does W7 regularly phone home?

[none]

Thought I read some time back W7 needs to phone home occasionally (every 3 months?) even with a valid license, even when your PC shows genuine software is installed. Is it true W7 needs to phone home to keep your valid license valid?

 

[charlie]

Thought I read some time back W7 needs to phone home occasionally (every
3 months?) even with a valid license, even when your PC shows genuine
software is installed. Is it true W7 needs to phone home to keep your
valid license valid?

Not exactly. But, it will "phone home"under various circumstances.
One of the factors (by rumor) has to do with the flavor of windows and
the original key used. (Consider a stand alone P/C that does not have
internet access for example.) A user or business would be angered if
they had to call Microsoft every three months or so to reactivate such a
P/C)

 

[richard]

Thought I read some time back W7 needs to phone home occasionally (every 3 months?) even with a valid license, even when your PC shows genuine software is installed. Is it true W7 needs to phone home to keep your valid license valid?

Please take a few minutes to configure your outdated Outlook Express to
post in plain text to newsgroups.
Some news clients do not know how to handle html.

thank you.

 

[Ghostrider01]

Thought I read some time back W7 needs to phone home occasionally (every
3 months?) even with a valid license, even when your PC shows genuine
software is installed. Is it true W7 needs to phone home to keep your
valid license valid?

It all depends on how Windows 7 has been configured and how Windows 7
is being used. Windows Update, in particular, uses return information
from the user's system. But there are other companies that are equally
as bothersome as Microsoft in this area, especially Adobe. It will re-
assert its FlexNet Service whenever an Adobe product is updated and it
calls home hourly. A good place to see what or who is calling home on a
regular basis is Task Scheduler.

GR

 

[Yousuf Khan]

Thought I read some time back W7 needs to phone home occasionally (every
3 months?) even with a valid license, even when your PC shows genuine
software is installed. Is it true W7 needs to phone home to keep your
valid license valid?

The short answer is ... yes.

Your Windows 7 PC Will Call Home To Ensure It’s Piracy-Free - The Next Web
http://thenextweb.com/us/2010/02/11/windows-7-update-phone-home-os-pirated/

Yousuf Khan

 

[Steve Hayes]

The short answer is ... yes.

There are other things that seem to make Windows 7 want to phone out -- is
there any way of stopping it?

I have a laptop with Win 7, and the essence of a partable computer is that you
can take it to places outside your home and use it there. I use mind for
research in libraries and archives where there is no internet connection, no
wi-fi etc. And it is annoying to find that I have lost some of what i have
been typing because some stupid little window had popped up for an internet
connection. Is there any way of stopping this?

 

[Ghostrider]

There are other things that seem to make Windows 7 want to phone out -- is
there any way of stopping it?

I have a laptop with Win 7, and the essence of a partable computer is that you
can take it to places outside your home and use it there. I use mind for
research in libraries and archives where there is no internet connection, no
wi-fi etc. And it is annoying to find that I have lost some of what i have
been typing because some stupid little window had popped up for an internet
connection. Is there any way of stopping this?

Normally, the user is advised of no connection or loss of connection in
the taskbar notification area. Once acknowledged and no further changes
occur, this should take care of the problem.

Proactively, if the laptop is started without a RJ45 connection, this is
detected right at startup. Acknowledge the notification in the taskbar.

And as for Wi-Fi, either physically turn off Wi-Fi if there is a switch
that is built into the laptop or change its network adapter setting via
the Control Panel. Acknowledge the notification in the taskbar and once
done, there should be no more issues.

GR

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

On 4/6/2013 7:34 PM, Steve Hayes wrote: []

I have a laptop with Win 7, and the essence of a partable computer is
that you
can take it to places outside your home and use it there. I use mind for
research in libraries and archives where there is no internet connection, no
wi-fi etc. And it is annoying to find that I have lost some of what i have
been typing because some stupid little window had popped up for an internet
connection. Is there any way of stopping this?

Normally, the user is advised of no connection or loss of connection in
the taskbar notification area. Once acknowledged and no further changes
occur, this should take care of the problem.

Proactively, if the laptop is started without a RJ45 connection, this is
detected right at startup. Acknowledge the notification in the taskbar.

And as for Wi-Fi, either physically turn off Wi-Fi if there is a switch
that is built into the laptop or change its network adapter setting via
the Control Panel. Acknowledge the notification in the taskbar and once
done, there should be no more issues.

GR

Turning the wireless off will also prolong the battery life somewhat -
enough to be useful.

 

[Seth]

Not exactly. But, it will "phone home"under various circumstances.
One of the factors (by rumor) has to do with the flavor of windows and the
original key used. (Consider a stand alone P/C that does not have internet
access for example.) A user or business would be angered if they had to
call Microsoft every three months or so to reactivate such a P/C)

"Business users" (Enterprise and Pro flavors of Windows using a KMS key (as
opposed to MAK or individual)) do have to "check-in" at least every 180 days
to stay activated. They attempt to check in after 30 days to reset the 180
day grace period. But they don't have to check in directly with Microsoft.
large business' will have their own KMS server on premises and that is what
the PCs check in with.

 

[Joe Morris]

"Business users" (Enterprise and Pro flavors of Windows using a KMS key
(as opposed to MAK or individual)) do have to "check-in" at least every
180 days to stay activated. They attempt to check in after 30 days to
reset the 180 day grace period. But they don't have to check in directly
with Microsoft. large business' will have their own KMS server on premises
and that is what the PCs check in with.

....and the KMS ("Key Management Server") never feeds data about the machines
that it activates back to Microsoft. The KMS does need to be activated by
normal processes, but once that's done the system has no need for any
external communications path.

Incidentally, the Office family - Suite, Visio, Project - (2010 and later)
and Windows Server (2008 and later) also can be activated by KMS if
installed from volume-licensed media and are subject to the same 180-day
cycle.

Joe

 

[Seth]

...and the KMS ("Key Management Server") never feeds data about the
machines that it activates back to Microsoft. The KMS does need to be
activated by normal processes, but once that's done the system has no need
for any external communications path.

Correct. Mine are all behind a firewall with no outbound communication.

Incidentally, the Office family - Suite, Visio, Project - (2010 and later)
and Windows Server (2008 and later) also can be activated by KMS if
installed from volume-licensed media and are subject to the same 180-day
cycle.

True too. In production we have a Srv2008 box activating Win7, Srv2008 and
Office 2010. In my lab infrastructure I have a Srv2012 box activating Win7,
Win8, Srv2008, Srv2012, Office 2010 and Office 2013.

 

[Shadow]

large business' will have their own KMS server on premises and that is what
the PCs check in with.

Sounds useful
Any open-source KMS servers I can download and install ?
[]'s

 

[Char Jackson]

large business' will have their own KMS server on premises and that is what
the PCs check in with.

Sounds useful
Any open-source KMS servers I can download and install ?
[]'s

I would have said yes, until you said open source.