N
Nina DiBoy
http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=131&tag=nl.e550
On All About Microsoft, my blogging colleague Mary Jo Foley has come
across an interesting tidbit in the Volume Activation 2.0 FAQ that
demonstrates just how much Microsoft's changes to the Windows Vista EULA
will affect hardware enthusiasts.
Contained in the FAQ, Mary Jo discovered the following question and answer:
Q. How do hardware changes impact system reactivation requirement?
A. As long as the change is above 25 points you do not need to
re-activate. Here is the table to determine total points. This applies
to both Windows Vista client and Longhorn server for retail activation,
MAK activation and KMS activation. [Emphasis added]
Component Class Name Default Weight
CD-ROM/CD-RW/DVD-ROM 1
IDE Adaptor 3
Physical OS Hard Drive Serial # 11
Display Adaptor 1
SCSI Adaptor 2
Audio Adaptor 2
Network Adaptor MAC Address 2
Processor 3
RAM Amount Range (i.e. 0-512mb, 512-1GB) 1
BIOS ID ('0' always matches) 9
Note: I'm assuming that "As long as the change is above 25 points" is a
mistake and that it should read "As long as the change is below 25 points".
This is what's behind the 'algorithm' that Microsoft has been hiding
behind for the past few weeks.
Make any changes that adds up to more than 25 and BANG! It's time to
reactivateThis clearly shows the extent of the problem that hardware
enthusiasts will face. Make any changes that adds up to more than 25
and BANG! It's time to reactivate. Do that twice and you're either
looking at buying a new license or having to call Microsoft product
support and hope (and it is hope, because there doesn't seem to be any
written policy anywhere) that you'll be allowed another activation.
I'm also assuming, although I have no information to back this up, that
Microsoft is also going to incorporate some kind of timer into the
equation so that you can't say change the hard drive now and the rest of
the PC later on today (or maybe they haven’t thought of that, in which
case enthusiasts have a possible escape route to avoid activation -
don't count on it though).
My main worry with the points system is that it is heavily motherboard
and primary hard drive centric. The algorithm hits those who use
motherboards with a built-in display adaptor, network adaptor, IDE
adaptor, BIOS and so on. However, it seems that changing a motherboard
isn't enough to have to reactivate:
Maximum effect of changing a motherboard
Component Class Name Default Weight
IDE Adaptor 3
Display Adaptor 1
SCSI Adaptor 2
Audio Adaptor 2
Network Adaptor MAC Address 2
Processor 3
BIOS ID ('0' always matches) 9
TOTAL 22
Lose your motherboard and hard drive in some kind of incident and you're
down an activation. Nasty.
On All About Microsoft, my blogging colleague Mary Jo Foley has come
across an interesting tidbit in the Volume Activation 2.0 FAQ that
demonstrates just how much Microsoft's changes to the Windows Vista EULA
will affect hardware enthusiasts.
Contained in the FAQ, Mary Jo discovered the following question and answer:
Q. How do hardware changes impact system reactivation requirement?
A. As long as the change is above 25 points you do not need to
re-activate. Here is the table to determine total points. This applies
to both Windows Vista client and Longhorn server for retail activation,
MAK activation and KMS activation. [Emphasis added]
Component Class Name Default Weight
CD-ROM/CD-RW/DVD-ROM 1
IDE Adaptor 3
Physical OS Hard Drive Serial # 11
Display Adaptor 1
SCSI Adaptor 2
Audio Adaptor 2
Network Adaptor MAC Address 2
Processor 3
RAM Amount Range (i.e. 0-512mb, 512-1GB) 1
BIOS ID ('0' always matches) 9
Note: I'm assuming that "As long as the change is above 25 points" is a
mistake and that it should read "As long as the change is below 25 points".
This is what's behind the 'algorithm' that Microsoft has been hiding
behind for the past few weeks.
Make any changes that adds up to more than 25 and BANG! It's time to
reactivateThis clearly shows the extent of the problem that hardware
enthusiasts will face. Make any changes that adds up to more than 25
and BANG! It's time to reactivate. Do that twice and you're either
looking at buying a new license or having to call Microsoft product
support and hope (and it is hope, because there doesn't seem to be any
written policy anywhere) that you'll be allowed another activation.
I'm also assuming, although I have no information to back this up, that
Microsoft is also going to incorporate some kind of timer into the
equation so that you can't say change the hard drive now and the rest of
the PC later on today (or maybe they haven’t thought of that, in which
case enthusiasts have a possible escape route to avoid activation -
don't count on it though).
My main worry with the points system is that it is heavily motherboard
and primary hard drive centric. The algorithm hits those who use
motherboards with a built-in display adaptor, network adaptor, IDE
adaptor, BIOS and so on. However, it seems that changing a motherboard
isn't enough to have to reactivate:
Maximum effect of changing a motherboard
Component Class Name Default Weight
IDE Adaptor 3
Display Adaptor 1
SCSI Adaptor 2
Audio Adaptor 2
Network Adaptor MAC Address 2
Processor 3
BIOS ID ('0' always matches) 9
TOTAL 22
Lose your motherboard and hard drive in some kind of incident and you're
down an activation. Nasty.