Vista Activation - What information is sent to Microsoft?

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T

TB

Hi,

I have a question about Vista activation.

If I install, for example, the OEM version of Vista which entitles me to run
it only on one computer then what happens if I need to format that computer
and reinstall it.

How will Microsoft know it's the same computer as I installed it on the
first time?




TIA!
 
More misinformation has been posted regarding "OEM OS installation" than any
other topic.

Following is information provided by Microsoft at the implementation of
activation:

"Every single piece of hardware could be changed on a PC with SLP ("System
Locked Pre-installation") and no reactivation would be required - even the
motherboard could be replaced as long as the replacement motherboard was
original equipment manufactured by the OEM and retained the proper BIOS. In
the unlikely scenario that the BIOS information does not match, the PC would
need to be activated within 30 days by contacting the Microsoft activation
center via the Internet or telephone call - just as in a retail scenario.
OEMs may also activate Windows XP by contacting Microsoft in the same way
the consumer would activate. Activation done in this way is the same as
activating a retail boxed version of Windows XP. This is discussed in more
detail further below."

In other words - reactivation should not be required in your case if SLP is
involved. If it is required note the underlined information above.
 
What is sent to Microsoft is a set of hash numbers generated from the
characteristics of the particular computer. In XP, there were 10
parameters used to develop the hashes, which included the MAC address of
the network card and the serial number of the hard drive (and 8 other
items). The hash cannot work backwards (e.g. Microsoft can't determine
what you have from the hash), but if the hashes match, then the
components used in that hash can be presumed to be the same (and the
hashes for the 10 items were kept separate, only some of them had to
match, and they were not all equally weighted (MAC address had the
highest weighting).

The system is not totally infallible, but it generally works.
 
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