I feel your pain. I dont know if this link will help you, but they have me a few times, you can get live online help immediatly...http://support.microsoft.com/gp/ContactDownloads

I feel your pain. I dont know if this link will help you, but they have me a few times, you can get live online help immediatly...http://support.microsoft.com/gp/ContactDownloads

HI Jay. Thanks. I looked there. I see FS2004 listed but not FSX. I have a callback from the level II FSX Support supposedly scheduled. I have a case number and talked to the Level I guy who was no help at all. If they don't call back as scheduled I'll be on their case! I am about ready to write Bill Gates and tell him how bad this activation scheme is. It will never get to him but I've had luck writing CEO's before and had the Executive Office get involved and solved my problems quickly. I've done this with hotels, Lincoln cars, Pacific Bell and others. Best regards, Bob.

Bob, it doesnt list FS specifically, its has a link to a live online help desk from MS. You can contact them directly and see if they can help, sorry for the confusion.

Bob, it doesnt list FS specifically, its has a link to a live online help desk from MS. You can contact them directly and see if they can help, sorry for the confusion.

Hi Jay. OK. Thanks. I'll try it again. Best regards, Bob.

Has anyone else had trouble re-activating FSX after a computer configuration change? I have done some research and I believe that a file in the Windows 32 folder (wpa.dbl) establishes the computer configuration. I did change my C:\ drive hard disk and deleted one other hard drive after the original activation. Does anyone know if FSX actually looks at this file for activation? I have no idea why it would just now tell me it needs re-activation though as the change was made some long time back. Does MS look at this file and if so can I reactivate it somehow after the change was made? I have talked to the level I Tech Support with no help or solution. I am waiting for a promised callback from Level II Support. If I do get the callback I will ask about this file. In the meantime I was just looking for answers from any other FSX users that have changed their configuration after it was initially activated. Thanks regards, Bob.

I just got off the phone with Nick, the Level II FSX Support MS person, in India. I also talked to his boss (Rajit). Neither one of them was of any help. They went through the same song and dance as the first Level I guy did with no final solution. I told them that thousands of FSX owners have had a lot of problems with this stupid activation process. Nick took control of my desktop and recheked the registry setting and tried to have FSX make a new fsx.cfg. He eliminated my logbook and checked api.dll, fsui.dll and main.dll which are supposedly the three files that are part of the activation crack. He even tried using another CD key. Nothing worked. I asked the both of them if they knew what the activation exact program consited of. They both stated they don't know. It seems to me that the activation program has to look somewhere on our computer for the computer configuration and check it against the CD key. I know there is a file called wpa.dll in the Windows System32 folder that has the computer configuration in it. They never did look at it. I asked them to just send me the correct files to activate my system. They said they had no idea what the files were. I asked them if they could check the activation database to see how I had it activated before. They said that info was not available to them. They did not even know what excatly the activation system did to activate the product. To me this is just another thing wrong with MS. They put a flawed activation system on the product and do not even know, in detail, step by step, how it works and how to fix it. If any user has the SP1 crack that works I am ready to try that. There is no reason that a legitimate owner has to resort to a crack but when MS can't, or won't, do their job it leaves nothing else to do. I do not want to repair aor reinstall, which was their last recommended solution. I have too many addons and mods that I have made. Of course they say that the addons are the problem. None of the addons I have installed ever effected the basic FSX operating system or registry in any way. Best regards, Bob.

I do not want to repair or reinstall, which was their last recommended solution. I have too many addons and mods that I have made. Of course they say that the addons are the problem. None of the addons I have installed ever effected the basic FSX operating system or registry in any way. Best regards, Bob.

Doing the repair shouldn't affect the addons, Bob. I and others have done it lots of times. The problem is that windows cannot manage it's own registry - that's the problem - not the addons. :(

Doing the repair shouldn't affect the addons, Bob. I and others have done it lots of times. The problem is that windows cannot manage it's own registry - that's the problem - not the addons. :(

Hi pj. I have made extensive changes to the default aircraft, added all kinds of planes, modified some of the default gauges and scenery, modified the fsx.cfg and a lot more. If I do the repair it will overwrite all that I have done with all of the default stuff, isn't that right? As I see it you are partially right. The other problem is that MS cannot manage the activation program properly or fix it when it is screwed up. They don't even know how it works so how can they fix it when it does not work. They are idiots! What I have thought of doing is renaming my present FSX installation and installing FSX again then transfer all my stuff over into the new installation. Best regards, Bob.

That is a very good idea...

Hi, Bob and everyone.I hope you get this message before you do anything.If you just rename the FSX folder it will still overwrite your .cfg file and your flights etc. Make sure you save them before you reinstall. TV

Hi pj. I have made extensive changes to the default aircraft, added all kinds of planes, modified some of the default gauges and scenery, modified the fsx.cfg and a lot more. If I do the repair it will overwrite all that I have done with all of the default stuff, isn't that right? As I see it you are partially right. The other problem is that MS cannot manage the activation program properly or fix it when it is screwed up. They don't even know how it works so how can they fix it when it does not work. They are idiots! What I have thought of doing is renaming my present FSX installation and installing FSX again then transfer all my stuff over into the new installation. Best regards, Bob.

That could be the problem, if part of the activation process does a CRC check on it's installed files to verify a valid installation, you may have modified one or more of the files it checks resulting in it's failure since it wouldn't match what it was expecting to see.

That could be the problem, if part of the activation process does a CRC check on it's installed files to verify a valid installation, you may have modified one or more of the files it checks resulting in it's failure since it wouldn't match what it was expecting to see.

Hi. I have never modified any of the system files. MS Level II Support was of no help whatsoever. They don't even know which files are checked or what to do to fix it. They are USELESS. Another thing that really annoys me is that Americans are out of work and the great MS opts to use outsourced support from India to save some $$ so Bill Gates and the rest of the upper staff at MS can get a bigger bonus, bigger mansions and yachts or take more world trips! My problem is now solved but not by the GREAT MS! Best regards, Bob.

My experience was a little different. I just went through the telephone activation process without problems yesterday.My Experience: I have just upgraded from a AMD 64 X2 to an i7 920 computer. I wanted to reinstall my original copy of FSX, which had been installed only once on my AMD computer. I had been reading good things about running FSX under Windows 7 and Windows 7 (64 bit) beta is installed on one hard drive of the new computer. I did the first reinstalled FSX under it without problem using the internet activation. After playing with FSX under Win7, I noticed some problems and decided to try it under Vista 64 to see if the problems was related to Windows 7 or FSX. When I tried re-installing FSX on the same computer, but under Vista, the internet activation failed and the telephone activation window popped up. I called the 800 number and after reading the long string of numbers into the automated system, it failed to activate FSX and then it connected me to a "live" support person in India. At first he said I had installed this copy of FSX on too many computers. I explained what I was doing and he had me re-read the long string of digits and then had me enter another long string of digits into the telephone activation screen. I hit enter and FSX activated. Although the process was aggravating, it only took about 15 minutes. However what happens if in another two years when I do the next h/w upgrade and we are still flying FSX?Future of MS FSX Activation: What will be the future support for activating FSX? The current scheme was based on the idea of a new version of FS being out in two to three years. Many of us will be upgrading hardware every 18 to 24 months. Reinstalling all those copies of FSX sold in 2006 in 2010 and beyond will cost MS a lot of dollars (even at the going labor rate in India) for human assisted telephone re-activations of a dead end/obsolete program. I doubt in 2010 and beyond that new sales of FSX will provide enough cash provide the support for the entire FSX installed base. Microsoft should just open up the number of times you can install FSX and let the online activations take care of the activations. Otherwise folks will just resort to using alternate methods of activation.

My experience was a little different. I just went through the telephone activation process without problems yesterday.My Experience: I have just upgraded from a AMD 64 X2 to an i7 920 computer. I wanted to reinstall my original copy of FSX, which had been installed only once on my AMD computer. I had been reading good things about running FSX under Windows 7 and Windows 7 (64 bit) beta is installed on one hard drive of the new computer. I did the first reinstalled FSX under it without problem using the internet activation. After playing with FSX under Win7, I noticed some problems and decided to try it under Vista 64 to see if the problems was related to Windows 7 or FSX. When I tried re-installing FSX on the same computer, but under Vista, the internet activation failed and the telephone activation window popped up. I called the 800 number and after reading the long string of numbers into the automated system, it failed to activate FSX and then it connected me to a "live" support person in India. At first he said I had installed this copy of FSX on too many computers. I explained what I was doing and he had me re-read the long string of digits and then had me enter another long string of digits into the telephone activation screen. I hit enter and FSX activated. Although the process was aggravating, it only took about 15 minutes. However what happens if in another two years when I do the next h/w upgrade and we are still flying FSX?Future of MS FSX Activation: What will be the future support for activating FSX? The current scheme was based on the idea of a new version of FS being out in two to three years. Many of us will be upgrading hardware every 18 to 24 months. Reinstalling all those copies of FSX sold in 2006 in 2010 and beyond will cost MS a lot of dollars (even at the going labor rate in India) for human assisted telephone re-activations of a dead end/obsolete program. I doubt in 2010 and beyond that new sales of FSX will provide enough cash provide the support for the entire FSX installed base. Microsoft should just open up the number of times you can install FSX and let the online activations take care of the activations. Otherwise folks will just resort to using alternate methods of activation.

Hi. I am glad you had a better experience than me. My problem was that the Internet activation failed and the telephone activation system did not pop up the digits as it was supposed to do. It did nothing! The rep, and his boss, had no idea whatsoever, other than repair or reinstallation of FSX. The rep spent an hour of his, and my time, trying this and that with no success. They have no idea what the activation process is, in detail, step by step. If they did they could possibly have troubleshot it, step by step, and determine what was not working or responding correctly. Then they could have corrected the problem. My problem is solved now by very simple means, no thanks to the lousy MS Support, and I did not have to repair or reinstall it. It's a real shame that MS can't fix their flawed system without an honest owner having to resort to other methods of activation, or bypassing a flawed system. Best regards, Bob.

Hi, Bob and everyone.I hope you get this message before you do anything.If you just rename the FSX folder it will still overwrite your .cfg file and your flights etc. Make sure you save them before you reinstall. TV

Bob-how ironic that I read and responded to your post a few days ago and thru no fault of mine (except clicking the fsx icon to run it last night) find myself in exactly the same situation-no activation.Have you made any progress-in my case in the past after doing the tech support thing up to the highest level the advice was to reformat and reinstall the operating system after a month of time wasting trying things.