Windows 7 activation

[TourGuide]

I really HATE activation.

It is just annoying. I have a retail license, so my software follows my hardware no matter what but it is the PITA of having to do it. I swapped mobos on a 7x64 install and I had to reactivate. Had it allowed the online option it would have been a piece of cake, but apparently something was wrong with the online servers and I had to do a phone activation. It worked, the software is reactivated but there is always that niggling little thought in the back of my head saying - what if something went wrong with the phone activation? I hate to think that way, but *shrug* I guess when it comes to MS I just do.

Anybody ever run into trouble with phone activation on a retail license before?

 

[RebateMonger]

I've always had the same worries and I've alway hated the idea of Activation. But neither on these forums nor in real life have I seen an example of anyone with a "valid" license being denied Activation. Even those who are moving OEM OSes from one computer to another, in violation of their licensing, seem to be able to re-Activate with a phone call.

Yes, I've seen at least one time when the MS Activation servers were down and a phone call was required. But that's pretty rare.

In several years of consulting, working with both home and business clients, I've only seen a couple of cases where Activation was denied. One of those involved software that was clearly pirated. One involved accidentally making two active installs of the same XP Key. I think I had to perform a phone Activation on an SBS server once for no good reason. I'd bought that sealed Retail Box copy myself from Newegg.

Personally, I've had one or two required re-Activations that seemed to occur for no good reason, but they've always re-Activated fine. And I had my Office 2007 denied re-Activation once. That turned out to be a known bug with a solution on the Internet.

If you go to the forum on Microsoft's site that handles Activation issues and start reading, it quickly becomes apparent that the bulk of problematic Activations are caused by people with "pirated" software (whether they are intentionally pirating or have been cheated by a software vendor).

Has ANYBODY ever had a problem with a phone Activation on a retail license before? Probably. MS Activates MILLIONS of pieces of software each year. My own experience is it's pretty rare and hardly worth worrying about.