blastus
February 25th, 2007, 08:11 AM
The RFM I experienced when I advanced the clock one month then reset it, offered no option for accessing the files on my machine. Microsoft should have at least included a note on the activation screen to tell people that if they want to access their files they must boot into Safe Mode (and give instructions on how to enter into Safe Mode.)
Sure one can enter C:\ in the Internet Explorer window to access Windows Explorer, but the interface is not designed for this purpose and the average user might not know that they can do this. If the fact that there's no desktop, no start menu etc... isn't proof enough that RFM offers no functionality other than activating Windows, UAC rears its ugly head if you try to enter C:\ in Internet Explorer.
Booting into Safe Mode with Networking should include similar instructions as one can't do ANYTHING in that mode. In Safe Mode with Networking, all one gets is a dialog that says Windows cannot be activated in Safe Mode and to boot in normal mode to activate Windows. Closing the dialog logs the user out. This is misleading because people may assume that booting into any kind of Safe Mode will have the same results. I know I did.
All RFM (or Really f..d Mode) does is goad people into activating Windows by whatever means, even if that involves purchasing another copy of Windows. It offers no instruction or even a hint for those who may just want to get their data off the machine and not use Vista anymore. If Microsoft really gave a damn, there would have been an option on the activation screen that said something like "I don't want to use Vista anymore. Please tell me how I can get my files off my computer."
Sure one can enter C:\ in the Internet Explorer window to access Windows Explorer, but the interface is not designed for this purpose and the average user might not know that they can do this. If the fact that there's no desktop, no start menu etc... isn't proof enough that RFM offers no functionality other than activating Windows, UAC rears its ugly head if you try to enter C:\ in Internet Explorer.
Booting into Safe Mode with Networking should include similar instructions as one can't do ANYTHING in that mode. In Safe Mode with Networking, all one gets is a dialog that says Windows cannot be activated in Safe Mode and to boot in normal mode to activate Windows. Closing the dialog logs the user out. This is misleading because people may assume that booting into any kind of Safe Mode will have the same results. I know I did.
All RFM (or Really f..d Mode) does is goad people into activating Windows by whatever means, even if that involves purchasing another copy of Windows. It offers no instruction or even a hint for those who may just want to get their data off the machine and not use Vista anymore. If Microsoft really gave a damn, there would have been an option on the activation screen that said something like "I don't want to use Vista anymore. Please tell me how I can get my files off my computer."