Re: Windows Product Activation with new HD

From: Graphic Queen (xxx_at_xxx.com)
Date: 02/06/05 

Date: Sun, 06 Feb 2005 22:56:12 GMT

On Sun, 06 Feb 2005 15:22:56 GMT, "Steve N." <me@here.now> wrote:

>Alex Nichol wrote:
>
>> HKEK wrote:
>>
>>
>>>When I last replaced my hard and re-installed XP, I was unable to
>>>activate over the internet apparently because this was the second (or
>>>third) time that I had installed XP on this computer. When I activated
>>>over the telephone, I read a sequence of numbers and was then given
>>>another sequence of numbers to enter into the activation screen.
>>>
>>>I now want to do a clean install of XP on this machine using the same
>>>HD. Will I again need to call or is there some file that I can save, or
>>>can I retrieve that number sequence from the registry and re-enter it
>>>at the same screen agin? Thanks in advance for your help.
>>
>>
>> If you do a clean install, you will have the usual thirty days grace
>> before activating. If the last phone activation was correctly
>> implemented at the center this should go through on the net
>> The sequence you were given was unique to that occasion - contains date
>> the activation was done, so it is not useful, Same applies to the
>> wpa,dbl file should anyone suggest saving it; it would not work after a
>> clean install - only a repair one
>>
>>
>
>Alex you always do such a good job explaining things. Maybe you can
>explain this. The activation FAQs at MS say in plain English that there
>is no limit to the amount of times Windows can be activated on the same
>machine, why then if a re-install occurs within 120 days the OS
>invariably reports that "Windows has been activated too many times"?

hmmmmmmmmmm That makes me wonder then. Just the other day I
reformatted my partition that had XP on it. Then of course I
reinstalled XP Home back doing a clean reinstall. I ended up doing
this three different times in the same day because of something
specific I wanted. I never had any problem at all activating each time
I reinstalled the software.
>
>Also, explain this if you can. I replaced a hard drive and re-installed
>XP Pro a few weeks after the 1st installation. Of course being a clean
>install it had to be actvated. I got the "Windows has been activated too
>many times" message and to use phone activation. It was late, I was
>tired so I chose not to do that at that time and just shut the machine
>down. The next morning I fired it up and it activated just fine over the
>internet.
>
>I've also read the details on how hardware changes effect OEM activation
>status, changing just a hard drive only counts for two votes (drive
>itself and the volume serial #) and supposedly it takes more than three
>votes out of ten to have changed in order to trigger re-activation.
>
>Thanks,
>Steve

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