Unlike Windows XP, which was sent barefoot into the world, Windows Vista comes in the context of a mature anti-piracy infrastructure courtesy of the Windows Genuine Advantage mechanism, and with the Reduced Functionality Mode limitations. Reduced Functionality Mode in Vista is delivered in two distinct flavors: out-of-grace and non-genuine. The first is associated with operating systems that have not been activated in the initial 30 days grace period while the second is a result of the detection of a potentially pirated copy of the platform.

“Windows Vista may enter reduced functionality mode if one of the following conditions is true: you do not activate Windows Vista within the specified activation period; (more…)

activate windows vista, activation key, activation period, computer, enterprise versions, grace period, hardware change, hardware upgrade, key manager, manager service, oem versions, oem windows, vista, vista products, wga, Windows, windows genuine advantage