Web Talk

One of the most painful thing about your brand new Windows Vista is its activation and the way to save it. If you like trying different software and hacks on your computer, the odds to make a mess are very high. Many times the only solution to a catastrophic experiment is to make a fresh Vista install (meaning that you have to format the hard disk before). The bad news is that every time you do that you have to activate Vista again and this may include an embarrassing phone call to a Microsoft guy (as it happened to me). There are many ways to save Vista activation. Here are the two most common ones (just in case you missed my posts):

• First way
  
• Second way
  

Today I found out another solution. If you are not a geek and you don’t want to try risky hacks or tricks you can use programs that backup all your operative system with a couple of steps. As a matter of fact they, apart from making a backup of your files and programs, save all the information to run your Vista. That also means avoid the whole activation procedure. One of this program is the well-known True Image by Acronis. True Image “provides the maximum flexibility to ensure you are adequately protected from unforeseen events such as viruses, unstable software downloads, and hard drive failures. It creates an exact copy of your PC for a full backup”. Another description on the Acronis web site states: “Acronis True Image includes our patented disk imaging backup technology. You can copy your entire PC, including the operating system, applications, user settings, and all data. In the event of a system or disk crash, virus attack or other fatal failures you can restore the entire disk contents in minutes — no reinstallations required!“

So this is the trick: make a fresh install of your Vista. After that activate it through the regular procedure. Now use True Image and backup your entire hard disk. In the event of a catastrophic failure roll back your operative system to that fresh installation. No activation needed.