Vista - Installing nVidia nForce Drivers Require Activation?

I have been running Vista Ultimate x32 just fine for a while, and then I
noticed that nVidia posted new drivers for nForce4. I decided to install the
new drivers and then I had to re-activate Vista!!! How many times can I
reactivate Vista, and why should I have to reactivate when installing
drivers? If I install a new version of the drivers (or rollback) will I have
to reactivate again?

/Chris/ said:
> I have been running Vista Ultimate x32 just fine for a while, and then I
> noticed that nVidia posted new drivers for nForce4. I decided to install the
> new drivers and then I had to re-activate Vista!!! How many times can I
> reactivate Vista, and why should I have to reactivate when installing
> drivers? If I install a new version of the drivers (or rollback) will I have
> to reactivate again?

Perhaps the driver install was not the true reason. I have installed
dozens of drivers over the years, and have never encountered a
reactivation as a result.

Well, I believe the nForce4 driver deals with the motherboard, right? Vista
probably thought it was a new computer.

"dev" wrote:

> /Chris/ said:
> > I have been running Vista Ultimate x32 just fine for a while, and then I
> > noticed that nVidia posted new drivers for nForce4. I decided to install the
> > new drivers and then I had to re-activate Vista!!! How many times can I
> > reactivate Vista, and why should I have to reactivate when installing
> > drivers? If I install a new version of the drivers (or rollback) will I have
> > to reactivate again?
>
> Perhaps the driver install was not the true reason. I have installed
> dozens of drivers over the years, and have never encountered a
> reactivation as a result.
>

I have installed many drivers in the past on an XP machine and never had this
issue. When I performed a "fresh" install of Vista, it installed some default
drivers for ethernet, memory bus, and drive busses. I then updated my
graphics driver, sound driver, and mouse driver without any issue.

The nForce4 driver installs a new ethernet driver, memory driver, and sata
raid driver (maybe a new IDE bus driver as well). I am guessing that the
default that Vista installed was a Dell driver for those components. When I
installed the new drivers, they looked like new components instead of updated
Dell components.

I will tell you that this is very frustrating. All I can say is "Goodbye
Vista!"



"Ed Stoddard" wrote:

> Well, I believe the nForce4 driver deals with the motherboard, right? Vista
> probably thought it was a new computer.
>
> "dev" wrote:
>
> > /Chris/ said:
> > > I have been running Vista Ultimate x32 just fine for a while, and then I
> > > noticed that nVidia posted new drivers for nForce4. I decided to install the
> > > new drivers and then I had to re-activate Vista!!! How many times can I
> > > reactivate Vista, and why should I have to reactivate when installing
> > > drivers? If I install a new version of the drivers (or rollback) will I have
> > > to reactivate again?
> >
> > Perhaps the driver install was not the true reason. I have installed
> > dozens of drivers over the years, and have never encountered a
> > reactivation as a result.
> >

I can confirm installing the new sata drivers for nforce 4 forced
reactivation of vista. This is stupid as it was Windows Update that told me I
needed the updated driver. (Vista RTM 3ish months installed)

Microsoft want you to use automatic updates, but throw in problems like
this. I'm no longer going to use automatic updates until this problem is
solved.

Its ridiculous

"Chris" wrote:

> I have installed many drivers in the past on an XP machine and never had this
> issue. When I performed a "fresh" install of Vista, it installed some default
> drivers for ethernet, memory bus, and drive busses. I then updated my
> graphics driver, sound driver, and mouse driver without any issue.
>
> The nForce4 driver installs a new ethernet driver, memory driver, and sata
> raid driver (maybe a new IDE bus driver as well). I am guessing that the
> default that Vista installed was a Dell driver for those components. When I
> installed the new drivers, they looked like new components instead of updated
> Dell components.
>
> I will tell you that this is very frustrating. All I can say is "Goodbye
> Vista!"
>
>
>
> "Ed Stoddard" wrote:
>
> > Well, I believe the nForce4 driver deals with the motherboard, right? Vista
> > probably thought it was a new computer.
> >
> > "dev" wrote:
> >
> > > /Chris/ said:
> > > > I have been running Vista Ultimate x32 just fine for a while, and then I
> > > > noticed that nVidia posted new drivers for nForce4. I decided to install the
> > > > new drivers and then I had to re-activate Vista!!! How many times can I
> > > > reactivate Vista, and why should I have to reactivate when installing
> > > > drivers? If I install a new version of the drivers (or rollback) will I have
> > > > to reactivate again?
> > >
> > > Perhaps the driver install was not the true reason. I have installed
> > > dozens of drivers over the years, and have never encountered a
> > > reactivation as a result.
> > >

This is the same reason I came to this site. I looked at updates and there
was one recommended update. I installed, and restarted. There are a few
things that never had drivers for vista so I immediately opened the window
for the device manager and noticed it says I have 3 days to activate windows.
That's crazy. Someone needs to find a fix for this ASAP. I REFUSE to repay
for software I have already purchased. I can't believe they don't test these
drivers before posting them to the update site.

"Chris" wrote:

> I have been running Vista Ultimate x32 just fine for a while, and then I
> noticed that nVidia posted new drivers for nForce4. I decided to install the
> new drivers and then I had to re-activate Vista!!! How many times can I
> reactivate Vista, and why should I have to reactivate when installing
> drivers? If I install a new version of the drivers (or rollback) will I have
> to reactivate again?
>
>