it detects a crack for a Microsoft Product then.

All right... I get what you're saying... and I should have realized that it's impossible for the OS to differentiate between the two.  However, Vista does have some ability to detect malicious code and if I'm not mistaken, many cracks / keygens contain malicious code, correct?

What defines something as "malicious code"
 
What programs would detect "malicious code" other than Vista?
 
Spybot?

If Vista detects a keygen or something similar, it automatically labels it as pirated.
 
 
Of course it doesn't.

Any other reasons then why Vista would mess up to a point of being useless then?
 
Was it the music that I had downloaded from Napster (which was like 10 years ago?!)  Did the RIAA even exist???  It was before Metallica threw the lawsuit.

Vista does have some ability to detect malicious code and if I'm not mistaken, many cracks / keygens contain malicious code, correct?
 
Sort of.  Depending on security settings, Vista breaks a lot more when faced with malicious code.  I'm a little unsure why that would be worse than having malicious code install on your machine instead.

Any other reasons then why Vista would mess up to a point of being useless then?
 
Yes, the crack/keygen you used contains code that attacks the OS, or is XP specific, or whatever.  
 

Was it the music that I had downloaded from Napster (which was like 10 years ago?!) Did the RIAA even exist??? It was before Metallica threw the lawsuit.
 
Mp3s work just fine in Vista.

Well, this is all becoming confusing.  I was hoping to help as well as figured out what caused my Vista machine to fully come to a point where it was useless.
 
At one point in this thread, it was considered that the crack ran for Office was the cause...
 
Later on... in this thread, it was stated that the crack ran "malicious code" which caused Vista to mess up.
 
So, what is it that we're really trying to say?

So, what is it that we're really trying to say?
 
Too early.  You could have gotten at least 5 more posts from me.  
 
Good luck.

 
Well, 24 hours after Vista was installed and Office 2003 was "cracked activated", none of my mp3s would play.
 
Also, my network connections icon kept saying "Server not detected... blah blah blah" and mp3s don't work and index score doesn't show up anymore.
 
Might have been the "malicious code".