31 replies to this topic

[Illrigger]

I'm pulling them down, but it's VERY slow going - 80-200KB/s.

Disappointingly, there is no unified retail disc like in Vista; each version is on its own disc, as it was in the old XP days. Not sure what MS is thinking, I guess they just like spending extra money on bandwidth.

Ah, well - I have all 41 of my keys. That's what I was after more than the official images anyway.

EDIT: Quit PMing me asking for keys, please. They don't belong to me exclusively so I can't give them out.

[Phonics Monkey]

You're getting 80K, wow ... I can't get any better than 40!

Thanks for the heads-up that it's there

[Chugworth]

I'm pulling them down, but it's VERY slow going - 80-200KB/s.

Disappointingly, there is no unified retail disc like in Vista; each version is on its own disc, as it was in the old XP days. Not sure what MS is thinking, I guess they just like spending extra money on bandwidth.

Ah, well - I have all 41 of my keys. That's what I was after more than the official images anyway.

EDIT: Quit PMing me asking for keys, please. They don't belong to me exclusively so I can't give them out.

Yeah, it's slow downloading through TechNet. I have no need to re-download the Ultimate x64 and x86, since their SHA-1 values posted on TechNet are the same as the images I already have. So right now I'm downloading the Windows 7 AIK. Currently getting about 50KB/sec. I'll probably download the Enterprise images also since they're not included in the standard image. Speaking of which, it is indeed a MAJOR waste of bandwidth for Microsoft, especially since I'm 99% sure that the INSTALL.WIM file in Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, Starter, and Ultimate is exactly the same. I believe Windows 7 VL is going to be available on the Microsoft Licensing site tomorrow. It will be interesting to see if it uses the same INSTALL.WIM also.

How many keys does TechNet give you per edition? So far I have only requested one for Ultimate, but I see where I can request more. It seems that the keys for all editions except Enterprise can only be activated on one computer since they are listed as "RTL" (or "OEM" for "Starter"), but Enterprise is listed as "MAK." I wonder how many activations it gives you.

I'm still waiting on my free key through Connect also. It hasn't been posted yet.

[Chugworth]

Just activated with my free Connect key.

[Chugworth]

How many keys does TechNet give you per edition? So far I have only requested one for Ultimate, but I see where I can request more. It seems that the keys for all editions except Enterprise can only be activated on one computer since they are listed as "RTL" (or "OEM" for "Starter"), but Enterprise is listed as "MAK." I wonder how many activations it gives you.

Well through TechNet I requested six different Ultimate keys intended for six different computers, but I found out that the RTL keys support multiple activations also.

[Phonics Monkey]

I was under the impression that the MSDN RTL keys are/were good for up to 10 activations/machines/uses

[Chugworth]

I was under the impression that the MSDN RTL keys are/were good for up to 10 activations/machines/uses

Yes, that's what it used to be. But their product key FAQ says that limit is just for older products. Now they don't tell you how many activations you get. They just say a "limited number." Who knows... Maybe they keep changing the activation limit and don't want people to expect a certain number. Or maybe there's no set limit and they just close keys that start receiving lots of activation requests in a short period of time.

TechNet's idea of "unlimited evaluations" has always seemed a little odd to me. Really, with the activation changes introduced in Vista SP1, I don't even see why TechNet even keeps giving keys for Windows. If you're just running it for technical evaluation then the black background and occasional activation reminder should be of no concern. I guess they're just more generous than I would be if I was running the service.

[Phonics Monkey]

I was under the impression that the MSDN RTL keys are/were good for up to 10 activations/machines/uses

Yes, that's what it used to be. But their product key FAQ says that limit is just for older products. Now they don't tell you how many activations you get. They just say a "limited number."

Well one is a limited number...

Who knows... Maybe they keep changing the activation limit and don't want people to expect a certain number. Or maybe there's no set limit and they just close keys that start receiving lots of activation requests in a short period of time.

Now that is probably the most truly practical way of doing it.

TechNet's idea of "unlimited evaluations" has always seemed a little odd to me. Really, with the activation changes introduced in Vista SP1, I don't even see why TechNet even keeps giving keys for Windows. If you're just running it for technical evaluation then the black background and occasional activation reminder should be of no concern. I guess they're just more generous than I would be if I was running the service.

I don't really know much about the TechNet sub ... Hell I didn't even know we had one until a few months back I stumbled onto it when I got an Email from MS asking me to update the profile. *Shrug* ...Okay...

Edited by Phonics Monkey, 07 August 2009 - 03:21 PM.

[Chugworth]

Well today Windows 7 was released on the Microsoft Licensing site. I'm downloading it, but it's going extremely slow. Only about 20KB/sec.

The interesting thing is that they are already providing KMS keys for Windows Server 2008 R2 along with the Windows 7 KMS key. Even though the 2008R2 image hasn't been released yet, I believe they are providing the key so that the KMS server will continue to activate Server 2008 machines along with Windows 7 machines.

[Phonics Monkey]

20K Damn, I'm running about 380K here at home now, but was only getting 40K at the office yesterday afternoon. I did the first hardware install on the owner's machine. It's a (approx 2 year old) Gigabyte Mboard with an AMD X2 (some damn thing or an other), 2 GB RAM, SATA 3.0 RAID 0, and onboard video.

Clean Install of Win7 x86 Professional took 30min. - All hardware identified.

Performance was crisp, even while playing with the new graphics bits and watching a movie on DVD. I'm completely blown away with how well it performed on the older hardware ... I'd heard it was good ... But, DAMN it is good. It was easily as fast if not a bit faster than the XP install I flattened before installing it.

[Chugworth]

Okay, it turns out that the "INSTALL.WIM" file on the volume edition is NOT the same as the regular one, as I had wondered earlier. In fact, when I use "imagex /info" to compare the actual "Professional" image, the total data size and number of files are slightly different.

I'm still curious to see what happens if I try to activate a regular edition against a KMS server. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the options are there, unlike in Vista.

[Phonics Monkey]

Going to take a shot at doing an upgrade install on my primary x64 workstation (Vista Business to 7 Pro). ...Will be back soon if it goes well

[Phonics Monkey]

Note the post times between start of upgrade & completed to the point of I have control of the desktop (now).

DAMN THAT TOOK FOREVER!!!

This is not a slow machine by any strech of the imagination, but 5 & 1/2 hours?!? Shit!!!

[SpyCatcher]

Will code from MSDN be added here?

[Chugworth]

Note the post times between start of upgrade & completed to the point of I have control of the desktop (now).

DAMN THAT TOOK FOREVER!!!

This is not a slow machine by any strech of the imagination, but 5 & 1/2 hours?!? Shit!!!

Well I've tried upgrading two machines so far, and I didn't time them exactly but they certainly weren't 5 hours. More like 2 or so. Upgrading is a slow process, but it seems to work pretty good. It doesn't create an unstable mess like in older versions of Windows.

Will code from MSDN be added here?

Huh? What code do you mean?