windows xp activation (there is no expiration!)

[bizhar]

I'm glad I don't have to call my car manufacturer when I change the spark plugs in my car.

 

[Aeon Flux]

Can microsoft legally do that? Forgive me for asking and being dunce about it as I really don't look into or read anything at all about microsoft's crap but is it legal for them to make you purchase another key because you decided to buy another motherboard? I mean it's like calling up Ford and asking permission to start my car after changing the brakes in it. If that is the case we need to start looking more into linux quickly.

Been there done that - sometimes they will let you reactivate it, sometimes they won't. What they told me one time was because I was no longer using that copy of XP with the hardware it was originally purchased with it was no longer a valid copy. I called back and told them that lightning had destroyed the original hardware. They told me that in effect lightning had also destroyed that copy of XP. I finally called back and lied about it - told them I had bought it with a floppy drive and was still using that floppy drive. They finally let me activate it, but gave me a warning that it could no longer be reactivated with a hardware change of any kind, period. That's when I finally sold the whole system and went back to 2000.

 

[stan03]

yea idk either... thats really weird iv never had the problem with my hardware changes...

 

[Oni]

This is good info. I'ma hit a roving mod to break out the paste and stick this.

 

[TC]

Can microsoft legally do that? Forgive me for asking and being dunce about it as I really don't look into or read anything at all about microsoft's crap but is it legal for them to make you purchase another key because you decided to buy another motherboard? I mean it's like calling up Ford and asking permission to start my car after changing the brakes in it. If that is the case we need to start looking more into linux quickly.

I'm not a lawyer so I couldn't tell you. What I recall from that conversation last October was that an oem copy of windows is only intended to be sold with a particular piece of hardware or a new computer, and as such is only licensed to be used with that hardware.

 

[stan03]

but then again that OEM piece could be anything. If i remember right there were a few sites, newegg included that sold OEM windows with like 99 cent thumbscrew or something. That way it was being sold with that peice of hardware

 

[Reefa_Madness]

Question for you guys. If you purchase an OEM version of Win XP with hardware (CD audio cable, for example) and you build a system and activate by phone and now you add or change a component and it tells you that you need to reactivate, do you think it would work to just reformat the HD, re-install WIN XP with the same hardware as the first install and key in the number that they gave you over the phone the first time? I seems like it should since you have the same equipment on it as when you did the first activation. Does anyone have any comments on this?

 

[mbentley]

Question for you guys. If you purchase an OEM version of Win XP with hardware (CD audio cable, for example) and you build a system and activate by phone and now you add or change a component and it tells you that you need to reactivate, do you think it would work to just reformat the HD, re-install WIN XP with the same hardware as the first install and key in the number that they gave you over the phone the first time? I seems like it should since you have the same equipment on it as when you did the first activation. Does anyone have any comments on this?

yes, this is how it should work. as long as you have all of your hardware in the exact same configuration as it was when you first installed (cards in same slots, etc) it should work fine without needing to contact microsoft over the phone.

 

[Reefa_Madness]

Thanks for your response.

The reason I ask is because not too long ago I wanted to try out, just briefly, an XP mobile and an Abit NF7-S board that I had gotten, but was not done doing some prep work on the case. I assembled it and installed Win XP on a 40GB Maxtor drive, along with a Lite-On CD-Rom and 2 512 sticks of KHX PC3000. I activated it over the phone.

After a few days, I removed the Abit and the mobile, and replace them with a Gigabyte 7N400 Pro2 mobo and an XP 3000+ and also replaced the ram and put in 2 x 512 of Samsung PC2700. It booted right up with no problems and no re-activation message. Subsequently I replace the ram, this time with 2 x 256 of KHX PC3200 (non "A"). It immediately gave me the darn message about reactivation. I can't hardly believe that I could make all those other changes, and the re-activation message would be triggered by a simple ram exchange. Go figure!

I guess I'll reassemble the mobile and the Abit.

I'm also glad I have a copy of Win 2000 because to tell you the truth, I'm not sure that for me the benefits of Win XP are worth going through the reactivation process whenever I change components.

 

[copernicus]

this just happened to me when i put in a new xp-m 2500+. the only hardware left from my original sys now is my hd and floppy.
when i installed the mobile after a couple startups i got the message that i had to reactivate, so i did as usual and chose to reactivate over the internet. for the first time it wouldn,t activate.
so i rebooted and got the message again, chose remind me later, then went in and opened activation myself and chose to activate over internet without registration and had no prob. did this with both partitions twice now.
we'll see how it works when i replace this hd with a raptor and a 120gb for storage in a month or so. {crosses fingers}

 

[Leviathan41]

Does anyone know if Microsoft keeps track of each time you call them. Like if you called them every day to activate windows would they know? Seems like a hit and miss sort of system to me. . .

 

[hafa]

Does anyone know if Microsoft keeps track of each time you call them. Like if you called them every day to activate windows would they know? Seems like a hit and miss sort of system to me. . .

Like us oldsers used to say..."you bet your sweet bippy!"

Each product ID number and the unique machine number are stored in the MS database. The complete history of each activation, be it via telephone or internet is associated with these numbers. Each time you call or access the activation server, another record is logged.

yes, this is how it should work. as long as you have all of your hardware in the exact same configuration as it was when you first installed (cards in same slots, etc) it should work fine without needing to contact microsoft over the phone..

Interestingly enough, I've changed the motherboard, video card, sound card, hard drive, memory and CPU and been able to activate all but one time over the internet (The one time, I used the telephone service). Very MS....No?

 

[Leviathan41]

What if I want to take a copy of Windows off of one computer and install it on another? What do I tell them? I have 2 copies of Windows and 3 computers, but I want to install XP on my newest machine and put something else on my older one.

 

[Randyman...]

Just put one of your "XP" CD-R drives in the "Non-XP" machine - it "is" now the other XP PC with a new MoBo, Chip, RAM, and NIC. You replaced your hardware, and need to re-activate Maybe it will work - maybe it won't.

Even my OEM XP-Pro is still letting me activate through the internet for changes - but still the same Proc, Video, Optical Drives, and case (different MoBo/NIC/HD's). No probs YET (fingers crossed). There are always workarounds (nudge nudge).

Later

 

[mbentley]

What if I want to take a copy of Windows off of one computer and install it on another? What do I tell them? I have 2 copies of Windows and 3 computers, but I want to install XP on my newest machine and put something else on my older one.

when they ask you how many computers this is installed on, tell them the truth (it should be 1). yes, maybe you will have windows installed for a day or two on the other machine, but just make sure you put some other copy of windows on that so you don't violate their eula.

 

[CheeseMan]

So i will need to do that if i ever re-install xp?

 

[Leviathan41]

Likely, yes. Sometimes you are able to activate more than once before you have to call though.

 

[Dylruss]

If you have the exact same hardware, then you should be ok. But if you change the hardware, then I have always had about 1 or 2 more activation times before it forced me to call.

 

[CheeseMan]

what you mean by hardware? what kind of hardware?

 

[dark_15]

One more thing about the activation scheme...

I once googled the whole XP activation scheme once.. and I read an article on how the activation process really runs. If I find the article again, I'd be more than happy to post it. Basically what it said is that the activation procedure looks for a change in the RAM - normally in amount. If the amount of RAM changes in the machine then it will almost always need reactivation. I'd expand further on this, but I may violate the rules in this forum... lol