Vista - Authentication Failed--My Solution

After installing Vista Beta 2, I did not choose to validate my product key
immediately. I do this out of habit, since Microsoft in the past has given
you only so many validations -- I wait until I'm sure I have a stable
install. Everything seemed fine, but on reboot I got a message saying my
time had expired for Windows activation. It presented me with a screen to
allow activation, but all I could get was 0x8000705B4 Authentication Failed
error. Of the several options, the only one that worked was the one
connecting me to the Microsoft store to buy a key! Almost like a joke, but
what a bug! And this was a clean 64-bit install on a 64-bit machine with a
new, pristine partition.

So here's my solution:

1. Reformat the partition
2. Do a re-install from scratch
3. Look at the date at the end of the re-install! It's set by default for
three weeks in advance. My clock was set correctly but the date was early
July, even though the date was correctly set in my BIOS. I didn't notice
this the first time. So that's the bug that's causing the problem. If you
don't set the date correctly, when you reboot, Windows thinks the 14 day
activation period has expired and kicks you to the screen which tries to
activate you, but fails. SO WATCH THAT DATE ON STARTUP!
4. Immediately find the activation screen and activate before you log off
the first time.
5. Re-boot and you should be in Vista. The fact that I'm typing this from
Vista shows that it can work. But beware the date bug, and activate on your
first boot.

Hope this helps some of you.

Great catch! Did you file a bug report with MSFT?


"JOEKC" wrote:

> After installing Vista Beta 2, I did not choose to validate my product key
> immediately. I do this out of habit, since Microsoft in the past has given
> you only so many validations -- I wait until I'm sure I have a stable
> install. Everything seemed fine, but on reboot I got a message saying my
> time had expired for Windows activation. It presented me with a screen to
> allow activation, but all I could get was 0x8000705B4 Authentication Failed
> error. Of the several options, the only one that worked was the one
> connecting me to the Microsoft store to buy a key! Almost like a joke, but
> what a bug! And this was a clean 64-bit install on a 64-bit machine with a
> new, pristine partition.
>
> So here's my solution:
>
> 1. Reformat the partition
> 2. Do a re-install from scratch
> 3. Look at the date at the end of the re-install! It's set by default for
> three weeks in advance. My clock was set correctly but the date was early
> July, even though the date was correctly set in my BIOS. I didn't notice
> this the first time. So that's the bug that's causing the problem. If you
> don't set the date correctly, when you reboot, Windows thinks the 14 day
> activation period has expired and kicks you to the screen which tries to
> activate you, but fails. SO WATCH THAT DATE ON STARTUP!
> 4. Immediately find the activation screen and activate before you log off
> the first time.
> 5. Re-boot and you should be in Vista. The fact that I'm typing this from
> Vista shows that it can work. But beware the date bug, and activate on your
> first boot.
>
> Hope this helps some of you.

LOL, this is the funny part. There is an error-reporting tool on the desktop
(feedback) I think it's called. When I tried to use it (I chose "Run"
instead of "save") it blue screened ("crash dump") and the system went down.
By then it was late, so I went to bed, Vista having caused me enough
headaches for one day. I may try again today, this time using "save." Now
I've got two bugs to report and a buggy reporting system. Vista DOES look
gorgeous, though and I'm going to have fun putting it through its paces.

"Mark D. VandenBerg" wrote:

> Great catch! Did you file a bug report with MSFT?
>
>
> "JOEKC" wrote:
>
> > After installing Vista Beta 2, I did not choose to validate my product key
> > immediately. I do this out of habit, since Microsoft in the past has given
> > you only so many validations -- I wait until I'm sure I have a stable
> > install. Everything seemed fine, but on reboot I got a message saying my
> > time had expired for Windows activation. It presented me with a screen to
> > allow activation, but all I could get was 0x8000705B4 Authentication Failed
> > error. Of the several options, the only one that worked was the one
> > connecting me to the Microsoft store to buy a key! Almost like a joke, but
> > what a bug! And this was a clean 64-bit install on a 64-bit machine with a
> > new, pristine partition.
> >
> > So here's my solution:
> >
> > 1. Reformat the partition
> > 2. Do a re-install from scratch
> > 3. Look at the date at the end of the re-install! It's set by default for
> > three weeks in advance. My clock was set correctly but the date was early
> > July, even though the date was correctly set in my BIOS. I didn't notice
> > this the first time. So that's the bug that's causing the problem. If you
> > don't set the date correctly, when you reboot, Windows thinks the 14 day
> > activation period has expired and kicks you to the screen which tries to
> > activate you, but fails. SO WATCH THAT DATE ON STARTUP!
> > 4. Immediately find the activation screen and activate before you log off
> > the first time.
> > 5. Re-boot and you should be in Vista. The fact that I'm typing this from
> > Vista shows that it can work. But beware the date bug, and activate on your
> > first boot.
> >
> > Hope this helps some of you.

yes please file a bug report if you are able to, and thanks for posting it
here along with your fix

"JOEKC" <JOEKC@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:67740063-00F2-4B95-8ACD-BF4AAB060DB6@microsoft.com...
> LOL, this is the funny part. There is an error-reporting tool on the
> desktop
> (feedback) I think it's called. When I tried to use it (I chose "Run"
> instead of "save") it blue screened ("crash dump") and the system went
> down.
> By then it was late, so I went to bed, Vista having caused me enough
> headaches for one day. I may try again today, this time using "save."
> Now
> I've got two bugs to report and a buggy reporting system. Vista DOES look
> gorgeous, though and I'm going to have fun putting it through its paces.
>
> "Mark D. VandenBerg" wrote:
>
>> Great catch! Did you file a bug report with MSFT?
>>
>>
>> "JOEKC" wrote:
>>
>> > After installing Vista Beta 2, I did not choose to validate my product
>> > key
>> > immediately. I do this out of habit, since Microsoft in the past has
>> > given
>> > you only so many validations -- I wait until I'm sure I have a stable
>> > install. Everything seemed fine, but on reboot I got a message saying
>> > my
>> > time had expired for Windows activation. It presented me with a screen
>> > to
>> > allow activation, but all I could get was 0x8000705B4 Authentication
>> > Failed
>> > error. Of the several options, the only one that worked was the one
>> > connecting me to the Microsoft store to buy a key! Almost like a joke,
>> > but
>> > what a bug! And this was a clean 64-bit install on a 64-bit machine
>> > with a
>> > new, pristine partition.
>> >
>> > So here's my solution:
>> >
>> > 1. Reformat the partition
>> > 2. Do a re-install from scratch
>> > 3. Look at the date at the end of the re-install! It's set by default
>> > for
>> > three weeks in advance. My clock was set correctly but the date was
>> > early
>> > July, even though the date was correctly set in my BIOS. I didn't
>> > notice
>> > this the first time. So that's the bug that's causing the problem. If
>> > you
>> > don't set the date correctly, when you reboot, Windows thinks the 14
>> > day
>> > activation period has expired and kicks you to the screen which tries
>> > to
>> > activate you, but fails. SO WATCH THAT DATE ON STARTUP!
>> > 4. Immediately find the activation screen and activate before you log
>> > off
>> > the first time.
>> > 5. Re-boot and you should be in Vista. The fact that I'm typing this
>> > from
>> > Vista shows that it can work. But beware the date bug, and activate on
>> > your
>> > first boot.
>> >
>> > Hope this helps some of you.

What kind of answer is that for anyone that has ACTUAL DATA on the partition.
This has quite possibly been the worst beta experience I have ever had. I
installed Vista and it worked fine for exactly 14 hours. Then I remoted in
from work and it lost connection. At that point, my wife said it was
sleeping when she got home. I tried to submit bug reports about this, but
the bug feature crapped out every time. Now I get this ridiculous screen
about the license, which is a FREE BETA LICENSE being expired. I am at my
whit's end right now. I can' afford to format the partition and I can't
afford to be without the machine. I am writing this from a MAC that I
actually found in a recycling bin(works FLAWLESSLY by the way).


0"Bones" wrote:

> yes please file a bug report if you are able to, and thanks for posting it
> here along with your fix
>
> "JOEKC" <JOEKC@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:67740063-00F2-4B95-8ACD-BF4AAB060DB6@microsoft.com...
> > LOL, this is the funny part. There is an error-reporting tool on the
> > desktop
> > (feedback) I think it's called. When I tried to use it (I chose "Run"
> > instead of "save") it blue screened ("crash dump") and the system went
> > down.
> > By then it was late, so I went to bed, Vista having caused me enough
> > headaches for one day. I may try again today, this time using "save."
> > Now
> > I've got two bugs to report and a buggy reporting system. Vista DOES look
> > gorgeous, though and I'm going to have fun putting it through its paces.
> >
> > "Mark D. VandenBerg" wrote:
> >
> >> Great catch! Did you file a bug report with MSFT?
> >>
> >>
> >> "JOEKC" wrote:
> >>
> >> > After installing Vista Beta 2, I did not choose to validate my product
> >> > key
> >> > immediately. I do this out of habit, since Microsoft in the past has
> >> > given
> >> > you only so many validations -- I wait until I'm sure I have a stable
> >> > install. Everything seemed fine, but on reboot I got a message saying
> >> > my
> >> > time had expired for Windows activation. It presented me with a screen
> >> > to
> >> > allow activation, but all I could get was 0x8000705B4 Authentication
> >> > Failed
> >> > error. Of the several options, the only one that worked was the one
> >> > connecting me to the Microsoft store to buy a key! Almost like a joke,
> >> > but
> >> > what a bug! And this was a clean 64-bit install on a 64-bit machine
> >> > with a
> >> > new, pristine partition.
> >> >
> >> > So here's my solution:
> >> >
> >> > 1. Reformat the partition
> >> > 2. Do a re-install from scratch
> >> > 3. Look at the date at the end of the re-install! It's set by default
> >> > for
> >> > three weeks in advance. My clock was set correctly but the date was
> >> > early
> >> > July, even though the date was correctly set in my BIOS. I didn't
> >> > notice
> >> > this the first time. So that's the bug that's causing the problem. If
> >> > you
> >> > don't set the date correctly, when you reboot, Windows thinks the 14
> >> > day
> >> > activation period has expired and kicks you to the screen which tries
> >> > to
> >> > activate you, but fails. SO WATCH THAT DATE ON STARTUP!
> >> > 4. Immediately find the activation screen and activate before you log
> >> > off
> >> > the first time.
> >> > 5. Re-boot and you should be in Vista. The fact that I'm typing this
> >> > from
> >> > Vista shows that it can work. But beware the date bug, and activate on
> >> > your
> >> > first boot.
> >> >
> >> > Hope this helps some of you.
>
>
>

What kind of answer is that for anyone that has ACTUAL DATA on the partition.
This has quite possibly been the worst beta experience I have ever had. I
installed Vista and it worked fine for exactly 14 hours. Then I remoted in
from work and it lost connection. At that point, my wife said it was
sleeping when she got home. I tried to submit bug reports about this, but
the bug feature crapped out every time. Now I get this ridiculous screen
about the license, which is a FREE BETA LICENSE being expired. I am at my
whit's end right now. I can' afford to format the partition and I can't
afford to be without the machine. I am writing this from a MAC that I
actually found in a recycling bin(works FLAWLESSLY by the way).


"Bones" wrote:

> yes please file a bug report if you are able to, and thanks for posting it
> here along with your fix
>
> "JOEKC" <JOEKC@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:67740063-00F2-4B95-8ACD-BF4AAB060DB6@microsoft.com...
> > LOL, this is the funny part. There is an error-reporting tool on the
> > desktop
> > (feedback) I think it's called. When I tried to use it (I chose "Run"
> > instead of "save") it blue screened ("crash dump") and the system went
> > down.
> > By then it was late, so I went to bed, Vista having caused me enough
> > headaches for one day. I may try again today, this time using "save."
> > Now
> > I've got two bugs to report and a buggy reporting system. Vista DOES look
> > gorgeous, though and I'm going to have fun putting it through its paces.
> >
> > "Mark D. VandenBerg" wrote:
> >
> >> Great catch! Did you file a bug report with MSFT?
> >>
> >>
> >> "JOEKC" wrote:
> >>
> >> > After installing Vista Beta 2, I did not choose to validate my product
> >> > key
> >> > immediately. I do this out of habit, since Microsoft in the past has
> >> > given
> >> > you only so many validations -- I wait until I'm sure I have a stable
> >> > install. Everything seemed fine, but on reboot I got a message saying
> >> > my
> >> > time had expired for Windows activation. It presented me with a screen
> >> > to
> >> > allow activation, but all I could get was 0x8000705B4 Authentication
> >> > Failed
> >> > error. Of the several options, the only one that worked was the one
> >> > connecting me to the Microsoft store to buy a key! Almost like a joke,
> >> > but
> >> > what a bug! And this was a clean 64-bit install on a 64-bit machine
> >> > with a
> >> > new, pristine partition.
> >> >
> >> > So here's my solution:
> >> >
> >> > 1. Reformat the partition
> >> > 2. Do a re-install from scratch
> >> > 3. Look at the date at the end of the re-install! It's set by default
> >> > for
> >> > three weeks in advance. My clock was set correctly but the date was
> >> > early
> >> > July, even though the date was correctly set in my BIOS. I didn't
> >> > notice
> >> > this the first time. So that's the bug that's causing the problem. If
> >> > you
> >> > don't set the date correctly, when you reboot, Windows thinks the 14
> >> > day
> >> > activation period has expired and kicks you to the screen which tries
> >> > to
> >> > activate you, but fails. SO WATCH THAT DATE ON STARTUP!
> >> > 4. Immediately find the activation screen and activate before you log
> >> > off
> >> > the first time.
> >> > 5. Re-boot and you should be in Vista. The fact that I'm typing this
> >> > from
> >> > Vista shows that it can work. But beware the date bug, and activate on
> >> > your
> >> > first boot.
> >> >
> >> > Hope this helps some of you.
>
>
>

amx1980 wrote:
> What kind of answer is that for anyone that has ACTUAL DATA on the
> partition.

Who keeps important 'ACTUAL DATA' on a beta OS without backing it up more
often than not?

> I am at my whit's end right now. I
> can' afford to format the partition and I can't afford to be without
> the machine.

Then maybe you shouldn't be running a beta operating system on a machine so
important to you. I have Vista running on only one of my machines, a
tertiary system that I don't care if it dies.

> I am writing this from a MAC that I actually found in a
> recycling bin(works FLAWLESSLY by the way).

Oh? Is it running a beta os too? Otherwise, you're comparing oranges and
appl... err.. that's too easy.

Here's an idea Jayde, help with a solution rather than being aarogant. I
have two drives on the machine, which one was partitioned to run seperately,
but now I can't get to that because of whatever has occurred with the install
of this wonderful beta. Since you seem to not like Apple, you might notice
that Vista is just a conglomeration of KDE and OS X. The interface is the
same interface you get using any KDE distro of linux and the little
magnifying glass in the right hand corner of each window is the Finder from
OS X. If anyone has any idea of how I can change the date from 2036 to 2006
on the Windows date and time, other than formatting my drives, I would be
happy to hear it.

"Jayde" wrote:

> amx1980 wrote:
> > What kind of answer is that for anyone that has ACTUAL DATA on the
> > partition.
>
> Who keeps important 'ACTUAL DATA' on a beta OS without backing it up more
> often than not?
>
> > I am at my whit's end right now. I
> > can' afford to format the partition and I can't afford to be without
> > the machine.
>
> Then maybe you shouldn't be running a beta operating system on a machine so
> important to you. I have Vista running on only one of my machines, a
> tertiary system that I don't care if it dies.
>
> > I am writing this from a MAC that I actually found in a
> > recycling bin(works FLAWLESSLY by the way).
>
> Oh? Is it running a beta os too? Otherwise, you're comparing oranges and
> appl... err.. that's too easy.
>
>
>

amx1980 wrote:
>>> I am writing this from a MAC that I actually found in a
>>> recycling bin(works FLAWLESSLY by the way).
>>
>> Oh? Is it running a beta os too? Otherwise, you're comparing
>> oranges and appl... err.. that's too easy.
>
> Here's an idea Jayde, help with a solution rather than being
> aarogant. I have two drives on the machine, which one was
> partitioned to run seperately, but now I can't get to that because of
> whatever has occurred with the install of this wonderful beta.

Well, why don't you give us some information about the problem. Is the
second drive which has the old os on it set up as a master or a slave? What
happens when you try to boot up to that drive? Are you getting some kind of
error?

> Since
> you seem to not like Apple, you might notice that Vista is just a
> conglomeration of KDE and OS X. The interface is the same interface
> you get using any KDE distro of linux and the little magnifying glass
> in the right hand corner of each window is the Finder from OS X.

I don't like Apple? Don't know where you got that idea. I'm actually
opinion agnostic with regards to Apple.