activation limit for vista?

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hi, i'm seriously considering buying a vista ultimate version but after
reading some articles about activation "problems"/"limitations", i'm
seriously doubting wether i should go through with it. what i read was the
following that when you change you're computers components, you might be
asked to reactivate, wether it's an important change or not. first of all
what's considered an important change of hardware(i know about mobo, HD,
ram), does this mean that every time i add something or just change it i'll
have to reactivate?i do change/add a couple of things a year...for gaming
purpose(keeping up the power performance), an mostly 1 or 2 things at a time
due to high prices of parts. i also do format once in a while to keep
everything as clean as possible. so second and most important, can i keep
this up as long as i want reactivating or does ms made limitations to the
number of times?(i heard of limitations for oem versions, but no clear
answers either...)

thx, ive vm
ps: my appologies for faulty english(dutch-belgium)
 
Any "retail version" of Windows Vista permits any
hardware changes you wish to make, now or in the
future. If you have an "OEM version", then the only
upgrade not permitted is the motherboard.


--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows - Shell/User

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

hi, i'm seriously considering buying a vista ultimate version but after
reading some articles about activation "problems"/"limitations", i'm
seriously doubting wether i should go through with it. what i read was the
following that when you change you're computers components, you might be
asked to reactivate, wether it's an important change or not. first of all
what's considered an important change of hardware(i know about mobo, HD,
ram), does this mean that every time i add something or just change it i'll
have to reactivate?i do change/add a couple of things a year...for gaming
purpose(keeping up the power performance), an mostly 1 or 2 things at a time
due to high prices of parts. i also do format once in a while to keep
everything as clean as possible. so second and most important, can i keep
this up as long as i want reactivating or does ms made limitations to the
number of times?(i heard of limitations for oem versions, but no clear
answers either...)

thx, ive vm
ps: my appologies for faulty english(dutch-belgium)
 
They have a scoring system on hardware changes. When your score adds up to
a certain point, it triggers the activation. The highest weighted item is
the NIC card. After that they look at the hard drive ID, the processor SN.
amount of memory. I don't remember the weightings.

anyway reactivating is no problem. You just call the phone number on the
activation page and it may activate on an automated basis or more likely you
talk to a person in india.

When they ask you "how many pcs is this software running on" You say "ONE"
and they are happy. I have done it dozens of times in our lab. It is no
problem at all. The operator in India could give a rip as long as you can
say the word "ONE"
 
so absolutely no limit for the number of activations with retail?i really
wanne be sure so i dont regret my descision afterwards
 
You can activate/reactivate Windows Vista an unlimited number of times
as long as it is installed or reinstalled on just one computer.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows - Shell/User

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

so absolutely no limit for the number of activations with retail?i really
wanne be sure so i dont regret my descision afterwards
 
When I Ghost copied a drive from one machine to another identical machine it
had to be reactivated. I have the Microsoft Partner version of Vista for
business.

Like you, I should have mentioned that OEM is different because of its
restriction on moving from one machine to another.
 
ive vm said:
hi, i'm seriously considering buying a vista ultimate version but after
reading some articles about activation "problems"/"limitations", i'm
seriously doubting wether i should go through with it. what i read was the
following that when you change you're computers components, you might be
asked to reactivate, wether it's an important change or not. first of all
what's considered an important change of hardware(i know about mobo, HD,
ram), does this mean that every time i add something or just change it
i'll
have to reactivate?i do change/add a couple of things a year...for gaming
purpose(keeping up the power performance), an mostly 1 or 2 things at a
time
due to high prices of parts. i also do format once in a while to keep
everything as clean as possible. so second and most important, can i keep
this up as long as i want reactivating or does ms made limitations to the
number of times?(i heard of limitations for oem versions, but no clear
answers either...)
Click to expand...

You can activate Vista as many times as you want on the same computer. If
it's a retail version it can be transferred to another computer or device as
long as it's first removed from the original device. An OEM version is tied
by the license agreement to the first computer on which it is installed. It
cannot be transferred to a new computer.

You can upgrade/change components as often as you want. Each change is
cumulative, and some changes carry more weight, so at some point the need
for re-activation is triggered. There is information on device weighting re
activation for XP. Changes were made for Vista, but we don't have that info
on the specifics yet. If you activate too many times or within too short
a period it will require phone activation.
 
Carey said:
 If you have an "OEM version", then the only
upgrade not permitted is the motherboard.
Click to expand...

Can we assume (always dangerous <g>) that it will be permitted to
update the BIOS on the mobo without destroying the activation?
 
If you update the BIOS, it will still have the same identification
number and you should not have to reactivate again. I have
updated my BIOS several times and it not not affect the activation
status.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows - Shell/User

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

Can we assume (always dangerous <g>) that it will be permitted to
update the BIOS on the mobo without destroying the activation?
 
from everything i have read we are not buying the software we are renting it. I have read on several site that MS is being very strict about reactivation. maybe 2 times max and that is if they determine it was a lagit reason for it. plus we will also have to revalidate our copy of the rented software to make sure we haven't done anything to it to get around their so called security my so called invasion of privacy. but hey who are we?
just the people who buy the crap that keeps them in buisiness what rights do we have? not only that we have to buy it multiple times at full price if we have more then one pc. unless you pay for the most expensive version then you are eligable for a discounted cd key or keys for your other pc's this should be avalible on all versions not just the ultimate. I bought the business version because i am a tech and most of my clients will be using this version but yet i don't qualify for a discounted cd key for my other pc's. got to love MS

EggHeadCafe.com - .NET Developer Portal of Choice
http://www.eggheadcafe.com
 
from everything i have read we are not buying the software we are renting
it. I have read on > several site that MS is being very strict about
reactivation. maybe 2 times max
Click to expand...

I suggest you don't believe everything you read. If you've got a legit
version of Windows you can activate it as many times as you need.

--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User.
http://www.windowsresource.net/

*Remove nospam. to reply by e-mail*
 
Ummm, the price is the price. You should get over it and just deal with it.
All software is "rented" (open source software excluded). Not sure if you
know that, yet. Every game you buy, every program you buy... What's that
thing you click when you are in the setup program? "I agree". Did you think
clicked that to say, "I agree to let it install"? If you "owned" the
software, you'd have the source code to it.

Grow up and pay what it costs... If you can't afford it, then you can't
afford it. Not everyone can have what they want. Heaven forbid they release
a new version 5 yrs after its last, and it costs money to buy it...

Just because its not a tangible product like hardware, doesn't mean you
should have unlimited use of it. I bet your happy to buy two CPUs if you
want to build two PCs, or would you like a discount for everything u buy
above a quanity of one?

/endrant

btw, this is help newsgroup... what help are you after again? exactly.
 
from everything i have read we are not buying the software we are renting
it. I have read on several site that MS is being very strict about
reactivation. maybe 2 times max and that is if they determine it was a
lagit reason for it. plus we will also have to revalidate our copy of the
rented software to make sure we haven't done anything to it to get around
their so called security my so called invasion of privacy. but hey who are
we?
just the people who buy the crap that keeps them in buisiness what rights
do we have? not only that we have to buy it multiple times at full price
if we have more then one pc. unless you pay for the most expensive version
then you are eligable for a discounted cd key or keys for your other pc's
this should be avalible on all versions not just the ultimate. I bought
the business version because i am a tech and most of my clients will be
using this version but yet i don't qualify for a discounted cd key for my
other pc's. got to love MS

EggHeadCafe.com - .NET Developer Portal of Choice
http://www.eggheadcafe.com
Click to expand...

You are completely wrong. MS has announced that Vista will have the same
activation policies as all previous versions.

When you wake up, please post back.

Honu
 
I'd keep using XP until 2009 when the next OS comes out. Vista looks like a real
loser.
 
Ummm, the price is the price. You should get over it and just deal with it.
All software is "rented" (open source software excluded). Not sure if you
know that, yet. Every game you buy, every program you buy... What's that
thing you click when you are in the setup program? "I agree". Did you think
clicked that to say, "I agree to let it install"? If you "owned" the
software, you'd have the source code to it.
Click to expand...

Actually you're just as wrong. You don't rent software, that infers a
time specific lease. You agree to a license which allows you to do X,Y
and Z.
 
Paul Smith said:
in message news:[email protected]...

I suggest you don't believe everything you read. If you've got a legit
version of Windows you can activate it as many times as you need.

--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User.
http://www.windowsresource.net/

*Remove nospam. to reply by e-mail*
Click to expand...

Actually, Clay is partly correct. The EULA (End User License Agreement) of
the eight (4 x 32 bit and 4 x 64 bit) OEM package versions of Vista 'live
and die' with that PC, or more specifically with the motherboard of that PC.
You may replace a bad motherboard with a comparable make/model or
equivalent, but even if a comparable make or model is available when your PC
dies, would you really want to use it when the technology has long since
passed it by?

John notes the OEM licensing restrictions in this article
http://discuss.pcmag.com/forums/1004364651/ShowPost.aspx including the fact
that an OEM version of Vista can only be transferred to another person with
the original device and not to another device. A new motherboard, with the
exception noted above is considered a new device. On that webpage there is
a link to back up his post, but you need a logon ID to use it.

My reasearch fully backs up the comments made by John.

Microsoft has been lax in enforcing these restrictions in the past, but they
could at any time legally enforce them and customers would have only two
options, challenge it in court, or purchase another copy/version of Vista.

Because of this, your license of the OEM package version will expire with
the motherboard of your 'device' which is really no different than any other
contractual lease agreement except for the fact that you don't know when the
'lease' expires.

All of the other Upgrade package versions and the Full package version allow
you to transer Vista to any of your 'devices' as long as you uninstall it on
the old 'device'. In addition, you can sell, give or loan Vista if you are
the original owner, so at least to me, that means ownership, even though
technically it's not 'owned' but 'licensed'.

If you use the Anytime Upgrade option, you may then only transfer Vista
*with* the 'device' and not separately. The Anytime Upgrade license rights
are more restrictive, which makes it more important that you buy the version
of Vista that best fits your needs up front and you will only know that if
you do your homework.

It is all rather confusing to say the least and you almost have to be a
lawyer to understand it all, which I am not by the way so you should do your
own research and carefully read the EULA's before buying.

I would be very interested to hear from someone who can document that this
is wrong. Post a web page from Microsoft that shows otherwise, if you can
find one.

I have been researching the various versions of Vista (all 21 of them!)
along with the EULA's associated with them. You can get more details at my
website http://www.mindspring.com/~anorton1/Vista_Confusion.html if you want
more details.

Remove the 2 to reply by EMail or EMail me through my website.

Alan Norton
 
From everything I have experienced--even before the day Gates' was on the
cover of Time holding a floppy disc telling the world what "software" is--we
are not buying the software, we are buying a license for the software. Two
very different things.
 
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