Bizarre Microsoft activation process

[MarkMgibson]

Originally Posted by bassybill

Good stuff.



You might be on to something there. Back in the day when I was running Win98, I never updated anything and the machine just kept going until the power supply died when it was about 8 years old.

The PC for my studio never needs to go online anyway - the network card is usually switched off for that reason - why the hell worry abouy security updates? It works fine now with my music stuff all installed today and I think I'll leave it exactly as it is from here on in.

As an aside, I've been really enjoying tinkering with it today as I had so much stuff that I didn't use on there it was getting ridiculous. I've just put stuff on there today that I really need and it's amazing how much more aesthetically pleasant it is to use a machine that isn't cluttered up with redundant crap. I've gone really minimalist - just the OS, the necessary hardware drivers, Sibelius, Reaper and a small collection of regularly used must-have VSTs/sample libraries.

I do use my computer on the net, but I don't bother with those security updates and I never have. I run an Antivirus/Firewall program, so why do I need all those endless "security updates"? (actually, I'm a tad suspicious of them) It's just bogs your computer down with endless useless garbage as far as I can tell.

Since in 20 odd years I've never been hacked, hijacked, had my hard drive suddenly wiped out, or had a ghost jump through the screen and slash me with a straight-razor, I have to wonder if there's a point to most of that crap.

[two fingers]

Honestly, I have gotten in the habit of doing a clean OS install about every 9 months or so. I just backup everything I want to keep on an external hard drive and start over. The computer always runs twice as fast afterwards. It just gets rid of all the junk that we agree to install all the time....updates here...... add-ons there.....

[bassybill]

Originally Posted by hbarcat

It's my understanding (I could be wrong, don't quote me) that Microsoft keeps track of individual instances of activation using the same code. Your license agreement only allows use of one copy on one computer per code and since it's common for people to buy a copy of the OS and then install it on multiple machines and give (sell) it to their friends to install on their machines, Microsoft watches to see if a code is used more than once. If this happens, it disallows activation although you can call support and tell them you're reinstalling the OS on the same machine and they will make it work.

Yeah, I understand how that works and have been through that process when migrating other software (Office, as mentioned above) on other machines. But this copy of XP Pro had just been installed and activated once since I bought it.

In hindsight, I think I now understand what had happened here. Back in 2008, it appears I purchased an OEM version of XP instead of retail (I confess I didn't really understand that there was any difference at the time in terms of the licence). Now, 5 years down the line, Microsoft have suddenly got tough and marked as "non-genuine" any instance of XP (and maybe other products) where a bulk OEM product key does not match with the components in the PC detected by the Genuine Advantage software during the updating process. In other words, they're using the updating process to check and validate software and will flag up stuff as non-genuine even if you've had it for years.

Incidentally, the licence for Office allows the user to make two installations - one on "your main computer" and one on "a portable device". Not sure about the Windows OS licence, though.