I know that I said this was going to be a security blog, but I figured I would continue on my rant on Vista after this happened.

Ok, so there I was…

I saw on Betanews.com a article on Vista Hardware Assessment Tool Addresses Upgrade Dilemmas by Scott M. Fulton, III of Betanews, which toted of a Windows XP tool to check for hardware compatibility for Vista. Curiosity got the best of me, so I downloaded it (25.5 MB). I simply wanted to see if my machine could handle Vista. Installation starts and tells me that it needs SQL Server 2005 Express and that it is going to download and install it for me. And I’m thinking (Oh great, my computer is now going to have an outdated Microsoft SQL server on my system. yay me!) I click ok, whatever. It downloads, then installs SQL Server 2005 Express, and starts to install “Windows Vista Hardware Assessment” (just a tangent, but shouldn’t there be something like “tool” or “wizard” on the end of that?) and it gets to a certain point and stops for a bit. It continues after about 10 minutes. And then stops again at about 65%. At this point I need to go to bed and I do so. I wake up the next morning to be greeted with the following screen:

Yes it was still at around 65% and no my computer wasn’t frozen. So I came to the conclusion that if I can’t even install the “Assessment” then my computer isn’t compatible. I also get the added treasure of a failed install of SQL Server 2005 Express. I wouldn’t suggest this tool until it gets looked at again, or some third party makes the same tool without the need of a insert expletive here SQL Server.

But, that’s just my take on things, I’m just another security guy in a room with a small sign on the door that says “IT Dept”. What would I know?

jd

P.S. Richmond has tried it’s hand at WGA again. Check out my digg article here:
http://www.digg.com/tech_news/Windows_Genuine_Advantage_Part_2