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Activation White Paper for Vista/Server 2008

S

stash

Diamond Member
Microsoft has released a paper on how activation works in Vista/Server 2008. It's an good read.

http://www.microsoft.com/downl...4ced7f6&DisplayLang=en

One interesting tidbit on OEM activation in the article:

Every single piece of hardware could be changed on a PC with OA 2.0 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 by contacting the Microsoft activation center and requesting activation with a customer support representative.
Click to expand...
 
OEM makers add code into the bios that indicates it's a Dell, HP, or even Asus in the case of retail boards. So if you replaced a board in an manufactured system with a totally different motherboard you managed to hack in, that board would not have the same bios ID, thus causing a reactivation.
 
Yeah, interesting allright!

I got caught. I have a valid (That's right, store bought) copy of Vista Ultimate.

I purchased a new video card which required a BIOS flash for performance and stability reasons.

Flash, bang, dead....

My previously fully activated Vista was now de-activated. I went on to the official Micro$oft forums for activation issues and after only 22 posts got the above quoted reply.

My question to Micro$oft and the forum members here is what in the hey is Micro$oft doing in the BIOS?

Activation based on hardware component signatures, such as the serial number of the MB I find reasonable as that doesn't (and can't) get changed by a BIOS update.

But BIOS updates are getting pretty frequent nowadays.

I pointed out the serial number issue to the Activation forum admin but, of course, didn't get a reply.

Shame on you M$!
 
Originally posted by: t0mn8r
Yeah, interesting allright!

I got caught. I have a valid (That's right, store bought) copy of Vista Ultimate.

I purchased a new video card which required a BIOS flash for performance and stability reasons.

Flash, bang, dead....

My previously fully activated Vista was now de-activated. I went on to the official Micro$oft forums for activation issues and after only 22 posts got the above quoted reply.

My question to Micro$oft and the forum members here is what in the hey is Micro$oft doing in the BIOS?

Activation based on hardware component signatures, such as the serial number of the MB I find reasonable as that doesn't (and can't) get changed by a BIOS update.

But BIOS updates are getting pretty frequent nowadays.

I pointed out the serial number issue to the Activation forum admin but, of course, didn't get a reply.

Shame on you M$!
Click to expand...

Updating the BIOS might've made the same hardware look different to Windows and require reactivation. As has been the case ever since WinXP was released, actually. Reactivate it by the usual methods and get on with life, is my advice 😉

Also, a tip: if you want to be taken seriously, use the $ symbol properly 🙂

 
Originally posted by: t0mn8r
Yeah, interesting allright!

I got caught. I have a valid (That's right, store bought) copy of Vista Ultimate.

I purchased a new video card which required a BIOS flash for performance and stability reasons.

Flash, bang, dead....

My previously fully activated Vista was now de-activated. I went on to the official Micro$oft forums for activation issues and after only 22 posts got the above quoted reply.

My question to Micro$oft and the forum members here is what in the hey is Micro$oft doing in the BIOS?

Activation based on hardware component signatures, such as the serial number of the MB I find reasonable as that doesn't (and can't) get changed by a BIOS update.

But BIOS updates are getting pretty frequent nowadays.

I pointed out the serial number issue to the Activation forum admin but, of course, didn't get a reply.

Shame on you M$!
Click to expand...

As far as I know, the portion of the bios being checked by Vista is not overwritten during a normal bios update from the OEM.
 
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