To clarify, these machines are always on campus, they are used as part
of an accommodation. basically, they are paired up, and a wireless
network between the two machines is initiated, and the text (from a
"typewell transcriptionist") is sent to the peer laptop, which is
watched by the student. This provides the student with a word by word
account of what is being said in class, and is primarily used by our
hard of hearing and deaf staff/students.

As such, I now see a problem, these machines are almost never connected
to a network (port) and the wireless is configured to only look for the
typewell wireless network, so they cannot connect to cat paws. (we had
problems with network interference, so cat paws and other networks are
all blacklisted on these machines) So, if these machines typically go a
semester or more without being connected to the network, then they may
fall out of the activation period, at which point they are rendered
useless. ( I cannot get past the activation screen, so I am unable to
get a cmd prompt to grab the mac address- I guess I could try a network
boot and then cancel after seeing the mac address...)

I think David's hunch is correct, one of the pages I was just looking at
said vista checks for activation every so often, and there was a
workaround to push that to 120 days using , although that probably
violates the EULA. From tech repub:

http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-6230-0.html?forumID=102&threadID=211858&tag=rbxccnbd1
_______________

Microsoft provides a command-line program in Vista known as the Software
Licensing Manager (SLMGR) or slmgr.vbs.This is a Visual Basic script
that resides in c:\windows\system32. You can read the contents of this
script file with any text editor or a professional development environment.

Among other things, slmgr.vbs has a function that pushes Vista's
activation deadline out to 30 days from the date the command is run.
 From the Vista desktop, take the following steps on a machine on which
Vista hasn't yet been activated:
_______________

If it's the case that Vista needs a network connection more often than
these machines will be connected to a network (I planned to connect them
just once a year to carry out updates) then I will have no choice but to
use XP- which isn't a problem. It is just a pain to have this
unexpectedly pop up during the last 2 weeks of the semester!

nick



David Houston wrote:
> So does this mean that even a Vista imaged machine that uses the campus
> agreement install CD (which I presume has a product key that is the same
> for all) must have network connectivity sustained over a certain minimum
> period of time in order to NOT "deactivate"?
>
> David Houston
> University of Vermont
> Phone: (802) 656 2013
> **
> "You are nestled in our hearts forever"
> **
>
>
> On Wed, 23 Apr 2008, Ben Schacher intoned:
>
> BS:Nick,
> BS:Is the machine one that has been off campus for several months, i.e. does
> BS:this person use this laptop primarily off campus? If this is the case, try
> BS:connecting the vpn client while off campus, or simply bring the laptop back
> BS:on campus and let it re-connect to the KMS. Hope this helps.
> BS:
> BS:Ben
> BS:----- Original Message ----- From: "Nick Ogrizovich"
> BS:<[log in to unmask]>
> BS:To: <[log in to unmask]>
> BS:Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2008 2:19 PM
> BS:Subject: vista activation issues
> BS:
> BS:
> BS:> hi All,
> BS:>
> BS:> We have a pool of latitude 820's that were imaged at the depot, and one
> BS:> of them (just one out of 4 or so) started having activation problems.
> BS:> (This is not a GENUINE....)
> BS:>
> BS:> Actual error was 0x8007267c, which technet suggests a problem with the
> BS:> machine not finding the KMS or MAK host- I thought a volume license from
> BS:> an imaged machine wouldn't need to be activated? Why would one machine
> BS:> have this problem and not the others?
> BS:>
> BS:> Anyone have any ideas? I am about to give up and put an XP image on this
> BS:> and be done with it if a solution cannot be found.
> BS:>
> BS:> Thanks,
> BS:>
> BS:> --
> BS:> Nick Ogrizovich
> BS:> Adaptive Technology Lab Manager
> BS:> Notetaking Coordinator
> BS:> Bailey-Howe Library
> BS:> (second floor, directly to your right off the stairs)
> BS:> http://uvm.edu/~notes
> BS:> http://uvm.edu/atl
> BS:> ph: 866-327-2014
> BS:> Lab's ph: 802-656-5537
> BS:>
> BS:> "When the missionaries first came to Africa they had the Bible and we had
> BS:> the land. They said, "Let us pray". We closed our eyes. When we opened
> BS:> them, we had the Bible and they had the land."
> BS:> -Bishop Desmond Tutu
> BS:>
> BS:> There are 29 millionaire dogs in the world. While all of these canines have
> BS:> their funds managed in trust, they are the legal benefactors.
> BS:> -Gullible Info
> BS:>
> BS:> This e-mail may contain information protected under the Family Educational
> BS:> Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). If this email contains student information
> BS:> and you are not entitled to access such information under FERPA, please
> BS:> notify the sender. Federal regulations require that you destroy this email
> BS:> without reviewing it and you may not forward it to anyone.
> BS:>
> BS:
>

--
Nick Ogrizovich
Adaptive Technology Lab Manager
Notetaking Coordinator
Bailey-Howe Library
(second floor, directly to your right off the stairs)
http://uvm.edu/~notes
http://uvm.edu/atl
ph: 866-327-2014
Lab's ph: 802-656-5537

"When the missionaries first came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said, "Let us pray". We closed our eyes. When we opened them, we had the Bible and they had the land."
-Bishop Desmond Tutu

There are 29 millionaire dogs in the world. While all of these canines have their funds managed in trust, they are the legal benefactors.
-Gullible Info

This e-mail may contain information protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). If this email contains student information and you are not entitled to access such information under FERPA, please notify the sender. Federal regulations require that you destroy this email without reviewing it and you may not forward it to anyone.