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Too good to be true

post #1 of 11
1/29/03 at 10:14am
Thread Starter 
My 8886 arrived yesterday and I was getting everything up and running. Things were goinng perfectly, just too perfectly I guess. I won't bore you with the details but I was forced to reinstall XP. When I got to the "activate XP" step the web site told me I had excceded the number times I was allowed to activate XP???? So I only get one install? What's going on here? A little help please (I'm new to XP, stuck with good ole 98 till now)
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post #2 of 11
1/29/03 at 10:51am
No, XP activation is screwy sometimes. Did you do a full format ad reinstall or just a fix? Make sure you did a quick format fbefore the reinstall. You my have to call Microsoft to manually activate it. Just select the phone in option and it will give you the phone # and a code. You'll go through a few questions and they will generate a code for you to enter to activate it.
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post #3 of 11
1/29/03 at 10:57am
Thread Starter 
I did a full format install. So anytime I do reformat this thing (I usually try to reformat my computers about every 3-6 months) I'm going to have to call MS to get the thing reactivated? (I knew there was reason I was staying away from XP other than the goofy bill-gate's-son-drew-the-graphics-in-crayon look)

So just call the help line and they'll give me a new product key? or they'll give me a code to activate the key I already have?
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post #4 of 11
1/29/03 at 2:36pm

That's not quite right...

Here, for the exact way WPA works in XP, read this:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/p...activation.asp

It's more about changes in hardware than reformats and such.

Cheers.
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post #5 of 11
1/29/03 at 9:27pm
Yeah, when you install XP on a computer you get to call Microsoft if you've used the license before on a different computer (or the same computer with different hardware). Kinda sucks, but hey, it works. I put up with it because otherwise, XP is sweet :-)
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post #6 of 11
1/30/03 at 1:03am
Too bad their activation technology has virtually no effect on piracy of XP and annoys 99% of it's legitimate users that run into this problem...way to go MSFT
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post #7 of 11
1/30/03 at 5:16am
lol, that's pretty true except that they do prevent the installation of service packs to known pirated cd keys...
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post #8 of 11
1/30/03 at 9:09am
the WPA stops the noob pirate who burns a copy of his friend's CD. The most popular pirated version out now is XP Pro Corporate edition. The corporate edition doesn't require activation, only a valid serial number. And there's no problem finding one of those (see Mr. Dudes Corporate key changer).

Oh yeah if you did have a pirated version then installed SP1 but couldn't because of a pirated serial. No problem M$ released a program for corporate users that allows you to change the serial number!
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post #9 of 11
2/5/03 at 9:44pm
There is so many ways around the activation system. I have a friend who has a pirated copy of xp professional and he downloaded an activation crack and xp runs fine. As for the service packs issue, he simply downloaded another patch/crack and it installed service pack 1.
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post #10 of 11
2/6/03 at 10:59am
If you have a problem with the web based activation just give them a call and explain what is going on. They are always very receptive when I call. Only problem is you have to read that long number to them and get one back. Make sure they stay on the phone until you are absolutely certain it activated.
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post #11 of 11
2/7/03 at 3:30pm
Of course there are ways around activation, etc... but you must keep in mind that the vast majority of computer users don't know how to get around that stuff and don't actually use pirated software, which is a good thing because then software companies actually make software, lol. Otherwise, they'd have no incentive to.
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