Reactivation Question re XP

  • Thread starter Thread starter JGM
  • Start date Start date
kony said:
Was it a Microsoft CD though or a Gateway CD with a
parititon image or partition file-copy utility on it?
That's the difference I've seen with the OEMs, it matters
whether the system came with the windows CD or only a
"restoration" type of CD.
Click to expand...

It was a restoration CD. Other than the BIOS check, it does,
thankfully, appear to be a standard windows installer. For awhile there
PC manufacturers wanted to have their own mechanisms which they would
change every few months.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, I only make minimal use of Windows primarily as a
diagnostic tool, I'm primarily a Linux user. I keep an OEM copy of Win2K
which I install on a small partition on my uniprocessor machines so that I
can debug things like wireless connections and to download my Garmin GPS.
I know that I'm violating the EULA but I don't care because my total use
of Windows is so limited (maybe an hour a month). Win2K has no mechanism
aside from the EULA to prevent you from putting it on multiple machines.
I've avoided getting an OEM copy of WinXP because of the activation
mechanism. My understanding was that when you install XP on a machine it
takes a fingerprint of the system which is sent to Microsoft which then
sends back an activation code. Once activated the system looks for
changes over a specific time period, if the changes exceed some level
reactivation is required. The fingerprinting mechanism is designed to
prevent you from using the same license on more than one system because
the second system wouldn't match at all. Am I wrong in this assumption?
 
General said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, I only make minimal use of Windows primarily as a
diagnostic tool, I'm primarily a Linux user. I keep an OEM copy of Win2K
which I install on a small partition on my uniprocessor machines so that I
can debug things like wireless connections and to download my Garmin GPS.
I know that I'm violating the EULA but I don't care because my total use
of Windows is so limited (maybe an hour a month). Win2K has no mechanism
aside from the EULA to prevent you from putting it on multiple machines.
I've avoided getting an OEM copy of WinXP because of the activation
mechanism. My understanding was that when you install XP on a machine it
takes a fingerprint of the system which is sent to Microsoft which then
sends back an activation code. Once activated the system looks for
changes over a specific time period, if the changes exceed some level
reactivation is required. The fingerprinting mechanism is designed to
prevent you from using the same license on more than one system because
the second system wouldn't match at all. Am I wrong in this assumption?
Click to expand...

That matches my understanding. "Fingerprint" might be too strong of a
metaphor, but the rest is essentially correct.
 
kony said:
BananaOfTheNightwrote:



Don't think that I'm an advocate of MS, I'd like to see
their license strategy declared void by the courts, but
until that happens...
Click to expand...

Still, the earliest (and most fundamental) success with MS was with their
licensing strategy with IBM; it's how they pulled themselves up from nothing
into what they are today. I wouldn't be surprised if they have _at the very
least_ considered the possibility of *leasing* an OS....

Jon
 
Jon said:
Still, the earliest (and most fundamental) success with MS was
with their licensing strategy with IBM; it's how they pulled
themselves up from nothing into what they are today. I wouldn't
be surprised if they have _at the very least_ considered the
possibility of *leasing* an OS....
Click to expand...

It has already happened. Read the foul EULA.
 
Still, the earliest (and most fundamental) success with MS was with their
licensing strategy with IBM; it's how they pulled themselves up from nothing
into what they are today. I wouldn't be surprised if they have _at the very
least_ considered the possibility of *leasing* an OS....

Jon
Click to expand...

Some people call "...most fundamental success" something a
bit more like "anti-competitive monopoly", though.
Whether that's a success depends quite a bit on the goal.
 
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