Forced re-activation

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Guest

Hi all,
Last night, whislt trying to get my xp system to talk via a home network to
my win98se system (that's another tale altogether!), I ran msconfig and
selected diagnostic startup, which I'm sure you all know is that only the
essential processes run at startup, in case any of my MSI utilities that came
with the motherboard were interfering with my attempt to get the machines to
communicate. The result of selecting this option was that xp rebooted to
allow these changes to take effect. Just as my welcome screen emerged, I was
greeted by a message box which said that too many components had changed and
I had to re-activate windows. T quickly ran msconfig, reset the start up
options and rebooted, but the re-activation was flagged and so I eventually
rang the toll free number to re-activate. Is this likely to happen every time
I run a selected startup, even although I have not changed any harware at all?
Many thanks
 
Hi all,
Last night, whislt trying to get my xp system to talk via a home network to
my win98se system (that's another tale altogether!), I ran msconfig and
selected diagnostic startup, which I'm sure you all know is that only the
essential processes run at startup, in case any of my MSI utilities that came
with the motherboard were interfering with my attempt to get the machines to
communicate. The result of selecting this option was that xp rebooted to
allow these changes to take effect. Just as my welcome screen emerged, I was
greeted by a message box which said that too many components had changed and
I had to re-activate windows. T quickly ran msconfig, reset the start up
options and rebooted, but the re-activation was flagged and so I eventually
rang the toll free number to re-activate. Is this likely to happen every time
I run a selected startup, even although I have not changed any harware at all?
Many thanks
Click to expand...

Shouldn't happen every time.

Similar situation: I have an ATI display adapter. One of their recommended
methods for updating drivers is to revert to "SafeVGA" and then install the
new drivers. I notice that every once in a while, those actions will
trigger an activation prompt. Technically, these changes shouldn't trigger
activation since the underlying hardware is the same but over time, they
do.

Usually activation goes through over the internet but I imagine that if ATI
updated drivers enough times within the 120 day time period that a call
might be required. While a call is more of an inconvenience than internet
activation, I would not expect a problem in completing the task.
 
One of the things that seems to stop this nonsense is a new CD key
(different than the activation key) that can be furnished via the phone call
method.
The original key may have made it to the list of too many active copies or
activations. (Even though there is only one system using the key.) In some
instances, such as development and under other circumstances, a multiple use
key may be furnished, although you will likely not be told that the key is a
multiple use key.
 
Thanks for that. I'm not sure I understand the bit:
The original key may have made it to the list of too many active copies or
activations
Click to expand...

I did omit to mention however, that after the original message box telling
me to re-activate, I tried on the internet and after entering my CD key, I
got a message to the effect that I had exhausted all the activation attempts
assigned to this key. It went on ," if you feel that this is an error, call
the toll free number...". This is an OEM Win XP home SP2 which I bought for
70 quid from a reputable dealer, along with my motherboard, processor etc. I
am a bit of a novice at XP, but I'm sure during installation, the key is
checked to ensure it's not stolen or bogus. I wonder what will happen when I
clone my hdd onto a bigger one (when the need arises of course!)
Thanks again




Chuck said:
One of the things that seems to stop this nonsense is a new CD key
(different than the activation key) that can be furnished via the phone call
method.
The original key may have made it to the list of too many active copies or
activations. (Even though there is only one system using the key.) In some
instances, such as development and under other circumstances, a multiple use
key may be furnished, although you will likely not be told that the key is a
multiple use key.
Click to expand...
 
An OEM is tied to the original hardware. Even though you didn't change the
hardware, the function you performed made it appear as such, this triggered
activation and because you are using an OEM disk, it also required a phone
call.

--
Michael Solomon MS-MVP
Windows Shell/User
Backup is a PC User's Best Friend
DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/

StrangertoTechnology said:
Thanks for that. I'm not sure I understand the bit:
The original key may have made it to the list of too many active copies
or
activations
Click to expand...

I did omit to mention however, that after the original message box telling
me to re-activate, I tried on the internet and after entering my CD key, I
got a message to the effect that I had exhausted all the activation
attempts
assigned to this key. It went on ," if you feel that this is an error,
call
the toll free number...". This is an OEM Win XP home SP2 which I bought
for
70 quid from a reputable dealer, along with my motherboard, processor etc.
I
am a bit of a novice at XP, but I'm sure during installation, the key is
checked to ensure it's not stolen or bogus. I wonder what will happen when
I
clone my hdd onto a bigger one (when the need arises of course!)
Thanks again
Click to expand...
 
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