Windows Product Activation bullshit.

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Glocksman
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Windows Product Activation bullshit.

Post by Glocksman »

Two instances.
The first was on my own totally rebuilt (from an A64 to a C2D setup) system using a legit copy of XP Home upgrade that was originally activated in March and hasn't been reinstalled since.
It installed and activated fine, but when I pulled out my secondary DVD burner to make room for the SATA burner arriving in the mail this week, I got a 'Windows has detected significant hardware changes and needs to reactivate'. :shock: :roll:

The second was on a system for a client using a legit, unopened copy of XP Home upgrade.
After the initial install, he decided that he wanted more RAM and a different brand of DVD burner.
I installed the memory and it ran fine.
The next day I got around to swapping out the DVD, and got the same message saying that 'Windows has detected significant hardware changes and needs to reactivate'.
WTF is this shit?
After speaking to a phone drone in India, I reactivated the client's machine with no problem.
I'm waiting until the SATA burner arrives before I reactivate my own.

If this is how WPA works, no wonder XP piracy is so popular.
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Post by The Yosemite Bear »

microsoft owns your computer you can't upgrade it anymore....
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phongn
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Post by phongn »

Generally the best bet is not to activate until all projected hardware changes are complete so you don't have to mess with reactivation.
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Glocksman
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Post by Glocksman »

phongn wrote:Generally the best bet is not to activate until all projected hardware changes are complete so you don't have to mess with reactivation.
The funny thing is that I did all kinds of hardware changes a few months ago (adding/subtracting DVD drives, changing firewire cards, adding in a SATA card) on the A64 setup without ever seeing a reactivation screen.
"You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours."- General Sir Charles Napier

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Sikon
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Post by Sikon »

Glocksman wrote:
phongn wrote:Generally the best bet is not to activate until all projected hardware changes are complete so you don't have to mess with reactivation.
The funny thing is that I did all kinds of hardware changes a few months ago (adding/subtracting DVD drives, changing firewire cards, adding in a SATA card) on the A64 setup without ever seeing a reactivation screen.
Windows not originally requesting reactivation after the first hardware changes would be since it can wait on doing so until a certain number of hardware changes, such as seven as described here. Of course, it is still undesirable...
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Post by Enigma »

Well I bought a legit copy of XP Pro and when I put in the product code XP didn't accept it. WTF? MS doesn't recognize their own key codes?
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Post by Glocksman »

Sikon wrote:
Glocksman wrote:
phongn wrote:Generally the best bet is not to activate until all projected hardware changes are complete so you don't have to mess with reactivation.
The funny thing is that I did all kinds of hardware changes a few months ago (adding/subtracting DVD drives, changing firewire cards, adding in a SATA card) on the A64 setup without ever seeing a reactivation screen.
Windows not originally requesting reactivation after the first hardware changes would be since it can wait on doing so until a certain number of hardware changes, such as seven as described here. Of course, it is still undesirable...
It's been more 120 days since the initial activation in March and I never was prompted to reactivate during that time, so the slate should have been swept clean by now and the C2D system used as the new baseline for tracking hardware changes.
If that article is still accurate, I should never have been prompted to reactivate either on my own machine because of the 120 day 'slate cleaning' or on the client's machine, which used a brand new unopened retail copy of XP Home upgrade for the install.
"You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours."- General Sir Charles Napier

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Post by Magus »

Destructionator XIII wrote:
Enigma wrote:MS doesn't recognize their own key codes?
Sometimes that is because some stupid shithead with a key generator got your key and used it before you. The idiot may have been caught, and the key invalidated, or perhaps it simply still registered in use.
Great...so not only is he a pirate, but a rude pirate at that? If you're going to crack Windows, at least have the decency to patch it so it doesn't activate with MS...
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Edi
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Re: Windows Product Activation bullshit.

Post by Edi »

Glocksman wrote:After speaking to a phone drone in India, I reactivated the client's machine with no problem.
I'm waiting until the SATA burner arrives before I reactivate my own.

If this is how WPA works, no wonder XP piracy is so popular.
Congratulations! *snicker*

There are at least some perks to living in a country with as obscure a language as ours: Whenever I've had to reactivate a WinXP install with Microsoft, I get to speak to a countryman, or if the Finnish queue is too long, somebody from my own country who is manning the English language queue. No problem either way! :D

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Post by Zac Naloen »

I'm guessing I'll need to reactivate my windows this christmas? As i'm basically gutting it and replacing everything that isn't a peripheral?

And seeing as all my old stuff is going in my dads ageing PC I'll need to do the same for his?
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Post by InnocentBystander »

What exactly sets this off? I've got an image of my school laptop running on 4 other computers, and despite the complete change in hardware on each, none of them have had to be reactivated.
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Post by Xisiqomelir »

Magus wrote:
Destructionator XIII wrote:
Enigma wrote:MS doesn't recognize their own key codes?
Sometimes that is because some stupid shithead with a key generator got your key and used it before you. The idiot may have been caught, and the key invalidated, or perhaps it simply still registered in use.
Great...so not only is he a pirate, but a rude pirate at that? If you're going to crack Windows, at least have the decency to patch it so it doesn't activate with MS...
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Post by Enigma »

Magus wrote:
Destructionator XIII wrote:
Enigma wrote:MS doesn't recognize their own key codes?
Sometimes that is because some stupid shithead with a key generator got your key and used it before you. The idiot may have been caught, and the key invalidated, or perhaps it simply still registered in use.
Great...so not only is he a pirate, but a rude pirate at that? If you're going to crack Windows, at least have the decency to patch it so it doesn't activate with MS...
what are you talking about?
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Post by Magus »

Enigma wrote:
Magus wrote:Great...so not only is he a pirate, but a rude pirate at that? If you're going to crack Windows, at least have the decency to patch it so it doesn't activate with MS...
what are you talking about?
If you crack windows, you can patch it so MS doesn't ever check your activation key - your computer will just run it and MS will never know that you're even running it, much less what key you're using.

It'd be the polite thing to do, if you're going to use a keygen, simply so you won't screw over the person who bought a legit copy. That is stealing in every sense of the word, even if you're the type that subscribes to the "I'm not taking it away from anybody, so it's not stealing," rational...
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Post by Netko »

Or you do what all sensible people do when they want to pirate windows and just use a VLK. No cracking needed to hide from MS.

(note: My windows are legit since I get them free from MSDNAA)
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Post by Natorgator »

InnocentBystander wrote:What exactly sets this off? I've got an image of my school laptop running on 4 other computers, and despite the complete change in hardware on each, none of them have had to be reactivated.
Probably because you're running XP Pro, which requires no activation since it is typically used in business and corporate settings with a lot of machines. XP Home, however does require activation with MS.
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Post by Xisiqomelir »

Magus wrote:That is stealing in every sense of the word, even if you're the type that subscribes to the "I'm not taking it away from anybody, so it's not stealing," rational...
Generating legit keys still seems like copyright violation instead of theft to me.
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Post by InnocentBystander »

Destructionator XIII wrote:XP Pro requires activation, too, if you use the OEM or retail versions. There is a separate corporate version of XP Pro that does not require activation (using the VLKs mentioned eariler), but I'm pretty sure you can't buy that in stores.
Is vista going to have a version that works similarly? Buying a school laptop next year would be a whole lot more valuable if it came with a free copy of vista for as many computer as I desire :)
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