Keeping things in perspective, this was never a Games for Windows -- LIVE issue, it was a problem that was addressed like several other products by the Windows development team.

If you are seeing errors with Halo 2 for Windows Vista, such as 'Failed to Initialize LIVE', then this kb below should be your next step in resolving your issue. However, if the error still persist, for whatever reason, then you should contact Windows Support for assistance as this update is supported by them.

http://support.microsoft.com/KB/976264

 As for the manul steps below, they were a spin off from the exact same issue occuring wtih folks running dedicated servers on Windows Server 2003, they have also been proven to work with Vista and Win 7;  However, its a last resort approach and should be avoided unless the above patch fails to resolve your Halo 2 for Windows Vista problems.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/941208

If you continue to expereince problems with this error and Halo 2, then you should contact the support number provided in the manual specific to your country.

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Here is the following troubleshooting steps I have done and so far have worked for me and a few friends

try the following:

Run Command Prompt (run as Administrator):

Type: net stop cryptsvc and hit enter

You will receive a message stating that the service was stopped.

 Navigate to your LocalDrive:/Windows/System32 and rename the "catroot2" folder to "cr2old"

Once it is renamed, go back to command prompt and run this command: net start cryptsvc which will restart the Cryptographic Services:

The above steps may work, however I have noticed that if it does when you exit to the desktop then try to relaunch or reboot the PC the error may come back. If this is true then the steps below have been so far successful.

   1. Delete all the tmp*.cat files in the following folders (use the search option on the top right corner of the screen to find and delete the files):

      %systemroot%\system32\CatRoot\{127D0A1D-4EF2-11D1-8608-00C04FC295EE}  (there may be no files in this folder if that’s the case then only worry about the next folder)

      %systemroot%\system32\CatRoot\{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE} (if no items are found then go to the next step)

   2. Delete all the kb*.cat files in the following folders (use the search option on the top right corner of the screen to find and delete the files):

      %systemroot%\System32\CatRoot\{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE} ( A pop up will ask that you need admin rights to delete, accept and delete, you may notice that they were deleted however still appear, if you refresh the screen they will be gone)

      %systemroot%\System32\CatRoot\{127D0A1D-4EF2-11D1-8608-00C04FC295EE} (again skip if there is no files in the folders)

   3. Delete all the oem*.* files from the %systemroot%\inf folder. (again use the search option on the top right hand corner of the screen to find and delete the files)

   4. At the command prompt (Run as Administrator), type the following commands. Press ENTER after each command.

     A) net stop cryptsvc

     B) Next, Navigate to your LocalDrive:/Windows/System32 and delete the renamed Catroot2 folder we made previously and keep the “Catroot2” file

     C) ren %systemroot%\System32\Catroot2 oldcatroot2

     D) net start cryptsvc

      Exit Command Prompt

   5. Run halo 2

This should run successfully, even after exiting and re-launching halo 2 as well as after a reboot. Hopefully this helps and Please post back with results, as i'm sure the Mods would like to know the outcome