Registration of Windows Vista and Resulting Internet Communication

In This Section

Purposes of Registration for Windows Vista

Overview: Registration in the Context of a Managed Environment

How a Computer Running Windows Vista Business Communicates with a Site on the Internet During Registration

Procedure for Preventing the Welcome Center from Displaying at Startup

In Windows Vista, the link to product registration is in the Welcome Center. For more information about the Welcome Center, see Welcome Center and Resulting Internet Communication in Windows Vista in this white paper.

If you are interested in product activation (which differs from product registration), see Activation and Resulting Internet Communication in Windows Vista in this white paper.

Purposes of Registration for Windows Vista

Product registration is the process of providing Microsoft with personally identifiable information, such as an e-mail address, for the purpose of receiving tips, tools, online training, and support resources from Microsoft. Registration is usually done on a per-product basis, and it is not required. If registration is completed, all registration information is stored using a variety of security technologies. When the user provides an e-mail address during registration, he or she also specifies whether important security, product, and event information can be sent to that e-mail address by Microsoft, Microsoft Partners, or both. Other than the uses that are specified, the registration information is never loaned or sold outside Microsoft.

Overview: Registration in the Context of a Managed Environment

Product registration is the process of providing Microsoft with personally identifiable information, such as an e-mail address, for the purpose of receiving tips, tools, online training, and support resources from Microsoft. In a managed environment using Windows Vista Business, you might want to prevent individual users of Windows Vista Business from easily discovering the link for registering the product with Microsoft. To do this, you can use a Group Policy that prevents the Welcome Center (which contains the link to product registration) from displaying automatically when Windows Vista starts.

How a Computer Running Windows Vista Business Communicates with a Site on the Internet During Registration

The following list describes how a computer running Windows Vista Business communicates with a site on the Internet during registration:

• Registration Web site for computers running Windows Vista Business: When a user at a computer running Windows Vista Business clicks a link to product registration, it goes to the following Web site:

  https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=60879

• Specific information sent or received: During registration of Windows Vista Business, the user must provide the following information (but registration is completely optional):

  • Name

  • E-mail address

  • Postal address

  • A Windows Live ID, which can be obtained at the time of registration

  • A response to a question about whether the company (of the person registering) has 1-50 employees or more than 50 employees

  • Responses to questions about whether important security, product, and event information can be sent to the user's e-mail address by Microsoft, Microsoft partners, or both (these questions might vary slightly, depending on the Web page displayed for the country/region of the person registering)

  Optionally, the user can also provide the following:

  • A job title or characterization of the work that the person does

  • Information about the user's organization or company (for example, what kinds of computer technology it uses and whether it is home-based)

  • Replies to other prompts that might vary depending on the Web page displayed for the country/region of the person registering (for example, the prompts might ask about the kinds of software products that the person uses)

  During registration, the following information is sent automatically:

  • Operating system name, version, and edition

  • A hardware description that classifies the general type of computer (for example, a laptop)—no information about the data on the system is collected

• Default setting and ability to disable: By default, the Welcome Center appears when Windows Vista is first started after installation, and the link for registering the product appears in the Welcome Center. You can use Group Policy to prevent the Welcome Center, which contains the link to product registration, from displaying automatically when Windows Vista starts.

• Trigger and notification: Registration is optional. A user can register in either of the following ways:

  • By using the Welcome Center, which opens after installation of Windows Vista and can also be opened from Control Panel. In Welcome Center, the user can double-click Register Windows online.

  • By opening Help and Support, locating an appropriate Help topic about registration, and clicking a link in the topic. The link explicitly states that it goes online to allow the user to register a copy of Windows.

• Privacy, encryption, and storage: Registration data is encrypted using HTTPS during transmission.

  Registration data, which contains information that the user chooses to send to Microsoft, is stored on servers with restricted access that are located in controlled facilities. The data can be seen by customer service representatives and marketing personnel. To review the Microsoft online privacy statement on product registration, see the Microsoft Web site at:

  https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=72399

• Transmission protocol and port: When a user's information is transmitted to the registration Web site, HTTPS is used through port 443.

Procedure for Preventing the Welcome Center from Displaying at Startup

Use the following procedure to configure Group Policy to prevent the Welcome Center, which contains the link to product registration, from displaying automatically when Windows Vista starts. For more information about the Welcome Center, see Welcome Center and Resulting Internet Communication in Windows Vista in this white paper.

1. See Appendix B: Resources for Learning About Group Policy for Windows Vista for information about using Group Policy. Using an account with domain administrative credentials, log on to a computer running Windows Vista, open Group Policy Management Console by running gpmc.msc, and then edit an appropriate Group Policy object (GPO).

2. Expand User Configuration, expand Administrative Templates, expand Windows Components, and then click Windows Explorer.

3. In the details pane, double-click Do not display the Welcome Center at user logon, and then click Enabled.

   When you enable this setting, the Welcome Center will not display at startup, but the user will still be able to open it from Control Panel or the Start menu. The user will also be able to locate the Web site for registration by opening Help and Support, locating an appropriate Help topic about registration, and clicking a link in the topic. The link explicitly states that it goes online to allow the user to register a copy of Windows.