How stringently does Microsoft police activation of a copy of XP onmore than one machine?

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pongespob

The title pretty much says it all. These days how much do they care?
If the installs are staggered a year or two apart is it likely to
raise any flags?
 
The title pretty much says it all. These days how much do they care?
If the installs are staggered a year or two apart is it likely to
raise any flags?
Click to expand...

It may when you run Genuine Advantage to update them.
I wouldn't try it unless you're transferring it to another machine.
You can do that an unlimited number of times with a retail copy but
only once with an OEM copy.
 
pongespob said:
The title pretty much says it all. These days how much do they care?
If the installs are staggered a year or two apart is it likely to
raise any flags?
Click to expand...

You thought these were pro-piracy groups?
 
The title pretty much says it all. These days how much do they care?
If the installs are staggered a year or two apart is it likely to
raise any flags?
Click to expand...

Yes, they do, yes it is. It's not like they have people in the tree
outside your window watching you with binoculars. It's all automated.
 
Terry Heinz said:
You will probably get away with it staggered a year or two apart.
They pulled the pin on me because I had re-installed on more than one
machine too frequently.
Click to expand...

It's a myth that MS will "pull the plug" for installing too frequently.
There is no limit on the number of times one can install it.

The limitation also isn't gotten around by any timing: When you
activate, a snapshot of your hardware is taken and stored. If a later
activation turns out to give too different a snapshot, you're told to
call MS instead - you can't do it automatically online. Then after
failing the automated phone call, you can get a chance to explain why
things changed to an actual person; and may or may not be granted an
activation.
It's the machine they monitor, not anything else. And you cannot
activate without allowing that snapshot to be taken. Their software,
their rules; you only license it and are expected to use it on their
terms. So a timing difference isn't the answer. If you've activated
once adn try it with sufficiently different hardware, you'll have to try
to explain it to them or you will be refused. They can even end up
putting your key onto the pirated lists, in fact. Note that OEMware is
the hardest to do installs with; retail versions are more lenient but
you still won't be able to keep two machines activated at once.

HTH,

Twayne`
 
<snip>
It's a myth that MS will "pull the plug" for installing too
frequently. There is no limit on the number of times one can
install it.
The limitation also isn't gotten around by any timing: When you
activate, a snapshot of your hardware is taken and stored. If a
later activation turns out to give too different a snapshot, you're
told to call MS instead - you can't do it automatically online. Then after
failing the automated phone call, you can get a chance
to explain why things changed to an actual person; and may or may
not be granted an activation.
It's the machine they monitor, not anything else. And you cannot
activate without allowing that snapshot to be taken. Their software,
their rules; you only license it and are expected to use it on their
terms. So a timing difference isn't the answer. If you've activated
once adn try it with sufficiently different hardware, you'll have
to try to explain it to them or you will be refused. They can even
end up putting your key onto the pirated lists, in fact. Note that
OEMware is the hardest to do installs with; retail versions are
more lenient but you still won't be able to keep two machines
activated at once.
Click to expand...

Not arguing, just putting some information out there...

Things I know worked when XP came out...

Install... Wait 6 months (I think it may actually be like 4 months...) and
install again - you can activate without a phone call more often than not.

Or - install... many machines with the same license at the same time,
activate them all within quick succession - probably work.

Things have changed some with WGA and the many revisions and such - but
that's the way it used to work.

Is it right? Nope.
Is it common knowledge? Yep.
 
Shenan Stanley said:
<snip>


Not arguing, just putting some information out there...
Click to expand...

NO problem, it's an interesting history in a lot of ways when one thinks
about it. I appreciate that it was Bill G that initiated getting all
this computing power on our desktops in fact, but I sure wish he had
stuck to his original visions. Just goes to show how powerful marketing
pople can be I guess.
I've often wondered who it would have been if MS hadn't made it big
first. Initially I had a LOT of loyalty to MS. But that was
yesterday said:
Things I know worked when XP came out...

Install... Wait 6 months (I think it may actually be like 4
months...) and install again - you can activate without a phone call
more often than not.
Or - install... many machines with the same license at the same time,
activate them all within quick succession - probably work.

Things have changed some with WGA and the many revisions and such -
but that's the way it used to work.

Is it right? Nope.
Is it common knowledge? Yep.
Click to expand...

I pretty much remember it that way, too. They must have had quite a
time getting things working right at MS and I even heard there were
arguements about the formula that said "too many changes - reactivate"
etc.. Ahh, progress!

And it doesn't say there aren't still ways to accomplish it if you're
willing to do the work and jump thru a few hoops, but none of the are
long term solutions these days.

Cheers,

Twayne`
 
* nobody >:
I've reactivated OEM XP on almost total hardware swaps. One of the
tricks was to use a NIC (on a real card) that was in the old machine and
disable any onboard NIP in BIOS. It seems that the MAC address of the
NIC is a major item in the hardware scan.
Click to expand...

This is completely unnecessary. I have activated dozens of OEM copies on
several machines. There is no problem with it. If you re-activate within
a too short period then you have to go through telephone activation,
same is valid for some OEM versions that come with proprietary recovery
CDs (these keys often are not suitable for online activation). There is
no need to carry any piece of hardware across several machines, your NIC
is rather irrelevant for being able to re-activate or not.

The only thing that keeps you from re-using OEM copies of Windows on
other machines as the one it came with are Microsoft license terms
(EULA) and the crude understanding of consumer rights in some countries
in which the EULA is actually relevant. There is nothing what prevents
you from doing that on a technical side.

Benjamin
 
pongespob said:
The title pretty much says it all. These days how much do they care?
If the installs are staggered a year or two apart is it likely to
raise any flags?
Click to expand...

Find a good WinXP Pro VLK license .... :)

Anyway, Vi$ta and Win 7 are being monitored much more tightly, including
VLK licenses!

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