Microsoft explains activation with Windows Vista

[subhajitmaji]

More clarification has come out from Microsoft regarding how Vista will treat changing hardware and activating the OS more than once. A lot of the fears have been misplaced, though overall Vista is still stricter than XP when it comes to keeping a system licensed properly. In particular, Vista will allow you to activate multiple times, just as Windows XP does. Changing most hardware, such as the CPU, RAM, video card and other components will not require re-activation, though swapping the motherboard and/or hard drive most likely will. If you do have to re-activate, assuming the amount of hardware changed is within the limit, you can do such up to 10 times. For most people, and in fact many enthusiasts, 10 times is probably enough to last the lifetime of a machine.

That won't help those who reinstall every 3 months or change motherboards all the time. In those cases, Microsoft would have to be contacted directly. At that point they can activate your machine again at their discretion, or choose not to. As expected, you can't have more than one machine activated at a time. Overall, it's not much different from XP. For or against activation, many companies aside from Microsoft use it and it is here to stay.

[rajas]

Originally Posted by subhajitmaji

That won't help those who reinstall every 3 months or change motherboards all the time. In those cases, Microsoft would have to be contacted directly. At that point they can activate your machine again at their discretion, or choose not to. As expected, you can't have more than one machine activated at a time. Overall, it's not much different from XP. For or against activation, many companies aside from Microsoft use it and it is here to stay.

Changing mobo every 3 months...I thnk there shud be something really wrong with this user. They are definelty be in soup. Reinstalling every 3 months shud not make any difference as activation deals with hardware and if none is changed user shud sucessflly do it.

Even I reinstall almost every 3-4 months. for various reasons.
Ne..ways will seee how this is going to be.

[tuxfan]

All these measure are troublesome for all those who go and "BUY" windows license. Lamington Road will merrily find new ways of circumventing these activation blues!

And if this security (or irritation) can't be busted, its great news for Linux enthusiasts. People will have to switch to Linux or spend.

[iMav]

well this shud not be a criteria ... if i wanna change my specs i shud hav the freedom to .... ek to 15-20k ka OS kharido fir usko baar baar activate karo .... kya faaltu giri hai

from what i have understood

1) Suppose u buy Vista home premium, & install it on one PC, then according to the license u r not allowed to run it on another PC at the same time

2) if u are reinstall windows after a format or something, simply re-activate, u can reactivate vista on the same PC as many times as u like, u can change your CPU, RAM, graphics card etc, without needing to re-activate, it won't count. Upto 10 hardware changes are allowed, after which u will need to call MS & tell them that u have excedeed & they will re-activate your Windows

3) Motherboards are mostly changed with a new system only, unless u r an enthusiast as we call who likes to tinker arround. For him, he better get Vista ultimate which does not have this restriction, so in case U change to a new motherboard u will need to get another license from MS as new motherboard = new PC according to MS, or u can simply call them & tell them, it's the same PC & just the motherboard/hard disk is changed (example, hard disk died) & they will simply re-activate

however, this is all wrong, if someomne buys a copy of Windows legally, he owns it, he has the right to install it on as many PC he wants in his home, just not for commercial purpose

[tarey_g]

Did anyone see the Windows Media centre edition ad on tv , its damn funny. Get two 'Janeman' Ringtones free with every purchase of windows MCE worth 29,990/- . Roflol

tarey, it happens only in india.

People are ready to pay Rs 15 for a ringtone of 30 seconds, but won't pay the same ammount to buy a song legally like itunes etc (although there are very limited options in India)

[[xubz]]

Well, I _MAY_ Consider buying Vista ONLY after Vista SP1 is Released.. I Seriously Dont want to "Beta-Test" a Final "Unstable" Build...

[executioner]

Help us! oh great crackers out here

[subhajitmaji]

I just wanna say 3 words regarding this topic: "OPEN SOURCE ZINDABAD"

[tuxfan]

Originally Posted by gxsaurav

however, this is all wrong, if someomne buys a copy of Windows legally, he owns it, he has the right to install it on as many PC he wants in his home, just not for commercial purpose

Ah! You are completely mistaken! You don't own Windows, M$ owns it. You are only given a "licence" (permission ) to use it and the big daddy M$ keeps changing the terms of this license to suit its convenience.

Additionally, one license is for one computer only (provided you pay and take multiple licences/bulk licenses). You can't install it on as many computers as you want.

GNU/GPL allows you to install on multiple machines from one copy and thats why GNU/Linux OS can be freely and legally distributed!

[sakumar79]

Yes, tuxfan is correct. The license gives you permission to use the OS on one computer only... However, there are many aspects of the license that are vague... Some allow you to use the one copy on any one machine at any one time (so, it can be shifted to a different computer, but the copy in the previous machine must be removed)... Some allow for only use on one computer as has been initiated in Win XP... Some leeway is given at the moment, but this may not last long...

The main thing is that software created is Intellectual Property. However, IP concept is not clearly understood by people... This is because Intellectual Property is generally not as tangible as physical objects...

Consider a firm making patented chairs... Now, it is not legal for someone to steal a chair and use it for themselves. Also, while it is okay to purchase a chair and use it wherever you want, only one person can use that chair at any time...

To an extent, we should consider IP also as objects created by the manufacturer... Using software by piracy is equivalent to stealing... Also, even when you purchase the software, if the license is for one computer only, we should restrict it in that fashion...

However, due to the economics of the world, the price quoted by software manufacturers is so huge when looking at developping countries that piracy has become a necessary evil for many people... And sometimes, it is even caused by ignorance of these concepts...

Personally, I think that perhaps it may be possible for software manufacturers to provide country-specific pricing with adjustments made for the financial standing of the country... Such pricing may be made available "For Sale and Use in xyz country only"... For example, WinXP Pro Full Version may be 200$ in US and around 9000 in India. But, allowing for conversion rate of about 45-50, instead of pricing it at 200 Rs, maybe it can be priced at 1000 or 1500. Then, by creating an awareness, they may be able to convince people to purchase the software legally. In this process, I feel that they may be able to make out more profit by increasing sales but reducing price... But I dont know about the feasibility of such a scheme...

Arun...

[adithyagenius]

I got "Windows XP PRO SP2 OEM for HP" 2 months back for Rs 6500 and didnt know about these restrictions. Does XP also have such restrictions for hardware changes like the limit for activations? I hope graphics card change doesnt count.

I am using vista ultimate x64 RC2 build 5744. I had to activate windows after system restore. Wierd...

[executioner]

the restriction is not on the os but on the license key.change the key and it's good as new.
---------------------------------
i have a pirated xp and it passes the wga check without any crack or program.so much for microsoft's wga.it recognizes it as genuine.
haha.this r all foolish publicity stunt which donot work.it's meant to scare people not to use pirated os.not that i support piracy,if i had the money i would have bought a original os instead of buying a gfx card or other things.people who use pirated stuffs will think that as stupidity but actually it gives 'shanti' to your mind.

[sakumar79]

@Adithya, Win XP also has a few limits imposed on activation... When you change components, such as graphics card, etc... I think there are some 4 or 5 times you can change after which you will be asked to renew your activation key... However, if you change the motherboard, this will happen immediately I think... or maybe with fewer changes itself...

Arun

[rajas]

Extract from EULA of Windows Vista Ultimate..

INSTALLATION AND USE RIGHTS. Before you use the software under a license, you must assign
that license to one device (physical hardware system). That device is the “licensed device.” A
hardware partition or blade is considered to be a separate device

the rest is almost same as windows XP blah.blah..blah...Read below for some info on XP product activation and its tolerance.

How does product activation determine tolerance? In other words,
how many components of the PC must change before I am required to reactivate?

Common changes to hardware such as upgrading a video card, adding a second hard disk drive, adding RAM or upgrading a CD-ROM device will not require the system to be reactivated.

Specifically, product activation determines tolerance through a voting mechanism. There are 10 hardware characteristics used in creating the hardware hash. Each characteristic is worth one vote, except the network card which is worth three votes. When thinking of tolerance, it's easiest to think about what has not changed instead of what has changed. When the current hardware hash is compared to the original hardware hash, there must be 7 or more matching points for the two hardware hashes to be considered in tolerance. If the network card is the same, then only 4 additional characteristics must match (because the network card is worth 3, for a total of 7). If the network card is not the same, then a total of 7 characteristics other than the network card must be the same. If the device is a laptop (specifically a dockable device), additional tolerance is allotted and there need be only 4 or more matching points. Therefore, if the device is dockable and the network card is the same, only one other characteristic must be the same for a total vote of 4. If the device is dockable and the network card is not the same, then a total of 4 characteristics other than the network card must be the same.

Are the changes cumulative? In other words, if I change one component today and one tomorrow, is that two component changes?

The changes are cumulative; however, if a user is asked to reactivate, the hardware profile is reset to that new configuration.

read more about the same here: Product Activation Facts

[moshel]

after reading all this i say "Piracy RULES!!!!!". wtf u buy original windows and u have to go through all this cr@p. so i say in the coming generation ppl will prefer to use pirated windows, not becos it is cheap but becos, the original "PAID" version has NAG screens every few days!!!! and i am seriously against buying Vista after reading this topic.

btw u guys talked abt using the copy on one machine, but wat if i want to create a dual boot system. Like both Win XPs, do i have to purchase another licence?

[Jerin]

I dont think so for a dual boot system you will be required to purchase another seperate license.I think all these new generation protection system to combat piracy will be cracked by somebody within a month of its release or even before its official release.If the charge of orginal is less definately people will buy orginal otherwise nobody can afford

[sabret00the]

@ Raj® : Did u go thru ur Vista training yet? Well,the whole thing shud be pretty clear to you.

[anandk]

Microsoft improves licensing terms for Windows Vista

Recently Microsoft announced licensing terms for Windows Vista which made many users cringe -- your Vista license was essentially tied to a single machine. You could upgrade the machine -- some -- but the activation was pretty strict on how much you could change and how often.

Many users were understandably upset. Microsoft was thinking of piracy while many hardware enthusiasts felt that they were being left out in the cold. Many MANY users rebuild machines and don't want to pay hundreds of dollars for another copy of the OS.

http://www.wincustomize.com/articles...AID=135162&c=1