XP needs reactivating again but has failed

[CurlyWhirly]

I have just rebooted my PC after downloading and installing the latest security updates - there were 3 in total.

A Windows Defender update, an update for IE7 and the Malicious software removal tool.

When I rebooted I got a message saying that due to the large number of hardware changes, I need to activate my copy of Windows.

The only recent hardware change was a few days ago when I changed from a Billion router to a SpeedTouch 585 wireless router after reading that it works better with Max on long lines like mine.

The activation failed saying that I have installed XP on more than one PC which isn't true!

A similar thing happened before when I had to ring a Microsoft customer service rep and she gave me a product key which I successfully entered over the phone.

Does anyone know what number this was?

I think it was a freephone number.

I would ring the 0870 number (despite the cost) but according to the message contact hours are between 9am and 5pm monday to friday and I would like to get this issue sorted out NOW otherwise my O/S might stop working all together :(

I think Microsoft's anti-piracy stance is being a little OTT as this is the THIRD time I have had to activate it.

The first time was expected as it was the day I installed XP and then there was the second time where I had to ring a Microsoft rep but now I have to do the same thing again and it's rather annoying especially when I can't complete the activation.

Any advice on what to do please?

By the way my copy of XP Home is legit as I still have the original CD and packaging, product key and have even kept the receipt.

[CurlyWhirly]

I rang Microsoft on 0800 018 8354 and was able to get a new product key over the phone.

I was worried there for a minute!

[nellie2]

I've re-opened your topic Curly... hope you don't mind, but did Microsoft give you any indication as to why you keep having to re-activate your software? Installing a router is hardly a hardware change to your PC is it?

[-pops-]

I hope I'm not tempting any supernatural entities by writing this but, I've installed hundreds of copies of XP and never heard of any of those requiring to be re-activated. Admittedly most have been OEM versions but this shouldn't matter, should it?

[CurlyWhirly]

but did Microsoft give you any indication as to why you keep having to re-activate your software? Installing a router is hardly a hardware change to your PC is it?

I agree that installing a router isn't a definite hardware change (it didn't need installing anyway) but according to the Microsoft rep every time you change an item of hardware, this counts towards the 'tally' before it needs re-activating.

I have only ever changed upgraded my memory and graphics card as the CPU and motherboard are still the same as when I originally installed XP i.e. they are a bit out of date now.

When I chose to re-activate Windows, up came a screen with 9 groups of 6 digit numbers and even though I entered these correctly, the activation process rejected them and said that I would need to buy an additional licence as I've installed my retail copy of XP Home Edition on more than one computer.

This is impossible as I have only ever had one PC!

I have read stories where the anti-piracy feature is a little too temperamental and now I believe it.

[CurlyWhirly]

I hope I'm not tempting any supernatural entities by writing this but, I've installed hundreds of copies of XP and never heard of any of those requiring to be re-activated. Admittedly most have been OEM versions but this shouldn't matter, should it?

Well I can only speak from my experience and this has happened twice now and djohn has also had this happen to him I think?

I am running a retail version of XP and perhaps the rules are different to an OEM version?

[CurlyWhirly]

After doing a google search I came across this

Hardware Hashing And Phoning Home

You might think you could evade the mandatory registration by doing what many users do when confronted with an invasive request for personal information: lie. You could, for example, make up information and register from a throwaway E-mail account.

Except that won't accomplish much with XP. Here's why:

When you register XP software, the registration process creates and sends to Microsoft a unique 50-digit numeric fingerprint or code. The code is a combination of the serial number of your copy of XP, plus additional information about 10 major hardware elements in your system. According to the German software firm Fully Licensed, which reverse-engineered the beta XP registration codes (see WPA Resource Center), the hardware "hash" code is based on the following information from your PC:

1. CPU serial number

2. CPU model number/type

3. Amount of RAM in the system

4. Graphics adapter hardware ID string

5. Hard drive hardware ID string

6. SCSI host hardware ID string (if present)

7. Integrated development environment controller hardware ID string

8. MAC address of your network adapter

9. CD-ROM drive hardware identification string

Whether the system is a dockable unit (e.g. a notebook) or not

But that's not all. Even when it's been fully registered, the WPA component wakes up from time to time. It verifies that it's on the original system where it was first installed, and it "phones home" to check with the central Microsoft database to make sure it's still, indeed, a registered copy.

In my case as I have upgraded my RAM in 2 stages from 512 Mb to 1 GB and then later on from 1 GB to 1.5 GB then option 3 would have changed.

I have changed my graphics card at least 3 times so option 4 would have changed.

I've also changed from a modem to a router and then had 2 changes of router so that option 8 would have changed.

Finally I added a DVD writer last year so option 9 would have also changed.

By the option changing I mean that the hash key would be slightly altered each time I upgrade an item of hardware so that Microsoft may think that I am using a new PC even though I'm not.

[Alan2273]

I like pops only use OEM disks and the machine I am using at the moment has had 3 motherboards, 2 processors, 1 dvd writer, 2 hard disk changes and an extra graphics card to run in SLI mode in 18 months and I have never had a problem activating XP.

I shall not be buying Vista and the first time I have trouble with reactivating Xp it will get formated and I will only use Linux.

[CurlyWhirly]

I like pops only use OEM disks and the machine I am using at the moment has had 3 motherboards, 2 processors, 1 dvd writer, 2 hard disk changes and an extra graphics card to run in SLI mode in 18 months and I have never had a problem activating XP.

That's strange as I thought that OEM versions were tied to a particular motherboard?

As you have changed your motherboard 3 times this can't be true!

In contrast, my motherboard hasn't changed so it seems strange that the more expensive retail version is less flexible than the cheaper OEM version.

[-pops-]

Curiouser and curiouser!

[Alan2273]

Yes CW 3 motherboards.

The first one an Abit board worked for 2 months then went belly up, the second one a Gigabyte lasted for 9 months and a faulty PSU took that one out.

Then I changed to an Asus board and changed the processor as well to a dual core.

The Gigabyte replacement board is now in my second computer with the origonal processor but that only runs Ubuntu, so no worries about reactivating that.