I just got a new mobo, X2 6000+ and a 8800GT. Now about 4 hours after everything is working perfectly, I get a message saying something like "Windows will deactivate in 3 days due to hardware changes" and it also says "This copy of windows is already in use". I just bought vista 4 months ago, and now do I have to buy another one?
Are you kidding me???
- Thread starter Turokc
- Start date
MagnusTheBrewer
IN MEMORIAM
- Jun 19, 2004
- 24,122
- 1,594
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Yes, and since I'm the only authorized seller in your area, you must pay me. 
Did you already install this copy of Windows?
Did you already install this copy of Windows?
postmortemIA
Diamond Member
- Jul 11, 2006
- 7,721
- 40
- 91
you are criminal!
good plan, force even vista users to not use it... now if only they would automatically force drivers update through windows update..
good plan, force even vista users to not use it... now if only they would automatically force drivers update through windows update..
Yeah it's a real pain. Even just reinstalling and reactivating Vista requires you to phone them EVERY time. It's so lame I wish they would go back to the good old days with XP when you would only have to do that once in a while.
This is why I bought the full retail version of Vista Ultimate. To me, it's worth the extra ~$100 to never have to worry about this.
I've had to reactivate XP for no good reason a few times on different computers. Just updating the video drivers, plugging in a USB device, something that should not trigger re-activation according to the published details of Microsoft's activation scheme.
The most recent was over the weekend, on a laptop that hasn't had any hardware changes at all for well over one year. I plugged in the same wireless PC card that has been used in the laptop for nearly two years, and Windows Genuine Advantage pops-up telling me that my system hardware has changed 'significantly' since my last activation and I need to re-activate.
Wasn't a big deal, it accepted activation over the internet without having to call, but it shouldn't have needed to reactivate in the first place.
The most recent was over the weekend, on a laptop that hasn't had any hardware changes at all for well over one year. I plugged in the same wireless PC card that has been used in the laptop for nearly two years, and Windows Genuine Advantage pops-up telling me that my system hardware has changed 'significantly' since my last activation and I need to re-activate.
Wasn't a big deal, it accepted activation over the internet without having to call, but it shouldn't have needed to reactivate in the first place.
Ok it took like 2mins, he asked if it was installed on 1 computer and why I have to reactivate it and then he just gave me a new code. That was easy lol
Good. It's still insulting and a pita that you have to bothered with this in the case where you know that it's legitimate and you're not some shop in Asia mass producing illegal copies.
erikistired
Diamond Member
- Sep 27, 2000
- 9,739
- 0
- 0
It almost seems random. I've rarely had to reactivate and have swapped out hd's, gpu's, mb's, etc. One time I had to reactivate after a bios update.
- May 13, 2003
- 13,704
- 7
- 81
Originally posted by: Fullmetal Chocobo
So what you are saying is that it is "seemingly random"?
I couldn't help myself.
Hopefully it is 'seemingly' random and not just random...
It is by no means a frequent occurance, maybe three times in five years (all different computers). Swapping out GPUs, hard drives, and MBs definitely can trigger re-activation, particularly the MB. I think XP allows up to three cumulative non-MB hardware changes like processor, HD, RAM, video card, audio hardware, before activation is triggered. A motherboard swap by itself should trigger re-activation, unless replacing with an identical board (or a near-identical board from the same vendor).
But in those few instances, there was no reason for re-activation according to Microsoft's published criteria - the hardware configuration had not changed in months. The times that I had to call MS activation support, when asked why I was re-activating, I told them I had no idea why Windows was asking me to re-activate. Their response was along the lines of 'That's OK, it happens quite a lot.'
The funny thing is I haven't had to reactivate XP since I reinstalled
And I just installed 2 gigs of ram, and changed the video card a few times to test in Linux(but also booted into XP by accident...).I wonder how much MS spends on the support staff, customer frustration and lost customers - some intangibles which are hard to quantify. I imagine they would loose more if they didn't have copy-protection - but it would be interesting to know how much more.
...yet. Might happen to you, too. My point is that there does seem to be a small percentage of weird cases that defy the known criteria for re-activation and it can cut both ways.
IOW, there are cases where people have changed non-MB hardware multiple times without triggering re-activation, and cases where the hardware hasn't changed in several months but here comes WGA for no apparent reason. :roll:
postmortemIA
Diamond Member
- Jul 11, 2006
- 7,721
- 40
- 91
I replaced my 7800GTX with a 8800GT and Vista told me the same thing. I was like WTF...
Calling them and resolving the issue only took 5 minutes but still a pain in the ass.
Calling them and resolving the issue only took 5 minutes but still a pain in the ass.
The fact that reactivation has been and still is painlessly easy appears to be lost on most of the posters in this thread.
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