T 2.146 Loss of functionality of Vista clients due to not reactivating before SP1

For a properly functioning Windows Vista client, the Windows Vista operating system must be installed and a Windows Vista license must be activated. Licenses for Windows Vista Enterprise can only be purchased within the framework of a volume license contract. The necessity of activating Windows Vista licenses from a volume license contract, a requirement appearing for the first time in this operating system version, is also referred to as Windows Vista Volume Activation 2.0 (as of autumn 2007). The following forms of activation are offered by Windows Vista Volume Activation 2.0:

• MAK (Multiple Activation Key) proxy activation,
• MAK-independent activation, and
• KMS (Key Management Server) activation.

There are also further differences within each of these types of activation due to the different communication routes supported for exchanging the license information with Microsoft. Activation via the internet and telephone is supported.

Certain rules must be followed to activate a Windows Vista license. If one of these rules is violated, the Windows Vista client automatically switches to the RFM mode (Reduced Functionality Mode). In the RFM mode, the Vista client will not operate properly until a Windows Vista license is successfully activated for the Vista client. Microsoft has eliminated the RFM with the release of Service Pack 1. Instead of switching to the RFM mode, Windows Vista now displays corresponding warnings.

A Windows Vista client will enter the RFM mode if one of the following violations occurs. In this case, detailed criteria have been made public:

• activation is not performed within a grace period of 30 days after the installation of Windows Vista.
• reactivation is not performed within 210 days after the last activation (when the KMS activation method was used).

A Windows Vista client will also enter the RFM mode if one of the following violations occurs, but in this case, only vague criteria have been made public:

• reactivation is not performed within 30 days after making significant changes to the hardware, for example after replacing a hard drive in the case of KMS activation. Additional details on significant hardware changes can be found in the Technical Market Bulletin Product Activation for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 published by the manufacturer Microsoft in September 2007.
• manipulation of the activation process or of license files, although more detailed specifications have not been made public.
• compromised product key
  
  The term product key may refer to the MAK key or to the KMS key. Compromised in this case means lost, stolen, misused, illegally copied, defective (due to a manufacturer error), or invalid (since the key is a beta or test key). More detailed information has not been released.

The vagueness of the criteria means there is a possibility of obtaining false positives. False positive in the context of activation means that a Vista client has been erroneously placed in the RFM mode. Possible reasons for a false positive include, for example, incorrectly assuming that a product key is compromised or that the licensing files have been manipulated.

The vague criteria also indicate that it is possible to lose control of a Vista client when performing maintenance, because it is not known which hardware modifications require reactivation. If valid license information is not available quickly for reactivation, there is a danger of the client entering the RFM mode.

There is a risk that the restrictive Windows Vista Volume Activation process designed by the manufacturer could also lead to the loss of functionality of the Vista clients through no fault of the administrator. In this case, it is impossible to use the Vista clients and the applications running on them.

In turn, the loss of functionality of a Vista client may lead to the loss of functionality of an application that is essential to complete a given task in a specialised procedure or business process.